TAD Production Dauntless MK2

[jbob24]

This is going to be more of an overview than an all out review. (or just a running list of rambling and notes) I'm not really a reviewer, just a guy who likes knives
This just happens to be one of my favorite knives and I don't see many reviews on this site about it, so I thought I'd throw something up and people can add to it as they see fit :thumbup:
I'll come back from time to time and add notes and pictures as well as update my impressions...

The knife is the Dauntless MK2, designed by Triple Aught Design in San Francisco. The actual manufacturer is currently unknown but is supposedly somebody in the U.S.A. The Dauntless design has been seen before for quite a few years but always as a custom-level knife by many well known and some lesser known makers. The production model retains most of the features of these custom works as well as a high level of fit and finish but at a significantly lower price point.

Check it out at their site:::
http://www.tripleaughtdesign.com/Equipment/Knives/Dauntless-MK2-G10

Material
Blade: S30V with Bead Blast Finish
Handle / Scales: Ranger Green and Black G10
Hardware: Stainless Steel Bolts

Dimensions
Overall Length: 8" (20.3 cm)
Blade Length: 3.4" (8.6 cm)
Cutting Edge Length: 2.9" (7.4 cm)
Handle Length: 4.6" (11.7 cm)
Spine Thickness: 0.136" (0.3 cm)
Width of Handle (without clip): 0.5" (1.3 cm)

Weight
0.26lb (4.16 oz)

Features
Blade Type: Bayonet
Grind Style: Flat
Bead Blast Finish
Deep Front Finger Guard
Blade Fuller
Three Fullers in Handle
Forward Choil
Three-quarter Swedge

Labels & Logos
Laser Etched Triple Aught Design Logo on Blade

Made in the USA

So... my initial thoughts back in August left me very impressed. The knife opened as smooth as any Chris Reeve or Hinderer I've ever owned or handled (it still does for that matter) and the fit and finish is phenomenal. I wish I had taken some pics of it when it was brand new so you'll have to check out the pics on their site to see it unmarred. The blade, which is described as a "bayonet" style, I would have called a spearpoint, but that's really just semantics. It's a great blade shape, extremely usable and has a fantastic fine point. I've always prefered a spear/clip point to a drop point simply due to the very fine point that seems to come easier with this style.

The thumbstuds are bevelled nicely, they provide good purchase with bare hands or gloves. The ridges (jimping:barf: what a terrible word) on the spine are very aggressive and can bite into your hand but I kind of prefer them this way. There are also ridges along the back spacer that are much less pronounced. The G10 scales are completely smooth except for the 3 grooves which surprisingly offer a decent amount of texture and keeps the knife from moving around. The edges around these fullers are not sharp but are left aggressive.

Here's some pics

Notice the screws going into the backspacer on the G10 side are absent on the titanium side

I might take a different picture with all these knives in a row, but thought people might want to see it side by side with some other productions, let me know if its too much

This actually isn't a very good picture, the Um is in reality a bit bigger than the Dauntless and has a way longer edge.

I think the SnG is probably the closest feeling knife to the Dauntless, the ergos are very similar, right down to the choil being part of the blade. What can I say, I have a type

The hest/f and Dauntless

Benchmade 950 Rift and Dauntless

Benchmade 755 MPR and Dauntless/ I know these two aren't similar at all... Or are they? The more I look at these two, the more they seem related. Green G10 and framelocks aside, check out the blade shapes, right down to the huge swedge and fuller. Also notice the shape of the ridge and jimping If it had the front choil cutting into the blade they'd be skinny and fat fraternal twins, I don't think it's an accident that these two are among my favorites style-wise

Anyway... Check out the aggressive ridges, the TAD logo and the pivote here, note the damage that the beadblast finish has sustained just in the few months of carry...

A decent shot showing the black backspacer and the profile of the pocket clip... I'm a big fan of flowthrough designs but I understand their want for a backspacer, so I appreciate they left it a half-flowthrough design
At the far end, the little sliver of silver is the hidden lanyard bar...

Here's a shot of the lockup, it hasn't moved much (if at all) since I got it. Forgive the dirtiness...

The blade is still perfectly centered

The other side of the pivot and the USA blade stamping. Mine has the Number 014 stamped because it's from the first run, future knives will only have the (USA)

Here's my first real gripe with this knife... I HATE the beadblast on the blade. I think it's kind of a hallmark of TAD blades (many many of their knives feature beadblasted blades and bolsters) but they look so terrible when they get scratched. Every little rub or scratch is painfully obvious. It's finally getting to the point that the wear is more even across the blade so it's starting to look good again

MORE IN A MINUTE

 

[jbob24]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO... I typed it up this huge thing and lost it... :grumpy:

Lets try again




SO... I've had this knife for a little over 6 months. It's about all I've carried since I got it, and was the ONLY knife I carried between August and November. The only other two knives that I've ever carried that much were the Strider and Umnumzaan pictured above. It has held up very well.

I'll start with the lock. Lockup has stayed at about the same even though it's been flicked and used reasonably hard here and there. I would say it started around 1/4 and is now just slightly over that, definitely not up to 1/3 yet. If you flick it real hard, it can be sticky, but I've never had a problem with unlocking it like I have with several other titanium framelocks (I'm looking at you Strider and hest). I was originally worried that the framelock would be difficult to unlock with the profile being the same on both the titanium and g10 sides, but the ridges on the lockbar where you grab to unlock provide plenty of grab.

The pocket clip is another story... It originally appeared plenty strong and I've seen the design on plenty of other knives and not heard complaints about it. I love a good deepcarry pocket clip and this one leaves very little of the knife out of your pocket, about the only better ones I've seen are those on LIONsteel knives. BUT, the thing works itself loose way too much. Loctite helps keep it in but it still seems flimsy. This is kind of nitpicky because the issue isn't one of retention; I've never worried about this knife slipping away from me. It holds the knife in the pocket fine, but it moves around from side to side on the knife and it just really annoys the crap outta me. It's especially noticeable when you're using the knife and you can feel it flex around in your hand. Another possible downside is that you can't move it anywhere else on the knife. This doesn't bother me as I prefer right-side-tip-up, but just be aware of it.

Another thing I didn't really like about this knife at first was the beadblast finish. It shows all the rubs and marks and scratches. Which is GREAT if you never use the thing I say I "didn't" like it because after the few months of use, the finish is finally starting to even out and look good. I have to admit, a well used beadblasted knife takes on a very nice character and now I am really enjoying the way it looks.

I recall some complaints from other people about the aggressive ridge on the spine of the blade but I really like it, it allows very good purchase and the more subtle ridges on the backspacer along with the grooves in the handle keep the blade in your hand just fine, even when cold and wet.

The pivot is designed to allow easy adjustment of the blade as well as easy take down, but I've never had a need to take it apart to clean or anything. I am very glad they kept the half-flowthrough design, especially on a harduse knife. It allows quick and easy cleaning interior.

I'm no Ankerson, so I'm not going to go on a tirade about blade steel and hardness. I've not sat down and cut an acre of cardboard nor am I going to. It's been with me camping, hiking, in the kitchen and around the house. I've used it light and I've used it hard and maybe abused it a bit along the way. S30v is not my favorite steel, but I have had my fair share of experience with it, it seems like it's kind of the standard with a lot of mid/higher end production knives these days. I do think it was a good choice for this knife though. If anybody knows the hardness of these blades, please let me know!! I would love to find out, it's not mentioned in the specs and I haven't really seen it speculated anywhere, but to me it seems soft. When cutting wood or anything kind of tough, the steel will slightly roll from time to time. It straightens out fine and sharpens well on a sharpmaker (very quickly). It seems to me that it doesn't hold it's super edge particularly well, it will go from razor sharp to a working edge pretty quickly and stay there and maybe that's the point in a knife that I believe is intended for more extended outdoors use. It may just be that my experience in the months leading up to was dominated by skinny m390 blades and I wasn't impressed for that reason.

For the blade shape itself, I have a preference for spearpoint and clip point blades and this one is no different. It has an excellent point and the grind is high enough that it will still slice reasonably well for a 'hard-use' knife. The grind from the fuller on down is completely flat, I've not measured the angle of it or the edge but it's pretty slicey. Better than any striders or Hinderers (I've never used his "slicer" grind, for what its worth), better than the rift and contego. Definitely not on par with knives like the para2 family or the TiLT, but I don't think you would expect it to be. I've used it in the kitchen more than a few times just for fun, and had no problems chopping up fruit or vegetables and slicing meat. It slices cleanly without smashing. Duh, it will obviously not replace a kitchen knife, but has no problems making due.





As we all know, this place is full of different people with different preferences so keep that in mind, but this is my favorite knife I have found so far. The design, shape, ergonomics, and size give it a high degree of utility to me. I've never had the pleasure of owning one of the custom Dauntless pieces although I have seen and held several. Someday I'll probably pick one up to see how I like it, but in the meantime, I have a hard time seeing how they would have too much more over this one than a higher level of fit and finish.

Thanks for reading, I'm not a reviewer by any means.
If you think I missed something or want to see different pictures, please let me know.
I will come back and add notes and pictures as I have time and as I think of other things I'd like to add.

JTW

 

[jbob24]

In particular, I'd like to find out the hardness of the blade and the manufacturer

 

[jbob24]

reserved for future pictures

 

[oddball9971]

Nice review. I cannot wait for the next release of the dauntless, I just hope i am lucky enough to get one

 

[skippy302]

Thanks for taking the time to do this review jbob. Thinking of picking one of these up on the secondary market. Amazing that there is such a lack of real reviews of this knife. Just a lot of un-boxings and gushing about the fit and finish. I always want to say, "Yeah, but how does it perform?!" Anyway, thanks again.

 

[whateatsrabbits]

I just picked one up. It is top notch. I can't wait to put it to good use.

 

[TitaniumTim]

I just bought one. The blade, and handles have been changed. It is no longer a bead blasted finish. They went with a stonewashed finish now. It seems to hide the wear and tear marks much better. It is also much more resistant to rust. That was the main problem with the bead blast finish. It was very conducive to rusting. This is now my every day carry knife. It is the prefect size. I dont even know its in my pocket. The mechanics of the knife are as good as ive seen on any knife. TAD gear is a cool company. I think in March there is going to be a release with some new all Titanium, stonewashed version. I will have my order in for one of those for sure.

 

[Hairlesstwinkie]

Fantastic knife. It is a little thick behind the edges so I have mine at 34 degrees inclusive with 40 degrees microbevel that is slowly convexing since I'm sharpening it on stones now. Definitely one of my favorites. This unknown manufacturer sure knows how to make a near perfect if not perfect frame lock.