Tell me about the ROK

Triton

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2000
Messages
35,559
I recently saw a "Thrill" posted in the for sale section. I liked the looks of it and was especially intrigued by the retractable pocket clip. However, I discovered it is a slip joint. That prompted me to go check things out at the Lionsteel website. There I found thr a Rok which has the same pocket clip mechanism. Do you own one? If so what do you think? How is the action? Ergonomics? Lock up? Heat treat?

Also I am typically not a big flipper guy. Is there something similar with the retractable pocket clip in a thumb stud driven offering?
 
Interesting... No one has one yet? Or perhaps I need to remember patience is a virtue? :)
 
I own a Ti Rock and a Ti Thrill. Both are great knives. I picked the thrill over the traditional Lionsteel slipjoints because of the clip and because the spring is part of the rest of the knife. Sounds like a novelty and I agree that it kinda is one but I just love the smooth feeling when opening it. It is easily one of the most enjoyable slipjoint knives I ever handled. Clip works great as well.
The ROK is also a great knife. You should consider the Ti version's weight though. IMHO it is still all right but it shouldn't be any heavier (the SR-1 Ti e.g. was too heavy for my taste). Flipping action is good but to be honest I just tried it when I got it. I use it as a two hand opening knife because of legal restrictions here but as I said: It is a good flipper. Lionsteel had some problems with the T.R.E.'s action. It was next to impossible to set the detent in a way that it was a good flipper and good thumb opening knife but since thumb opening isn't an option for the regular ROK (Lamnia has a dealer exclusive with thumdisk afair) and both flippers and two hand opening knives require a strong detent the ROK is fine with the flipper tab and without. Milling is great (Lionsteel's milling usually is), the clip is really cool. It works good for what it is. It's a non-deepcarry pocket clip. It sticks out a bit, it will hold your knife in your pocket. However, it's clamping power is limited. You cannot clamp your knife upside down on shirt or something.
When it comes to cutting both knives perform well. The ROK certainly is no slicer but it slices better than other solid knives, e.g. the SR-1. I wouldn't use it as a scalpel (at least not on someone I like) but I would use it to cut an apple. The Thrill has a relatively thin, slicy blade. Both are suitable for typical EDC tasks. Steel is M390 and it's hardened to about 58-60 HRC. IMHO there are no problems with soft Italian M390 and there never were. It was 99% made up bullshit. It's true that other companies have some M390 knives that were hardened to 63hrc or even higher but 58-60hrc is a viable choice for EDC knives. Spyderco e.g. is often mentioned as a company that hardened it's M390 to 63hrc but while there are Para 2 dealer exclusives with 63hrc the recent Para 3 LWs come at 59-60hrc IIRC and there is nothing wrong with it. Youtuber Cedric e.g. tested a TRC with Italian M390 three years ago and it came out as one of the best knives in regard of edge retention:
 
M390 is at 60HRC secondary hardening. Better way for wear resistance.
 
I like my ROK. It was very stiff at first, flips just fine now.
Double tap detent when closing is my only gripe.
boy2bGX.jpg
 
I own a Ti Rock and a Ti Thrill. Both are great knives. I picked the thrill over the traditional Lionsteel slipjoints because of the clip and because the spring is part of the rest of the knife. Sounds like a novelty and I agree that it kinda is one but I just love the smooth feeling when opening it. It is easily one of the most enjoyable slipjoint knives I ever handled. Clip works great as well.
The ROK is also a great knife. You should consider the Ti version's weight though. IMHO it is still all right but it shouldn't be any heavier (the SR-1 Ti e.g. was too heavy for my taste). Flipping action is good but to be honest I just tried it when I got it. I use it as a two hand opening knife because of legal restrictions here but as I said: It is a good flipper. Lionsteel had some problems with the T.R.E.'s action. It was next to impossible to set the detent in a way that it was a good flipper and good thumb opening knife but since thumb opening isn't an option for the regular ROK (Lamnia has a dealer exclusive with thumdisk afair) and both flippers and two hand opening knives require a strong detent the ROK is fine with the flipper tab and without. Milling is great (Lionsteel's milling usually is), the clip is really cool. It works good for what it is. It's a non-deepcarry pocket clip. It sticks out a bit, it will hold your knife in your pocket. However, it's clamping power is limited. You cannot clamp your knife upside down on shirt or something.
When it comes to cutting both knives perform well. The ROK certainly is no slicer but it slices better than other solid knives, e.g. the SR-1. I wouldn't use it as a scalpel (at least not on someone I like) but I would use it to cut an apple. The Thrill has a relatively thin, slicy blade. Both are suitable for typical EDC tasks. Steel is M390 and it's hardened to about 58-60 HRC. IMHO there are no problems with soft Italian M390 and there never were. It was 99% made up bullshit. It's true that other companies have some M390 knives that were hardened to 63hrc or even higher but 58-60hrc is a viable choice for EDC knives. Spyderco e.g. is often mentioned as a company that hardened it's M390 to 63hrc but while there are Para 2 dealer exclusives with 63hrc the recent Para 3 LWs come at 59-60hrc IIRC and there is nothing wrong with it. Youtuber Cedric e.g. tested a TRC with Italian M390 three years ago and it came out as one of the best knives in regard of edge retention:

Thank you very much for the detailed reply! It certainly helps me make my decision!
 
Back
Top