Wow.. this topic is Hot now..
:thumbup:
My Findings:..
Most of my First impressions became true in reality except for one.
I definitely like the bladeshape of the red knife more.
First a small apology for being a bit late, and being short on pics.. but a lot of working pics were taken with the camera of a colleague, and after waiting for over week for him to send them over by e-mail he managed to erase them while trying to transfer them to his pc.. So I only have a few I took at home. I am so XX sorry.
The initial sharpness was adequate for my edc jobs, so I did no touching up.
I carried the knives one after another for a whole week and used them during tasks I usually do with my leatherman, my sebbie, my hobbyknife, or my knife of the day (think Bushie, Fällkniven NL-5, F-1, Hairy Carry or Bravo-1) This means cutting tiewraps. Cutting sheets of colorgel, as used in the lighting industrie. Cut parts of my lunch (including a hot dog with mustard and ketchup, which quickly formed a nice patina), cut open some boxes and packages, work with leather and kydex. Cutting sticks in the woods, poking coins out of crooked slots etc.
-Cutting cardboard was a breeze. It wedged in denser (dense is the word) types of cardboard thoo.
-tiewraps snapped open in a breeze. The tip was fine enough, and the edge thin enough to cut them very efficiently. No wriggling or prying needed. (I had pics of these!). Need to be carefull tho, as the edge is one to be carefull with to keep it in shape.
-Buttering a sandwich, and cutting the ingredients felt never so comfortable and inspiring to eat more.
-I cut a couple of branches of my grape-tree (how do you call them?), and it was smooth as it could be.
When going in the outdoors for more then a day I will certainly take a bigger knife with me, and in my bob Id like something more big too. So for me its more a around the house, going to work type of knife, But I sure would like one like this for that.
I enjoyed the knifes a lot and felt privileged to have the only side by side comparison. It will certainly fit in my edc rotation when made of a really high-end stainless steel (but a bit lesser high-end will do just fine, but make it stainless).
The handle
Is very comfortable in many positions and needs no change whatsoever imo.
The guard could be a little smaller to my taste, to allow more control during finer work. Also the thin tip is obvious not made to stab or pry with, so a small guard will suffice.
I prefered the feel of wood. The G-10 felt to slippery. Micarta would be even better.
The steel
For this kind of knife I would suggest to use a stainless, or almost stainless, steel with excellent edge-holding capabilities, like CPM S90V etc.
The grind
Is superdooperwhooper. Its the kind of edge that cuts even when blunted a bit, like an opinel, sak or mora. In dense types of cardboard they do tend to wedge, so why not have a thinner stock, but keep the same grind. The flat parts on this sabre grind will also easier allow for sharpeningsystems that use clamps, like the Lansky, to be used. This is no prybar, right?
Thickness
I think 0.15 will be very adequate for a slicer like this.. Keep the grind.
Weight
I did like the lighter one more. The tapering is a nice touch of quality, but I could do without.
I dont need the sensation of weight to feel this is a serious tool that is up to hard cutting.
Sheaths
Are very nice and will do the job well, but I do think youll have to invest in a decent rivetpress Dan. Split rivets are not.. euhh.. worthy?
Personally Is like a sheath with a thinner profile, and a clip maybe, which I could comfortable slip in any of my pockets.
Finaly the pics
The Hard Use Stuff!!
I tried to baton it, but didnt succeed, cause It slices like a laser, and fell right through the medium..
Cutting Old Cheese is hard, as the edge tends to dig in and wedge to a halt
Carefull shavings are very well possible though.. Yummy!
The fine tip (The tip IS fine Dan. Its as fine as my Leek ;-)) cuts like a Hobbyknife, but so much more comfortable. Heres where more edgeholding would be a pro.
Its with the finer work where the Red one is more comfortable.
Also on the job, cutting thick tiewraps holding cables round steel tubes, the thinner point is easier to squeeze in a small opening. The thin edge is great, and very much suited for this kind of whittling.
Its also better suited for scraping away the goo below your toe nails. Its a good thing you washed them down Fatty.. J
After 2 weeks of use.. a quick wipe-up, and restoring initial sharpness..
Lets go stainless with this one please..
Hope it helps..
It was a nice experience, and thank you for letting me, as a European, in on it.
Cheers,
Cant wait what the other guys have to say..
martin
