- Joined
- Feb 14, 2019
- Messages
- 204
I just received my Kickstarter knife, the WESN Allman. Anticipated delivery was end of July, so they're a little over a month late. Supposedly the hold up was the lanyard bead, which...whatever.
That aside, the knife itself is, at first glance, pretty solid. The fit and finish is nice, I opted for the gunmetal framelock version. The finish is consistent. All of the edges that should be chamfered are chamfered. The flipper tab is sufficiently jimped. The jimping on the spine is perhaps a little aggressive, but I haven't really cut anything other than paper with it, so haven't had to really bear down on them yet to see if that will be an issue. Lockbar access is...ok. Wouldn't mind perhaps a deeper access to it, but I do have fat fingers and haven't slipped off yet so maybe it's not an issue.
The action is ok. I'm pretty sure it's on washers, doesn't seem as smooth as bearings. I haven't had a chance to disassemble it yet, but will update when I do. It's nowhere near fall shut, but I doubt that's possible with a blade this short and thin. It's an all titanium frame with a stainless lockbar insert. Weight wise, the website says it weighs 3.65oz, but I don't have a scale to confirm. The Kizer Gemini lists the same weight and I'd say it's close. There doesn't seem to be any internal milling in the titanium.
I love the form factor, especially when closed. It seems to be a very pocketable knife. The clip concerns me, there's not a lot of ramp to it. I haven't tried pocketing it yet but if there is a weak point, it's definitely the clip.
The knife feels great in hand. I've got small'ish but fat hands but can get a solid four finger grip, and can even hammer grip comfortably. It feels good in a pinch grip too, although with this tip style, not sure you would be doing any precision cutting with it.
Speaking of the blade... It's supposed to be S35VN, but it's not stamped anywhere. There's a small brand mark under the jimping on the show side of the blade. Really minor complaint, but I wish they'd made the letters line up with the jimping better. The blade design is a love it or hate it type, apparently. I remember when I first posted about it, it was described as a potato. Personally, I like it. Not as much as I did when I first saw it, but it's still different enough that it's appealing. It was very sharp out of the box, push cut harbor freight pages with no problem. The grind appears to be even. Sharpening it on my KME will be interesting with the dramatic belly on the tip.
That's my first impressions. Just opened it tonight, going to try to carry it for a few days and then will report back with more info as I have it and develop a more informed opinion.
Pictures if you're interested: https://imgur.com/a/rC2du7W
That aside, the knife itself is, at first glance, pretty solid. The fit and finish is nice, I opted for the gunmetal framelock version. The finish is consistent. All of the edges that should be chamfered are chamfered. The flipper tab is sufficiently jimped. The jimping on the spine is perhaps a little aggressive, but I haven't really cut anything other than paper with it, so haven't had to really bear down on them yet to see if that will be an issue. Lockbar access is...ok. Wouldn't mind perhaps a deeper access to it, but I do have fat fingers and haven't slipped off yet so maybe it's not an issue.
The action is ok. I'm pretty sure it's on washers, doesn't seem as smooth as bearings. I haven't had a chance to disassemble it yet, but will update when I do. It's nowhere near fall shut, but I doubt that's possible with a blade this short and thin. It's an all titanium frame with a stainless lockbar insert. Weight wise, the website says it weighs 3.65oz, but I don't have a scale to confirm. The Kizer Gemini lists the same weight and I'd say it's close. There doesn't seem to be any internal milling in the titanium.
I love the form factor, especially when closed. It seems to be a very pocketable knife. The clip concerns me, there's not a lot of ramp to it. I haven't tried pocketing it yet but if there is a weak point, it's definitely the clip.
The knife feels great in hand. I've got small'ish but fat hands but can get a solid four finger grip, and can even hammer grip comfortably. It feels good in a pinch grip too, although with this tip style, not sure you would be doing any precision cutting with it.
Speaking of the blade... It's supposed to be S35VN, but it's not stamped anywhere. There's a small brand mark under the jimping on the show side of the blade. Really minor complaint, but I wish they'd made the letters line up with the jimping better. The blade design is a love it or hate it type, apparently. I remember when I first posted about it, it was described as a potato. Personally, I like it. Not as much as I did when I first saw it, but it's still different enough that it's appealing. It was very sharp out of the box, push cut harbor freight pages with no problem. The grind appears to be even. Sharpening it on my KME will be interesting with the dramatic belly on the tip.
That's my first impressions. Just opened it tonight, going to try to carry it for a few days and then will report back with more info as I have it and develop a more informed opinion.
Pictures if you're interested: https://imgur.com/a/rC2du7W