Anyone tried Camillus Beast?

M

muradtexas

Joined
Apr 7, 2012
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Saw it at Walmart. Tanto blade. Made in Taiwan, I think. Says it's VG-10 steel with G-10 handles. Has some silly gimmicks for walmart people on the package, but was wondering if anyone has any real life experience with it.
 
blade is titanium btw......with the carbo nitride/vg 10 steel edge....or something....IDK...made in china doesn't work for me....
 
The blade is not titanium. It's "titanium carbonitride" coated. It also doesn't make sense to me that they're VG-10 and made in China since VG-10 isn't exported as a raw material. Rather it's probably the Chinese equivalent, but that means you don't get Japanese standards of quality control in the steel production.
 
I just saw the knife today too at wallyworld, pretty big, alittle gimmicky but Id like to play with it abit just to see what its like.
 
I've read that Acme United is producing Camillus knives these days. From what I read, it's not good news.
 
It also doesn't make sense to me that they're VG-10 and made in China since VG-10 isn't exported as a raw material. Rather it's probably the Chinese equivalent, but that means you don't get Japanese standards of quality control in the steel production.
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Well, Kershaw/Zero Tolerance somehow got Hitachi to export ZDP-189, so getting VG-10 doesn't seem impossible.
 
Acme owns the "new" Camillus--yes. It was initially not good news because they came out with a bunch of Chinese-made models of dubious quality, but they introduced some new USA-made models this year. My guess is that they had to contract the work out to start off with with so they could generate capital for property, plant, and equipment to restart USA production. That doesn't mean the offshore stuff is going to disappear, but I'm very pleased with their decision to reopen a USA production center. That's no small move on their part!
 
Mephtyrm said:
Well, Kershaw/Zero Tolerance somehow got Hitachi to export ZDP-189, so getting VG-10 doesn't seem impossible.
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Ah--but remember that KAI, Kershaw/ZT's parent, is a Japanese company. That probably helped a lot in terms of orchestrating something like that.
 
I picked one up the other day from Walmart and so far I'm impressed with it. It is pretty heavy, but keep in mind it is a big knife. Out of the package it needed a little help to get where I wanted it to be. I took it apart and took a little tension off the lock bar because it was way to tight. It had to be touched up with a 204 and used some benchmade blue lube and it opens great. There is no blade play and the fit and finish is good for what it is. I picked it up for a user, so we will see how it holds up.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. ngtwlf2 (nightwolf, is it?) please keep us posted. I'd like to learn more about the quality of a blade.
 
broe said:
blade is titanium btw......with the carbo nitride/vg 10 steel edge....or something....IDK...made in china doesn't work for me....
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No no, the blade is VG-10 with I THINK is basically a glorified TiNi coating. Also, made in china knives can be very good. The Spyderco Tenacious, for example: very popular knife. Really, a reliable company outsourcing certain knives to other countries for a cheaper price just makes the tolerances a little lower, that's all. I got a kershaw drone and it's a good knife, the only thing is that the blade steel is cheaper and on the softer side. But depending on who you are it shouldn't really matter with the blade steel, as long as it's not like the hardness of cookie dough or something.
 
ngtwlf2 said:
I picked one up the other day from Walmart and so far I'm impressed with it. It is pretty heavy, but keep in mind it is a big knife. Out of the package it needed a little help to get where I wanted it to be. I took it apart and took a little tension off the lock bar because it was way to tight. It had to be touched up with a 204 and used some benchmade blue lube and it opens great. There is no blade play and the fit and finish is good for what it is. I picked it up for a user, so we will see how it holds up.
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What did you do to relieve tension on the lock bar? I want to do that, too.
 
I just got mine today, the only complaint I have is that the grind is at a very obtuse angle, making slicing somewhat more difficult, and the liner lock is just a LIIIIIIIITTLE bit recessed in the handle so it's a little hard to reach, but there's a little spot in the presentation side of the handle where part of the steel liner has been left out. I bet I can take away the part of the scale that is directly above that and leave a little room to reach the lock.
 
I've had mine for a couple of months now and while generally impressed with the fit and finish of the knife, the 'carboniride' coating is starting to chip off. have been trying to get in touch with camillus regarding how this is going to affect the underlying steel and as of yet three emails and two phone calls have gone unanswered :(
 
I went to look at one the other day at Walmart. The guy behind the counter said they're not allowed to show the knives over the counter to anyone. That's why they're in the glass display case. I told him I just wanted to see how it feels and functions in my hand. He apologized and said they wont let him. I told him, well you're not going to make any sales then. And walked away.

I'm curious about it as well. Inlaws want to get me something for Xmas and I was looking at this for a decent inexpensive worker.
 
Etoews said:
I've had mine for a couple of months now and while generally impressed with the fit and finish of the knife, the 'carboniride' coating is starting to chip off. have been trying to get in touch with camillus regarding how this is going to affect the underlying steel and as of yet three emails and two phone calls have gone unanswered :(
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The coating is just a coating. All it does is add some corrosion resistance and make it "look cool." I wouldn't worry about that aspect, but the fact you haven't received an official response in spite of repeated attempts to contact them doesn't bode well for their customer service.
 
Thanks folks for the honest reviews. I was honestly interested in this knife but need to wait till I get home to pick it up.
 
Frankie-5-Knives said:
I went to look at one the other day at Walmart. The guy behind the counter said they're not allowed to show the knives over the counter to anyone.
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You either had a lazy employee, or an idiot, I've never been told that and I have knives handed over the counter to me at WM all the time.
 
I managed th sporting goods dept. For wally-world and i did all the time. That assoicate must be defective
 
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