- Joined
- Dec 7, 2001
- Messages
- 227
(yeah, I got bored and wondered which of the cheap daggers would be the most useful)
Click here for link to page with all the pics (not put here for bandwidth reasons) http://members.aol.com/djrs001/daggers.htm
Specs:
OAL:
Camillus C77: 8 5/8"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: 5 3/4"
Cudeman: 9 3/16"
Blade Length:
Camillus C77: 4 1/8"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: 2 5/8"
Cudeman: 4 3/4"
Blade Thickness:
Camillus C77: 3/32"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: 1/16"
Cudeman: 1/8"
Blade Material:
Camillus C77: 440 series (presumably 440A), matte black "parkerised" finish
Cold Steel ParaEdge: AUS-6A, chisel-ground and partially serrated.
Cudeman: 440 Toledo, no idea what but assuming 440C or possibly 440V given results.
Handle Material:
Camillus C77: Black Valox
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Kraton rubber.
Cudeman: Burgundy stained Stamina Wood.
Sheath:
Camillus C77: Push-fit, black Leather with boot/belt clip.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Push-fit, Concealex.
Cudeman: Spanish leather with thumbbreak retainer and boot/belt clip
Price:
Camillus C77: $27.95 (worldwideknives.com price)
Cold Steel ParaEdge: $30.95 (wiorldwideknives price)
Cudeman: approx $35, no US supplier I know of but this is a rough extrapolation.
------------------------------------
First impressions:
Blades:
Camillus C77: First thing that struck me was the unusual finish. Very highly textured, felt like a Teflon coating. Certainly reflects absolutely zero light. Virtually no flex. A nice, generic twin-edged blade, but didn't feel sharp at all to my thumb.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Well isn't that a dinky little thing. Looks and feels tiny compared to the other two. Has "made in Japan" proudly printed on it. One thing I'm very worried about is the chisel grind. Not to my liking really, but it means maintenance of the edge should be easy. I'm as always in two minds about the serrations. In theory, they;re a good idea for tougher work. In reality, I'd rather the blade was fully-serrated on one side an fully plain on the other. This 60/40 split is neither one beast nor other. Didn't feel sharp but then again chisel grinds never do.
Cudeman: Very clean, crisp grind lines, the elephant logo is nicely done, looks every inch a classic boot knife other than the fact it's single-edged, not twin edged. I have no idea why its single edged, maybe something to do with Spanish knife laws? Disappointingly, the edge grind is uneven for the last 1/2" and the blade doesn't feel especially sharp to my thumb.
Handles:
Camillus C77: Hard plastic, chequered, feels all right in forward hammer grip and F-S grip, although uncomfortable in reverse. Contours are ok, but the exposed tang feels a mite sharp and the hard plastic really turns me off, it doesn't feel reliable as a grip and I could imagine it slipping easily. Also the guard, although attractive in a way, feels a little to narrow and the curves mean mt thumb and fingers could easily slide up and over with a hard thrust. We'll see.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Kraton rubber makes an excellently grippy handle, although I wish they're reinforced the hilt. Again worries about my hand sliding up the blade. Surprisingly feels comfortable any way you grip it, although it's not huge it feels very secure.
Cudeman: Very very attractive. Ergonomic curves, and by far the most comfortable handle here for all grips. Does feel a bit slippery in comparison to the Kraton of the ParaEdge though and I have niggling doubts of retaining my grip if it was wet. Full tang as with the Camillus, I can only assume the ParaEdge isn't.
Sheaths:
Camillus C77: Oh dear. This looks more like something you'd find on a Pakistan-made POS than an American knife. I know they do it to keep the costs down, but really this thing is hideous. Very cheap looking, but on the plus side the belt/boot clip is very solid. Despite the lack of any retention mechanism, the knife refused to fall out no matter how hard I shook it.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Standard hard plastic push-fit. The only thing lacking is a boot/belt clip, but this is intended as a neck knife after all. It wears well for IWB or boot carry even lacking this. You could probably get away with strapping it to your inner forearm/wrist if you were that way inclined.
Cudeman: Very thick high quality durable brown leather. Nice touch having an elephant head badge on the sheath and on the stud fastener Just a boot/belt clip to hold it, but it feels very strong and is mounted between the two leather halves rather than riveted to the back as the Camillus is.
Design:
Camillus C77: Truly a classically styled boot knife. Short blade, small guard, full tang. My non-knife-loving friends said it looked a little psycho-killer-ish mainly because of that wicked coating. the curves of the handle that flow neatly into the guard look quite elegant, but with that coating it could only be something nasty.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Looks small and dare I say "cute". It's not a lot of knife for the money in comparison with the other two, but I think the serrations may tip the scales in it's favour.
Cudeman: I really love the way this looks. I prefer a diamond cross-section on my daggers, but this twin saber grind just looks right for this knife. The only con to it is the guard. Looks a bit stubby and the edges are sharp and could snap on clothing. Non-knife friends decided this was the one they'd least like to be stabbed with.
Overall:
Camillus C77: Not a great first impression, I'd say it's definitely in last place out of the three. I was expecting more. Balance is approx 1 3/4" behind hilt, which is a little to far back to me.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: I like it. It's simple, efficient, a good price, and a steel I know is far from the best, but has always been reliable before.
Cudeman: An early lead I think, with the ParaEdge a close second and the Camillus lagging way behind. If the ParaEdge were the same size as the Cudeman, I'd prefer it but as it stands, this is the best of the three. The handle slabs are gorgeous in the flesh.
-------------------------------------
Sharpness/cutting tests:
Explanation: I know there's no one use that these things will get. They are however, all small daggers/boot knives, and are intended to do roughly the same thing for roughly the same price. Therefore I set up a simple (and short) number of tests to have a rough guestimate of how well they would hold up. I considered doing a Cliff Stamp "test to destruction" (and may do so if enough people wish) but decided against it since it isn't really likely that I'll be using one of these to block a blow from an assailant armed with a steel pipe or pry open the hatch on a Conqueror¹ after all
. So: Hair shaving from my forearm, because we all do this, right? Push-cutting paper, again because we all like to test the polish on a blade and this is a good standard. Usual A4 sized paper, one push down the entire length. Cutting the poly rope: a fairly usual size (1/2" diameter) of standard poly, cut by doubling it in my hand and running the blade through, hilt to point. Another simple task that seems to be a standard test, and something a lot of us do during an average day. Wood shaving because again it's something many members do. I can't say I do it but it's a fairly standard test. Wood used for cutting was a single 8 foot length of seasoned and stained spruce 1/2" thick and 2 1/8" wide. The leather mentioned is an old knife sheath 3/16" thick English leather. Both thrusts into wood were made with the blade aligned with the grain. the leather was gaffa-taped to the same length of wood. I didn't use full=power thrusts as I was holding the wood upright and only holding the blade with one hand, approx 12" from the wood before driving it through. Obviously the wood flexed, but it was just a simple standard that requires no special equipment or measurement.
Shaving:
Camillus C77: An absolute no-no. NIB, this thing didn't even scrape the hairs from my arm.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: NIB, was just about scrape-shaving.
Cudeman: Kershaw/Spyderco-like is all I need to say. This thing was scary-sharp and removed all the hair from in a 1 1/2" path in two strokes.
Push-cutting standard A4 lined paper:
Camillus C77: Didn't like it at all. Made it with no effort, but tore the paper instead of cleanly slicing it.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Sliced through cleanly and effortlessly as I was expecting.
Cudeman: Didn't even have to think about it. It's own weight was sufficient to drop the knife through.
Cutting 1/2" Poly rope:
Camillus C77: Took 12 strokes.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Through in three strokes. Tiny little blade but the serrations really came into play here, I don't think the plain part of the blade even touched the poly.
Cudeman: Two slices and it was through, albeit with more fraying than seen with the other two
Wood shaving:
Camillus C77:The heretofore unused edge took a 2 3/4" slice out with a single whittling-stroke, and gentle push-cutting removed 1/2" curls. The edge that had been used to the poly did nothing whatsoever.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Truly excelling itself here. Using the flat side against the wood, it would take off as much as I wanted with either a push-cut or a slice along the plain part of the blade. Using the sharpened side against the wood created perfect precision curls.
Cudeman: Slicing would take a 1/8" deep, 3" carve out without effort, push cutting would go on taking curls as long as I wished, again with no effort.
45 degree cut into wood:
Camillus C77: 2 separate slices into the corner of the wood dug 5/32" deep.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Because of it's lack of length, I took two slices with the plain edge, the second into the first's cut. Went 5/32" in. The same technique using the serrated as well as the plain edge went 5/16" deep.
Cudeman: 1/2" cut with a single slice, I get the feeling it could have gone more.
Underhand thrust into wood:
Camillus C77: Penetrated 7/32".
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Penetrated 7/32"
Cudeman: Penetrated 3/16".
Overhand thrust into wood:
Camillus C77: Penetrated 7/32"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Penetrated 7/32"
Cudeman: Penetrated 3/16".
Underhand thrust into leather:
Camillus C77: Failed to penetrate sheath, cut created an impression on the back side (almost penetrated)
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Penetrated leather (just) and put an immeasurably slight dent into the wood.
Cudeman: Penetrated leather (just) and immeasurably slight dent into wood.
Overhand thrust into leather:
Camillus C77: Penetrated the entire sheath and dug 1/32" into the wood.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Same as underhand thrust. NB, both thrusts left a distinct semi-circular cut as opposed to a straight one.
Cudeman: Penetrated sheath and went 1/32" into wood. NB both thrusts left a triangular-shaped wound channel.
Paper again:
Camillus C77: Much worse than before. On the heavily-used edge, it got approx 1/3rd of the way through before ripping, on the light-use edge approx 2/3rds.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Sliced just as freely, with a tiny amount more ripping to the paper.
Cudeman: Still effortlessly slicing clean and crisp.
Hair again:
Camillus C77: Don't make me laugh, this thing could barely cut it's way out of a paper bag by now. Not even attempting to shave, just irritating the skin.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Failing to scrape by now.
Cudeman: Still removing what's left of my forearm hairs with consummate ease. Not quite SCARY sharp, but still shaving with no problems
Overall:
Camillus C77: Oh dear oh dear oh dear. This just went from bad to worse. Started off with an edge clearly more biased to slicing than push-cutting, but the slicing quickly reduced it's usefulness. I think this knife deserves a test to destruction.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Well it's clear the serrations make it great for the poly and wood. But we all already knew that didn't we. If you could keep the plain edge away from the hard stuff I've no doubt it would make a good push-cutter or very light duty slicer.
Cudeman: The clear winner of all the tests. Shaving, powerful slicing abilities, and precision cutting would be no problem. The only thing it falls down on is the thrusting into the wood, which is to be expected with it only having one sharp edge as opposed to the others having two.
-------------------------------------
Re-sharpening:
Camillus C77: 15 seconds on my ceramic hone brought it up to hair-scraping sharpness, but it would take a complete re-profile to make it shave I think. Certainly a drastic measure. Re-profiling one side for push-cutting (approx 15-20 degree edge) and keeping one coarse for slicing sounds like a good idea, but the edge holding is bad enough as it is, I dread to think what thinning the edge out would do.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: approx 35 seconds on the ceramic and it was shaving sharp (just).
Cudeman: Didn't need it, but if so I think the ceramic hone will bring it back to scary-sharp
-------------------------------------
Summation:
Well, after all that (or maybe you skipped all that just to get here), you might still be wondering why I bothered doing this with three knifes that are so differently styled. Well, firstly: why not? And secondly, they have more similarities than they do disparities. the price point is the biggest, I was looking at something small and affordable by everyone, not needing to shell out $100+ just to get something usable. And of course none of these is really that big, all could be concealed easily if needed and could quite easily be used on a camp site where a Machax for example would get a lot of funny looks.
So. The summation is: Forget the Camillus. Maybe I got a duff one, it somehow slipped through QC, but somehow I doubt it. The look of the sheath enough tells me something very important about just how much cost-cutting has gone into the blade. . Moving on, I'd say that for an EDC for an office worker, someone that'll just cut parcels open and maybe tackle a vicious apple or two, the Cold Steel ParaEdge would hands-down be the most useful of the three. Small, comfortable, and sharp and easily resharpened.
But for someone that wants a real using knife that'll cut all day and look much nicer than the other two, the Cudeman is the obvious choice. If I were to go back to my former trade (Electro-Mechanical fitter-come-welder-come-carpenter-come-plumber, where I could get away with carrying a fixed blade), this would be the one for me.
Heh, this was so long I got an error message telling me to reduce it
Click here for link to page with all the pics (not put here for bandwidth reasons) http://members.aol.com/djrs001/daggers.htm
Specs:
OAL:
Camillus C77: 8 5/8"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: 5 3/4"
Cudeman: 9 3/16"
Blade Length:
Camillus C77: 4 1/8"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: 2 5/8"
Cudeman: 4 3/4"
Blade Thickness:
Camillus C77: 3/32"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: 1/16"
Cudeman: 1/8"
Blade Material:
Camillus C77: 440 series (presumably 440A), matte black "parkerised" finish
Cold Steel ParaEdge: AUS-6A, chisel-ground and partially serrated.
Cudeman: 440 Toledo, no idea what but assuming 440C or possibly 440V given results.
Handle Material:
Camillus C77: Black Valox
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Kraton rubber.
Cudeman: Burgundy stained Stamina Wood.
Sheath:
Camillus C77: Push-fit, black Leather with boot/belt clip.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Push-fit, Concealex.
Cudeman: Spanish leather with thumbbreak retainer and boot/belt clip
Price:
Camillus C77: $27.95 (worldwideknives.com price)
Cold Steel ParaEdge: $30.95 (wiorldwideknives price)
Cudeman: approx $35, no US supplier I know of but this is a rough extrapolation.
------------------------------------
First impressions:
Blades:
Camillus C77: First thing that struck me was the unusual finish. Very highly textured, felt like a Teflon coating. Certainly reflects absolutely zero light. Virtually no flex. A nice, generic twin-edged blade, but didn't feel sharp at all to my thumb.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Well isn't that a dinky little thing. Looks and feels tiny compared to the other two. Has "made in Japan" proudly printed on it. One thing I'm very worried about is the chisel grind. Not to my liking really, but it means maintenance of the edge should be easy. I'm as always in two minds about the serrations. In theory, they;re a good idea for tougher work. In reality, I'd rather the blade was fully-serrated on one side an fully plain on the other. This 60/40 split is neither one beast nor other. Didn't feel sharp but then again chisel grinds never do.
Cudeman: Very clean, crisp grind lines, the elephant logo is nicely done, looks every inch a classic boot knife other than the fact it's single-edged, not twin edged. I have no idea why its single edged, maybe something to do with Spanish knife laws? Disappointingly, the edge grind is uneven for the last 1/2" and the blade doesn't feel especially sharp to my thumb.
Handles:
Camillus C77: Hard plastic, chequered, feels all right in forward hammer grip and F-S grip, although uncomfortable in reverse. Contours are ok, but the exposed tang feels a mite sharp and the hard plastic really turns me off, it doesn't feel reliable as a grip and I could imagine it slipping easily. Also the guard, although attractive in a way, feels a little to narrow and the curves mean mt thumb and fingers could easily slide up and over with a hard thrust. We'll see.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Kraton rubber makes an excellently grippy handle, although I wish they're reinforced the hilt. Again worries about my hand sliding up the blade. Surprisingly feels comfortable any way you grip it, although it's not huge it feels very secure.
Cudeman: Very very attractive. Ergonomic curves, and by far the most comfortable handle here for all grips. Does feel a bit slippery in comparison to the Kraton of the ParaEdge though and I have niggling doubts of retaining my grip if it was wet. Full tang as with the Camillus, I can only assume the ParaEdge isn't.
Sheaths:
Camillus C77: Oh dear. This looks more like something you'd find on a Pakistan-made POS than an American knife. I know they do it to keep the costs down, but really this thing is hideous. Very cheap looking, but on the plus side the belt/boot clip is very solid. Despite the lack of any retention mechanism, the knife refused to fall out no matter how hard I shook it.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Standard hard plastic push-fit. The only thing lacking is a boot/belt clip, but this is intended as a neck knife after all. It wears well for IWB or boot carry even lacking this. You could probably get away with strapping it to your inner forearm/wrist if you were that way inclined.
Cudeman: Very thick high quality durable brown leather. Nice touch having an elephant head badge on the sheath and on the stud fastener Just a boot/belt clip to hold it, but it feels very strong and is mounted between the two leather halves rather than riveted to the back as the Camillus is.
Design:
Camillus C77: Truly a classically styled boot knife. Short blade, small guard, full tang. My non-knife-loving friends said it looked a little psycho-killer-ish mainly because of that wicked coating. the curves of the handle that flow neatly into the guard look quite elegant, but with that coating it could only be something nasty.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Looks small and dare I say "cute". It's not a lot of knife for the money in comparison with the other two, but I think the serrations may tip the scales in it's favour.
Cudeman: I really love the way this looks. I prefer a diamond cross-section on my daggers, but this twin saber grind just looks right for this knife. The only con to it is the guard. Looks a bit stubby and the edges are sharp and could snap on clothing. Non-knife friends decided this was the one they'd least like to be stabbed with.
Overall:
Camillus C77: Not a great first impression, I'd say it's definitely in last place out of the three. I was expecting more. Balance is approx 1 3/4" behind hilt, which is a little to far back to me.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: I like it. It's simple, efficient, a good price, and a steel I know is far from the best, but has always been reliable before.
Cudeman: An early lead I think, with the ParaEdge a close second and the Camillus lagging way behind. If the ParaEdge were the same size as the Cudeman, I'd prefer it but as it stands, this is the best of the three. The handle slabs are gorgeous in the flesh.
-------------------------------------
Sharpness/cutting tests:
Explanation: I know there's no one use that these things will get. They are however, all small daggers/boot knives, and are intended to do roughly the same thing for roughly the same price. Therefore I set up a simple (and short) number of tests to have a rough guestimate of how well they would hold up. I considered doing a Cliff Stamp "test to destruction" (and may do so if enough people wish) but decided against it since it isn't really likely that I'll be using one of these to block a blow from an assailant armed with a steel pipe or pry open the hatch on a Conqueror¹ after all
. So: Hair shaving from my forearm, because we all do this, right? Push-cutting paper, again because we all like to test the polish on a blade and this is a good standard. Usual A4 sized paper, one push down the entire length. Cutting the poly rope: a fairly usual size (1/2" diameter) of standard poly, cut by doubling it in my hand and running the blade through, hilt to point. Another simple task that seems to be a standard test, and something a lot of us do during an average day. Wood shaving because again it's something many members do. I can't say I do it but it's a fairly standard test. Wood used for cutting was a single 8 foot length of seasoned and stained spruce 1/2" thick and 2 1/8" wide. The leather mentioned is an old knife sheath 3/16" thick English leather. Both thrusts into wood were made with the blade aligned with the grain. the leather was gaffa-taped to the same length of wood. I didn't use full=power thrusts as I was holding the wood upright and only holding the blade with one hand, approx 12" from the wood before driving it through. Obviously the wood flexed, but it was just a simple standard that requires no special equipment or measurement.Shaving:
Camillus C77: An absolute no-no. NIB, this thing didn't even scrape the hairs from my arm.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: NIB, was just about scrape-shaving.
Cudeman: Kershaw/Spyderco-like is all I need to say. This thing was scary-sharp and removed all the hair from in a 1 1/2" path in two strokes.
Push-cutting standard A4 lined paper:
Camillus C77: Didn't like it at all. Made it with no effort, but tore the paper instead of cleanly slicing it.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Sliced through cleanly and effortlessly as I was expecting.
Cudeman: Didn't even have to think about it. It's own weight was sufficient to drop the knife through.
Cutting 1/2" Poly rope:
Camillus C77: Took 12 strokes.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Through in three strokes. Tiny little blade but the serrations really came into play here, I don't think the plain part of the blade even touched the poly.
Cudeman: Two slices and it was through, albeit with more fraying than seen with the other two
Wood shaving:
Camillus C77:The heretofore unused edge took a 2 3/4" slice out with a single whittling-stroke, and gentle push-cutting removed 1/2" curls. The edge that had been used to the poly did nothing whatsoever.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Truly excelling itself here. Using the flat side against the wood, it would take off as much as I wanted with either a push-cut or a slice along the plain part of the blade. Using the sharpened side against the wood created perfect precision curls.
Cudeman: Slicing would take a 1/8" deep, 3" carve out without effort, push cutting would go on taking curls as long as I wished, again with no effort.
45 degree cut into wood:
Camillus C77: 2 separate slices into the corner of the wood dug 5/32" deep.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Because of it's lack of length, I took two slices with the plain edge, the second into the first's cut. Went 5/32" in. The same technique using the serrated as well as the plain edge went 5/16" deep.
Cudeman: 1/2" cut with a single slice, I get the feeling it could have gone more.
Underhand thrust into wood:
Camillus C77: Penetrated 7/32".
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Penetrated 7/32"
Cudeman: Penetrated 3/16".
Overhand thrust into wood:
Camillus C77: Penetrated 7/32"
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Penetrated 7/32"
Cudeman: Penetrated 3/16".
Underhand thrust into leather:
Camillus C77: Failed to penetrate sheath, cut created an impression on the back side (almost penetrated)
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Penetrated leather (just) and put an immeasurably slight dent into the wood.
Cudeman: Penetrated leather (just) and immeasurably slight dent into wood.
Overhand thrust into leather:
Camillus C77: Penetrated the entire sheath and dug 1/32" into the wood.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Same as underhand thrust. NB, both thrusts left a distinct semi-circular cut as opposed to a straight one.
Cudeman: Penetrated sheath and went 1/32" into wood. NB both thrusts left a triangular-shaped wound channel.
Paper again:
Camillus C77: Much worse than before. On the heavily-used edge, it got approx 1/3rd of the way through before ripping, on the light-use edge approx 2/3rds.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Sliced just as freely, with a tiny amount more ripping to the paper.
Cudeman: Still effortlessly slicing clean and crisp.
Hair again:
Camillus C77: Don't make me laugh, this thing could barely cut it's way out of a paper bag by now. Not even attempting to shave, just irritating the skin.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Failing to scrape by now.
Cudeman: Still removing what's left of my forearm hairs with consummate ease. Not quite SCARY sharp, but still shaving with no problems
Overall:
Camillus C77: Oh dear oh dear oh dear. This just went from bad to worse. Started off with an edge clearly more biased to slicing than push-cutting, but the slicing quickly reduced it's usefulness. I think this knife deserves a test to destruction.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: Well it's clear the serrations make it great for the poly and wood. But we all already knew that didn't we. If you could keep the plain edge away from the hard stuff I've no doubt it would make a good push-cutter or very light duty slicer.
Cudeman: The clear winner of all the tests. Shaving, powerful slicing abilities, and precision cutting would be no problem. The only thing it falls down on is the thrusting into the wood, which is to be expected with it only having one sharp edge as opposed to the others having two.
-------------------------------------
Re-sharpening:
Camillus C77: 15 seconds on my ceramic hone brought it up to hair-scraping sharpness, but it would take a complete re-profile to make it shave I think. Certainly a drastic measure. Re-profiling one side for push-cutting (approx 15-20 degree edge) and keeping one coarse for slicing sounds like a good idea, but the edge holding is bad enough as it is, I dread to think what thinning the edge out would do.
Cold Steel ParaEdge: approx 35 seconds on the ceramic and it was shaving sharp (just).
Cudeman: Didn't need it, but if so I think the ceramic hone will bring it back to scary-sharp
-------------------------------------
Summation:
Well, after all that (or maybe you skipped all that just to get here), you might still be wondering why I bothered doing this with three knifes that are so differently styled. Well, firstly: why not? And secondly, they have more similarities than they do disparities. the price point is the biggest, I was looking at something small and affordable by everyone, not needing to shell out $100+ just to get something usable. And of course none of these is really that big, all could be concealed easily if needed and could quite easily be used on a camp site where a Machax for example would get a lot of funny looks.
So. The summation is: Forget the Camillus. Maybe I got a duff one, it somehow slipped through QC, but somehow I doubt it. The look of the sheath enough tells me something very important about just how much cost-cutting has gone into the blade. . Moving on, I'd say that for an EDC for an office worker, someone that'll just cut parcels open and maybe tackle a vicious apple or two, the Cold Steel ParaEdge would hands-down be the most useful of the three. Small, comfortable, and sharp and easily resharpened.
But for someone that wants a real using knife that'll cut all day and look much nicer than the other two, the Cudeman is the obvious choice. If I were to go back to my former trade (Electro-Mechanical fitter-come-welder-come-carpenter-come-plumber, where I could get away with carrying a fixed blade), this would be the one for me.
Heh, this was so long I got an error message telling me to reduce it
