For the past week, I've been testing out the zuava that Jack put up in his very generous giveaway. LIke my usual method of testing, I totally immerse myself in the knife being used by emptying my pockets of any other knife so's to eliminate any temptation to pull out something else. This past week included a stay in the Shenandoah mountain property that Karen's cousin owns. This is heavy forrest covered mountain just off the Reed's Gap area of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Karen's cousin Barbara and her husband Bob are county folks at heart, and like to retreat to the mountains for hiking and gardening.
Bob likes to play farmer Bob on a small tilled plot, and we dug potatoes and onions for dinner one afternoon. The guava was used to trim off the top growth of the onions when pulled up from the earth, and this was some dirty work. The stainless steel in the Maserin made blade did well, with only a very slight dulling go the edge on all the dirty. For dinner some cucumbers and tomatoes, also from the garden were sliced up, and no resharpening was needed. Cucumber was sliced clean with no shredding. The evening was a bit chilly at that altitude, and a light misty drizzle was falling, so the fire pit was lit. Some kindling was readied and then it was marshmallow roasting time. Karen and Barbara wanted to some nice sharpened sticks so the zuava was again pressing into service to sharpen some good roasting sticks. Local wood, maybe poplar or maple was sued, and the knife cut nice thin slices from the wood.
The knife looks a bit odd to American eyes, but the strange downturn at the end of the handle is really a very nice feature. It hooks under the end finger of your grip, and increases your hold on a small knife exponentially. Very nice especially if things are damp or cold. I'm coming to love the handle shape. The blade pull is smoothing out, and I've noticed a weird things about tit. The first 1/3 of the way out, the blade pull is very light and smooth, and even an old fart with arthritis has no problem with either using the nail nick or pinching the blade. Then at between 1/3 and 1/2 the blade acts like there is a mild half stop. There is no sharp corners on the tang of the knife, and it is a cam tang, but there is a nice soft pause at the halfway point. Then when pulled further, it snaps out into the open position with a nice authority. Closing the knife, there is a definite push needed to "break" the knife and cart the blade closed. Once past the halfway point to closing, it is smoothly pulled closed by the spring with good but not great authority. I love it. It's like the knife was really designed to be used by a workingman and maybe pulled out many times a day for a quick cut on something and put away with no fan fair, but also little effort into using it. It's a very hand friendly and easy to use knife. It's a workman's knife.
Now that I've had this knife enough to have really sued it in some semi dirty working conditions, it's plain that this knife was designed for real world use. The workmanship is not great, but good enough to do the job. It's kind of lie the 300 series Buck pocket knives; a tiny bit rough here and there, but they will still be with you when the job is done. Even if it's a rough job. The brass liners on this knife are pretty thick, as is the bolsters. The more I look at this knie and use it, it's more and more clear that Maserin made this for a tradesman. A very sturdy little knife, probably complying with Italian law, but strong enough for a construction worker to use on the job site, or a factory worker to open boxes or bags of whatever. This knife can be opened with no problem while wearing work gloves.
My respect for Maserin has grown a lot over the past week. Italian knives hold get more attention.
While a tad smaller than a 93mm SAK, the blade holds an edge noticeable better, and feels better in hand than under some conditions.
Liners and bolsters.
Bob likes to play farmer Bob on a small tilled plot, and we dug potatoes and onions for dinner one afternoon. The guava was used to trim off the top growth of the onions when pulled up from the earth, and this was some dirty work. The stainless steel in the Maserin made blade did well, with only a very slight dulling go the edge on all the dirty. For dinner some cucumbers and tomatoes, also from the garden were sliced up, and no resharpening was needed. Cucumber was sliced clean with no shredding. The evening was a bit chilly at that altitude, and a light misty drizzle was falling, so the fire pit was lit. Some kindling was readied and then it was marshmallow roasting time. Karen and Barbara wanted to some nice sharpened sticks so the zuava was again pressing into service to sharpen some good roasting sticks. Local wood, maybe poplar or maple was sued, and the knife cut nice thin slices from the wood.
The knife looks a bit odd to American eyes, but the strange downturn at the end of the handle is really a very nice feature. It hooks under the end finger of your grip, and increases your hold on a small knife exponentially. Very nice especially if things are damp or cold. I'm coming to love the handle shape. The blade pull is smoothing out, and I've noticed a weird things about tit. The first 1/3 of the way out, the blade pull is very light and smooth, and even an old fart with arthritis has no problem with either using the nail nick or pinching the blade. Then at between 1/3 and 1/2 the blade acts like there is a mild half stop. There is no sharp corners on the tang of the knife, and it is a cam tang, but there is a nice soft pause at the halfway point. Then when pulled further, it snaps out into the open position with a nice authority. Closing the knife, there is a definite push needed to "break" the knife and cart the blade closed. Once past the halfway point to closing, it is smoothly pulled closed by the spring with good but not great authority. I love it. It's like the knife was really designed to be used by a workingman and maybe pulled out many times a day for a quick cut on something and put away with no fan fair, but also little effort into using it. It's a very hand friendly and easy to use knife. It's a workman's knife.
Now that I've had this knife enough to have really sued it in some semi dirty working conditions, it's plain that this knife was designed for real world use. The workmanship is not great, but good enough to do the job. It's kind of lie the 300 series Buck pocket knives; a tiny bit rough here and there, but they will still be with you when the job is done. Even if it's a rough job. The brass liners on this knife are pretty thick, as is the bolsters. The more I look at this knie and use it, it's more and more clear that Maserin made this for a tradesman. A very sturdy little knife, probably complying with Italian law, but strong enough for a construction worker to use on the job site, or a factory worker to open boxes or bags of whatever. This knife can be opened with no problem while wearing work gloves.
My respect for Maserin has grown a lot over the past week. Italian knives hold get more attention.
While a tad smaller than a 93mm SAK, the blade holds an edge noticeable better, and feels better in hand than under some conditions.
Liners and bolsters.
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