Recieved last week on a trade with a little cash thrown in, a tanto pointed, chisel ground purely tactical 5" bladed, braided handle wrapped knife. This is made by Steve Isbell or Steve45 as he is known here abouts.
The knife has a about 5" blade ground on the left side of A2 tool steel(.025") hardened to 58Rc. The grinds lines of the primary and secondary cutting edges are absolutely perpendicular to the spine. That is they are dead nuts straight. The spine has a slight scallop to aid in penetration and is also very well done. Very even and not to deep as to sacrifice the strength of the blade. It arrived relatively sharp, and I should quantify this, I believe it was used in transit by someone at UPS. It arrived haphazardly thrown into the box with some of the wrapping still around it. It also had one large deep scratch down the back of the of the blade and one could see where the chisel grind on the point was marked up. Steve very graciously offered to make me a new knife or even polish out and resharpen this one. But you know the story, once you get into your hands it is hard to let it go back. I took care of that on my own accord and am thankful to Steve for the offer. Great customer service. It also has a static line iwb sheath of kydex, that although very simple is eminently serviceable. This is really my first tactical knife that won't be used for anything other than its intended purpose so in all honesty probably won't see alot of use. I would hope anyways. Well did the requiste cutting on hanging rolled newspapers and stabbing and thrusting into hickory and seasoned maple logs with 0 damage to the point or the edge. It still shaves hair in other words. Very deep slashes and thrusts. I also did some quick withdrawals from the iwb sheath and after shortening the cord is fairly fast albeit in a reverse grip. The knife is very comfortable to carry too, just behind the right hip and stays there without alot of moving around. It is very well hidden. I also did a paper bag test that it passed with flying colors. I take an mt paper bag and thrust and slash at it to see how easy it is to penetrate without moving the bag around alot. Did excellant in this regards. The handle is black lace wrapped and lacquered so it is very grippy. Even when my hands were getting slippery the knife didn't seem to want to move at all. Bottom line is that if you don't want to wait for a RJ Martin or JSP or simply can't afford one(I can't with a son in college) you should really give Steve a look see. First rate customer service, tactical tools that are as he says "bad to the bone", and first rate quality with excellant materials used. Keep'em sharp
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The knife has a about 5" blade ground on the left side of A2 tool steel(.025") hardened to 58Rc. The grinds lines of the primary and secondary cutting edges are absolutely perpendicular to the spine. That is they are dead nuts straight. The spine has a slight scallop to aid in penetration and is also very well done. Very even and not to deep as to sacrifice the strength of the blade. It arrived relatively sharp, and I should quantify this, I believe it was used in transit by someone at UPS. It arrived haphazardly thrown into the box with some of the wrapping still around it. It also had one large deep scratch down the back of the of the blade and one could see where the chisel grind on the point was marked up. Steve very graciously offered to make me a new knife or even polish out and resharpen this one. But you know the story, once you get into your hands it is hard to let it go back. I took care of that on my own accord and am thankful to Steve for the offer. Great customer service. It also has a static line iwb sheath of kydex, that although very simple is eminently serviceable. This is really my first tactical knife that won't be used for anything other than its intended purpose so in all honesty probably won't see alot of use. I would hope anyways. Well did the requiste cutting on hanging rolled newspapers and stabbing and thrusting into hickory and seasoned maple logs with 0 damage to the point or the edge. It still shaves hair in other words. Very deep slashes and thrusts. I also did some quick withdrawals from the iwb sheath and after shortening the cord is fairly fast albeit in a reverse grip. The knife is very comfortable to carry too, just behind the right hip and stays there without alot of moving around. It is very well hidden. I also did a paper bag test that it passed with flying colors. I take an mt paper bag and thrust and slash at it to see how easy it is to penetrate without moving the bag around alot. Did excellant in this regards. The handle is black lace wrapped and lacquered so it is very grippy. Even when my hands were getting slippery the knife didn't seem to want to move at all. Bottom line is that if you don't want to wait for a RJ Martin or JSP or simply can't afford one(I can't with a son in college) you should really give Steve a look see. First rate customer service, tactical tools that are as he says "bad to the bone", and first rate quality with excellant materials used. Keep'em sharp
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