Can a kind member show me where I can read about the different Hinderer folders? These are what I know so far:
1. They're awesome!
2. There are 3 models - XM-24, XM-18 3.5" blade and XM-18 3" blade
3. Current XM-18 Gen is 3
4. Latest production blades are Carpenter Steel
What about the Gen 1 and Gen 2? What were the differences or modifications made? What steels were used? I saw D2, Duratech and S30V. What Gen is the XM-24 now?
I'll try and give a brief response off the top of my head. I'm a big fan of Rick's knives and other stuff (Kubatons, Pens). I finally had the opportunity to meet Rick and Rob O in person last week. Two top notch guys! I'm proud to support RHK!
Rick has been in the business for almost 25 years so over the years, he has had a ton of different designs. The most popular is the XM-18. The new ZT knife is or will be a production of the Camp Knife. Gerber has also done a few designs of Rick's (Torch, Flame, and some others). Rick has some sweet fixed blades right now too (Field Tac, FXM, Flashpoint).
As far as the XM's go, the XM-18 has basically had three generations, but Rick has been constantly improving the design. There are bigger differences than I'm listing, but simply put the Gen 1 had a half liner/G10 combo scale, milled lock face, marked hand ground blades. Gen 2's have a full titanium liner with the G10 scale, marked hand ground blades. The Gen 3's have Hinderer on the lock face around the pivot and the CNC ground blades. There are also the custom Gen 3s with the hand ground blades. There are various blade styles, but the production being the Spanto grind. Although the 24's are new, they are built similar to a gen 3 XM-18.
The majority of the XM-18s have the Duratech steel and I think all the 24's have the XHP-CTS steel.
I'm sure there will be some more detailed responses, this should get you started or at least give some basic info to research. There are also other forums that RHK is involved with that can give you a lot of information.
