AD 20.5 Which blade style?

[Edgeoflife]

IMO, no. There are better knives out there for $275.
At $150, I think it’s just fine. Don’t let the hype make you pay more.

There are indeed better values on the market but when you already have lots of those good knives... Also keep in mind retail is 150 plus tax, shipping, and pp fees potentially for the seller as well so probably closer to 175 ish. i bought my 20.5 on the secondary and figure the seller may have profited 40 or so after everything. Hope this gives a little perspective for anyone considering a secondary market purchase AD20.5.

 

[N1N9]

There are indeed better values on the market but when you already have lots of those good knives... Also keep in mind retail is 150 plus tax, shipping, and pp fees potentially for the seller as well so probably closer to 175 ish. i bought my 20.5 on the secondary and figure the seller may have profited 40 or so after everything. Hope this gives a little perspective for anyone considering a secondary market purchase AD20.5.

For retail, I have never paid shipping for $150+, and there are no PP fees. Secondary market def has all of those factored in more often.

 

[jmgruber]

There are indeed better values on the market but when you already have lots of those good knives... Also keep in mind retail is 150 plus tax, shipping, and pp fees potentially for the seller as well so probably closer to 175 ish. i bought my 20.5 on the secondary and figure the seller may have profited 40 or so after everything. Hope this gives a little perspective for anyone considering a secondary market purchase AD20.5.

I appreciate the perspective, but at the end of the day it's still a $150 knife. Low supply, immediate gratification, hype and the internet knife community are the reason for the pricing of these early ones on the secondary market.

 

[Edgeoflife]

Ill post pics when it arrives

 

[Bigbluefish]

I’ll wait patiently for another drop, or another. I’d like a clip point, but I can wait, I have so many other knives.., even after selling what I’m going to be selling this sumner, I still will have more knives than I need. Besides, I’m still looking for a Malibu and have decided I must have a Thug, so… I’ll get my little Demko when I get my little Demko.

 

[RAGS]

id like a larger version of this more affordable one myself.

YES! would also love to see this!!

 

[tomsch]

I paid way to much for my AD20 on the secondary market just because I was not patient. I did pre-order the AD20.5 through KC but we will see when it actually arrives. This is not a knife that I'm willing to pay more than MSRP.

 

[SteelPanther]

Aus10...grivory....$150...usually a hyped up knife makes some sort of sense...but what? Its ugly, its thin, a "sharks foot" blade? lol you have all gone insane. Why is there a hole in front of the thumb stud? I'm baffled by this one. That's a $35 knife and a ugly one at that.

 

[Quiet]

Aus10...grivory....$150...usually a hyped up knife makes some sort of sense...but what? Its ugly, its thin, a "sharks foot" blade? lol you have all gone insane. Why is there a hole in front of the thumb stud? I'm baffled by this one. That's a $35 knife and a ugly one at that.

That's your opinion, and you're welcome to it. Many of us disagree.

 

[goldie]

Aus10...grivory....$150...usually a hyped up knife makes some sort of sense...but what? Its ugly, its thin, a "sharks foot" blade? lol you have all gone insane. Why is there a hole in front of the thumb stud? I'm baffled by this one. That's a $35 knife and a ugly one at that.

I do have to say that if this was a Cold Steel knife and not a Demko knife, it probably would be about 35-50.00 ;AUS10 and grivory for 150 is steep; i do like it,though just dont feel like spending 150 on it right now.

 

[jlauffer]

I do have to say that if this was a Cold Steel knife and not a Demko knife, it probably would be about 35-50.00 ;AUS10 and grivory for 150 is steep; i do like it,though just dont feel like spending 150 on it right now.

Based on the new Mini Recon 1, would say more like $60-70, but with a new "hot" lock, the Demko name, and very nice packaging with zippered case, not surprising it's higher.

 

[Edgeoflife]

Day 3 for the AD20.5 which hasn't left my pocket yet and has been used for all cutting tasks needed so far although nothing heavy yet but its well made with great F+F and could handle pretty much anything one could want to do from daily tasks to harder use. The handle has plenty of real estate for a full 4 finger grip and the scale texture is grippy without being too aggressive imo. Skeletonized full SS liners reside underneath. The shark lock is neat, locks up very solid, and works well out of the box. (which i might add is some pretty nice packaging and includes a soft lined zipper pouch with 3 pockets and a removable sharklock patch on top, a nice touch). Also included is a lefty clip and a microfiber cloth w Demko logo. (Thought a sharklock sticker was included also but maybe the original owner kept it lol).

The factory edge came nice and sharp with pretty even bevels on my example with good centering and a free swinging action. Today i loosened the pivot a tad and added a drop of nano oil 10wt to each bearing which improved the action even further. The thumb stud and opening aperture work well from either side and are easily finger flickable. The blade is fitted well to the pivot with no play or slop when the lock is disengaged and blade is wiggled or pulled. The clip position leaves maybe a half inch sticking out the pocket and has not created any hot spots so far with good retention and a stonewashed finish to match the blade, a good choice for hiding wear on both. Minor nit picks: with repeated flicking the shark lock can get a little sharp so may knock down the jimp on the corner a hair but its not a huge deal and the blade could be ground thinner bte but its designed for hard use and well i think every knife could be ground thinner anyway lol. Overall the 20.5 is definitely a user, a perfect size for EDC, and worth every penny imo .

edit: forgot to mention the unique sound the 20.5 makes when closing as well! Pretty cool

 

[jlauffer]

Day 3 for the AD20.5 which hasn't left my pocket yet and has been used for all cutting tasks needed so far although nothing heavy yet but its well made with great F+F and could handle pretty much anything one could want to do from daily tasks to harder use. The handle has plenty of real estate for a full 4 finger grip and the scale texture is grippy without being too aggressive imo. Skeletonized full SS liners reside underneath. The shark lock is neat, locks up very solid, and works well out of the box. (which i might add is some pretty nice packaging and includes a soft lined zipper pouch with 3 pockets and a removable sharklock patch on top, a nice touch). Also included is a lefty clip and a microfiber cloth w Demko logo. (Thought a sharklock sticker was included also but maybe the original owner kept it lol).
View attachment 1590652
The factory edge came nice and sharp with pretty even bevels on my example with good centering and a free swinging action. Today i loosened the pivot a tad and added a drop of nano oil 10wt to each bearing which improved the action even further. The thumb stud and opening aperture work well from either side and are easily finger flickable. The blade is fitted well to the pivot with no play or slop when the lock is disengaged and blade is wiggled or pulled. The clip position leaves maybe a half inch sticking out the pocket and has not created any hot spots so far with good retention and a stonewashed finish to match the blade, a good choice for hiding wear on both. Minor nit picks: with repeated flicking the shark lock can get a little sharp so may knock down the jimp on the corner a hair but its not a huge deal and the blade could be ground thinner bte but its designed for hard use and well i think every knife could be ground thinner anyway lol. Overall the 20.5 is definitely a user, a perfect size for EDC, and worth every penny imo .

Yeah I got the sticker with the clip point, but not the sharksfoot...figured the previous owner kept it.

 

[Lee D]

View attachment 1581255

This will be me the day mine arrives

I hope it’s quiet, or my wife will have my head

 

[Dadpool]

I hope it’s quiet, or my wife will have my head

It's pleasingly mechanical to my ear, but I wouldn't call it quiet. I dig the acoustics on this knife, and that plus the fidget factor makes it a lot of fun.

Definitely noisier than, say, a typical Axis lock (assuming you're Shark-flicking it).

 

[Hackenslash]

I’m late to the party. I got in on the BladeHQ drop and snagged a clip point. I’ve also ordered a Lynch NW clip for it. Looking forward to picking a color to dye the jade scales!

 

[Knives&Lint]

I’m late to the party. I got in on the BladeHQ drop and snagged a clip point. I’ve also ordered a Lynch NW clip for it. Looking forward to picking a color to dye the jade scales!

HAHA! Same here. I've yet to own a Demko, but I just happened to get an email alert last night for an AD20 with one of the retailers I had set up alerts for. As usual, it was already sold, but it appeared to be jade. So on a whim I searched Demko jade and serendipitously stumbled upon the BHQ release. The ability to dye made it an instant buy for me, I can't wait! I still haven't decided on color either. I went with the Shark's foot though, as I'm still hoping to pick up the clip point in the full size at some point later this year.

 

[Wharn]

I picked this one up back in December. I actually like the “jade” color. I can’t wait to get my hands on a real AD20.

 

[greater]

Clip point looks much better, has more cutting edge, and is slightly longer at 3 3/8 inches.

If you can't have a point for safety reasons or other and/or need a 3 inch blade to comply with local laws the sharks foot is good.

I don't know why they keep listing the Clip point as having a 3 inch blade when I have seen one measured at 3 3/8 inches.

Serrated sheep foot ("shark foot" that's marketing) version would probably be a good rescue knife and if that blade slot was wider it could probably make a good oxygen tank wrench as well. One nit pick is a rescue knife usually has bright handles. I remedied this by removing the orange scales on a clip point and replacing the dull colored scales on a serrated sharks foot version with them.

RGT micarta scales really turn these into a different knives altogether. These add on American infusions are slightly thicker and provide a much better grip and feel. You do lose that unusually thin (flat) profile that the grivory grips provide but the extra thickness of the micarta is by no means excessive.

I have to warn you these micarta grips significantly change color when exposed to oil. The orange RGT micarta comes delivered as a very light orange tan that turned burgundy after tiny bit of ballistol was rubbed into it. The blue denim micarta which actually feels like slightly oiled denim turned from a very faded blue jean color to greenish gray with tiny little white spots (denim jean white fabric) after oiling with balistol. Using a toothbrush and dishwashing liquid did lighten them a little but overall the after oil colors remained Not what I expected but they still look and feel great. Even if you don't oil these I suppose the oils from your hand and sweat will do the same eventually.

I have to say even in stock configurations these are not cheap $35.00 knives. They have caged ball bearings around the pivots, fit and finish is second to none right out of the box. Blades came sharp with even grinds out of the box. Unlike the triad lock (a great lock) which is based on the well established lock back design with a few added modifications the shark lock is a new design that would likely need new tooling to manufacture. I do not consider AUS 10 garbage steel at all. It's an adequate steel. The shark lock delivers in just about every area that people whine about. It's super strong (I wish people would whine more about protecting their fingers than easy one hand closing,) it opens easier and definitely close safer, faster, and easier than most other one handers on the market.

So they want a small starting company to produce a knife in the US with super steel and a great but very unique locking system that needs to have a US factory (another good questions is will a US factory even do it) set up their tooling to produce and sell it for $150.00 to compete with huge established knife manufacturers that make knives in established factories using standard designs and tooling otherwise sell it for $35.00 dollars if you are forced to use standard quality steel and a foreign factory that is willing to make it to top specs. Dream on it's a problem but I haven't heard one common sense solution. Maybe you will just have to wait for the design to become established if you want to pay a lower price which i doubt will be $35.00.

Pictures are not great but they are a fairly accurate approximation. The denim looks black in the picture but it's has a greenish tint to it in reality.

The bone linen micarta seems to hold true to it's color. I have not tried oiling it but water does not change it's color (a good test to see what oil will do.) It's smoother but still has texture because it's not polished. It does not have that fabric like feel of denim or canvas like the other micarta grips. I think it is a good approximation of bone. I have read that bone linen micarta yellows over time with exposure to UV. I prefer the non yellow color but the yellowish colors I have seen on the web are not bad either in my view. I can live with it.

 

[John Watson]

After reading all the hype and watching all the youtube videos on the 20.5 I finally found one available from the Cutlery Shop just this week. I can tell you that the knife isn't worth the $150 being charged for it. That being said, so many people saying the same thing have purchased one or waiting for one to come available.

Within the last month I purchased a Civivi Relic and Cogent asking with the 20.5. The Demko is the smallest of the three. All three have different steels, Nitro V, 14C28n and AUS 10. All three have different locking mechanisms, liner lock, button lock and Demko's lock.

I enjoy all three along with the ton of other knives I own. While I still think the buck fifty was a bit harder to punch the buy button on, I will say that the shark lock is fast superior to the Benchmade Axis simply due to the large bearing surfaces and the simple coil spring. I don't trust the omega spring.

I used the 20.5 to make dinner today just so I could get to actually use it. The blade is somewhat short for the task at hand but cutting up celery and sausage. It seamed that the blade wanted to slice off to one side when slicing the celery long ways but I can't say for sure it wasn't me. The knife came perfect, centered blade, even grind and great fit and finish. I have to say the lock is stiff at first and rather with sharp edges

My only suggestion would be to ease the edges of the locking tab.