Airkat Tripwire Passaround Review

[TOB9595]

Here is the Airkat Passaround Thread

The AirKat is a Duane Carillo Handmade creation. The grinds are masterfully done. The knife is a folder weighing 9 ounces. Yet the knife rides well in the pocket. Probably due to the geometric sculpting of the handle.
This is a substantial knife....some would say Beastly or Manly!
Here it is in comparison to a Severtech and a BenchMade/Emerson CQC7b.

Note the lock cutout on the blade. I don't remember seeing this type of framelock before. PLease refresh my memory if you know of other knives that have this. I don't really know if this is a functional or aesthetic touch.
Lockup is solid and I couldn't get it to flex or release.

In Hand it is quite large and thick.

The grinds are truly magnificent. Though I don't have a value for the sharpened choil or cutout.

 

[TOB9595]

Cuttin and piercing with the Airkat was a difficult experience.

The sculpted sharp handle dug into my hand making any really hard thrust impracticable.

I did really like the lock

Cutting reinforced garden hose was disappointing also. It only pull cut so/so with a sawing motion

Push cutting on a hard surface didn't happen...tho I may be weaker than most folk, lately.

I compared two knives I had in my pocket for the push cut.
A Spyderco Polliwog

and a Benchmade 941? both plain edge.

 

[TOB9595]

Both EDC knives did the pushcut very well and easy.

All in all the Airkat is a well crafted, ground piece of work that I do not have much use for in my edc world.
Tom

 

[T.K.C.]

GREAT review!! THANKS a bunch!

 

[jack lowe]

AWESOME PICS!!! so would you buy one if you had the chance? what did you think of the clip? i am really looking forward to my chance at it! i liked the size comparision with the severtech. did you think the grips were skinny compared to the severtech? :thumbup: great review!

 

[Walking Man]

Nice review. Why do think it didn't cut as well? Was it sharp enough or is it the edge geometry. Thanks.

 

[Pyromancer]

Boy, that's real thick, it's no surprize it has almost no cutting ability. Mostly a sharpened folding prybar I imagine

Do you have any idea what that sharpened choil is for?

Impressive looking, but performance wise...

Desmond

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Interesting work, I would have expected it to cut well for shallow work in spite of the stock thickness as the edge looks really wide and thus the angle should be acute, if there a secondary edge bevel? Was the knife sharp? Can you cut with the round area in the choil?

-Cliff

 

[TOB9595]

The knife edge is sharp. It slices thin material like leather strip and fruit strips well.
The choil area is very sharp tho trying to find a stick the diameter of the choil was tiresome.
Don't know why the cutting of the reinforced garden hose went poorly.
The scales are among the thickest I've held.
Much thicker than the Severtech or BM/Emerson
Tom

 

[TOB9595]

added that you can see in the push cut pic of the Airkat that it was really compressing the hose. The edge never had a chance to bite in...
Tom

 

[samhain73]

Note the lock cutout on the blade. I don't remember seeing this type of framelock before. PLease refresh my memory if you know of other knives that have this. I don't really know if this is a functional or aesthetic touch.

Striders have this, the SnG and SMF.

 

[Walking Man]

added that you can see in the push cut pic of the Airkat that it was really compressing the hose. The edge never had a chance to bite in...
Tom

Ah ha! It might be that the edge is too smooth, and doesn't catch like it might if it was sharpened a little more roughly.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Thanks for the details, can you check the edge under magnification, I am curious about the possibility of a more obtuse micro-bevel.

-Cliff

 

[Laceration]

Ah ha! It might be that the edge is too smooth, and doesn't catch like it might if it was sharpened a little more roughly.

Well, he was trying to push cut the hose so shouldn't the opposite be true. Looking at the bevel, it looks like the edge is very rough and isn't polished at all unless there is a microbevel we're not seeing. How does it perform with a draw cut?

 

[DaveH]

I was surprised that for me it could draw cut a faily thin piece of paper pretty well, but push cut was pretty much non existant. The edge was acute and sharp but not polished.

ALso for hard use the pocket clip has to be removed or redesigned, it hurts too much to grip very hard. Also the thumbstuds teneded to snag for me. I'll email Dwaine and ask what the sharpened coil is for.

 

[TOB9595]

Thanks for the details, can you check the edge under magnification, I am curious about the possibility of a more obtuse micro-bevel.

-Cliff

AH HA!!!!
There is a slight slight slight secondary bevel seen under 10x magnification.
Near the choil 10x

10x

10x

Tom

 

[Laceration]

Slight is an understatement. That looks more like an uncomplete grind rather than an on purpose micro(secondary bevel) or maybe a few freehand swipes on a fine stone before shipping. The whole layout of the knife doesn't scream precision and fine woodworking. To me it says "cut through the door skin of a Russian helicopter and slam me right through the pilot's sternum". Of course, this is utterly ridiculous but on first glance so is this knife. It seems to be more of an exercise in form rather than function. Regardless, this is what appeals to me most about it. Maybe it's meant to dismantle SCUD's or cleave Zombie's in two. Maybe it can function as a capable albeit large EDC for mundane tasks in the hands of supersized folks. Maybe it's just a cool looking showpiece that was never meant to be really used. I'm looking forward to the other passaround folks to chime in and let us know what they think.

 

[warden41272]

"Cool looking showpiece that was never meant to be really used" sounds about right. It is cool-looking, though.

 

[DaveH]

Dwaine on the sharpen circular areq:

That is a vertical recurve grind. Can be used for whittling,cutting string
or cord.....basically just a secondary edge.

 

[jack lowe]

tom is it alright if i post my review of the Airkat here?