tatsu,
The false edge may make it look like the knife is good for penetration, but I do not feel that this is actually the case.
See the middle of an earlier comment I made, which I will paste in here:
SERE 2000 comment. The things I like about this knife are the deep pocket clip, VG-10 Steel, comfortable handle, good fit and finish, and Jeff Randalls recommendation. The blade has a nice long working edge, with some belly at the point. The false edge would make for better thrusting, and if you did over stress the knife, it might allow the tip to break off still leaving you with an inch or so of cutting edge. Some people have commented on angles on the knife being less preferable than a flat ground. I would just comment that the edge is flat ground, goes up, tapers in slightly at the back, and in the front tapers in significantly, because of the false edge. If it was flat from edge to back you would have a thicker spine to provide resistance while cutting. Of course you could change angles, etc.
The ambidextrous thumb studs work fine to open the knife. So does a downward wrist snap and roll, possibly because of the careful fit and smoothness. Despite the ability to snap this knife open the blade is securely held in the handle so it will not open accidentally.
My only negative comment on the knife deals with its thrusting ability and that the appearance emphasized this. Sergiusz commented could be very decent thruster from looking at the blade shape in a thread here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000728.html Actually, appearances are deceiving as this is not true. Ironically this is the only thing I have found wrong with the knife. The shoulders where the false edge meets the spine are at 90 degrees to the point, or in other words are totally flat. Try stabbing a cardboard box to cut out a handle or some similar use. The
shoulders grab. I am not sure whether this was done for appearance, because it was to difficult to relieve this shoulder, angle it, or just added cost to relieve it. If it was the cost, I would gladly pay a buck or two extra to angle these shoulders back at 45 degrees or something. I suppose I dont dislike them enough to get out a diamond hone, especially since I would almost certainly affect the appearance negatively. Think Al Mar would do it?
It appears that there are many forum members that have this knife. What do you thing about these sharp shoulders?
To get back to the positive, this is a excellent knife. Having the clip attach to the end of the knife, not the side, is great. Came sharp.
This comment was posted in this thread:
SERE 2000 review
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/001933-2.html
There were a couple of replies on this point.
I have had the knife for a while and my comments are still generally the same. Since that time I took my X-Course DMT Diamond Hone and rounded off the shoulders, then worked my way to finer diamonds to smooth the finish a little. If anyone else chooses to "improve" their knife this way, I would put some tape along the false edge to protect the finish of the false edge. I did this after I put in my first scratch.
You might also want to tape the edge to somewhat protect yourself from getting cut....of course if you do, don't cut yourself removing the tape. I did not do this....must have been worried I would cut myself removing the tape.
I had not problem, and of course decided on this improvement, after I just stropped the edge, to make it hair popping sharp.
I do recall that when I first sharpened the knife I changed the angle. It now matches my Sharpmaker 204.
Perhaps Jeff Randall will have some more comments on the SERE 2000 when he returns shortly from his trip to Southern Costa Rica. I would be interested in his opinion of the sharp shoulders.
Does anyone else have other knifes with a false edge like this. How do they end (and I do not mean the point end
)? For example, anyone have the Camillus Cuda CQB2S, pictured by BladeForums. From the picture it appears to have a false edge, with shoulders that slope back, from bottom to top, but are the other angles sloped?
Bagheera,
I too am a close acquaintance of Mr. Murphy. Luckily, this knife came to me with a fine fit and finish. I do recall, by looking very hard, some slight gap, less than a human hair, where the metal fit together, but nothing even I would complain or worry about. I do not have the knife on me, so I do not recall more exactly. Today, I am carrying the opposite extreme, my knife only weighs 1.4 oz. or 1.6 ounces if you include the slip sheath.
If no one can suggest an alternate address or contact, you could just try snail mail to the address which I assume TK put at the end of the review, as is there usual practice. If you do not have the article, I can look for you. Just send me an email (which should be in my profile) letting me know you need it and I will look at the article for you. I imagine that I will also be revisiting this thread. I just realized I have the box here. The box says Al Mar Knives, P.O. Box 2295, Tualatin, OR 97062 and gives their web site as
www.almarknives.com . I imagine you have this information, since you have the telephone number, but just in case. Would whoever you got the knife from be of any assistance? Good luck! As alluded to above, I can unfortunately empathize from personal experience. Now off to look at your linked picture.
Donald.
