Ive had my 9 Inch Combat Patrol Bowie from Allen Blade for a week now, so I
guess its time to do a mini-review on it.
Description:
The blade (5160, zoned hardened with a very noticeable temper line) is full flat
ground, has a dropped edge, 1/4 inch thick, 9 1/4 inches long, and has an unsharpened
clip about 4 inches long. The blade is 1 7/8 inches wide at its widest point. The blade has a 7/8 inch long ricasso, nicely rounded on the bottom, making it very comfortable to choke up on the blade. The top of the blade is also nicely rounded. The knife is a hidden tang design. Allen tells me the tang is full thickness and about 1 inch wide, very strong.The knife has a full guard (of brass), 3 inches wide, elliptical shaped , flat on the blade side, and nicely radiused on the handle side. The guard is very comfortable. The handle is of 1 piece of black canvas micarta , 5 inches long. Allen calls this his Contoured Sporting Grip with Enhanced Palm Swells. It is very comfortable for a variety of grips.
The pommel is of 6061-T6 aluminum with a lanyard hole (also supplied with an OD
paracord lanyard). Allen also provided thin spacers with a color sequence of
black-white-red-white-black between the guard and the grip, and between the grip and
the pommel (very nice). The entire knife is bead blasted and has a clear, flat, lacquer like finish, giving the knife a grey tone (very attractive but also very subdued). The knife weighs about 20 ounces and has a balance point about 3/4 inches in front the guard.
The sheath that came with the knife is one of Allens standard black Concealex,
right hand, drop sheaths with a 1 3/4 inch belt loop. The sheath and belt loop are of .093 and .125 thick material,respectively. The belt loop runs down about 80% of the length of the sheath to add stiffness to the whole assembly. It is assembled with black button head screws with hex socket recesses and aluminum screw posts. Allen also drills plenty of extra lashing holes. The sheath fits the knife perfectly with just the right amount of
retention with no play or rattle. The sheath doesnt scratch the blade either. The sheath grips the knife at the tip of the blade and the sides of the guard. After pulling and reinserting the knife many times, the only indications of wear are very slight marks in the lacquer on the tip of the blade and on the sides of the guard.
Fit and Finish:
Superb! The grinds are perfectly symmetrical. There are no gaps at the guard nor handle. The plunge areas at the ricasso are perfect. There are no sharp edges (other than the cutting edge). The Concealex sheath is the best Ive seen yet.
Performance:
When I first got the knife, I immediately went out into the garage to give it a test drive. The knife came with a slightly toothy edge designed for slicing and chopping. It push shaved hair quite easily right out of the box. I chopped a piece of 2x4 into 4 pieces with the only detrimental effect being some minor marking on the lacquer finish. There were no chips on the cutting edge nor in the lacquer finish. After chopping through the
2x4 twice, the edge would still shave hair. I then proceeded to slice a length of fiberglass banding tape (tough stuff) into about 20 pieces. After I got done with slicing the fiberglass banding tape, it wouldnt push shave hair but it was still plenty sharp enough to slice up some ham for supper.
After supper, I got the Spyderco Sharpmaker out and gave the edge about 25
strokes on each side (white, fine grit rods). I then stropped the edge about 10 strokes on each side. Result:It would shave the hair off my arms very easily. I think 5160 makes the ideal knife blade. It holds an edge quite well and sharpens very easily. What more could you ask for?
Conclusions:
Allen Blade makes excellent knives. His Combat Patrol Bowie is the best value I
have owned to date. The Combat Patrol Bowie will make an great camp knife or
survival knife (whatever that is). Would I buy another knife from Allen Blade? You
betcha. I already have another on order (a Recon Patrol Leader in 5160, of course). The
next time I talk to Allen, Ill have to question him on what all he makes. I might as well getem whilst da gettin is good.
------------------
John
[This message has been edited by ICEMAN (edited 05-01-2000).]
guess its time to do a mini-review on it.
Description:
The blade (5160, zoned hardened with a very noticeable temper line) is full flat
ground, has a dropped edge, 1/4 inch thick, 9 1/4 inches long, and has an unsharpened
clip about 4 inches long. The blade is 1 7/8 inches wide at its widest point. The blade has a 7/8 inch long ricasso, nicely rounded on the bottom, making it very comfortable to choke up on the blade. The top of the blade is also nicely rounded. The knife is a hidden tang design. Allen tells me the tang is full thickness and about 1 inch wide, very strong.The knife has a full guard (of brass), 3 inches wide, elliptical shaped , flat on the blade side, and nicely radiused on the handle side. The guard is very comfortable. The handle is of 1 piece of black canvas micarta , 5 inches long. Allen calls this his Contoured Sporting Grip with Enhanced Palm Swells. It is very comfortable for a variety of grips.
The pommel is of 6061-T6 aluminum with a lanyard hole (also supplied with an OD
paracord lanyard). Allen also provided thin spacers with a color sequence of
black-white-red-white-black between the guard and the grip, and between the grip and
the pommel (very nice). The entire knife is bead blasted and has a clear, flat, lacquer like finish, giving the knife a grey tone (very attractive but also very subdued). The knife weighs about 20 ounces and has a balance point about 3/4 inches in front the guard.
The sheath that came with the knife is one of Allens standard black Concealex,
right hand, drop sheaths with a 1 3/4 inch belt loop. The sheath and belt loop are of .093 and .125 thick material,respectively. The belt loop runs down about 80% of the length of the sheath to add stiffness to the whole assembly. It is assembled with black button head screws with hex socket recesses and aluminum screw posts. Allen also drills plenty of extra lashing holes. The sheath fits the knife perfectly with just the right amount of
retention with no play or rattle. The sheath doesnt scratch the blade either. The sheath grips the knife at the tip of the blade and the sides of the guard. After pulling and reinserting the knife many times, the only indications of wear are very slight marks in the lacquer on the tip of the blade and on the sides of the guard.
Fit and Finish:
Superb! The grinds are perfectly symmetrical. There are no gaps at the guard nor handle. The plunge areas at the ricasso are perfect. There are no sharp edges (other than the cutting edge). The Concealex sheath is the best Ive seen yet.
Performance:
When I first got the knife, I immediately went out into the garage to give it a test drive. The knife came with a slightly toothy edge designed for slicing and chopping. It push shaved hair quite easily right out of the box. I chopped a piece of 2x4 into 4 pieces with the only detrimental effect being some minor marking on the lacquer finish. There were no chips on the cutting edge nor in the lacquer finish. After chopping through the
2x4 twice, the edge would still shave hair. I then proceeded to slice a length of fiberglass banding tape (tough stuff) into about 20 pieces. After I got done with slicing the fiberglass banding tape, it wouldnt push shave hair but it was still plenty sharp enough to slice up some ham for supper.
After supper, I got the Spyderco Sharpmaker out and gave the edge about 25
strokes on each side (white, fine grit rods). I then stropped the edge about 10 strokes on each side. Result:It would shave the hair off my arms very easily. I think 5160 makes the ideal knife blade. It holds an edge quite well and sharpens very easily. What more could you ask for?
Conclusions:
Allen Blade makes excellent knives. His Combat Patrol Bowie is the best value I
have owned to date. The Combat Patrol Bowie will make an great camp knife or
survival knife (whatever that is). Would I buy another knife from Allen Blade? You
betcha. I already have another on order (a Recon Patrol Leader in 5160, of course). The
next time I talk to Allen, Ill have to question him on what all he makes. I might as well getem whilst da gettin is good.
------------------
John
[This message has been edited by ICEMAN (edited 05-01-2000).]
