- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,670
If you've seen the current issue of Tactical Knives magazine, you've seen the "Make Mine Automatic" column written by Check Karwan. He writes about the American Slider, a type of gravity knife. Think of it as a poor man's OTF
No spring, the blade comes out and slides back into the handle all under the power of gravity. I finally had a chance to check one out for myself. Here's a pic of it:
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The rectangular handle is molded out of Zytel and is textured on the front and back for positive grip, and the corners are rounded to facilitate a comfortable grip. The handle is molded very well. The lock release button is the panel with the red dot, pressing down on it raises the two panels that are on either side of the lock button. The Slider locks the blade in both open and closed this way. One of the hinge pins for the locking panels has a burr on it, which can draw some blood if rubbed hard enough the wrong way.
There is a considerable amount of blade wobble when open, though this is just the nature of gravity knives so the blade can freely slide in and out. The Slider's blade is a clip point ground out of ATS-34, measuring approximately 3 1/2 inches long. Out of the box, the cutting edge was not up to my standards of what "sharp" is. Also, on one side of the blade, the grind of the cutting edge is uneven, it wavers off a bit, and is very noticable. almost looks like someone goofed and tried to grind over it again to cover up the boo-boo.
When I first got the knife, I tried to fling the blade out, but it wouldn't come out. Tried about 2 more times, putting a bit of mojo into the fling
. Then on the third attempt "CLACK!" out she came. I couldn't figure out why the blade couldn't slide out at every first attempt at opening it. Finally, I slung the knife hard It came out all right, but it wouldn't go back in all the way. the blade always bottomed out with a little bit of the tip sticking out of the handle. Thus came time to disassemble the Slider to see what was ailing it:
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It breaks down easily with no tools. Slide out the blade tray and take the blade out out the handle. I discovered that a strong magnet was stuck to the tang of the blade. Upon further inspection of the blade tray, it was discovered that there is a molded pocket in the end that the magnet snugs into. When the blade is retracted into the handle, the magnet holds it secure. I took the magnet out and reassembled the Slider. It took very little effort to get the blade to come out yet it remains locked secure inside the handle.
Each American Slider comes with a Cordura sheath with a Velcro flap closure and the company logo embroidered on the flap.
I'm sorry to say, but the American Slider isn't "there" yet. The blade grinds need improvement as is the quality of the cutting edge. If they can devise an alternate way to secure the blade inside the handle other than the strong magnet and not have to fling the knife three times or more just to get it open, it would improve the action. And the kicker - this retails for $127. IMO too much for me to pay for a Zytel handle knife.
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AKTI Member # A000005
Living life "on the edge"
<center>
The rectangular handle is molded out of Zytel and is textured on the front and back for positive grip, and the corners are rounded to facilitate a comfortable grip. The handle is molded very well. The lock release button is the panel with the red dot, pressing down on it raises the two panels that are on either side of the lock button. The Slider locks the blade in both open and closed this way. One of the hinge pins for the locking panels has a burr on it, which can draw some blood if rubbed hard enough the wrong way.
There is a considerable amount of blade wobble when open, though this is just the nature of gravity knives so the blade can freely slide in and out. The Slider's blade is a clip point ground out of ATS-34, measuring approximately 3 1/2 inches long. Out of the box, the cutting edge was not up to my standards of what "sharp" is. Also, on one side of the blade, the grind of the cutting edge is uneven, it wavers off a bit, and is very noticable. almost looks like someone goofed and tried to grind over it again to cover up the boo-boo.
When I first got the knife, I tried to fling the blade out, but it wouldn't come out. Tried about 2 more times, putting a bit of mojo into the fling
<center>
It breaks down easily with no tools. Slide out the blade tray and take the blade out out the handle. I discovered that a strong magnet was stuck to the tang of the blade. Upon further inspection of the blade tray, it was discovered that there is a molded pocket in the end that the magnet snugs into. When the blade is retracted into the handle, the magnet holds it secure. I took the magnet out and reassembled the Slider. It took very little effort to get the blade to come out yet it remains locked secure inside the handle.
Each American Slider comes with a Cordura sheath with a Velcro flap closure and the company logo embroidered on the flap.
I'm sorry to say, but the American Slider isn't "there" yet. The blade grinds need improvement as is the quality of the cutting edge. If they can devise an alternate way to secure the blade inside the handle other than the strong magnet and not have to fling the knife three times or more just to get it open, it would improve the action. And the kicker - this retails for $127. IMO too much for me to pay for a Zytel handle knife.
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AKTI Member # A000005
Living life "on the edge"
