Anyone handled a Yarborough?

Boink

Boink

Joined
Jun 6, 2002
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This knife captured my fancy, but I haven't gotten the nerve to pony up for one. I figure if Special Forces administration went through around 100 knives and decided on this one, it must be really something to behold in person.

The handle looks real comfortable linen micarta, with a rounded tang protruding just so all around the scales. 7" blade length. Very good looking, in my humble opinion.

Anyone got one or handled one?
 
Boink,

I just picked one up and I have to say it is better in person. This is one heck of a knife. Now bear in mind I haven't had the opportunity to put it through it's paces yet but I will.
In my humble opinion and based on no actual field use as yet, I say get one. It is made by and for some of the best in the business.

Roy
 
I got to hold one at Blade Show West and at my beloved local shop Plaza Cutlery.

Like you said, the tang portrudes ever so slightly from the handle scales and is rounded off like the spine of the Sebenza. This seems to add a bit more grip laterally and would keep the knife from twisting....give a bit more control over where your edge points. The micarta is smoothly sculpted into a shape that is ergonomic but neutral enough for all grips.

Definatley one of the most comfortable of fixed blades I have held....much more so than previous CRK knives, with the same excellent quality blade and craftmanship.
 
I've handled one, and its amazing! Nice sheath too!

BTW, its canvas micarta. ;)

If your interested, I have been working on a passaround for the CRK Green Beret. Read my thread for more info. Email me if you want in.
 
I've got one. It is a hefty knife, not a light weight, but has good, neutral balance. I was going to have a custom made for military use because I couldn't find exactly what I thought I needed. Since purchasing my "Green Beret" (non-serial numbered) I have dropped the idea of a custom.

Bruce Woodbury
 
This is one sweet knife. The only thing I could add is that the finger notches are cut a little large for my bare hands (I wear a medium mens glove). This is a very picky nit ;) If you were wearing gloves or had slightly larger hands, you'd swear is was custom fit to your hand.

The rest of the knife is just what you would expect from CRK. Top quality all the way with a well thought out design.
 
Originally posted by Boink
I figure if Special Forces administration went through around 100 knives and decided on this one, it must be really something to behold in person.
Click to expand...

Not that I'm knocking Chris Reeve Knives (I think they're among the best, and I own a few of them), but I wonder about the selection process. As long as a purchase is under a certain amount, units need not bid, nor release specifications on a particular item or lot. Thus, a few relatively high up officers may have gotten together and collectively decided that they were going to buy a bunch of Yarboroughs. We thereby, do not know exactly how Mr Reeve was contracted to provide these knives, unless we communicate with Mr. Reeve, or the contracting officer or officers involved. Factors will include designer and manufacturer reputation, cost, performance and manufacturing capacity and delivery time. There may have been compromises made in respect to any of the above factors.

That being said, I have to say that I handled a Yarborough at the New York Custom Knife Show and loved it. Wrapping my fingers around the grip was like placing my hand on the molded grip of an olympic match grade pistol grip, and holding it was like balancing a gyroscope in my hand. The feel was firm, balanced and inclined to stay in my hand through smooth swings, and as I twisted my hands to admire it from all angles. In the end, I vowed that I would get a Yarbourough someday, but decided on another knife because the other was rarer and harder to get at the retail level.
 
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