Anyone handled the SERE Operator?

A

anewguy

Joined
May 8, 2003
Messages
165
The SERE 2000 was my first “real” knife purchase and I love it. I was wondering how the operator compares as to blade shape (can’t tell if the swedge is there or not, or maybe not as pronounced as the folder’s?), and how the handles are/what is prylon? I found an on-line catalog that says the new sheath with be made of this same material so I am guessing it will have a texture similar to the kydex.
Thanks for the help.
 
I did some reSEARCH here before I purchased it.
Do a SEARCH for Prylon.
It feels like the slabs on my CRKT Companion.
I wasn't too fond of the sheath. The "new" sheath basically has an
"extender" on it with that rubber retention loop. I took that part off and threw it away.

Mine resides in a Survival Sheath Single Shoulder Sheath Light.

I don't even notice it there.

The fit and finish on mine was pretty good. The S30V steel was very sharp. The knife is light and very "handy" in the hands.
 
I've been trying to make a trade for a SERE Operator for awhile now, with NO luck, so they MUST be a great knife since no-one wants to let go of the ones that they have.

...And if they are anything like my Al Mar SERE 2000 and Nomad folders, then they ARE excellent.
 
I have held several of them, but do not own one yet. Not that I could find anything wrong, except for the plastic like handles, it seems to be a great knife. I think those plastic handle slabs can be replaced pretty easily anyway. I will get one soon.
 
Thanks for the replies, and yes E.S., I did do a search here first, but I still unclear as to what prylon feels like. I understand that they are some kind of glass/epoxy/plastic/whatever mix, but I am more interested how they feel (i.e. are they “slick” like the beckers or are they textured and as grippy as the g10 on the folder). I apologize if I was not clear on my first post.
 
Originally posted by anewguy
Thanks for the replies, and yes E.S., I did do a search here first, but I still unclear as to what prylon feels like. I understand that they are some kind of glass/epoxy/plastic/whatever mix, but I am more interested how they feel (i.e. are they “slick” like the beckers or are they textured and as grippy as the g10 on the folder). I apologize if I was not clear on my first post.
Click to expand...

To me, Prylon isn't as grippy as G10. Have you ever handled a CRKT Companion? The folding version feels the same way. While it isn't as grippy as G10, the design of the knife doesn't lend itself to easily shift in the hand.
 
Dang, Glockman, I can't believe you got another linerlock after the SERE.
You must be in love. :o
 
sandpaper will solve the grippiness problem, I am looking forward to getting the sawback version, and if the handles dont do it for me, I can just find someone that can make some better ones, its a great design..
 
Originally posted by Walking Man
Dang, Glockman, I can't believe you got another linerlock after the SERE.
You must be in love. :o
Click to expand...
These Al Mar liner-locks (SERE 2000 & Nomad) seem to be the ONLY ones (liner-locks) that work for me, but they DO work very well, and I TRUST my fingers to them...They are solid.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, there you have it, the ultimate endorsement from the forums biggest linerlock sceptic.
I might have to get a Nomad now.
Thank you, Glockman.
 
I've had a SERE Operator for a couple of months now and I love it. The S30V really holds an edge and isn't particularly hard to sharpen. It's very light and I've taken it to the mountains. Throw it in your pack and you don't even know it's there. The 5" blade is an agressive cutter.

The Prylon, as has been said, isn't quite a grippy as G10, but it doesn't feel as slick as kydex. The knife has great balance although some may feel that the handle is a bit slim. It's a keeper.
 
wow, those do look nice. do you know if i can just get the grips? i couldn't find anything about that on the site.
 
Originally posted by glockman99
These Al Mar liner-locks (SERE 2000 & Nomad) seem to be the ONLY ones (liner-locks) that work for me, but they DO work very well, and I TRUST my fingers to them...They are solid.
Click to expand...

Glockman, just a note... glad you got a good one. I had one that held up well to moderate use for a month. Then one day the lock started to slip, until it just slipped every time on both a soft spine wack and rather light hand pressure (no more than a few pounds).

Just test it every so often to be safe.

-j
 
Originally posted by anewguy
wow, those do look nice. do you know if i can just get the grips? i couldn't find anything about that on the site.
Click to expand...

I didn't see anything there about buying the grips separately either. However, they are obviously just getting them from Simonich and screwing them on. I don't see why they wouldn't sell you a set separately. If I were you, I'd send them an email and request a price quote for the grips only. It's worth a try.
 
Originally posted by biogon
Then one day the lock started to slip, until it just slipped every time on both a soft spine wack and rather light hand pressure (no more than a few pounds).
-j
Click to expand...

"Started to slip" meaning that it:

(1) Engaged fully behind the blade, but then popped back out when you applied pressure?

or

(2) Didn't engage behind the blade properly and therefore wasn't really ever locking up?

My experience has been the same as Glockman's. My Al Mar SERE 2000 has been by far the best liner lock I have owned.

When mine is open, the outside surface of the lock is PERFECTLY aligned with the outside surface of the blade. I have never had another liner lock that was fitted so accurately. On top of that, the lock itself is both thicker and wider than most.

Opening it is like slamming the door on a Ford F350 Super Duty.
 
Originally posted by Minuteman
"Started to slip" meaning that it:

(1) Engaged fully behind the blade, but then popped back out when you applied pressure?
Click to expand...


This one -- it was fully, 100% engaged, but under mild pressure, it slipped and then proceeded to slide directly off the tang.

I have had, in the past year, 4 liner locks do this to me; half of them were custom-made knives with very thick (0.083") liners. Which kind of gives credibility to the whole "geometry is more important than thickness" argument..

-Jon
 
Originally posted by biogon
This one -- it was fully, 100% engaged, but under mild pressure, it slipped and then proceeded to slide directly off the tang.

-Jon
Click to expand...

Well, this being the case, I would suspect either:

1) The grind angle on the lock and/or the blade was off

or

(2)That the liner wasn't properly hardened. This spring needs to be stiff enough to keep the lock engaged. But if the grind angles on the lock and the blade are well matched and the angle is shallow, then there shouldn't be much of a sideways force component there to push it out of the way -- no matter how much force you apply. Both the sideways force of the lock spring and friction between the mating surfaces should help to keep it in place. The failure mode ideally should be for the lock to buckle under longitudinal compression.

I'm puzzled as to why so many failures for you??

The problem with most of the non-liner locking mechanisms (Axis Lock, lock-backs, etc.), is the risk that the user will disengage the lock themselves while the knife is under stress. The liner lock design is pretty resistant to that.

I once cut a branch off a pecan tree while seated on my tractor (wrong height and it just had to go) using a Spyderco Endura. The wood was pretty hard and I managed to push hard enough to disengage the lock with my palm and with a little additional twist, closed the knife on my hand! After that I didn't trust lock backs any more for hard use.
 
Minuteman,

Yeah. That's what I thought too... then I started testing them.

I always wondered why, if the force was tangential to the mate surface, why they slip. Even with a very shallow cut straight tang I've seen it slip. Don't know why.

I've had radiused cut and straight cut tangs both fail; some of them stand up to the press and fail a moderate wack (I never do a mad full-arm swing wack), and some fail both.

I think you're right about the tang/lockbar cut geometry being off, as well as possibly something to do with the length the bar itself.

Discouraging, at any rate (and why my newest knife is a Gunting! :) )

-jon
 
Biogon,

Maybe we should just stick with fixed blades and kydex sheaths from now on! I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but the Fallkniven F1 is a virtual fixed bladed clone of the Al Mar Sere 2000. Get Survival Sheaths to make you a Tek-Lok IWB rig for a Fallkniven F1 and for about the same money as the SERE 2000 you can have an outfit that is fail safe.

Just as a last wild guess, you don't happen to always use some kind of wonder lube on the pivots do you?
 
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