- Joined
- Jul 10, 2011
- Messages
- 1,941
This knife doesn't seem to get much love (I think the entry price might be a bit prohibitive), but man this thing is wicked! I scored it off of the exchange for a crazy deal and I am really enjoying it. I got it two days after my 0562CF and can you guess which has found its way into my pocket more? The Bastinelli, that's right.
The Good
The blade: I love the aggressive, full flat ground wharncliffe. The tip is needle thin and the broad, fully flat ground blade comes to a very thin edge, which is supported by a nice acute secondary bevel. It packs a huge amount of cutting edge in as well. The gentle curvature and thin blade profile leads to outstanding cutting performance. This is something I'm very critical of, and the Bastinelli nails it. It's ever so slightly thicker behind the edge than a Sebenza 21. Want proof it's a wicked slicer? Check out the band aid in my picture below. First day I had it, I cut myself pretty good polishing the blade. As I was about to write this, I just cut myself again! The blade is sterile besides the tasteful Bastinelli logo. The D2 has touched up very easily, but I haven't put it through its paces enough just yet to comment on edge retention.
The handle: Judging by the goofy shape, you have to know that the ergonomics are going to be great. It's very comfortable in all grips that I've tried, and the milled G10 is a bit more pleasing than the peel ply of the larger version. The jimping is excellently placed and a great medium between comfort and grip. The backspacer is black anodized aluminum and features the Lionsteel logo and "Made in Italy" on the inside. The pocket clip rides super deep and the retention is perfectly balanced. The glass breaker is functional as well, featuring a carbide tip (unlike the SR-1)
Deployment and lockup: The detent is quite strong on it so it really rockets out with the thumb disc. Definitely no complains there. The knife is very smooth with a little bit of adjusting (more on that later), riding on teflon washers. It will drop freely once the lockbar is released. Lockup is totally solid in every direction, and exactly at 50%. The lock interface is nearly identical to the HEST 2.0. No lock stick to speak of either.
The not so good
Blade centering: Like the three Lionsteel products I own, the pivot came cranked down very hard. Upon loosening it, you're treated to a very smooth operation. Unfortunately, they always seem to be slightly off center to the right. Kind of frustrating for the entry price here as I cannot correct it with any of the tricks I've tried (likely due to the lockbar tension). The blade does not center up until the pivot is nearly as tight as it can be.
The pocket clip rattle: This is pretty minor, but with the blade open, there's a small gap between the lockbar and the pocket clip so it will rattle a bit. Could annoy some people.
Value: I cannot say that this knife represents a great value, or even a good one, in the face of its competition. The design is excellent, but otherwise there is nothing about it that screams "$300 knife!". If the fit and finish was a little bit better, then maybe I would change my mind. But honestly, an SR-1A is much more impressive in terms of construction and is substantially cheaper.
There is no doubt this is a wicked EDC and self defense knife. Despite its few flaws, I do quite enjoy it and I believe it will continue to get a lot of pocket time (as long as I stop cutting myself with it!
)
The Good
The blade: I love the aggressive, full flat ground wharncliffe. The tip is needle thin and the broad, fully flat ground blade comes to a very thin edge, which is supported by a nice acute secondary bevel. It packs a huge amount of cutting edge in as well. The gentle curvature and thin blade profile leads to outstanding cutting performance. This is something I'm very critical of, and the Bastinelli nails it. It's ever so slightly thicker behind the edge than a Sebenza 21. Want proof it's a wicked slicer? Check out the band aid in my picture below. First day I had it, I cut myself pretty good polishing the blade. As I was about to write this, I just cut myself again! The blade is sterile besides the tasteful Bastinelli logo. The D2 has touched up very easily, but I haven't put it through its paces enough just yet to comment on edge retention.
The handle: Judging by the goofy shape, you have to know that the ergonomics are going to be great. It's very comfortable in all grips that I've tried, and the milled G10 is a bit more pleasing than the peel ply of the larger version. The jimping is excellently placed and a great medium between comfort and grip. The backspacer is black anodized aluminum and features the Lionsteel logo and "Made in Italy" on the inside. The pocket clip rides super deep and the retention is perfectly balanced. The glass breaker is functional as well, featuring a carbide tip (unlike the SR-1)
Deployment and lockup: The detent is quite strong on it so it really rockets out with the thumb disc. Definitely no complains there. The knife is very smooth with a little bit of adjusting (more on that later), riding on teflon washers. It will drop freely once the lockbar is released. Lockup is totally solid in every direction, and exactly at 50%. The lock interface is nearly identical to the HEST 2.0. No lock stick to speak of either.
The not so good
Blade centering: Like the three Lionsteel products I own, the pivot came cranked down very hard. Upon loosening it, you're treated to a very smooth operation. Unfortunately, they always seem to be slightly off center to the right. Kind of frustrating for the entry price here as I cannot correct it with any of the tricks I've tried (likely due to the lockbar tension). The blade does not center up until the pivot is nearly as tight as it can be.
The pocket clip rattle: This is pretty minor, but with the blade open, there's a small gap between the lockbar and the pocket clip so it will rattle a bit. Could annoy some people.
Value: I cannot say that this knife represents a great value, or even a good one, in the face of its competition. The design is excellent, but otherwise there is nothing about it that screams "$300 knife!". If the fit and finish was a little bit better, then maybe I would change my mind. But honestly, an SR-1A is much more impressive in terms of construction and is substantially cheaper.
There is no doubt this is a wicked EDC and self defense knife. Despite its few flaws, I do quite enjoy it and I believe it will continue to get a lot of pocket time (as long as I stop cutting myself with it!
)