I have EDC this knife for about a year, now. For those considering one of these knives, here are some of my thoughts.
The knife is generally really well made of great materials. For me, the blade geometry and thickness is almost perfect for my everyday use. I love the simple, no BS, highly functional design. I especially like the front flipper actuation. Front flippers will eventually become the gold standard for folding knives, IMHO.
However, there is one glaring problem which has caused me to now sadly put this otherwise great knife in a drawer to probably never be carried or used again. And, that is the lock stick in combination with the lack of any designed surface to press against to unlock the knife.
Out of the box, the lock stick on this knife was not good. This due to the titanium lock bar directly interfacing on the locking surface of the blade steel with no intervening steel insert. But, I liked the rest of the knife so much I figured I could live with the lock stick. And, I was hoping it would go away, or at least be reduced, with use, which, sadly, has not happened. There is just as much lock stick after one year of use as on Day 1 out-of-the-box.
Unfortunately, with further use, I found that the lock stick problem was exacerbated by the lack of a good surface to push your thumb against when unlocking the knife. There is just nothing there that affords your thumb a good purchase to press open the lock bar. Sometimes, I would have to hold the knife in one hand so I could push the tip of my thumb of the other hand down into the gap between the lock bar and the opposite scale to wedge open the knife. A significant PITA indeed, but, still, I liked the knife so much that I consciously decided to accept this defect in operation.
However, with still further experience, I found that when I did hard push cuts which tend to force the blade open just a tiny bit further open than when the knife is opened with your thumb, the lock bar would move slightly deeper into the lock position, which then made it so hard to unlock the knife I would have to find a little impromptu pry tool to "break" the lock bar free so I could close the knife.
I know there are "fixes" for lockbar stick, but they all seem temporary and require continuing maintenance as the fix wears off. Except for a wipe down and sharpening, my EDC needs to be low maintenance. Plus, a poor design sticks in my craw and diminishes the appeal of the knife to me.
Yesterday my Laconico Keen from Massdrop arrived. It is a super nice design that in many ways is very similar to the Boker Plus Exskelibur I. Except it has a steel insert on the lockbar, meaning zero lock stick. Oh my god, I'd forgotten how nice it is to have an easily released lock bar.
The smooth release of the Keen caught me by surprise, and made me rethink my rocky relationship with the Boker Plus Exskelibur I. After cycling the Keen two times, I decided that the severe lock stick of my Exskelibur was just too too much. Lock stick requiring occasional two-handed closure (not to mention an occasional pry tool) is beyond acceptable to me, no matter how nice the rest of the knife may be. (The dumbazz name "Exskelibur" didn't help the knife's cause, either.) The Exskelibur I is now in the dresser drawer, and the Laconico Keen is my first string EDC knife for the foreseeable future.
JMHO
The knife is generally really well made of great materials. For me, the blade geometry and thickness is almost perfect for my everyday use. I love the simple, no BS, highly functional design. I especially like the front flipper actuation. Front flippers will eventually become the gold standard for folding knives, IMHO.
However, there is one glaring problem which has caused me to now sadly put this otherwise great knife in a drawer to probably never be carried or used again. And, that is the lock stick in combination with the lack of any designed surface to press against to unlock the knife.
Out of the box, the lock stick on this knife was not good. This due to the titanium lock bar directly interfacing on the locking surface of the blade steel with no intervening steel insert. But, I liked the rest of the knife so much I figured I could live with the lock stick. And, I was hoping it would go away, or at least be reduced, with use, which, sadly, has not happened. There is just as much lock stick after one year of use as on Day 1 out-of-the-box.
Unfortunately, with further use, I found that the lock stick problem was exacerbated by the lack of a good surface to push your thumb against when unlocking the knife. There is just nothing there that affords your thumb a good purchase to press open the lock bar. Sometimes, I would have to hold the knife in one hand so I could push the tip of my thumb of the other hand down into the gap between the lock bar and the opposite scale to wedge open the knife. A significant PITA indeed, but, still, I liked the knife so much that I consciously decided to accept this defect in operation.
However, with still further experience, I found that when I did hard push cuts which tend to force the blade open just a tiny bit further open than when the knife is opened with your thumb, the lock bar would move slightly deeper into the lock position, which then made it so hard to unlock the knife I would have to find a little impromptu pry tool to "break" the lock bar free so I could close the knife.
I know there are "fixes" for lockbar stick, but they all seem temporary and require continuing maintenance as the fix wears off. Except for a wipe down and sharpening, my EDC needs to be low maintenance. Plus, a poor design sticks in my craw and diminishes the appeal of the knife to me.
Yesterday my Laconico Keen from Massdrop arrived. It is a super nice design that in many ways is very similar to the Boker Plus Exskelibur I. Except it has a steel insert on the lockbar, meaning zero lock stick. Oh my god, I'd forgotten how nice it is to have an easily released lock bar.
The smooth release of the Keen caught me by surprise, and made me rethink my rocky relationship with the Boker Plus Exskelibur I. After cycling the Keen two times, I decided that the severe lock stick of my Exskelibur was just too too much. Lock stick requiring occasional two-handed closure (not to mention an occasional pry tool) is beyond acceptable to me, no matter how nice the rest of the knife may be. (The dumbazz name "Exskelibur" didn't help the knife's cause, either.) The Exskelibur I is now in the dresser drawer, and the Laconico Keen is my first string EDC knife for the foreseeable future.
JMHO
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