Bradley Cutlery Alias II/First Impressions

[TKD]

Cliff
I was just gettin started, I was just barely scratching the surface man.
Chill Bruddah.

-cutting ability / durability?
-edge retention
Depends on what you cutting.

-responce to sharpening
Depends on how experienced you are at sharpening

-handle ergonomics/security
It's a monolock, how much more secure can you get man!
Depends on your hand.

-ease of opening/closing
Well since they "copied" the sebenza thumb lug, which I thought was just lame, (did they have to make it blue? I mean come on man) it should open and close like the sebenza. Given it has the same washers as the sebenza.
and the tension on the lock bar is the same.
Did I mention the Sebenza still can kick the Alias' arse?
And yes, fit and finish is EVERYTHING.

Oh and
"Yes, fit and finish is nice, but about how it actually works as a knife compared to a Sebenza."
What else will this "knife" be used as other than as a "Knife"? :foot:

An

 

[USAFSP]

Just came back after a very long hard week in the field. The Alias II was just amazing. I cut all sorts of fabric and plastic, and did a few other things like use it to help me prepare my dinner. The knife is the best production folder I have ever used. It is still shaving sharp, and although it is S30V and stonewashed, it was constantly wet without being able to be wiped off and didn't even tarnish.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Depends on what you cutting.

Depends on how experienced you are at sharpening

This is why you use reference knives.

It's a monolock, how much more secure can you get man!

A lot. They are decently strong but prone to impact and torque failures, they are in fact one of the more insecure lock types.

[same lug]

...it should open and close like the sebenza. Given it has the same washers as the sebenza.

The placement of the lug will make a huge difference, as does its cohesion with the handle.

And yes, fit and finish is EVERYTHING.

Not for everyone, it is a cutting tool, how it works and not how it looks it more important to some.

After a week of actual use the finish is horrible anyway. The handle and blade scratches easily.

Anyone know what is the policy on the Bradley in regards to spline whacks and intertial openings?

-Cliff

 

[Nimick]

What Cliff Stamp said.

If you want a perfect knife you can go ahead and buy a sebenza. Then you'll have a sebenza, and it'll be perfect.


the knife is priced to work, if it works, who cares if it's perfect.

 

[knifetester]

it is a cutting tool, how it works and not how it looks it more important to some.

That is exactly my perspective.

Anyone know what is the policy on the Bradley in regards to spline whacks and intertial openings?

Warranty is by Benchmade, so whatever Benchmade's policy is should apply to Bradley. The BM forum may be a better place to find that out.

 

[USAFSP]

I don't understand that you guys are still talking about torquing, and spine whacks as tests. I am betting that 99% of you will never use a knife in a manner that needs a test like that to be conducted. The types of cutting or dare I say prying you are going to do that will cause a failure is unrealistic. Yes, unrealistic. After 11 years in the military, I have never used a knife in a fashion that would cause the reaction you look for. The worst outcome of some of those tests are:

1. You break a nice knife that wasn't intended for tests you put them through
2. You turn off hundreds of potential users from buying a knife that was designed by a company that has done plenty of R&D in designing the knife.

Don't you think that Bradley and DeAsis have thought about lock strength? Fit and finish? Overall usability? I have put the knife through real world use for the last week, and the knife has proven itself 3 fold. If you would rather have a knife that will pass through Cliff's "Knife Death Camp" that nearly no knife will pass, then wait for him to tell you which trend he is following. Cliff is a great guy, and does a lot in the way of testing for us, but you have to take his tests at face value and ask yourself if you are going to do what he does to his knives? I think Cliff can make any knife fail. It isn't that the knife failed the test, rather at what point did it fail the test? Then you have to ask yourself "What am I going to do with this knife?". It is nice to see what the knife will hold under extreme use, but most of you guys arn't going to do anything to break the integrity of this knife. I know that peer pressure can be hard, but I don't follow it. The Bradley is a fine knife, and is every bit as nice as anything else in it's class. Fit and finish from the factory is top notch. You will scratch it up in a week, so stop crying about the possibility of a warranty with regards to refinishing. That is a CRK thing. This knife is not a CRK. If you want the knife to look pretty forever, then buy 2 of them, or just the one as a collectors item.

The knife does what it is supposed to do. It cuts very very well. It opens really smoothly. It looks great, and the ergonomics are sweet. And lastly it carries nicely. Isn't that what you guy want in a knife?

 

[USAFSP]

I just noticed one more thing to love about this knife. On the surface of the lock. (The part of the handle that contacts the rear of the blade) there is a little ridge on the last milimeter of the lock surface that will not let the lock over extend itself to the other side of the handle. That is really cool. I always wondered if the lock on one of these framelock knives will ever travel too far. I don't have to worry about it on this knife. Reason # 1001 to love this knife

 

[TKD]

Alias = Poor Man's Sebenza
Just my opinion, so bite me!

 

[USAFSP]

And your opinion is uneducated. (consider yourself bit ) I own both and prefer the Alias for use and carry.

 

[stjames]

On the surface of the lock. (The part of the handle that contacts the rear of the blade) there is a little ridge on the last milimeter of the lock surface that will not let the lock over extend itself to the other side of the handle.

Interesting feature. On most frame-lock some wear on the lock face is expected and some space for the lock-bar to travel on the tang face is a good thing to allow for this wear. If this knife has some kind of "stop" then it might develop blade play because the lock-bar is not allowed to wear beyond a certain point.

 

[USAFSP]

Interesting feature. On most frame-lock some wear on the lock face is expected and some space for the lock-bar to travel on the tang face is a good thing to allow for this wear. If this knife has some kind of "stop" then it might develop blade play because the lock-bar is not allowed to wear beyond a certain point.

No, not at all. I measured the rear of the blade and the lock surface that has allowable wear. They are the same thickness. The lock surface is a tiny bit thicker than the rear of the blade. So if the lock was to be worn all the way so that the surface of the lock and the surface on the back of the blade were matched up exactly, this little ridge protrudes past this. My lock is set in at about 60% across the tang of the blade and is bank vault tight. Over the test of time it is possible that it will go farther, but if it ever wears even with the rear of the blade it will not over extend due to this ridge. In a nutshell, it is a great feature.

 

[stjames]

No, not at all. I measured the rear of the blade and the lock surface that has allowable wear. They are the same thickness. The lock surface is a tiny bit thicker than the rear of the blade. So if the lock was to be worn all the way so that the surface of the lock and the surface on the back of the blade were matched up exactly, this little ridge protrudes past this. My lock is set in at about 60% across the tang of the blade and is bank vault tight. Over the test of time it is possible that it will go farther, but if it ever wears even with the rear of the blade it will not over extend due to this ridge. In a nutshell, it is a great feature.

Thanks for the details. Time will tell.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

After 11 years in the military, I have never used a knife in a fashion that would cause the reaction you look for.

Torque and spine whack type failures can cause locks to release under conditions as light as a pop off the back of the hand and twisting of the knife in cardboard or a piece of vegetation. If you don't use your knives any harder than that they you certainly don't need a "tactical" folder.

Don't you think that Bradley and DeAsis have thought about lock strength? Fit and finish? Overall usability?

So there is no need for independent reviews or evaluations of any knife on the market because the makers obviously did the work for you?

If you would rather have a knife that will pass through Cliff's "Knife Death Camp" that nearly no knife will pass ...

It is actually a rariety that a knife I review is functionally damaged unless the maker specifically asked me to break it, which is requested for many donated knives. When you start outright lying to support your arguement it sort of weakens your position. I don't think ~10% counts as "nearly no knife" .

The vast majority of work I do is also on cutting ability and edge retention, not toughness, some people just get tunnel vision in that regard and lose all ability to discriminate information when they see a knife getting damaged - of course when a maker does it though it is a completely different story, then the tests are valid and great to see.

This is how I asked for a comparison of the Alias vs the Sebenza :

-cutting ability / durability
-edge retention
-responce to sharpening
-handle ergonomics/security
-ease of opening/closing
​

That seem like a death camp to you?

-Cliff

 

[USAFSP]

Everything you do in your tests is helpfull to figure out what a knife will and will not do, but dude you are a bit wrong in some aspects. And to say that I am outright lying is absurd. Don't get bent out of shape because someone veiws some of your tests over the top. I would wager I have put knives through far more real world operational experience than you have in any test at any time anywhere. The tests you do in edge holding and fit and finish are very valid. As far as what a tactical folder should or should not be (or how strong the lock is or isn't), should be left up to real world experience. The spine whack test is BS. Tourqing a knife around in some type of media is not what a knife is meant for. I spent all of last week in a NBC environment and used this knife for many differnt field chores that todays modern soldier would experience, and this particular knife was a perfect companion. You say I don't need a tactical knife? Maybe not. Tactical knives are all hype anyway. It is a term used by someone who thinks the knife they are making are going to defeat the enemy in one deft blow. That is stupid. I carried a William Henry T12A on 3 real world ops a year ago. Does that make it a tactical knife? Think before you speak. If you want some real tests, I have some people that will put any knife you want into action for whatever period of time you want. Do your tests and then send it to someone like me, or M1Marty. Then you can get some real input.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

..to say that I am outright lying is absurd.

Several of the statements were complete lies as noted because they distorted the facts horribly. Yes some knives are subjected to extreme use, the majority of which was on requests from the makers/users who donated the knives, and this represents a minor fraction of the work done.

It is not the case that this type of work is done on all knives nor that "near no knife" is unable to "pass" the reviews, which itself is a misrepresentation as the reviews in general don't assign a pass/fail grade on the knife, that is left up to the user.

The spine whack test is BS.

Lots of people view it differently, Doug Ritter described recently how his folders are meant to be used for batoning which imparts much greater forces than what people use to perform spine whacks. Steve Harvey has described why he does it from a martial point of view.

It is trivial to come up with a long list of such individuals including many makers. Then you just look at some of the knives on the market, what is the Fulcrum IID designed for if it is not exactly that kind of work? It surely isn't optomized for fine cutting.

Tourqing a knife around in some type of media is not what a knife is meant for.

It is not how you use a knife which is fine, lots of people want to be able to do this and lots of locks can take it easily and are in fact designed to be able to do this which allow a greater scope of work for the knife.

You say I don't need a tactical knife?

If you think the spine whack tests and torquing a knife in a piece of cardboard or a weed is abusive then it is ridiculus to have a blade profile such as found on the Alias or more extreme like some of the 3/16" and 1/4" folders.The design is simply incoherent. It is like putting a 100 lbs leader on a 5 lbs fishing line.

The primary reason for such a cross section is to allow the blade to withstand strains that would break thinner ones. The heavier profiles just allow heavier work at the cost of cutting ability, ease of sharpening and carry, the lock of course has to be able to take the strains of said work or the blade profile is just a waste.

-Cliff

 

[USAFSP]

Your points are valid, as I stated above, but that doesn't nessassarily mean the knife is or isn't going to perform as intended. I am sure the Alias has a few design flaws somewhere that I won't be able to find, and some of your tests will exploit right away. However, that being said, I will probably never need the knife to do things that you can do in some of your tests. I just need a nice design, with a strong lock, that cuts very well, and is easy to maintain. The Alias fits all those needs. I am sure you will find that in your tests, but some of the knives that are billed as extreme use folders are not what they say they are. I can see how extreme use tests you can develope will show those knives for what they really are. I just think tests like those on a knife like this is not needed. Cliff, I love ya man, I just think some of your tests like the spine whack are a bit over the top. Just my opinion.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I will probably never need the knife to do things that you can do in some of your tests.

Everyone wants different things, I just try to do a wide scope of work to cover as many bases as possible, take what you see is useful and ignore the rest.

I just think some of your tests like the spine whack are a bit over the top.

That isn't my test, it was first proposed as a standard test for liner locks by A.T. Barr, a custom knifemaker who doesn't even make extreme overbuilt tacticals.

-Cliff

 

[USAFSP]

So are you gonna test one of these damn things or what?

 

[Saberman]

USAFSP, thanks for the review. Always nice to see a good review of a knife I've only fondled

 

[Walking Man]

THANK GOODNESS!!!!
Now the rep points are gone, we can have another good ol' fashioned flamewar with out everyone whining about reds!!!!
Rock on.