So I am still quite new to the forums here and I don't know much about knives, but I haven't seen enough information on the web concerning the Browning Submission so I simply had to make a quick review on it.
Black Label knives only came out within the past year (sometime around September of '11) and some of these knives from Browning are worth checking out. The Submission 320120BL is one of them. It is an imported locking liner folder that features a 7.84 centimeter (3.1") drop-point blade and a four-position pocket clip as well as all-black hardware.
Starting from the front:
The blade is drop-point style (Browning tells us it's spear point) and is hollow ground.
It is a 2.7mm-thick (1/10in.), 440A stainless steel blade and I must say that I am quite impressed with the weight of this knife despite its chunkiness.
The whole thing weighs 107 grams (around 3.8 ounces) so it is by no means a lightweight, but it is not unreasonable.
The thumbs studs are ambidextrous and are slightly rounded, so they are fairly easy on the thumbs.
There is jimping on the spine of the blade and it continues onto the handle. It offers a little bit of traction but not much.
This knife has a couple of blackened bolsters (which could easily be sanded and/or polished to give the knife a bit of attitude) and the rest of the handle is polished G-10. Underneath these parts are solid stainless liners (contributing to most of the 3.8oz weight). I should note here that in order to access/adjust the pivot screw for this knife, you must first remove one of the bolsters (I believe it is the right side, but I'm not certain).
At the pivot of the knife are two PTFE washers, which make the deployment of this knife smooth after wearing it in. Again, the pivot screw is a bit of a pain to get at so if you plan on buying this knife as a cheap beater, get at the screw once and loctite it (permanently would be best). The rest of the handle is smooth G-10, offering very little traction in-hand.
I do not recommend disassembling this knife as the screws are not heat-treated very well and may strip out on you after unscrewing them. This is the first major downside to this knife and if you plan on tinkering with it at all, you may want to buy some screws that will last a little longer.
This brings us to the pocket clip. As mentioned above, the screws on the Submission will not last long if loosened/tightened often and they stripped out on me after removing the pocket clip once.
You may notice on the pictures that the pocket clip requires three screws for proper mounting and there are only two empty holes on each end to accommodate it. I'm not sure what the designer was thinking, but the lengths of the pocket clip screws and the screws that retain the handle scales are not the same and so you must unscrew whichever screw is in the place that you plan on putting the pocket clip and replace it with the longer pocket clip screw. This switching around of screws really messes up the threads on these soft screws.
I remedied this whole issue for my own knife by taking the three screws from the spare pocket clip of my Cold Steel Mini AK-47, which luckily fit just right (they do stick out a tiny bit inside the handle, but they clear the knife when it is folded so it isn't a problem).
If you are a right-handed person, I recommend leaving the pocket clip the way it comes.
The ergonomics are decent and the knife fills the hand quite well. The corners are a bit square but the finger choils and cut-outs compensate for that.
Overall, the knife is good considering its modest price of $25 (as advertised on Browning's website). The fit and finish is what you would expect from an inexpensive Chinese folding knife. Not much to comment on here.
This knife comes in two variations: the drop-point model shown in this review, or the tanto model (Browning Submission Tanto 320119BL).
In summary: if you can get around the pocket clip issues and if you can find it for under $20, it is definitely worth checking out. The edge retention is not great, but as long as you're not doing heaps of cutting with it, it will do fine.
Black Label knives only came out within the past year (sometime around September of '11) and some of these knives from Browning are worth checking out. The Submission 320120BL is one of them. It is an imported locking liner folder that features a 7.84 centimeter (3.1") drop-point blade and a four-position pocket clip as well as all-black hardware.
Starting from the front:
The blade is drop-point style (Browning tells us it's spear point) and is hollow ground.
It is a 2.7mm-thick (1/10in.), 440A stainless steel blade and I must say that I am quite impressed with the weight of this knife despite its chunkiness.
The whole thing weighs 107 grams (around 3.8 ounces) so it is by no means a lightweight, but it is not unreasonable.
The thumbs studs are ambidextrous and are slightly rounded, so they are fairly easy on the thumbs.
There is jimping on the spine of the blade and it continues onto the handle. It offers a little bit of traction but not much.
This knife has a couple of blackened bolsters (which could easily be sanded and/or polished to give the knife a bit of attitude) and the rest of the handle is polished G-10. Underneath these parts are solid stainless liners (contributing to most of the 3.8oz weight). I should note here that in order to access/adjust the pivot screw for this knife, you must first remove one of the bolsters (I believe it is the right side, but I'm not certain).
At the pivot of the knife are two PTFE washers, which make the deployment of this knife smooth after wearing it in. Again, the pivot screw is a bit of a pain to get at so if you plan on buying this knife as a cheap beater, get at the screw once and loctite it (permanently would be best). The rest of the handle is smooth G-10, offering very little traction in-hand.
I do not recommend disassembling this knife as the screws are not heat-treated very well and may strip out on you after unscrewing them. This is the first major downside to this knife and if you plan on tinkering with it at all, you may want to buy some screws that will last a little longer.
This brings us to the pocket clip. As mentioned above, the screws on the Submission will not last long if loosened/tightened often and they stripped out on me after removing the pocket clip once.
You may notice on the pictures that the pocket clip requires three screws for proper mounting and there are only two empty holes on each end to accommodate it. I'm not sure what the designer was thinking, but the lengths of the pocket clip screws and the screws that retain the handle scales are not the same and so you must unscrew whichever screw is in the place that you plan on putting the pocket clip and replace it with the longer pocket clip screw. This switching around of screws really messes up the threads on these soft screws.
I remedied this whole issue for my own knife by taking the three screws from the spare pocket clip of my Cold Steel Mini AK-47, which luckily fit just right (they do stick out a tiny bit inside the handle, but they clear the knife when it is folded so it isn't a problem).
If you are a right-handed person, I recommend leaving the pocket clip the way it comes.
The ergonomics are decent and the knife fills the hand quite well. The corners are a bit square but the finger choils and cut-outs compensate for that.
Overall, the knife is good considering its modest price of $25 (as advertised on Browning's website). The fit and finish is what you would expect from an inexpensive Chinese folding knife. Not much to comment on here.
This knife comes in two variations: the drop-point model shown in this review, or the tanto model (Browning Submission Tanto 320119BL).
In summary: if you can get around the pocket clip issues and if you can find it for under $20, it is definitely worth checking out. The edge retention is not great, but as long as you're not doing heaps of cutting with it, it will do fine.
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