I ordered The Trace from Charlie May on a Sunday night after having a long discussion with Charlie. Charlies a swell fellow and I quite enjoyed speaking to him.
The knife arrived less than three weeks later. I ordered the knife in D2 with mosaic pins and desert ironwood handles. It is beautiful. In my opinion, the standard paracord lanyard was the wrong color for this wood so I have replaced it twice. First with a leather bootlace; now a green paracord lanyard. Matches a little better IMO.
The knife is extremely well made. After days of very close examination I was able to find that the grind is ever so slightly uneven at the handle end of the blade. Mind you I said it took days and it is very, very minor. Ive seen worse on knives costing several times as much. Other than this, the grinds are perfect and the fit and finish perfect. The wood is pleasing color and contrasts well with the mosaic pins.
The knife feels great in the hand. It functions very well. Initially I felt I might have ordered a knife slightly too small. However, after using it, I have found it an ideal size - a good compromise between a larger camp knife and a smaller dedicated trail/skinning knife. I am very pleased with the knife.
The D2 has held a great edge. I put it to some really hard use cutting branches, small trees, boxes, etc. (not just slicing but also twisting and some prying) over the first weekend. Still shaving sharp by that weekends end. Ive since sharpened it on the Sharpmakers 20 degree (40 degree total) angle, beginning with the diamonds and ending up with the whites. Is very sharp at the moment. Sharpening did take some time though. I dont know what angle Charlie originally put on the knife, by my impression is that it was a little more obtuse than 20 degrees.
My only gripe with the knife is not with the knife at all. It really isnt a criticism of Charlies work either. Its the sheath. Very well made and attractive. Charlies logo is stamped and is very nice. My problem is the backpocket sheath. Charlie gives you an option and Id still rather have a pocket sheath than a belt sheath - cant stand anything around my waist. So, again, not a criticism of the materials or workmanship. But, my problem is with the whole concept. Other makers and manufacturers use a similar sheath with no discernable advantage over Charlies so it is more of an intrinsic fault (subjective evaluation). With my knock-around shorts (which have large diagonal pockets front and back) the knife falls out and/or rattles around. It fell out one night putting my 2 year old to bed and that was enough to convince me it wouldnt suit EDC, at least with this apparel. Might be better when Im back to wearing jeans. I also do not like to both hands to remove/re-sheath the knife. I will say that when weedeating this morning in jeans, the knife was very useful and these problems were not readily apparent.
Bottomline: Get a knife from Charlie May NOW! before he wises up and raises his prices. I paid $135 for the above knife. Im considering another and in the event Charlie starts make a folder, Im gonna go broke. Dont wait or youll be sorry.
I have pics if someone wants to host them, but for now, click here to see the example knife: http://charlesmayknives.blademakers.com/
The knife arrived less than three weeks later. I ordered the knife in D2 with mosaic pins and desert ironwood handles. It is beautiful. In my opinion, the standard paracord lanyard was the wrong color for this wood so I have replaced it twice. First with a leather bootlace; now a green paracord lanyard. Matches a little better IMO.
The knife is extremely well made. After days of very close examination I was able to find that the grind is ever so slightly uneven at the handle end of the blade. Mind you I said it took days and it is very, very minor. Ive seen worse on knives costing several times as much. Other than this, the grinds are perfect and the fit and finish perfect. The wood is pleasing color and contrasts well with the mosaic pins.
The knife feels great in the hand. It functions very well. Initially I felt I might have ordered a knife slightly too small. However, after using it, I have found it an ideal size - a good compromise between a larger camp knife and a smaller dedicated trail/skinning knife. I am very pleased with the knife.
The D2 has held a great edge. I put it to some really hard use cutting branches, small trees, boxes, etc. (not just slicing but also twisting and some prying) over the first weekend. Still shaving sharp by that weekends end. Ive since sharpened it on the Sharpmakers 20 degree (40 degree total) angle, beginning with the diamonds and ending up with the whites. Is very sharp at the moment. Sharpening did take some time though. I dont know what angle Charlie originally put on the knife, by my impression is that it was a little more obtuse than 20 degrees.
My only gripe with the knife is not with the knife at all. It really isnt a criticism of Charlies work either. Its the sheath. Very well made and attractive. Charlies logo is stamped and is very nice. My problem is the backpocket sheath. Charlie gives you an option and Id still rather have a pocket sheath than a belt sheath - cant stand anything around my waist. So, again, not a criticism of the materials or workmanship. But, my problem is with the whole concept. Other makers and manufacturers use a similar sheath with no discernable advantage over Charlies so it is more of an intrinsic fault (subjective evaluation). With my knock-around shorts (which have large diagonal pockets front and back) the knife falls out and/or rattles around. It fell out one night putting my 2 year old to bed and that was enough to convince me it wouldnt suit EDC, at least with this apparel. Might be better when Im back to wearing jeans. I also do not like to both hands to remove/re-sheath the knife. I will say that when weedeating this morning in jeans, the knife was very useful and these problems were not readily apparent.
Bottomline: Get a knife from Charlie May NOW! before he wises up and raises his prices. I paid $135 for the above knife. Im considering another and in the event Charlie starts make a folder, Im gonna go broke. Dont wait or youll be sorry.
I have pics if someone wants to host them, but for now, click here to see the example knife: http://charlesmayknives.blademakers.com/
