Comeuppance
Fixed Blade EDC Emisssary
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 4,765
I'm mostly reviewing this in case someone else runs into the same problem I did - all reviews for this knife are either entirely inadequate or are in Russian. It's such an intriguing knife by design that it warrants some looking into, though.
Stats ripped from BladeHQ:
Overall Length: 8"
Blade Length: 3.5"
Blade Steel: 8Cr13MoV
Handle Material: Carbon Fiber
Locking Type: Liner Lock
Weight: 4.4 oz.
My expectations for this knife were really low; a sub-$40 off-brand knife with a flipper? There's going to be something wrong with it, surely. Meyerco has a pretty bad rap as far as quality control goes. Knowing that, I contacted the seller and requested that they try to find one with the best lockup and smoothest deployment. I got a canned answer in response, something along the lines of "we do our best to make sure all products we sell are in good working order" etc etc. It was an eBay reseller that deals with a lot of different sporting goods, so I wasn't too surprised that I didn't get a knife guy's kind of response.
When it came in the mail, I immediately felt silly - the knife comes in a hang package, not a box. Of course they couldn't inspect each one! I've been buying boxed knives for so long, I had almost forgot that "off-brand" knives are often in packaging like that. Oh well, luck of the draw, I suppose.
First, the good:
- Solid lockup out of the box - er, hang package. No blade play whatsoever.
- Smooth flipper action. With just a drop of nanolube, it is as smooth as one could hope for with nylon washers. No adjustment or wrist flick necessary. (Short, terrible-quality video here)
- Attractive design: The bolsters look great, and the Carbon Fiber (while a bit dull) looks very good.
- Repositionable pocket clip. Right side only, but, hey, at least there's an option.
- Good fit and finish: Everything lines up, there aren't any sharp unfinished edges, and the blade is centered.
- Well-sized lanyard hole. 550 goes through with just the slightest bit of force.
Now, the bad:
- The tip is very poorly ground. It's hard to show it in pictures, but it's practically rounded.
- Lockup is relatively late out of the box. Solid, yes, but it locks up at ~70% already.
- Cheap-ass hardware. My first instinct with any cheap knife is to take it apart and give it a once-over with cleaning / corrosion protectant / lactate / lube. I take out my WIHA driver and immediately strip the central body screw on the presentation side. Guess I'm not taking it apart, then.
- Unskeletonized liners. Not that this knife is a brick in the pocket or anything, but it could be noticeably lighter with a little milling.
- Too much writing on the blade. This is minor and nitpick, but I hate having an otherwise handsome knife covered in logos and serial numbers. Leave it on the warranty card or make it discrete.
You'll notice the negative marks aren't exactly damning. It's still a handsome, fully-functional knife with a perfectly acceptable steel (8Cr13MoV). The recurve is not excessive by any means, and the blade was razor sharp after a couple passes per side on a strop. The hollow grind is very high, the edge is evenly-ground and looks to be close to 15-20 degrees.
Overall, this knife is well-built enough to satisfy a picky knife nerd like myself. I'll probably have the blade acid etched and stonewashed, though, to both make it a little more unique and get rid of the stupid writing on the blade.
Bottom line: I hesitate to recommend picking one up. I mean, yeah, I had a decent experience with it, but I can see where the QC complaints come in. It's better than most Gerbers and SOGs in the price range, but that's not saying a whole lot. It's a gamble, but, if you're lucky, you'll get a pretty solid knife for a reasonable price.
Stats ripped from BladeHQ:
Overall Length: 8"
Blade Length: 3.5"
Blade Steel: 8Cr13MoV
Handle Material: Carbon Fiber
Locking Type: Liner Lock
Weight: 4.4 oz.
My expectations for this knife were really low; a sub-$40 off-brand knife with a flipper? There's going to be something wrong with it, surely. Meyerco has a pretty bad rap as far as quality control goes. Knowing that, I contacted the seller and requested that they try to find one with the best lockup and smoothest deployment. I got a canned answer in response, something along the lines of "we do our best to make sure all products we sell are in good working order" etc etc. It was an eBay reseller that deals with a lot of different sporting goods, so I wasn't too surprised that I didn't get a knife guy's kind of response.
When it came in the mail, I immediately felt silly - the knife comes in a hang package, not a box. Of course they couldn't inspect each one! I've been buying boxed knives for so long, I had almost forgot that "off-brand" knives are often in packaging like that. Oh well, luck of the draw, I suppose.
First, the good:
- Solid lockup out of the box - er, hang package. No blade play whatsoever.
- Smooth flipper action. With just a drop of nanolube, it is as smooth as one could hope for with nylon washers. No adjustment or wrist flick necessary. (Short, terrible-quality video here)
- Attractive design: The bolsters look great, and the Carbon Fiber (while a bit dull) looks very good.
- Repositionable pocket clip. Right side only, but, hey, at least there's an option.
- Good fit and finish: Everything lines up, there aren't any sharp unfinished edges, and the blade is centered.
- Well-sized lanyard hole. 550 goes through with just the slightest bit of force.
Now, the bad:
- The tip is very poorly ground. It's hard to show it in pictures, but it's practically rounded.
- Lockup is relatively late out of the box. Solid, yes, but it locks up at ~70% already.
- Cheap-ass hardware. My first instinct with any cheap knife is to take it apart and give it a once-over with cleaning / corrosion protectant / lactate / lube. I take out my WIHA driver and immediately strip the central body screw on the presentation side. Guess I'm not taking it apart, then.
- Unskeletonized liners. Not that this knife is a brick in the pocket or anything, but it could be noticeably lighter with a little milling.
- Too much writing on the blade. This is minor and nitpick, but I hate having an otherwise handsome knife covered in logos and serial numbers. Leave it on the warranty card or make it discrete.
You'll notice the negative marks aren't exactly damning. It's still a handsome, fully-functional knife with a perfectly acceptable steel (8Cr13MoV). The recurve is not excessive by any means, and the blade was razor sharp after a couple passes per side on a strop. The hollow grind is very high, the edge is evenly-ground and looks to be close to 15-20 degrees.
Overall, this knife is well-built enough to satisfy a picky knife nerd like myself. I'll probably have the blade acid etched and stonewashed, though, to both make it a little more unique and get rid of the stupid writing on the blade.
Bottom line: I hesitate to recommend picking one up. I mean, yeah, I had a decent experience with it, but I can see where the QC complaints come in. It's better than most Gerbers and SOGs in the price range, but that's not saying a whole lot. It's a gamble, but, if you're lucky, you'll get a pretty solid knife for a reasonable price.
