I just got one of these from SMKW today, which is apparently out of stock right now.
Initial impression: It's a large-ish fixed blade knife. No real identification marks. Tang says "China" on one side, "Stainless" on the other. Blade and guard are finished in black crinkle plastic-y paint. Handle is rubbery plastic, with what seems to be a aluminum grommet in the lanyard hole. Weighs about 12 1/2 ounces. Blade is about 8 5/8" long, .200" thick at the tang, with a full flat grind. OAL is 13 7/8". Doesn't feel too bad in the hand. The edge out of the box is thick (about .045"), angle about 60 degrees inclusive, with a large burr. Not a terribly good formula for cutting out of the box.
Sheath is... a sheath. Lightweight nylon with a plastic sheet insert giving it some rigidity, and a snap keeper.
First thing it went to the belt sander. New edge bevel is slightly convex and approximately 26 degrees inclusive. Chops OK for it's size. It's not very massive or long, so it's performance is expected. Once sharpened, it's an OK slicer. The crinkle paint seems to offer noticeable resistance when slicing through materials. Unfortunately, I'm not going to give it the Noss treatment. But so far, performance isn't bad, considering it's humble origin.
It might be interesting to compare it with the clip point and bolo/kukri versions. Both of those seem to have saber grind. And S&W versions, too.
Initial impression: It's a large-ish fixed blade knife. No real identification marks. Tang says "China" on one side, "Stainless" on the other. Blade and guard are finished in black crinkle plastic-y paint. Handle is rubbery plastic, with what seems to be a aluminum grommet in the lanyard hole. Weighs about 12 1/2 ounces. Blade is about 8 5/8" long, .200" thick at the tang, with a full flat grind. OAL is 13 7/8". Doesn't feel too bad in the hand. The edge out of the box is thick (about .045"), angle about 60 degrees inclusive, with a large burr. Not a terribly good formula for cutting out of the box.
Sheath is... a sheath. Lightweight nylon with a plastic sheet insert giving it some rigidity, and a snap keeper.
First thing it went to the belt sander. New edge bevel is slightly convex and approximately 26 degrees inclusive. Chops OK for it's size. It's not very massive or long, so it's performance is expected. Once sharpened, it's an OK slicer. The crinkle paint seems to offer noticeable resistance when slicing through materials. Unfortunately, I'm not going to give it the Noss treatment. But so far, performance isn't bad, considering it's humble origin.
It might be interesting to compare it with the clip point and bolo/kukri versions. Both of those seem to have saber grind. And S&W versions, too.
Shouldn't be difficult, either, since the steel is very soft. That, of course, is also why it's tough. Won't hold an edge very well at all, but will take a beating and keep going. Whether this is the kind of performance one wants from a knife rather depends on the individual, I'll say.
