These knives are pretty much everything I expected them to be, that being a pretty big improvement over the last Voyager series.
This lock is tight. You get no hint of play in any direction when the Tri-Ad lock is engaged, at the same time there is much less spring tension than you get with regular lockbacks, making it easier to disengage. On top of that it also self adjusts for wear. Barring gross abuse I see no reason why this knife won't lockup just as tight a hundred years from now.
The blade has a full flat grind and a good thin edge on the Large (average thickness on the XL). I'm a little disappointed that they didn't do a distal taper as shown in previews last year, but it is still a very good flat grind so I can't complain too much. The blade is made using AUS-8, nothing high tech, but a good long ways from the bottom of the barrel. The thumbstuds do their job without getting in the way, I still prefer a hole, but at least these aren't a hindrance. The Pivot is buttery smooth while exhibiting no play. Top notch there.
The handle is very secure with no noticeable play or flex. I feel much more confident that I'm not going to slip and cut my own hand using one of these compared with the previous generation Voyager. The texture is very aggressive, I'm sure that if I didn't carve off all the points under the clip it would only be a matter of days before I would have no seam left on my pocket. The clip is nice and minimalist, but very tight. As with nearly all pocket clips I had to re-shape it to get the clip onto a double layered pocket seam. I haven't done any heavy cutting yet so I can't say that the knife doesn't give hot spots, though at the least most pocket clips do, so gloves are recommended for extended cutting sessions. If you don't work with your hands a lot the scale texture might rip your skin off anyway.
The handle shape on the XL is definitely made for big hands, and the Large (I still want to call it a medium) feels like it's built for more normal size hands. The grip on the XL encourages my fingers to spread out (should be just right with gloves) where the Large is a more snuggly fit, the finger spacing on the Large is just about perfect for my 3.75" palm (measured at the knuckles).
Considering the $40-$50 price tag I think these things are just about as good as they can be.
This lock is tight. You get no hint of play in any direction when the Tri-Ad lock is engaged, at the same time there is much less spring tension than you get with regular lockbacks, making it easier to disengage. On top of that it also self adjusts for wear. Barring gross abuse I see no reason why this knife won't lockup just as tight a hundred years from now.
The blade has a full flat grind and a good thin edge on the Large (average thickness on the XL). I'm a little disappointed that they didn't do a distal taper as shown in previews last year, but it is still a very good flat grind so I can't complain too much. The blade is made using AUS-8, nothing high tech, but a good long ways from the bottom of the barrel. The thumbstuds do their job without getting in the way, I still prefer a hole, but at least these aren't a hindrance. The Pivot is buttery smooth while exhibiting no play. Top notch there.
The handle is very secure with no noticeable play or flex. I feel much more confident that I'm not going to slip and cut my own hand using one of these compared with the previous generation Voyager. The texture is very aggressive, I'm sure that if I didn't carve off all the points under the clip it would only be a matter of days before I would have no seam left on my pocket. The clip is nice and minimalist, but very tight. As with nearly all pocket clips I had to re-shape it to get the clip onto a double layered pocket seam. I haven't done any heavy cutting yet so I can't say that the knife doesn't give hot spots, though at the least most pocket clips do, so gloves are recommended for extended cutting sessions. If you don't work with your hands a lot the scale texture might rip your skin off anyway.
The handle shape on the XL is definitely made for big hands, and the Large (I still want to call it a medium) feels like it's built for more normal size hands. The grip on the XL encourages my fingers to spread out (should be just right with gloves) where the Large is a more snuggly fit, the finger spacing on the Large is just about perfect for my 3.75" palm (measured at the knuckles).
Considering the $40-$50 price tag I think these things are just about as good as they can be.
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*crying*
