Contemplating Hinderer XM-18 3”

TomP said:
I’m ready to pull the trigger on a new 3” tri-way with the fullered spear point in M390 with the finger choil in the working finish.
Have any of you went with the same options and regretted not going with different options?
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Several yrs ago, I owned two XM-18's...the 3" slicer blade and the 3.5" spanto.
Both are heavy, IMO...the 3.5 had a weak detent and came open in my pocket twice before I could get rid of it.
The 3" slicer just seemed to be such a heavy knife for this shorter blade. They are overbuilt beyond need. .i.e. tanks.
There are so many brands and models that are so much more "friendly" in the hand, while still being quite worthy
in the field, and priced much more reasonably.
IMO, I felt the Hinderer was more hype than help, and I got rid of both knives as quickly as possible...
Just my own experience...
 
Sonnydaze said:
Several yrs ago, I owned two XM-18's...the 3" slicer blade and the 3.5" spanto.
Both are heavy, IMO...the 3.5 had a weak detent and came open in my pocket twice before I could get rid of it.
The 3" slicer just seemed to be such a heavy knife for this shorter blade. They are overbuilt beyond need. .i.e. tanks.
There are so many brands and models that are so much more "friendly" in the hand, while still being quite worthy
in the field, and priced much more reasonably.
IMO, I felt the Hinderer was more hype than help, and I got rid of both knives as quickly as possible...
Just my own experience...
Click to expand...

Good feedback. I think the 3" is about 3.5 ounces, which is not heavy compared to may of the others that I looked at.

What would you have suggested in the $400-$500 range?
 
That's really nice! Mine won't be as unique. I just fell in love with a color combo the more I saw it. I went with a choil because my Spyderco Native has one.
 
That's one of the great things about RHK; you can make yours unique. Change hardware, scales and clip to make it your, unique personal knife. So far on mine I've replaced the clip and fuller screws with black screws and the overtravel disk with a black disk. Eventually I'll change out more of the hardware as it comes available. The G10 scale is the relatively rare "light gray" but I may get other colors to swap out eventually.
 
I like Hinderer, I own 4 3.5”, but I have found them heavy in the pocket, If Im looking for a hard use knife, I’ll take the my Umnumzaan everyday
 
Grandmaster said:
I like Hinderer, I own 4 3.5”, but I have found them heavy in the pocket, If Im looking for a hard use knife, I’ll take the my Umnumzaan everyday
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I probably carry my Hinderer's 2x more than my Zaan. I've heard they can be used hard but I trust my Hindy's a little more. Last hunting season I was prying into a leg joint of an elk to separate it w/the a Hinderer and thinking what a great knife it was, I didn't even think twice about it. I field dressed 2 and quartered one with the same Hinderer (3.5 Skinny Slicer), the hair popping edge was gone after the 1st one but it still retained a 'good' edge and did the job. I didn't have a chance to touch up the edge until a few days after season, had to sleep for a couple days, it was a great 'hard' year.
 
I’m not saying its a bad knife, I wouldnt have 4 of them, I just like my zaan better, “hard use” is a subjective term, I’m glad you enjoy yours, I was just giving my opinion.
 
I wanted gray but ordered translucent.
I wanted a fullered spearpoint but ordered swedged.
I wanted 2-tone working finish but ordered stonewash.

I saw a few other members with this color and fell in love with it. I really appreciate the help!

K4jlhTs.jpg
 
TomP said:
@Dknight16 - Are the 2 in the middle the working finish? Any feedback on the different finishes?
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No, the 2 on the right are. Others are all stonewashed. The slicer’s frame is sandblasted, then bronze anodized.

Working finish is visually appealing, but you have to make sure to clean and oil more than stonewashed. My favorite Hinderer finish is stonewashed DLC which I have on a couple of 3.5” models.
 
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