Corona knives

mendezj

mendezj

Joined
Nov 24, 1998
Messages
993
I’ve been away from home for four months as a result of the darn plague. So, I’ve been building a pile of knives as I can’t reach my stash at home. A quick review of what I’ve hoarded so far.
1- Benchmade Crooked River: S30V poor at holding an edge. Rather flimsy knife.
2- Microtech UDT: M390 steel very sharp and stays sharp. Somehow simple, maybe even cheap looking, but functions just great.
3- Spyderco Manix G10 scales: S110V chips easily, sharp but nearly impossible to get razor sharp, plastic release button, bulky and awkward shape.
4- Microtech Socom Elite: 204P steel very sharp, easy to get razor sharp, massive knife, very sturdy, very difficult to flip open. Returned it because it was impossible to flip it open with right thumb, it was returned “fixed”, still difficult to open. The thumb must be placed just right and moved in a very particular direction. “Classier” looking that UDT.
5- Hinderer XM-18 3.5”: M390 steel Spanto. Fantastic knife, the best of them all by far, by far. Tough, well made, great looking, flips like lightening. The Spanto grind is an acquired taste. I’ll get a slicer the next time around..., because I’ll get another Hinderer knife.
6- Chris Reeve Pacific: S35CV steel at 58 Rockwell. I haven’t tried it yet but the “softer” steel makes sense to me as a field knife. I already have, at home, a GB, and the knife is all business and very comfortable to hold. Great sheath.
7- Spartan Horkos with Kydex sheath: S35CV steel at 61 Rockwell. I haven’t tried it yet but at first sight the knife is underwhelming, it’s light, the scales are thin and poorly finished. The Kydex sheath looks cheap. I’m afraid the blade might be chippy and difficult to sharpen. Overpriced for sure, never again.
 
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Interesting take on the Crooked River. I find mine to be anything but flimsy, and the s30 holds an edge fine. Sure you got a genuine one?

As for my Corona knives, I'm not sure how many I've gotten, but it is many. Although I haven't been on lock down, I've been working thanks to being essential. Have to keep the power grid going! On furlough now though... Working on the house. And enjoying the knives I've bought, like my Super Freek and Shaman, and eagerly awaiting my custom Griptilian!
 
This corona has been nasty to my wallet. I traveled the first few months. Turns out I work 80 hours a week not just to get ahead but to keep myself from spending money.
So far I've bought

1. CRKT razels ( ringed & stubby)
2. Busse Hell razors (2)
3. 2 customs off market place
4. Busse Beefmandu
5. Busse Ratmandu's 4 variants
6. Sykco DS6
7. Sykco 711
8. Busse silent knight
9. Survive Gso 4.7
10. Busse son of swat
11. Busse jackhammer
12. Busse Flak jack

I've been carrying a Ratmandu bowie variant that is just ridiculously awesome. Sharp, and tough. 5 plus inch but scout carry well.
 
The Crooked River besides the Socom Elite and the XM-18 seems like a kid’s tool to use with play dough. I own them and have used them.
 
mendezj said:
I’ve been away from home for four months as a result of the darn plague. So, I’ve been building a pile of knives as I can’t reach my stash at home. A quick review of what I’ve hoarded so far.
1- Benchmade Crooked River: S30V poor at holding an edge. Rather flimsy knife.
2- Microtech UDT: M390 steel very sharp and stays sharp. Somehow simple, maybe even cheap looking, but functions just great.
3- Spyderco Manix G10 scales: S110V chips easily, sharp but nearly impossible to get razor sharp, plastic release button, bulky and awkward shape.
4- Microtech Socom Elite: 204P steel very sharp, easy to get razor sharp, massive knife, very sturdy, very difficult to flip open. Returned it because it was impossible to flip it open with right thumb, it was returned “fixed”, still difficult to open. The thumb must be placed just right and moved in a very particular direction. “Classier” looking that UDT.
5- Hinderer XM-18 3.5”: M390 steel Spanto. Fantastic knife, the best of them all by far, by far. Tough, well made, great looking, flips like lightening. The Spanto grind is an acquired taste. I’ll get a slicer the next time around..., because I’ll get another Hinderer knife.
6- Chris Reeve Pacific: S35CV steel at 58 Rockwell. I haven’t tried it yet but the “softer” steel makes sense to me as a field knife. I already have, at home, a GB, and the knife is all business and very comfortable to hold. Great sheath.
7- Spartan Horkos with Kydex sheath: S35CV steel at 61 Rockwell. I haven’t tried it yet but at first sight the knife is underwhelming, it’s light, the scales are thin and poorly finished. The Kydex sheath looks cheap. I’m afraid the blade might be chippy and difficult to sharpen. Overpriced for sure, never again.
Click to expand...

mendezj said:
The Crooked River besides the Socom Elite and the XM-18 seems like a kid’s tool to use with play dough. I own them and have used them.
Click to expand...
Ha! you are funny....
 
Cscotttsss said:
I stopped reading your thread when you said the Crooked River is a flimsy knife......

Ummm... my Crooked River is a beast and wouldn't hesitate to put it to hard use in a second.
Click to expand...
I read on and it didn't get much more believable.

I've bought quite a few knives since the virus hit. Since staying home more, I've bought knives I can't carry anyway: autos!
 
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mendezj said:
I’ve been away from home for four months as a result of the darn plague. So, I’ve been building a pile of knives as I can’t reach my stash at home. A quick review of what I’ve hoarded so far.
1- Benchmade Crooked River: S30V poor at holding an edge. Rather flimsy knife.
2- Microtech UDT: M390 steel very sharp and stays sharp. Somehow simple, maybe even cheap looking, but functions just great.
3- Spyderco Manix G10 scales: S110V chips easily, sharp but nearly impossible to get razor sharp, plastic release button, bulky and awkward shape.
4- Microtech Socom Elite: 204P steel very sharp, easy to get razor sharp, massive knife, very sturdy, very difficult to flip open. Returned it because it was impossible to flip it open with right thumb, it was returned “fixed”, still difficult to open. The thumb must be placed just right and moved in a very particular direction. “Classier” looking that UDT.
5- Hinderer XM-18 3.5”: M390 steel Spanto. Fantastic knife, the best of them all by far, by far. Tough, well made, great looking, flips like lightening. The Spanto grind is an acquired taste. I’ll get a slicer the next time around..., because I’ll get another Hinderer knife.
6- Chris Reeve Pacific: S35CV steel at 58 Rockwell. I haven’t tried it yet but the “softer” steel makes sense to me as a field knife. I already have, at home, a GB, and the knife is all business and very comfortable to hold. Great sheath.
7- Spartan Horkos with Kydex sheath: S35CV steel at 61 Rockwell. I haven’t tried it yet but at first sight the knife is underwhelming, it’s light, the scales are thin and poorly finished. The Kydex sheath looks cheap. I’m afraid the blade might be chippy and difficult to sharpen. Overpriced for sure, never again.
Click to expand...

Love my Socom Elites...all of them manual. Had trouble flipping my first one, but learned it was due to pilot error. After a bit of practice and a raw thumb I finally learned the subtle technique. Since then added two more to the collection. They are all equally fast and hard firing blades that seem like they're spring assisted. Recommend you stick with it.

Knives added since C-19:
- CRK Wilson Combat Inkosi (large): S35VN. Actually ordered in pre-covid 2019 but had to wait five months for delivery in 2020. It's my second CRK so I've had time to learn to tune the thing so it can be thumb flicked and Spydie flicked without inducing lateral or longitudinal blade play, and maintaining perfect blade centering. Love...this...thing.
- ZT0562Ti: have the CF and BLK both in CPM20CV and already know this is a fabulous knife. One of the best values on the market IMO. The all titanium is so sweet.
- TRM Atom: CPM20CV. Have CF and linen micarta scales. Well designed and built knife with the thinnest blade in my collection. Great slicer, but haven't quite bonded with it yet.
- ProTech Malibu (wharncliffe): CPM20CV. Great action, almost perfect EDC size. Hard to find anything wrong. But I wonder how strong is the button lock?
- Benchmade Bailout 537gy-1: M4. Custom regrind to convert from tanto to a more useful drop point. Love the green aluminum scales. Still new in the box so have to put some pocket time on this.
 
Mako109 said:
ProTech Malibu (wharncliffe): CPM20CV. Great action, almost perfect EDC size. Hard to find anything wrong. But I wonder how strong is the button lock?
Click to expand...

I have ProTech's other two button locks, the Cambria and the Mordax, and I can tell you that the button lock is strong enough for any normal EDC task you need to do. Same as any other folder, if you're concerned that the lock isn't strong enough for what you're doing with it, you should probably be using a fixed blade.

My quarantine purchases have been pretty varied, ranging from a ProTech Harkins ATAC on the high end to a sub $20 CRKT fixed blade on the low end. I stepped out of my preferred carry comfort zone (folders) by purchasing and carrying a few smaller fixed blades, like the CRKT Scrub and Benchmade Hidden Canyon.

I'm also not done with my quarantine purchases, I know I'll buy at least one ProTech Malibu, if not both, when they come back in stock. The TR-3 "operator" edition that they've teased looks pretty good too.
 
Great reply. Thank you. Useful too as I want to know more about 20CV steel. I’m buying another Hinderer and would like to know whether to buy one with M390 or 20CV steel. I’d like to know your opinion. By the way, I’m keeping the Socom. I also have a fixed blade Socom which I like a lot.
 
Cscotttsss said:
I stopped reading your thread when you said the Crooked River is a flimsy knife......

Ummm... my Crooked River is a beast and wouldn't hesitate to put it to hard use in a second.
Click to expand...
And demonstrated a failure of basic understanding of steel by not even knowing the name of S35VN and believing the lie about it being softer for “field use”...it’s softer because it’s cheaper and easier to grind and heat treat when it’s not as hard.
 
Please excuse me for living. And excuse me for insulting the infinite wisdom of some knife experts who have probably not spent a day on the field dressing a deer or filleting a fifty pound mahi. I don’t waste too much time on the web as I have much better things to do, but we are living extenuating circumstances. In any case, the virtual world is full of tough and impolite geniuses who in real life I would make sure to keep at bay. So why even try dropping by a place like this. Enjoy your hard bread and grits.
 
My list so far
1- EKI CQC-7B-SF, I have been lucky, this one is one of the smoothest knife I have. I really enjoy it
2- EKI CQC-7B-TE #50, great dealer exclusive.
3- EKI Commander, standard design but still need some breaking in and has the usual EKI lock stick
4- Spyderco Yojimbo 2 and OD micarta scales. Took me a couple of week to get used to it but it is a good knife, even as an EDC
5- Para 3 Maxamet. Pure awesomeness ;) I added a MXGGear deep carry clip
6- Hinderer Eklipse Tri-Way harpoon tanto, incredible action on this one. The blade shape of the tanto is very functional if not for food prep
7- CRK large Inkosi with natural micarta inlays. Great.

on the other hand I sold 4 knives and some other stuffs to fund that ;)
 
mendezj said:
Please excuse me for living. And excuse me for insulting the infinite wisdom of some knife experts who have probably not spent a day on the field dressing a deer or filleting a fifty pound mahi. I don’t waste too much time on the web as I have much better things to do, but we are living extenuating circumstances. In any case, the virtual world is full of tough and impolite geniuses who in real life I would make sure to keep at bay. So why even try dropping by a place like this. Enjoy your hard bread and grits.
Click to expand...
You are excused.
 
mendezj said:
Great reply. Thank you. Useful too as I want to know more about 20CV steel. I’m buying another Hinderer and would like to know whether to buy one with M390 or 20CV steel. I’d like to know your opinion. By the way, I’m keeping the Socom. I also have a fixed blade Socom which I like a lot.
Click to expand...

They're essentially the same steel.
 
mendezj said:
Please excuse me for living. And excuse me for insulting the infinite wisdom of some knife experts who have probably not spent a day on the field dressing a deer or filleting a fifty pound mahi. I don’t waste too much time on the web as I have much better things to do, but we are living extenuating circumstances. In any case, the virtual world is full of tough and impolite geniuses who in real life I would make sure to keep at bay. So why even try dropping by a place like this. Enjoy your hard bread and grits.
Click to expand...

I cannot speak to the crooked river but my Benchmade 531 REI had a S30V blade
that refused to stay sharp...it was horrible. I bought a Spyderco Lil Native comp lock
in S30V and now I love S30V. I find the lil native easy to make hair popping and it
maintains the edge a long time. I mostly cut cardboard and open boxes with it.
 
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