- Joined
- Feb 2, 2010
- Messages
- 2,138
So two of my favorite knives ever created are the Cold Steel Recon 1 and the Emerson CQC 8
The Recon 1 has an almost perfect G10 handle, lightweight but strong, very high traction checkering, deep grooves for retention, and just fits like a glove. Also it features the Tri-ad lock. The blade however, leaves much to be desired. You can only have a big fat useless tanto blade or an exagerated clip point that has too thin of a tip, nothing in between. The AUS 8 steel plus the hollow grind means that it will take a pretty fine edge, but not for long, and you will wear alot of steel away just to keep it sharp. Also it's got the silly Teflon black coating.
The CQC 8 has a very unique saber blade shape that is features a strong tip and a nicely shaped belly. It's handle, though, doesn't feel very good to me. The clip is constantly digging into my skin and the jimping on the top of the tang is too radiused to provide enough traction. The thumb disk is hard to use, and the wave feature is a bit small. The titanium liner lock is probably pretty strong, but mine sticks too much to the tang of the knife, even after being broken in, and I plain don't like liner locks. The blade is too narrow to fit the needs of what Emerson was trying to do with it, in my opinion. They use very thick stock, but put a saber grind on it, so the grind angle is too abrupt, although the 154CM steel sharpens very nicely. Also, it features a chisel edge, which many people (myself included) do not like.
So I had been thinking for a while to combine the best features of these two blades in a single knife, and Andrew Demko of Cold Steel has kindly created a one-of-a-kind blade for me. I shipped him two Recon 1 handles, and he made me the blades for them. So this is the result:
I kept the saber blade shape, but made it wider, and we decided to go with a 14" hollow grind (most hollow grinds are around 8"). Steel is CPM 154. He also put on the Cold Steel thumb plate that can be "waved" out of the pocket. I sanded down the G10 under the clip, and added some grip tape along the top of the rocker for added traction. Thickness is still 4mm because it has to fit the original Recon 1 handle.
And one last note, Andrew Demko, was a pleasure to work with, always professional, kept in constant communication, and was very patient with my incessant demands. He really is a credit to the knife community! :thumbup:
The Recon 1 has an almost perfect G10 handle, lightweight but strong, very high traction checkering, deep grooves for retention, and just fits like a glove. Also it features the Tri-ad lock. The blade however, leaves much to be desired. You can only have a big fat useless tanto blade or an exagerated clip point that has too thin of a tip, nothing in between. The AUS 8 steel plus the hollow grind means that it will take a pretty fine edge, but not for long, and you will wear alot of steel away just to keep it sharp. Also it's got the silly Teflon black coating.
The CQC 8 has a very unique saber blade shape that is features a strong tip and a nicely shaped belly. It's handle, though, doesn't feel very good to me. The clip is constantly digging into my skin and the jimping on the top of the tang is too radiused to provide enough traction. The thumb disk is hard to use, and the wave feature is a bit small. The titanium liner lock is probably pretty strong, but mine sticks too much to the tang of the knife, even after being broken in, and I plain don't like liner locks. The blade is too narrow to fit the needs of what Emerson was trying to do with it, in my opinion. They use very thick stock, but put a saber grind on it, so the grind angle is too abrupt, although the 154CM steel sharpens very nicely. Also, it features a chisel edge, which many people (myself included) do not like.
So I had been thinking for a while to combine the best features of these two blades in a single knife, and Andrew Demko of Cold Steel has kindly created a one-of-a-kind blade for me. I shipped him two Recon 1 handles, and he made me the blades for them. So this is the result:
I kept the saber blade shape, but made it wider, and we decided to go with a 14" hollow grind (most hollow grinds are around 8"). Steel is CPM 154. He also put on the Cold Steel thumb plate that can be "waved" out of the pocket. I sanded down the G10 under the clip, and added some grip tape along the top of the rocker for added traction. Thickness is still 4mm because it has to fit the original Recon 1 handle.
And one last note, Andrew Demko, was a pleasure to work with, always professional, kept in constant communication, and was very patient with my incessant demands. He really is a credit to the knife community! :thumbup:
