Quite tempted by this one. Thoughts...?
To me it looks like the choil is a bit of a mess. Going purely on pic's I'd be tempted to grind off the choil, allowing you to choke up. I can see the reasoning behind it as it hides the corner of the blade tang but an exposed tang really wouldn't bother me..
Good fit and finish?
Looks like all the right ingredients for a tasty looking stew
Cheers
It's excellent. The part in the front of the grip isn't really a choil. It's raised to hide the back of the blade tang, and also to help hide the fact that the blade is wider than the frame.
F&F is great. There's lots of little attention to detail the the common mass produced knives don't have, but not quite as perfect as I imagine a custom would be.
For example, the liners are skeletonized and then hardened, so the knife is much lighter than you'd expect when you see steel and wood.
The opening nick in the blade is not as sure as a Spyderco hole, but it's fine if your life's not on the line. I think it's more elegant than a hole or stud.
The back lock action is the smoothest and lightest I've experienced; makes a Spyderco or Buck seem very heavy. The blade can be flicked out with a quick flick of the wrist, and not a particularly hard one. Only downside of that is that if the knife is oriented with the blade up and you press the lock, the blade will guillotine down on your knuckle. (Ask me how I know) it's no big deal if you're aware of it, but they should really put a little warning sheet in the box with it.
The pocket clip was impossibly tight the first day, but now it's perfect.
My only real disappointment is that the scales don't appear to be cocobolo, as advertised. They look like stained cheap Chinese mango wood to me. I think they pulled a switch-a-roo on Russell when he wasn't looking, or maybe someone who's not a woodworker wouldn't notice...
It's narrow in the pocket, and with no sharp edges to abrade the hand when reached in the pocket next to it.
The gripping area would be tight if you have wide or fat fingers; in that case, just get the full sized version.
Watch A.G.'s YouTube video on it. He didn't exaggerate anything. Notice how easily he flips it open with a flick of the wrist. In that way, it's kind of stealthy-fast.
In short, it's a great value. I think it may have raised the bar pretty high for my future value expectations.
I'm gonna carry and use it hard a few more days, then do my own review on it
