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- Oct 9, 1998
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<center><font size=4>EDI Genesis II </font>
By Chang</center>
I have recently received my EDI Genesis II from 1 Stop Knife Shop, special thanks to Spark for quick service in letting me know over the phone that my order had been shipped. Due to a screw up on the United States Postal Service's part, the knife arrived a couple days later than expected. My first impressions? Seemed like a nice knife, of course there are a few gripes I would like to make now that I've thoroughly examined the knife.
General Overview: The EDI Genesis II is overall very similar to the Genesis I, except for a few changes. The most important change is the change in handle material. The scales are no longer G-10, but are now a Swiss produced polymer, GV6H. It feels very much like Zytel, but shouldn't be confused with it. GV6H has a much higher glass content that Zytel, and is a lot harder and much more durable. The second most notable change is the removal of one of the liners. Guess which one?
The non-locking liner one. Duh. Instead of dual liners, EDI has chosen to reduce costs of the Genesis II for the end consumer by removing one of the liners and thickening the GV6H scale to make up for the change in thickness. The third change is that the pocket clip can no longer be reversed to the other side. With the removal of the titanium liner on one side, tapping holes for the pocket clip screws is not possible. Therefore, if you are a left handed person, this might not be too convenient for you. What do these changes bring? A much lower cost. The knife certainly seems cheaper due to the Zytel feel, but the knife is still rather solid. I got mine for $50 + $5 S&H, so I'm not complaining! The specific model I have (black titanium coating and plain edged blade configuration) retails for about $130. The blade is about 4" long, and the point is rather utilitarian in design. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Ergonomics: When holding the knife in open position, with the tip pointing away from you and the edge facing to the ground, the right scale (side with the locking liner) will dig into my index finger. This isn't a large problem, because when cutting, the pressure normally goes to your thumb, not your index finger. White knuckle gripping however is rather uncomfortable with the protrusion of the right scale. I heard previous complaints about how the liner lock wasn't recessed enough and would be pushed in during a tight grip by the fleshy portion of your index finger. This really isn't a problem, but could be depending on your grip style. I grip with the 2nd knuckle from the tip of my index finger snuggly fitted inside the groove, however some people put the finger groove against the deeper part of their finger. Since there is very little fleshy portion on my knuckle, this isn't a problem, however the latter group of people described might experience problems. It is my opinion though that you would have to have rather fat fingers in order to trigger a liner lock release during a tight grip.
As I stated earlier, when cutting, the pressure from the handle against your hands would largely be upon your thumb area, so a good thumb ramp is important. The thumb ramp on the Genesis II is all in the handle, none of your thumb will be resting on the blade spin. The removal of the right liner means there is less checkering total on the thumb ramp area. It definitely seems slippier than it would were there to be two full liners both with checkering.
The pocket clip is positioned relatively conveniently, and it does not interfere with anything. The thumbstud is positioned comfortably. The radius length of the semi-circle path of the thumbstud's travel in relation to the pivot screw is 0.875" (measuring from middle points of the pivot and stud). This is about average radius length, and so it doesn't feel unusually good or bad. Personally, I prefer the radius to be about 0.875", but there are others who prefer it to be longer (large hands), and some who prefer smaller (small hands). The arc of the semi-circle path forms about a 180-degree arc (full semi-circle). This doesn't seem to matter to most people though. I noticed my BM-910 doesn't swing a full 180-degree arc during opening, but something more along the lines of 165-degrees.
Lock Strength: First I brutally banged the knife spine against my knee cap about six times. The liner slid slightly to the side, but after that, it never moved again. A couple more brutal bashes against my knee cap made my knee cap hurt, but it didn't do anything to the lock. Finally done with making my knee suffered, I banged it against my desk, covered with a mousepad to prevent denting. No failures. I repeated the beatings about 3 more times, and there were dents appearing my mousepad, so I stopped. Some people have been griping about poor lock strength. I can't see any problems with mine.
Fit and Finish: In terms of fit and finish on the handle, the knife is definitely sub-Benchmade. All the problems are cosmetic however, and will not effect the real utilitarian value of the knife. When disassembled, the bronze washers seemed a little rough. This was easily fixed with a rag and some red rouge. I suggest that people polish and smooth out the washers a little, it helps the knife glide open more smoothly. Also, the liners were not cleanly polished like on a Benchmade. The titanium liner was not polished to a shiny glossy polish, but was left dull like a bead blast. This isn't necessarily a defect or problem or inferiority. However, disassembly revealed that the liners were severely scratched. Three large scratches ran down the sides of my liners. Not too cool, but this is a working knife, so you don't really care that much (I sure didn't, and I'm pretty picky).
The opening smoothness was a little tighter than I hoped when I first got it, but after cleaning it out, it got much better. Finally, after polishing the bronze washers, the action was extremely smooth.
The pocket clip came slightly scuffed on the corners, probably from shipping (USPS did take an extra three days longer just so they could bump the box up, so I'm not too surprised). It seems to have an interesting new coating on the clip, far more durable than the Benchmade pocket clip coating. I believe I heard somewhere that it was the same coating being used on Wilson Combat handguns. "Armor-Tuff" or something like that. Not too sure. Whatever it is, it is stronger than BM pocket clip coating, but it didn't withstand the ruthless onslaught of USPS banging the knife around with only the thin EDI box to protect it (the outside USPS priority mail container was a tyvek sleeve, not a cardboard freight box).
The pivot screw looked a little scuffed too, and it only worsened as I adjusted the tension with my torx-kit from Benchmade. In the end I just removed it and polished the black stuff off of it with white rouge, and then finished with fine red rouge. Looks much less "tactical" (God, I hate that word) now, but I don't care.
Blade play? Absolutely. And I don't mean absolutely not. After being flicked open a few times lightly, the blade started some serious side to side wobble. Not trying to diss on EDI, but come'on guys, seriously. Your knife wobbles like a gravity knife-esque loosened Frost Cutlery Police II knife. I believe the problem is that none of the pieces of the pivot screw are anchored securely to the handle like most knives are. The two pieces of the pivot screw are just left to hold themselves with nothing preventing the big piece from rolling around. Not too cool. Hopefully they will find a fix for this in later productions from their factory. I could tighten the pivot, but then the knife becomes uncomfortably tight to open.
Coating Durability: Man, this black titanium based coating is tough stuff (I rhymed! I'm a poet and I don't know it
). That is all I'm going to say. It beats the pants off of BT2 or Black-T.
Edge Retention: It's about average for an ATS-34 knife. I cut a good deal of cardboard making my new Mad Chang AJAK (Asian Janitorial Assault Knife), and the edge near the tip where I did most of the cutting showed no signs of wear yet. However, when I got finished making my MicroChang gravity OTF Changbat Talon II for Gus Kalanzis, the tip area edge showed some slight dulling.
End Impressions: A fine working knife. Durable coating, edge retention on par with normal ATS-34 steel blades, decent ergonomics, slightly above average smoothness in opening, and a reliable lock. There is some blade play, but the rest of the knife is good. You can contact EDI by calling (314)-863-3343. Their mail address is 1034 S. Brentwood Blvd., Ste. 1950, St. Louis, MO 63117-1219. Web page at: http://www.ediknives.com
------------------
Chang and the Rebels of the East!
Southern Taiwan Will Rise Again!
By Chang</center>
I have recently received my EDI Genesis II from 1 Stop Knife Shop, special thanks to Spark for quick service in letting me know over the phone that my order had been shipped. Due to a screw up on the United States Postal Service's part, the knife arrived a couple days later than expected. My first impressions? Seemed like a nice knife, of course there are a few gripes I would like to make now that I've thoroughly examined the knife.
General Overview: The EDI Genesis II is overall very similar to the Genesis I, except for a few changes. The most important change is the change in handle material. The scales are no longer G-10, but are now a Swiss produced polymer, GV6H. It feels very much like Zytel, but shouldn't be confused with it. GV6H has a much higher glass content that Zytel, and is a lot harder and much more durable. The second most notable change is the removal of one of the liners. Guess which one?
Ergonomics: When holding the knife in open position, with the tip pointing away from you and the edge facing to the ground, the right scale (side with the locking liner) will dig into my index finger. This isn't a large problem, because when cutting, the pressure normally goes to your thumb, not your index finger. White knuckle gripping however is rather uncomfortable with the protrusion of the right scale. I heard previous complaints about how the liner lock wasn't recessed enough and would be pushed in during a tight grip by the fleshy portion of your index finger. This really isn't a problem, but could be depending on your grip style. I grip with the 2nd knuckle from the tip of my index finger snuggly fitted inside the groove, however some people put the finger groove against the deeper part of their finger. Since there is very little fleshy portion on my knuckle, this isn't a problem, however the latter group of people described might experience problems. It is my opinion though that you would have to have rather fat fingers in order to trigger a liner lock release during a tight grip.
As I stated earlier, when cutting, the pressure from the handle against your hands would largely be upon your thumb area, so a good thumb ramp is important. The thumb ramp on the Genesis II is all in the handle, none of your thumb will be resting on the blade spin. The removal of the right liner means there is less checkering total on the thumb ramp area. It definitely seems slippier than it would were there to be two full liners both with checkering.
The pocket clip is positioned relatively conveniently, and it does not interfere with anything. The thumbstud is positioned comfortably. The radius length of the semi-circle path of the thumbstud's travel in relation to the pivot screw is 0.875" (measuring from middle points of the pivot and stud). This is about average radius length, and so it doesn't feel unusually good or bad. Personally, I prefer the radius to be about 0.875", but there are others who prefer it to be longer (large hands), and some who prefer smaller (small hands). The arc of the semi-circle path forms about a 180-degree arc (full semi-circle). This doesn't seem to matter to most people though. I noticed my BM-910 doesn't swing a full 180-degree arc during opening, but something more along the lines of 165-degrees.
Lock Strength: First I brutally banged the knife spine against my knee cap about six times. The liner slid slightly to the side, but after that, it never moved again. A couple more brutal bashes against my knee cap made my knee cap hurt, but it didn't do anything to the lock. Finally done with making my knee suffered, I banged it against my desk, covered with a mousepad to prevent denting. No failures. I repeated the beatings about 3 more times, and there were dents appearing my mousepad, so I stopped. Some people have been griping about poor lock strength. I can't see any problems with mine.
Fit and Finish: In terms of fit and finish on the handle, the knife is definitely sub-Benchmade. All the problems are cosmetic however, and will not effect the real utilitarian value of the knife. When disassembled, the bronze washers seemed a little rough. This was easily fixed with a rag and some red rouge. I suggest that people polish and smooth out the washers a little, it helps the knife glide open more smoothly. Also, the liners were not cleanly polished like on a Benchmade. The titanium liner was not polished to a shiny glossy polish, but was left dull like a bead blast. This isn't necessarily a defect or problem or inferiority. However, disassembly revealed that the liners were severely scratched. Three large scratches ran down the sides of my liners. Not too cool, but this is a working knife, so you don't really care that much (I sure didn't, and I'm pretty picky).
The opening smoothness was a little tighter than I hoped when I first got it, but after cleaning it out, it got much better. Finally, after polishing the bronze washers, the action was extremely smooth.
The pocket clip came slightly scuffed on the corners, probably from shipping (USPS did take an extra three days longer just so they could bump the box up, so I'm not too surprised). It seems to have an interesting new coating on the clip, far more durable than the Benchmade pocket clip coating. I believe I heard somewhere that it was the same coating being used on Wilson Combat handguns. "Armor-Tuff" or something like that. Not too sure. Whatever it is, it is stronger than BM pocket clip coating, but it didn't withstand the ruthless onslaught of USPS banging the knife around with only the thin EDI box to protect it (the outside USPS priority mail container was a tyvek sleeve, not a cardboard freight box).
The pivot screw looked a little scuffed too, and it only worsened as I adjusted the tension with my torx-kit from Benchmade. In the end I just removed it and polished the black stuff off of it with white rouge, and then finished with fine red rouge. Looks much less "tactical" (God, I hate that word) now, but I don't care.
Blade play? Absolutely. And I don't mean absolutely not. After being flicked open a few times lightly, the blade started some serious side to side wobble. Not trying to diss on EDI, but come'on guys, seriously. Your knife wobbles like a gravity knife-esque loosened Frost Cutlery Police II knife. I believe the problem is that none of the pieces of the pivot screw are anchored securely to the handle like most knives are. The two pieces of the pivot screw are just left to hold themselves with nothing preventing the big piece from rolling around. Not too cool. Hopefully they will find a fix for this in later productions from their factory. I could tighten the pivot, but then the knife becomes uncomfortably tight to open.
Coating Durability: Man, this black titanium based coating is tough stuff (I rhymed! I'm a poet and I don't know it
Edge Retention: It's about average for an ATS-34 knife. I cut a good deal of cardboard making my new Mad Chang AJAK (Asian Janitorial Assault Knife), and the edge near the tip where I did most of the cutting showed no signs of wear yet. However, when I got finished making my MicroChang gravity OTF Changbat Talon II for Gus Kalanzis, the tip area edge showed some slight dulling.
End Impressions: A fine working knife. Durable coating, edge retention on par with normal ATS-34 steel blades, decent ergonomics, slightly above average smoothness in opening, and a reliable lock. There is some blade play, but the rest of the knife is good. You can contact EDI by calling (314)-863-3343. Their mail address is 1034 S. Brentwood Blvd., Ste. 1950, St. Louis, MO 63117-1219. Web page at: http://www.ediknives.com
------------------
Chang and the Rebels of the East!
Southern Taiwan Will Rise Again!
