That's an older model. The sheath had a button that mated to that snap. There's no conical drillout in the guard, which is now standard on all the models with Al guards. The newer sheaths are more secure, since there's a divot in the sheath lip that snaps in, but in a more annoying way. They still rattle, but you have to pry the lip of the sheath before you draw (which is a two handed operation). One could try pulling it out with gorilla force one handed, but I wouldn't recommend it. Back when I had my Force Recon, I hadn't tried reheating it to a looser tension.
As for rust resistance, all bead blast finishes increase the surface area of the blade and trap residue that would ordinarily evaporate or rub off, which makes the surface more prone to rust or staining. I noticed yellow-orange staining on my handles one day, then decided, you know what, this BB has to go.
There's a couple deep grind marks and small imperfections that are hidden under the beadblast - which I don't mind, as hand finishing the original knife would easily double the price of these knives. But I would say that a stonewash option would make a great alternative and it wouldn't be significantly more expensive or labor intensive than running a blade through a blasting cabinet. Great scratch resistance and a certain improvement in rust resistance over beadblast. I've considered having my blade stonewashed, though if disassembly is required, the guards and handles would be difficult to remove - they're pinned and epoxied from the looks of it, while a thong hole and lanyard tube run through the end of the handle.
Here's a picture of my Force Recon, before I traded it. Didn't change the finish on this one though. But as you can see, the guard on this one has that drillout, which snaps into the depression on the sheath lip.
Last edited:
