- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
Well, I have been on a quest for Spyderco's Jot Sing Khalsa custom collaboration for a long time, and after contacting Bruce at Bullmancutlery.com he offered a price that I couldn't refuse. I went with a plain edge, of course.
After seeing so many "it's smaller than I thought" comments posted here, I was surprised to see the knife was larger and more robust than I had thought! You're also looking at a reviewer who has a collection of sub-6in. OAL fixed blades, a lot of them floating between 4-5" OAL, so maybe that puts it into perspective.
The JSK has a Micarta handle, and I expected linen Micarta, but it actually appears to be paper Micarta which has been finished to a slightly satin finish. The knife is weird-looking, but different and that's what I like! The hump makes a nice pseudo-guard, although it does take up a lot of space in the pocket. The knife is fairly robust in the weight department, too, having dual stainless liners. The spine is 50% open, but toward the back it has a micarta spacer to enclose it. All hardware is stainless steel and there are no adjustable pivots or screws.
The knife opens very smoothly, and due to the weight and placement of the hump, it is very easy to engage in all the usual Spyderco opening styles (i.e. normal thumb opening, holding the hump and snapping the handle down, reverse grip using ring finger to open from the hole, etc). This knife is very comfy in reverse grip, and the hump really keeps the hand from sliding onto the blade.
The Khalsa is also comfy with the usual hand grip, although the hump is set just slightly too far back when open, so your thumb feels sort of cramped if you are used to puatting the thumb on the spine of the blade. There are three cutouts on the handle...one is small and houses the serrated (for grip) liner lock release, one is for the index finger, and there is another one cut into the choil of the blade to allow the hand to slide forward onto trhe blade for detail work. This latter cut out is a little small for this application, but with the hump and shape of the blade you can easily slide your grip up onto the spine of the blade for fine work. The grip of the knife is VERY comfy, and myhand is the perfect size for it. A light squeeze just locks the knife into my hand. There is no blade play, all grinds are symmetrical, and the knife is great to hold. A few gripes:
1) Toward the front of the handle, the liners are not flush with the Micarta scales. The gap is even throughout, and extends only along the shape of the handle at the front. It is flush everywhere else. This was obviously intentional, but I am not sure why. It leaves a slightly abrasive edge on the Micarta, for seemingly no purpose.
2) The liner lock release is nicely tucked into the small cutout, but it is set relatively far back from the lock/tang joint. This means that you must set the liner fairly close to the scale to get the blade to release. In other words, the pivot is set too far back and you have to work at it to get the blade to release. It takes a while to get used to, especially when my only other Liner Lock style knife is Benchmade's Pinnacle MonoLock, which is very easy to access. In any case, I would rather have it unlock slower than too easily, so it could be worse. All in all Spyderco made a GREAT knife with the Jot Sing Khalsa collaboration. I also have an Endura, full size Calypso, and Moran, and the JSK is definitely my favorite of the bunch.
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My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
After seeing so many "it's smaller than I thought" comments posted here, I was surprised to see the knife was larger and more robust than I had thought! You're also looking at a reviewer who has a collection of sub-6in. OAL fixed blades, a lot of them floating between 4-5" OAL, so maybe that puts it into perspective.
The JSK has a Micarta handle, and I expected linen Micarta, but it actually appears to be paper Micarta which has been finished to a slightly satin finish. The knife is weird-looking, but different and that's what I like! The hump makes a nice pseudo-guard, although it does take up a lot of space in the pocket. The knife is fairly robust in the weight department, too, having dual stainless liners. The spine is 50% open, but toward the back it has a micarta spacer to enclose it. All hardware is stainless steel and there are no adjustable pivots or screws.
The knife opens very smoothly, and due to the weight and placement of the hump, it is very easy to engage in all the usual Spyderco opening styles (i.e. normal thumb opening, holding the hump and snapping the handle down, reverse grip using ring finger to open from the hole, etc). This knife is very comfy in reverse grip, and the hump really keeps the hand from sliding onto the blade.
The Khalsa is also comfy with the usual hand grip, although the hump is set just slightly too far back when open, so your thumb feels sort of cramped if you are used to puatting the thumb on the spine of the blade. There are three cutouts on the handle...one is small and houses the serrated (for grip) liner lock release, one is for the index finger, and there is another one cut into the choil of the blade to allow the hand to slide forward onto trhe blade for detail work. This latter cut out is a little small for this application, but with the hump and shape of the blade you can easily slide your grip up onto the spine of the blade for fine work. The grip of the knife is VERY comfy, and myhand is the perfect size for it. A light squeeze just locks the knife into my hand. There is no blade play, all grinds are symmetrical, and the knife is great to hold. A few gripes:
1) Toward the front of the handle, the liners are not flush with the Micarta scales. The gap is even throughout, and extends only along the shape of the handle at the front. It is flush everywhere else. This was obviously intentional, but I am not sure why. It leaves a slightly abrasive edge on the Micarta, for seemingly no purpose.
2) The liner lock release is nicely tucked into the small cutout, but it is set relatively far back from the lock/tang joint. This means that you must set the liner fairly close to the scale to get the blade to release. In other words, the pivot is set too far back and you have to work at it to get the blade to release. It takes a while to get used to, especially when my only other Liner Lock style knife is Benchmade's Pinnacle MonoLock, which is very easy to access. In any case, I would rather have it unlock slower than too easily, so it could be worse. All in all Spyderco made a GREAT knife with the Jot Sing Khalsa collaboration. I also have an Endura, full size Calypso, and Moran, and the JSK is definitely my favorite of the bunch.
------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html