Hello all,
I got in on the Stars & Stripes passaround and figured I would start my review. I will post some pics here in a day or so. Here is the link to the passaround thread with some pics of the knives. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=449622
You can also check them out on the Graham Brothers Knife site here: http://www.grahamknives.com/
In order to simplify this review I will break it down into 4 categories: Things I like, Things I don't like, Things they did well, and Things they didn't do well.
A bit of introduction, of course, like most of you, I have been a blade nut for years, basically since being given my first "Boy Scout Knife," a Camillus, years ago by my Pappaw (Grandfather for you non-southerners). It was shaving sharp and I cut myself a few times before learning how to properly handle it.
I have recently become a huge fan of the fixed blade EDC knife, especially the shorter blades that can be carried in a pocket sheath. While neither of the Stars & Stripes came with a pocket sheath, the smaller of the two could fairly easily be carried in a pocket sheath, which I probably would.
Things I like
I have become a pretty big fan of the Razel (RAZor-chisEL) blade configuration after using these knives. The lopped off point allows two edge surfaces, one could be kept sharper than the other. The point where the two edges meet is extremely sharp and quite stout. The steel (S30V for the smaller one and CPM 154CM for the larger) held the edge without question. In addition they were quite easy to resharpen (which I never really needed to do but can't resist touching a knife to a sharpening stone). I never found a need to scrape with the smaller edge but did find some creative ways to cut various items with it.
The steel is very thick, which not only added considerable strength to these knives, you'd be hard pressed to break them under even extreme normal use, but it also added comfort considering they have no handle scales. At one point I did try cord wrapping the two handles which made chopping much more comfortable but I'll talk more about that later.
The sheath carried very well. In fact I carried the smaller one on my strong side every day (except to church where I carry a lower profile in the pocked fixed blade). Tucked under a loose t-shirt, no one noticed I was carrying it. With the multiple-carry-position sheath and Tek-lok, included, one could carry them crossdraw, horizontal or vertical, even attached to pack straps. I believe the last method would work very well with these knives for hiking, or scuba diving.
Things I don't like
For chopping, the handles weren't the most comfortable. This was fairly easily fixed with a bit of parachute cord wrapped around the handle. It especially worked very well to do it in the japanese sword handle style.
I didn't find myself using the ring much. The handle on the larger knife was a bit too large for my hands using the ring but fit perfectly just using the handle as normal. The smaller knife fit nicely with the ring, but I am just not used to using one. With a bit of practice I'm sure I would grow to like it.
That's basically all I didn't like about them. Not very much at all, and given the scope of what I think they were designed for, not bad at all.
What they did well
Cut almost anything. I used both of the knives, especially the smaller one, for anything I would normally use an EDC knife for. They cut leather like it was butter. Rope was no problem. The larger knife even chopped much better than would have been expected for the size of the blade, despite the handle not being the most comfortable for this task. One thought I didn't get to try was to tie the larger knife to a stick to use it like a modified hawk. I think that would have worked quite well.
One thing I knew I wanted to try was to dish out a bowl in a plank for a bow and spindle fire starter. While I didn't actually make a fire, the 90 degree point worked wonderfully for dishing out the bowl.
The smaller of the two carried quite well, both comfortable and low profile for it's size on the belt. A pocket sheath would have made it even more low profile.
I used both for making fuzz-sticks and that was no problem at all, actually quite easy using the tip where the two edges meet for cutting out some very fine fuzz-sticks.
What they didn't do well
I cut up some apple and cheese for my daughters lunch one morning and I have to admit that the thick blades didn't do that well (not that I expected them too). They did cut the apple and cheese but because of the thickness wound up wedging and splitting the apple more than anything. Again, I didn't expect them to perform that well at this task, and keep in mind they weren't designed for this type of work where a thinner blade excels. However, your general paring knife would easily break if subjected to some of the things the Stars & Stripes Razel knives are designed to do.
Overall, I like these knives, and have already hinted to my wife that I would love the smaller one for any upcoming Holiday. They carry easily given their low profile and cut like a dream. Even having been used by one other tester, they came to me almost shaving sharp. Just a bit of touch up and I was back in the bald arm business.
One other area where I think they would work well is as a dive knife. Being low profile they would not snag as easily. Being all metal with no handle scales they would be easy to clean and lessen the chances of rust. The ring would be a great asset with retention underwater and it would be very easy to attach a lanyard.
Let's sum it up this way, I really hate shipping these knives on to the next tester in the passaround, but hope to one day soon, fill the void.
Thanks for reading.
Charles
I got in on the Stars & Stripes passaround and figured I would start my review. I will post some pics here in a day or so. Here is the link to the passaround thread with some pics of the knives. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=449622
You can also check them out on the Graham Brothers Knife site here: http://www.grahamknives.com/
In order to simplify this review I will break it down into 4 categories: Things I like, Things I don't like, Things they did well, and Things they didn't do well.
A bit of introduction, of course, like most of you, I have been a blade nut for years, basically since being given my first "Boy Scout Knife," a Camillus, years ago by my Pappaw (Grandfather for you non-southerners). It was shaving sharp and I cut myself a few times before learning how to properly handle it.
I have recently become a huge fan of the fixed blade EDC knife, especially the shorter blades that can be carried in a pocket sheath. While neither of the Stars & Stripes came with a pocket sheath, the smaller of the two could fairly easily be carried in a pocket sheath, which I probably would.
Things I like
I have become a pretty big fan of the Razel (RAZor-chisEL) blade configuration after using these knives. The lopped off point allows two edge surfaces, one could be kept sharper than the other. The point where the two edges meet is extremely sharp and quite stout. The steel (S30V for the smaller one and CPM 154CM for the larger) held the edge without question. In addition they were quite easy to resharpen (which I never really needed to do but can't resist touching a knife to a sharpening stone). I never found a need to scrape with the smaller edge but did find some creative ways to cut various items with it.
The steel is very thick, which not only added considerable strength to these knives, you'd be hard pressed to break them under even extreme normal use, but it also added comfort considering they have no handle scales. At one point I did try cord wrapping the two handles which made chopping much more comfortable but I'll talk more about that later.
The sheath carried very well. In fact I carried the smaller one on my strong side every day (except to church where I carry a lower profile in the pocked fixed blade). Tucked under a loose t-shirt, no one noticed I was carrying it. With the multiple-carry-position sheath and Tek-lok, included, one could carry them crossdraw, horizontal or vertical, even attached to pack straps. I believe the last method would work very well with these knives for hiking, or scuba diving.
Things I don't like
For chopping, the handles weren't the most comfortable. This was fairly easily fixed with a bit of parachute cord wrapped around the handle. It especially worked very well to do it in the japanese sword handle style.
I didn't find myself using the ring much. The handle on the larger knife was a bit too large for my hands using the ring but fit perfectly just using the handle as normal. The smaller knife fit nicely with the ring, but I am just not used to using one. With a bit of practice I'm sure I would grow to like it.
That's basically all I didn't like about them. Not very much at all, and given the scope of what I think they were designed for, not bad at all.
What they did well
Cut almost anything. I used both of the knives, especially the smaller one, for anything I would normally use an EDC knife for. They cut leather like it was butter. Rope was no problem. The larger knife even chopped much better than would have been expected for the size of the blade, despite the handle not being the most comfortable for this task. One thought I didn't get to try was to tie the larger knife to a stick to use it like a modified hawk. I think that would have worked quite well.
One thing I knew I wanted to try was to dish out a bowl in a plank for a bow and spindle fire starter. While I didn't actually make a fire, the 90 degree point worked wonderfully for dishing out the bowl.
The smaller of the two carried quite well, both comfortable and low profile for it's size on the belt. A pocket sheath would have made it even more low profile.
I used both for making fuzz-sticks and that was no problem at all, actually quite easy using the tip where the two edges meet for cutting out some very fine fuzz-sticks.
What they didn't do well
I cut up some apple and cheese for my daughters lunch one morning and I have to admit that the thick blades didn't do that well (not that I expected them too). They did cut the apple and cheese but because of the thickness wound up wedging and splitting the apple more than anything. Again, I didn't expect them to perform that well at this task, and keep in mind they weren't designed for this type of work where a thinner blade excels. However, your general paring knife would easily break if subjected to some of the things the Stars & Stripes Razel knives are designed to do.
Overall, I like these knives, and have already hinted to my wife that I would love the smaller one for any upcoming Holiday. They carry easily given their low profile and cut like a dream. Even having been used by one other tester, they came to me almost shaving sharp. Just a bit of touch up and I was back in the bald arm business.
One other area where I think they would work well is as a dive knife. Being low profile they would not snag as easily. Being all metal with no handle scales they would be easy to clean and lessen the chances of rust. The ring would be a great asset with retention underwater and it would be very easy to attach a lanyard.
Let's sum it up this way, I really hate shipping these knives on to the next tester in the passaround, but hope to one day soon, fill the void.
Thanks for reading.
Charles
