Hogue Knives EX03 Thoughts?

the hogue knives are freaking awesome.. I own 3 and have one of my extra EXA-03 for trade right now.. Don't have anything bad to say about them at all.. AWESOME solid knives.. I do prefer the g-10 over the polymer and Aluminum.. Also I love the Mirror finish on the cutting edge. You can read the newspaper in the reflection.. Another big thing to me is that the Blades are Cryogenically treated.. Guys in the 4WD industry know the value of that..







 
kwackster said:
Here some pics of my Hogue EX-03 with 3.5 inch blade:







The handle is not made from fiberglass reinforced nylon but from fiberglass reinforced PPS, a material that is both stronger & stiffer than FRN.
It's also injection molded in one piece, so no scales that are held together with screws.

This is what Allen Elishewitz says about it:

"The EX-03 is super cool, it is similar to the EX-01 but very different.
It's an injection molded version of the 01, with a one piece handle with bolster plates that are actually molded into the handle.
The balance is more like a G-mascus EX, and the handle material is pretty cool: it feels like aluminum and when you tap it on a table it sounds like glass.
It comes only in black and brown, it has a skull crusher on the back, and all the hardware is identical to the 01.

BTW we broke one at 175 pounds which translates to 612 pounds of linear inch, which means you have to apply 612 pounds of cutting force when holding onto the handle for it to break.
What was interesting was that the lock, bolster plate and blade were all intact."
Click to expand...

Thank you again for the great photos and thoughts Kwack - I picked up 2 Hogue EX03's in the brown (tanto and drop point) at the 3.5" blade size for a hair under $80 per knife with free shipping - at that $80 price - the slight blade heavy balance point and lack of liners are just fine by me - the blade's tumble finish is memorizing - what a gorgeous finish and styling - considering picking up a third at that price - feels like a steal at that price with that great thick blade.

FYI for anyone wondering - the thumbstud deployment is butter smooth with a strong thumb flick - makes a nice "thwack" noise when it locks in solidly everytime. Best purchase I have made for $80 knife-wise thusfar.

The only small part that I would change would be to make the pocket clip a little sturdier - it clips and retains just fine but it does not feel as solid as the rest of the knife does.
 
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Vicarious Reality said:
I can not think of a single reason to get a plastic handle version
Click to expand...

How about cost? - $80 with free shipping for an Hogue EX03 vs. $150+ for an EX01 :)

That $70 buys me two weeks of groceries or pays my water bill for two months.

I am not planning on putting 650 lbs. of pressure on that polymer custom handle so that's a fine, light handle material option that decreases what I pay for the knife - still getting the stunning tumble finish quality steel blade and styling for less.

The aluminum handle version of the EX01 is nice looking - the Gmascus is not my cup of tea at all. YMMV
 
I have them both.

I like the 810 but the Hogue finds its way into my pocket more often.

The 810 misses in a few places where the Hogue excels, namely that stonewashed finish is gorgeous, the scales are better engineered (the "Gmascus" scales...I could do w/o the aluminum...to slippy for me), and I like the 154CM stainless as a better steel choice IMO (the M4 is great, but might be overkill for a large hard use folder), and the drop point is more practical...tanto (don't have it) is okay...not a tanto fan.

Having said that, I'm not a big fan of the Hogue's controls. The pivot pin is very visually similar to the lock button. I don't like a secondary lock mechanism on any knife (reference SOG, some Kershaw Onion designs and now Hogue...also the horrible CRKT Auto LAWK...:barf:). The BM AXIS lock is far superior, IMO.

Crunching the nuts, though, the Hogue wins in a pretty close race. The knife you want to buy is the one you'll carry...and as I said, the Hogue usually wins.
 
I picked up a 4" Hogue EX03 and it is HUGE - way too big for my tastes - so I will stick with my 3.5" tantos.

Seconded - that Tumbled finish with a mirror polish on it is gorgeous! Showed my Hogue to my Dad and he said - so how many hundreds did that set you back - I said nope - got it for just under $100 - he wants one now.

$T2eC16F,!ykE9s7twBM+BR4fQ3H-mQ~~60_57.JPG
 
Picked up one on amazon, just came in today. It seems the prices are creeping up there. I got the 3.5 tanto in brown. I cant believe how smooth out of the box. Got a red dpx hest blade hq version 1 of 100 on the way but i may just keep thehogue and sell the dpx. The quality is great and for the price i dont know how much more knife you could possibly build for the price. I hope hogue does well and they keep producing a affordable USA made product for years to come. Great job hogue!
 
Keep in mind, you lose a LOT for the price savings: (I don't have any personal experience with the EX-03, so take what I say with a grain of salt)
First, based on what I have seen, the Ex-03 has a worse heat-treat. It is hardened past acceptable working hardness and actually snapped in one hard-use test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k6rK4MdGQw (video has english subtitles)
Before it snapped, the Ex-03 also chipped, while the Ex-01 seemed to keep its edge in better condition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P67pCOCSyQA)
Second, the button lock cylinder seems to be made of a far softer material that seems to deform under stress. (Allan Elishewitz himself tested to lock of the EX-01 and It performed beautifully, while testing of the EX-03 showed deformation on the lock cylinder itself as well as a failure of the safety)
Finally, the molded handle on the 03 is both thinner and lighter, throwing off the balance and ergos of the original 01 design.
I've also heard that the fit and finish on the hardware is significantly worse, though I can't confirm that.
Based on lurking around forums and briefly handling both, I get the impression that the cost savings simply aren't worth it.
 
Artifice said:
Keep in mind, you lose a LOT for the price savings: (I don't have any personal experience with the EX-03, so take what I say with a grain of salt)
First, based on what I have seen, the Ex-03 has a worse heat-treat. It is hardened past acceptable working hardness and actually snapped in one hard-use test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k6rK4MdGQw (video has english subtitles)
Before it snapped, the Ex-03 also chipped, while the Ex-01 seemed to keep its edge in better condition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P67pCOCSyQA)
Second, the button lock cylinder seems to be made of a far softer material that seems to deform under stress. (Allan Elishewitz himself tested to lock of the EX-01 and It performed beautifully, while testing of the EX-03 showed deformation on the lock cylinder itself as well as a failure of the safety)
Finally, the molded handle on the 03 is both thinner and lighter, throwing off the balance and ergos of the original 01 design.
I've also heard that the fit and finish on the hardware is significantly worse, though I can't confirm that.
Based on lurking around forums and briefly handling both, I get the impression that the cost savings simply aren't worth it.
Click to expand...
sounds lime you're complaining just to complain. If you want the better f&f go with the more expensive model.
 
I have the 3.5" Drop point GMascus EX-01. I almost sold it but decided to keep it. It is by far my most solid folder and has amazing fit and finish. I have had two benchmades (Barrage and the Rescue model) and sold both since both had blade play. With this knife available I can't see how people justify $500.00 Striders (When considering hard use knives). Hougue has ruined more expensive knives for me :) .
 
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