OK the PayPal was working for BladeForums not sure why it kept fizzliing on knife store sites.
We're good. Got a hair cut in the mean time, had guests, dinner . . . and we'rrrrrrre
BACK !
Aaahhhhh . . . !
HERE IT IS !
That’s Gabon right ? !
Kidding . . . that is the last knife I purchased before the main event. I decided I wanted to experience one after the last infamous thread and it turns out it is the least expensive knife I have bought at just under $9.
Now for the most expensive knife I have bought . . . you’ve waited a long time for this . . .
( but I’ve waited longer)
OHHHHHhhhhhh soooo close . . . oh well.
Perfectly sharp enough out of the box; see photo of finger nail trimming in one piece. Sure it shaves SoWhat. When an edge can trim my finger nails I know it is a useful working edge. Took a little finessing on my part because I’m not used to convexed edges; I went slow and VICTORY !
Good edge !
I can flick the blade open with a little wrist.
Holding the knife horizontal blade-slot down the blade drops every single time when I push the lock bar to the unlocked position.
The lanyard may have to go. I will leave it on for a week and see what I can see. My initial reaction when I first picked up the knife to put it in my pocket was : what’s that I felt ! ! !
Oh the lanyard / that’ll have to go.
But I’ll give it a chance. Pretty cool how they got the coils and the pivot to align so there is no chance of the blade tip cutting the lanyard when the knife is closed.
The thumb stud . . . oh the controversial thumb stud . . . : It is as I imagined; if I press on the side of the cone (as I believe it was intended to be used) rather than placing the pad of my thumb down on the point, the conical thumb stud is perfectly usable, causes no pain and is the lightest and most minimal thumb stud imaginable unless we start switching to Ti or Alu and I prefer the brass ! ! !
So . . . I have used it a bunch, flipped it a bunch, opened it slow a bunch and
NO THUMB PAIN !
(push on the side of the cone not the point guys)
I never realized that the flats of the handle scales were polished. I always thought the faces were the same {sand ?, bead ? ) blasted finish as the chamfered edges and pocket clip.
OH MY BOB !
DO I HAVE A KNOCK OFF ! ! ! !
(what the hell it works, is well made and I like the finish)
Is this a new thing finish wise ? ? ? You can see in the photo of the certificate this knife is less than a year old.
I am so glad I snagged one of the two-inlay-strip ( Model 21) knives. I don’t care for the one slab (31) versions as much and think I might get a little more finger tip grip on the groove between the inlays. In hand this is extremely minimal but is my story and I’m sticking to it.
The disappearance of the two strip 21s is partly why I came out of my hole and pulled the trigger on a CRK.
The other reasons are I just completed a high end hand made part for a customer and he was so ecstatic he tossed me a tip ! The Chef wanted to give me a gift and my pay at my job has increased though the over all deal is sketchy . . . hell I’m celebrating like a brain damaged test monkey ! This knife will remind me of and commemorate this weird time in my life !
Translation I no longer had any good excuse not to try a 21 so here I am . . .
skeptical but open minded . . .
the blade is toooo dambed thick (must restrain my grinder hand . . . for now )
BUT the hollow grind is nice and thin ! ! ! ish ( haven’t measured it yet ) . . . oh so many giblets to pick over.
DANG if the action isn’t dropping and smooth out of the box ! ! !
Blade so centered even I can’t find anything to complain about (not that I care much that the blade is centered its the picking that I enjoy . . . so very disappointing in that respect)
Most importantly I’ve got a ritzy, cool, blue CRK cloth to improve my knife photo compositions with. If you don't have a decent camera go for composition I say (just made that up).
It is fun opening the box and getting all the paraphernalia with it; wrench, lube, cloth, certificate, booklet and a quite nice pocket slip.
I just noticed the “R” near the pivot (as if for the first time) and realized that is perfect because my first name starts with R.
As you can see it is Macassar not Gabon. Turns out the inlays match pretty much perfectly the block of Lignin Vite that I wear on a cord around my neck. The Lignin Vite has gone from green to dark brown with some lighter brown sap wood high lights that I left on it so that’s kind of . . . a sign . . . right ?
