Well, it arrived a few days ago, monday I believe. Unfortunately I was working 12 hour days, so I haven't had time to post, or play around too much with it until today.
I have to say: I LOVE this thing! It is just FUN. It is HUGE! (sorry about all the caps and exclamation points, lol). When open it is the length of my forearm plus closed fist. It came shaving sharp out of the box. It is exceptionally well balanced; you can easily balance it on two fingers, or lightly grip it between thumb and index finger, and it is easy to manipulate for its size (a fast knife).
The first time opening the thing was a bit scary. It is tight, and has a strong spring. It locks up with an amazingly authoritative click, and there is no mobility once locked-- it is solid. The first time closing it took great effort-- the lock back thingy was real tight-- I had to push it in with both thumbs to get it going, and then pushing it down far enough with one thumb and closing the blade in a controlled manner took some effort. After doing it a couple of dozen times, it is slowly loosening a bit. I like it. After a bit of practice, I am now able to consistently flick it open one-handed with the thumb-disc-y thing and a big helping of wrist flicking.
The wave feature: FUN! FUN! and also....FUN! I find it very easy and intuitive. I put the thing in my jeans pocket, and tried it once slowly-- the knife opened up perfectly evenly and easily as I slowly pulled it from my pocket-- didn't lock because I was going so slow. The second time I did it more quickly and it flew out and locked up tight, with a beautiful, loud click. I guess it's not called a wave on this knife, I borrowed the term from Kershaw. Same thing though. I had heard that there was a learning curve with the wave feature, so I expected it to be a bit more clumsy, but honestly, it took no more then one practice run, and I had the feel of it. It really works very well.
I will be hard pressed to carry this thing anywhere. The knife is big, as noted in posts above, and the clip sits low on the handle, so a good couple of inches of knife sticks outta your pocket-- NOT subtle.
This is my first cold steel product, and I am pretty impressed. There is one minor flaw in the form of two tiny rust spots on the spine of the blade, near the joint, but I believe these knives sit in stock for quite a while. Actually the blade feels like it has a light coat of some kind of oil protecting it. Anyway, I am not in the least bit worried about the rust spots, especially on a blade this thick. It would take about 20 years for them to get anywhere. I'll just polish them off at some point, if I get around to it.
I am inspired to perhaps try a few more cold steel products based on this purchase, maybe the Rajah III, which also will be impractical for me to use much-- although less impractical than the Rajah I, but probably equally fun. If I have some time this weekend maybe I'll post a little pictorial-- I know it is not a new model or anything, but I figure folks on this forum are like me in that they like to look at pics of knives even if they've seen 'em a hundred times before.
I have to say: I LOVE this thing! It is just FUN. It is HUGE! (sorry about all the caps and exclamation points, lol). When open it is the length of my forearm plus closed fist. It came shaving sharp out of the box. It is exceptionally well balanced; you can easily balance it on two fingers, or lightly grip it between thumb and index finger, and it is easy to manipulate for its size (a fast knife).
The first time opening the thing was a bit scary. It is tight, and has a strong spring. It locks up with an amazingly authoritative click, and there is no mobility once locked-- it is solid. The first time closing it took great effort-- the lock back thingy was real tight-- I had to push it in with both thumbs to get it going, and then pushing it down far enough with one thumb and closing the blade in a controlled manner took some effort. After doing it a couple of dozen times, it is slowly loosening a bit. I like it. After a bit of practice, I am now able to consistently flick it open one-handed with the thumb-disc-y thing and a big helping of wrist flicking.
The wave feature: FUN! FUN! and also....FUN! I find it very easy and intuitive. I put the thing in my jeans pocket, and tried it once slowly-- the knife opened up perfectly evenly and easily as I slowly pulled it from my pocket-- didn't lock because I was going so slow. The second time I did it more quickly and it flew out and locked up tight, with a beautiful, loud click. I guess it's not called a wave on this knife, I borrowed the term from Kershaw. Same thing though. I had heard that there was a learning curve with the wave feature, so I expected it to be a bit more clumsy, but honestly, it took no more then one practice run, and I had the feel of it. It really works very well.
I will be hard pressed to carry this thing anywhere. The knife is big, as noted in posts above, and the clip sits low on the handle, so a good couple of inches of knife sticks outta your pocket-- NOT subtle.
This is my first cold steel product, and I am pretty impressed. There is one minor flaw in the form of two tiny rust spots on the spine of the blade, near the joint, but I believe these knives sit in stock for quite a while. Actually the blade feels like it has a light coat of some kind of oil protecting it. Anyway, I am not in the least bit worried about the rust spots, especially on a blade this thick. It would take about 20 years for them to get anywhere. I'll just polish them off at some point, if I get around to it.
I am inspired to perhaps try a few more cold steel products based on this purchase, maybe the Rajah III, which also will be impractical for me to use much-- although less impractical than the Rajah I, but probably equally fun. If I have some time this weekend maybe I'll post a little pictorial-- I know it is not a new model or anything, but I figure folks on this forum are like me in that they like to look at pics of knives even if they've seen 'em a hundred times before.