The Bravo looks great, is extremely solid (a little over 1/16" handle liners), the Besh Wedge is ground for right handers (yay!) and I like the overall handle shape.
Unfortunately, the liner lock moves a little over half way across the tang right off the bat (and went all the way over with the pivot loosened). The blade was rubbing the handle liner, until I stuck the knife in a vice to loosen off the clip, which was holding on to my pocket with a death grip (not always a bad thing).
The liner lock is probably the worst thing about it. It's 3/64" thick, unlike the nice 1/16" handle liners. I guess their punching machine isn't set up to do steel much thicker than 1/32". I'm tempted to call it lazy. If the lock had been set better I'd be more forgiving, as thickness isn't everything. Right now the contact point on the tang is about half way down, worryingly close to the pivot, rather than at the very front of the tang where it's supposed to be. Again, if the lock were set better to begin with there would be room for it to wear in. I'll be using the knife at camp over the summer, so we'll see if it starts rocking.
Overall, if you're looking for a folding chisel/prybar, this thing looks set up pretty well for that (the blade is truly chisel ground, as it was only ground down on one side, leaving the other side completely flat).
The Bantam? What, where is it? ... Oh, it's in my hand. I just couldn't notice, because it weights nothing. This deserves a quick peek with the scale...
1.037 ounces!
When I got my Vic Soldier, I thought that thing was light, but this is in a whole new category. As usual it's all very nicely polished, and the blade doesn't even rub the handle!
I expect this knife to serve me very well peeling fruit this summer.
Unfortunately, the liner lock moves a little over half way across the tang right off the bat (and went all the way over with the pivot loosened). The blade was rubbing the handle liner, until I stuck the knife in a vice to loosen off the clip, which was holding on to my pocket with a death grip (not always a bad thing).
The liner lock is probably the worst thing about it. It's 3/64" thick, unlike the nice 1/16" handle liners. I guess their punching machine isn't set up to do steel much thicker than 1/32". I'm tempted to call it lazy. If the lock had been set better I'd be more forgiving, as thickness isn't everything. Right now the contact point on the tang is about half way down, worryingly close to the pivot, rather than at the very front of the tang where it's supposed to be. Again, if the lock were set better to begin with there would be room for it to wear in. I'll be using the knife at camp over the summer, so we'll see if it starts rocking.
Overall, if you're looking for a folding chisel/prybar, this thing looks set up pretty well for that (the blade is truly chisel ground, as it was only ground down on one side, leaving the other side completely flat).
The Bantam? What, where is it? ... Oh, it's in my hand. I just couldn't notice, because it weights nothing. This deserves a quick peek with the scale...
1.037 ounces!
When I got my Vic Soldier, I thought that thing was light, but this is in a whole new category. As usual it's all very nicely polished, and the blade doesn't even rub the handle!
I expect this knife to serve me very well peeling fruit this summer.
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