- Joined
- Mar 19, 1999
- Messages
- 2,277
I have see the drawings for this thing for a while. I would ask when and Darrel kept saying "soon". Well, low and behold, soon is here!
The EDC-X blade GH had already found a home, but he did have the tanto done and was working on the MT. He is trying to decide the best grind for his revived Osprey blade, the MT. The prototype is a flat grind.
As I mentioned, the tanto was done and ready to go. On first inspection, this puppy is tight! I truly believe Darrel has taken his precision fit to a new level on this folder. I was truly amazed. I have gotten to handle a lot of his knives. I have always told Darrel what I thought, straight up. He might say I am overly critical at times or even a bit too nit picky. On this one, nothing to nit pick.
To me, it looks like a large version of the Combat Elite RRF. If you have handled the RRF, you know it is a very ergonomic folder. The GH is even more so. The same basic handle, only scaled up, fits the hand even better. With the 3d inlay and finger relief, it will take a lot to get this knife to slip from the hand.
Opening the knife requires only minor effort on your part to overcome the detent and the cam. This is due to 3 things that I can ascertain. 1. The precise fit of the blade, pivot and frame. 2. The new GH flipper with the milled serrations that remind me of a WWII jeep tire and 3. The relief on the spine that Darrel is calling an "accelarator groove". The Accelarator Groove is a relief on the spine where the flipper protrudes when the knife is closed. It is basically the relief Darrel uses for your finger to disengage the lock on his larger frame locks. The Accelarator Groove is a bit deeper cut. Many flipper folders have a notch cut in the back of the handle parallel with the pivot. This allows the finger to stay in contact withe the flipper through a greater range of the arc the flipper travels. That gives more positive opening. The Accelerator Groove does the same thing, but keeps the profile of the handle clean and uniform. It also gives a the finger a better sweep through it's range of motion while opening the flipper. To the best of my knowledge, I have not seen this on a flipper before.
The blades are hand rubbed S30V and look as expected, great! The EDC-X blade shape has an acceptable to me and is a very functional and popular blade shape. The Tanto is my least favorite in looks and function, but it does give more options with grinds and edge bevels. Darrel is experimenting with these and combining them for different tasks on the same blade. Not a new concept, but a different approach for Darrel. I am looking forward to the MC blade. This came from his old Osprey design that Delta Z knives made. The MT is obviously larger and will be much more aggressive. This will be less of a utility blade. Once he figures out the final grind to be used, I think this will be the most popular blade.
Overall, without being able to use the knife in any hard task, I am very impressed. Based on Darrel's past work, I have absolutley no doubt this knife will perform and at an extreme level. The quality on this knife is another level higher for Darrel, whose quality is already at a level few makers see.
OOPS, I do have one criticism. Sorry Darrel, I always try to find to something.
You will notice, there are a pair of extentions that stick out from the frame where the blade stops contact the frame. This was used on the Camillus Heat/Dominator. While some like them for the purpose of maybe an impact tool or pain compliance, I don't like them at all. I think they ruin the line of the knife and have been a hinderance when drawing my Camillus Dominator from my pocket. They like to snag on the pocket seam or liner. Darrel says they will disapear eventually. Sooner is better, in my opinion. Are they a show stopper? Not a chance! I am patiently waiting for the MC blades to get done so I can get mine.
Here is a link to some pics.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372916
The EDC-X blade GH had already found a home, but he did have the tanto done and was working on the MT. He is trying to decide the best grind for his revived Osprey blade, the MT. The prototype is a flat grind.
As I mentioned, the tanto was done and ready to go. On first inspection, this puppy is tight! I truly believe Darrel has taken his precision fit to a new level on this folder. I was truly amazed. I have gotten to handle a lot of his knives. I have always told Darrel what I thought, straight up. He might say I am overly critical at times or even a bit too nit picky. On this one, nothing to nit pick.
To me, it looks like a large version of the Combat Elite RRF. If you have handled the RRF, you know it is a very ergonomic folder. The GH is even more so. The same basic handle, only scaled up, fits the hand even better. With the 3d inlay and finger relief, it will take a lot to get this knife to slip from the hand.
Opening the knife requires only minor effort on your part to overcome the detent and the cam. This is due to 3 things that I can ascertain. 1. The precise fit of the blade, pivot and frame. 2. The new GH flipper with the milled serrations that remind me of a WWII jeep tire and 3. The relief on the spine that Darrel is calling an "accelarator groove". The Accelarator Groove is a relief on the spine where the flipper protrudes when the knife is closed. It is basically the relief Darrel uses for your finger to disengage the lock on his larger frame locks. The Accelarator Groove is a bit deeper cut. Many flipper folders have a notch cut in the back of the handle parallel with the pivot. This allows the finger to stay in contact withe the flipper through a greater range of the arc the flipper travels. That gives more positive opening. The Accelerator Groove does the same thing, but keeps the profile of the handle clean and uniform. It also gives a the finger a better sweep through it's range of motion while opening the flipper. To the best of my knowledge, I have not seen this on a flipper before.
The blades are hand rubbed S30V and look as expected, great! The EDC-X blade shape has an acceptable to me and is a very functional and popular blade shape. The Tanto is my least favorite in looks and function, but it does give more options with grinds and edge bevels. Darrel is experimenting with these and combining them for different tasks on the same blade. Not a new concept, but a different approach for Darrel. I am looking forward to the MC blade. This came from his old Osprey design that Delta Z knives made. The MT is obviously larger and will be much more aggressive. This will be less of a utility blade. Once he figures out the final grind to be used, I think this will be the most popular blade.
Overall, without being able to use the knife in any hard task, I am very impressed. Based on Darrel's past work, I have absolutley no doubt this knife will perform and at an extreme level. The quality on this knife is another level higher for Darrel, whose quality is already at a level few makers see.
OOPS, I do have one criticism. Sorry Darrel, I always try to find to something.
You will notice, there are a pair of extentions that stick out from the frame where the blade stops contact the frame. This was used on the Camillus Heat/Dominator. While some like them for the purpose of maybe an impact tool or pain compliance, I don't like them at all. I think they ruin the line of the knife and have been a hinderance when drawing my Camillus Dominator from my pocket. They like to snag on the pocket seam or liner. Darrel says they will disapear eventually. Sooner is better, in my opinion. Are they a show stopper? Not a chance! I am patiently waiting for the MC blades to get done so I can get mine. Here is a link to some pics.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372916
