JUST got my Ronin #449...

L

Leathal Edge

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Joined
Apr 29, 2003
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14
I just got my Ronin #449 on Monday the UPS guy was LATE.
ANyway upon taking it from the box, I was SUPER impressed.
What a great knife.

Things that I like about the Ronin

1. Sharpness (not just sharp... but holy sh** SHARP!)
This is the sharpest knife I have ever felt and handled. Hair flys from your arm with zero pressure. I am sure if you pressed while doing this you will cut yourself badly. The Ronin is the sharpest knife ever IMO, sharper than many custom knives. The tip is needle like and wicked nasty.

2. Fits your hand really well. My wife has small hands mine are average size but we we're both very taken by the feel and grip this design affords. Reverse grip, or saber grip this thing grips your hand.

3. Sheath. One hell of a great sheath. I would not trust this thing to just any sheath either, it is so sharp. The sheath system is perfect, to many times I have gotten a knife only to hate the sheath not this one though. It has the perfect fit of a custom made kydex rig. Very flat when the Tec Loc is removed. Lies perfectly around the neck or in the pocket. The sheath when in the front pocket does not print at all.
Like the Neck carry mode but have decided to carry in my front pocket but loop the cord around my belt, so I pull the whole thing free and the knife is in hand, while the sheath falls free. I would not risk IWB carry but thats because I am afraid of how sharp this thing is.
I like the cord pocket carry system best ( I picked that up from the Janich martial web site.) It works best IMO reverse or regular grip. In my jeans today it was well hidden. Comfortable but I knew it was there. The sheath also kept the knife in a stable position it seemed to stay in the same draw position and did not move about. Due to the square design. I like that the sheath is larger and flat like a square, it hides way better that way.

4. Micarta handle. This is a perfect handle material, my only other knife with mycarta is my TAC11 but I love the feel of the Ronin handle, grippy yet smooth hard to describe. The handle shape fits a wide range of hand sizes.

5. Did I mention SHARP! A few slashes to some materials I had in the cellar proved this knife is beyond any other out there in the sharpeness arena.
Went through material that a 6 inch fixed blade did not. This knife cuts like it is 3 times the size.

6. Stabbing penetration. I am a bit concerned about how thin the tip is. I stabbed an old seat cushin I have tapped over with duck tape and it stabbed really easy and DEEP, but I notice the tip is flexable and thin, I am wondering if this would be affected if the knife contacts bone or other hard object? I will say though that this knife stabbed easy and left deep chanels again it performed like a knife twice its size.

7. Overall this knife is as Mr. Janich stated "the ultimate neck knife" I would add the ultimate knife period.


Thanks to Spyderco and Sal for bringing this one to us. I am a very happy customer.

More pics will follow.
 
Dear Leathal Edge:

Thanks for your post and congratulations on your new Ronin. I really appreciate your detailed feedback and am glad you are so pleased with the design.

Since your review was so complete and covered all the major features of the knife, I don't have much to add. To answer your question regarding the point, yes, it is thin. However, after considerable ballistic cutting with my production/carry Ronin, I have had absolutely no problems with it. This cutting has included "pork man" tests (cutting on a pork roast lashed around a hardwood dowel to replicate a human upper arm or lower thigh), foam targets over PVC and hardwood dowels, and cutting on my Human Response dummy. In some of the pork man tests, I have demonstrated the "comma cut" (a thrust followed by a 180-degree turn of the wrist as you cut out on retraction) and sunk the point deep into the underlying oak dowel. On retraction, the point was literally twisted out of the dowel without any damage whatsoever.

Although it is not inconceivable that the tip could break, one thing to bear in mind is that, even with a broken tip, the cutting power of the knife will remain unchanged.

I hope this answers your question and, again, thank you for your great feedback. Thanks also for checking out my web site and the concealment tips provided there. I hope your Ronin serves you well.

Stay safe,
 
Mr. Janich,

Thanks for your comments on the Ronin. I covered what I felt were the MAJOR parts of why this knife is so good. I have had many different knives but this one is the one I am trusting to my EDC and trusting with my self protection.

I have noticed that even though the tip is thin it does not deflect on pentration cuts at all. I too used a sort of comma cut method on some foam that I covered with jean material and duck taped. The foam was from a old bar stool. I reached the wood underside also. Hitting the tip hard but no problems.

I have noticed today that the Ronin leaves a cut/slash that is deeper than any knife I have tried this test on. The knife leaves a potential wound channel that is unmatched. I also notice that the width of a "comma cut" is super large when compared to other neck knives or folders.

Speaking of folders, when is that Ronin/Spydie folder going to be out???


I also thank you for your web-site tip on in the pocket carry mode. It is amazing and I have carried this way for three days now.

Mr. Janich and Mr. Snody plus Sal and Spyderco REALLY got this knife right.
 
I agree, this is an awesome SD blade! I like the right front pants pocket with static cord carry best too! This is by far on of the finest knives that I have. It has been in my pocket daily since it came 3 days ago. Man, how did you folks get it soooooo sharp?
Stay Sharp,
Wali
 
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