- Joined
- Oct 22, 2018
- Messages
- 50
Ok, let me start by saying that I know these are WAYYYY different knives.
Let me give some background. In the last month I have purchased a WE Practic in M390, a Kizer Dukes and a KME Sharpener kit. So my wife is about to punch me if I spend any more on knives. I own about 8 other folders, mostly Kershaw. I know most people don't, but I really actually appreciate speedsafe knives. I have the cryo, the blur in several iterations, and I also own a Skyline, the spyderco tenacious and military as well as a delica and a few other cheapie buck amd sog knives.
In the hand I most like the feel of the
WE Practic and the delica and Skyline probably all tie for best.
I recently sharpened the M390 practic and it wasn't easy. I definitely made a flat spot near the top due to the belly and the tough steel making me get inpatient. Was able to fix it later by alternating The angle near tip to cut off the flat spot and will reprofile it later when I'm ready to spend more time on it or have bought a lower grit stone. Nearly had the same issue on the Dukes but the VG-10 was easier to cut through than the M390 so I got past the belly without creating a flat spot and also ground out the annoying tiny recurve in it. The Tanto Blur I have, I was able to whittle my first hair with and it's stupid sharp. I had no issues on all the lower grade steel knives I own.
So, I love a great slicing knife and I know that given the geometry on all of these blades should make for really good slicers. Being able to sharpen the blade myself is super important to me as well.
The chaparral I like because of price, easy pocket carry and hopefully relatively easy ability to sharpen, given the steel type and full bellied blade should make it a breeze on the kme.
The neutron I love for same reasons as above (full belly, great carry) but I also really like liner lock and frame lock knives. Caveat though, not big on thumbstuds as I hate when they scrape the back of my hand when reaching into my pocket which I do a LOT for my e-smoke. Other thing is this is cv-20 so basically m390 so can be hardish to sharpen, but that blade shape should really help. Cost is higher but it's a rare knife so I don't really mind.
Now onto the wild card. I bought a UTX-85 this month before the WE Practic and Kizer Dukes. I returned it actually in order to buy those knives. I returned it because when I bought it, I did not yet have the KME and it also came in a different steel than what I had ordered it in. It came super dull (couldn't even shave arm hair with the grain) out the box, and was in Elmax not M390 which I had ordered it in.
However...... I LOVED the way it carried, LOVED the action, and LOVED the way if felt in my hand. Now that I have the KME I could sharpen it on my own but unless I get a tanto blade, which I don't prefer and may look pretty intimidating in this form factor, I think this may prove to be a challenge to sharpen in elmax with that kind of belly on the standard drop point blade. Cost is obviously higher but on all 3 blades, I feel the tradeoff for price vs. Value for me works out as even.
So to sum up, at the end of the day, I'm having a real hard time picking a favorite, on any given day any one of these could be a winner. So give me your thoughts and pick a winner and hopefully my purchase will be enough to satisfy me for at least the next few months.
-Michael
Let me give some background. In the last month I have purchased a WE Practic in M390, a Kizer Dukes and a KME Sharpener kit. So my wife is about to punch me if I spend any more on knives. I own about 8 other folders, mostly Kershaw. I know most people don't, but I really actually appreciate speedsafe knives. I have the cryo, the blur in several iterations, and I also own a Skyline, the spyderco tenacious and military as well as a delica and a few other cheapie buck amd sog knives.
In the hand I most like the feel of the
WE Practic and the delica and Skyline probably all tie for best.
I recently sharpened the M390 practic and it wasn't easy. I definitely made a flat spot near the top due to the belly and the tough steel making me get inpatient. Was able to fix it later by alternating The angle near tip to cut off the flat spot and will reprofile it later when I'm ready to spend more time on it or have bought a lower grit stone. Nearly had the same issue on the Dukes but the VG-10 was easier to cut through than the M390 so I got past the belly without creating a flat spot and also ground out the annoying tiny recurve in it. The Tanto Blur I have, I was able to whittle my first hair with and it's stupid sharp. I had no issues on all the lower grade steel knives I own.
So, I love a great slicing knife and I know that given the geometry on all of these blades should make for really good slicers. Being able to sharpen the blade myself is super important to me as well.
The chaparral I like because of price, easy pocket carry and hopefully relatively easy ability to sharpen, given the steel type and full bellied blade should make it a breeze on the kme.
The neutron I love for same reasons as above (full belly, great carry) but I also really like liner lock and frame lock knives. Caveat though, not big on thumbstuds as I hate when they scrape the back of my hand when reaching into my pocket which I do a LOT for my e-smoke. Other thing is this is cv-20 so basically m390 so can be hardish to sharpen, but that blade shape should really help. Cost is higher but it's a rare knife so I don't really mind.
Now onto the wild card. I bought a UTX-85 this month before the WE Practic and Kizer Dukes. I returned it actually in order to buy those knives. I returned it because when I bought it, I did not yet have the KME and it also came in a different steel than what I had ordered it in. It came super dull (couldn't even shave arm hair with the grain) out the box, and was in Elmax not M390 which I had ordered it in.
However...... I LOVED the way it carried, LOVED the action, and LOVED the way if felt in my hand. Now that I have the KME I could sharpen it on my own but unless I get a tanto blade, which I don't prefer and may look pretty intimidating in this form factor, I think this may prove to be a challenge to sharpen in elmax with that kind of belly on the standard drop point blade. Cost is obviously higher but on all 3 blades, I feel the tradeoff for price vs. Value for me works out as even.
So to sum up, at the end of the day, I'm having a real hard time picking a favorite, on any given day any one of these could be a winner. So give me your thoughts and pick a winner and hopefully my purchase will be enough to satisfy me for at least the next few months.
-Michael
