Livesay Neck Knives: Fit For Duty
I have been using a trio of Newt's neck knives for about a month. The Wicked Knife Co. is known for putting out a high quality product at a very reasonable price, these are no exception.
I was slow to warm to the concept of neck knives, but after using these three I'm convinced that neck carry is a viable alternative for a back-up or utility blade.
I have been having a little problem with my back (I know some of you know what I mean) and have been trying to lighten my duty belt to avoid strain on my lower back. After I read Jerry Van Cook's excellent article in TK on the knives behind the badge (I think that was the title) I decided to order a couple of Newt's knives.
The one that I chose for duty carry is the UJI.
The Uji has an overall length of 9 3/8" with a 4 7/8" chisel ground 1095 tanto point blade , which is bead blasted and black parakarized. The micarta handles are nicely grooved and are fit very nicely to the full tang. It is the fit of micarta to steel that is the greatest tale of quality in Newt's knives, of the half dozen I own all have great micarta work, you can not feel the transition between the two materials, it is very nice work. One noticable aspect of the Uji is that there is a right curve in the blade, forming a slight arch. Newt writes that this accomplished by placing the knife in a jig during heat treatment, which runs 59-60 RC on the 1095.
The grind on the Uji is chisel gound but in a unique way one side has a chisel grind while the other side has only a secondary bevel (with no primary bevel if you get my drift), this asymetrical grind (shisel/flat) produces a very acute edge. Mine came with the edge highly polished and razor sharp.
The knife came equipped with a well fitted kydex sheath, to which I added an adjustable neck cord. The sheath was a huge factor in my decision to carry Newt's neck knives. The Kydex is fitted perfectly to the knives, allowing for a very fast draw, yet providing a secure enough tension level to allow for inverted carry. Listed price was a very reasonable Fifty Dollars ($50.00) which is a tremendous value.
The second knife is the Woo (model 142EX)
The Woo is a chisel Gound Tanto in 1095 with an overall length of 7 3/4" with a 3" blade and black linen micarta handles and comes equipped with a "Rapid Deployment" neck sheath. The Woo came with the asymetrical grind described above and with grooves ground into the spine for added control, the build quality was typical Newt: excellent. Mine came shaving sharp, five minutes with a leather strop charged with jewelers rouge produced a mirror polished razor sharp edge, truly vorpal.
The 142Ex with Micarta handle lists for $45.00 but is also available with a plain handle for $25.00 or with a para-wrapped handle for $27.00, great knife, great price.
The third knife is a NRGS-EX.
The NRGS-Ex is 7 3/4 overall with 3 1/4" flat ground drop point blade of 1095 with a nicely rounded spine and black linen micarta handle. It has a large riccasso and is very nicely balanced. The secondary bevels on the knife I recieved were ground uneven, were rough (maybe 210 grit) and were very obtuse; the right side was ground to about 35 degrees and the left to about 40 degrees with very narrow secondary bevels (reminded me of a company in Oregon).
As I knew I would end up re-grinding the secondary bevels on this knife I used it to test Newt's heat treatment. I began by slicing through a length of co-axial cable which was on its way to the garbage. A half dozen cuts through the cable did no damage to the blade, just very minor scratches in the paranized finish.
I then used it to chop through a wire coat hanger. The blade was not heavey enough to chop through the wire on its own so used used my ASP baton to "whack the spine", and it chopped through with a crisp "thwack". I stopped after 10 chops when my daughter walked in the room and gave me a "boy my dad sure is strange look."
There was no visible damage to the blade, however I could feel a couple subvisible chips and there was a very slight rolled area (1/16' about 2/3 toward the tip.) that I could see with the aid of a jewlers loupe.
I was very pleased with this performance. I find that as long as direct linear pressure with, no lateral pressure is applied, the 1095 at 59-60RC does suprisingly well, I expected the metal to be more brittle and chip out, even with such an obtuse grind.
I spent about an hour with a set of DMT benchstones and ground the edges down to 17 degrees per side (about 35 degrees inclusive) with much wider (size , not angle) secondary bevels. I finished off on a set of strops charged with white polishing rouge and jewelers rouge. The result is a mirror polished edge well suited for slicing (I wouldn't think about the coathanger test with the edge ground this thin.)
My first test was for penetration. I used the knives to "stud" a large leg of lamb with garlic cloves. Using the knives in a reverse grip I stabbed the leg of lamb and stuffed a garlic clove into the "wound".
The ergonomics of all the knives was excellent. My thumb fit across the rounded butts (of the knives guys) in a very natural and secure manner. There was no slippage with any of the knives (O.K. I admit I wore a Hatch kevlar lined "slash resistant" glove the first couple of times
)
All of the knives punched into the lamb with very little resistance, with the entire blade penetrating every time, with little effort. I felt the tip of the Uji skid off the leg bone a couple of time but there was no damage to the edge or tip.
My next test was a slash test. I used a watermelon wrapped in duct tape and covered with a very old and worn denim jacket. I gave each knife two forward and backhand slashes before I ran out of watermelon. All the knives did well well but the Uji really shined. The slightly curved blade produced a huge wound cavity on both the forward and especially the backhand slash. The Woo and NRGS were about equal, the NRGS making deeper wounds but the Woos seemed slightly wider and seemed to "bite" more easily.
Based on my subjective and unscientific tests I decided to carry the Uji on duty, it is large but due to it's thin design and excellent sheath does not print against my uniform shirt, even with my Second Chance Class IIIA vest on.
The Woo is my choice for off duty, it is very concealable and makes a very controlable utility knife. The leading edge (tanto tip) is very long and when used upside down "zips" through packages great. The grooves on the top of the spine aid in fine control
I have "Bigger" plans for the NRGS-Ex, stay tuned.
For More Info go to www.newt.livesay.com
Be safe,
Chad
------------------
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell
"Those who hold the thin blue line keep order, and insure that anarchy and chaos will not prevail."
[This message has been edited by chad234 (edited 08-26-2000).]
[This message has been edited by chad234 (edited 09-05-2000).]
I was slow to warm to the concept of neck knives, but after using these three I'm convinced that neck carry is a viable alternative for a back-up or utility blade.
I have been having a little problem with my back (I know some of you know what I mean) and have been trying to lighten my duty belt to avoid strain on my lower back. After I read Jerry Van Cook's excellent article in TK on the knives behind the badge (I think that was the title) I decided to order a couple of Newt's knives.
The one that I chose for duty carry is the UJI.
The Uji has an overall length of 9 3/8" with a 4 7/8" chisel ground 1095 tanto point blade , which is bead blasted and black parakarized. The micarta handles are nicely grooved and are fit very nicely to the full tang. It is the fit of micarta to steel that is the greatest tale of quality in Newt's knives, of the half dozen I own all have great micarta work, you can not feel the transition between the two materials, it is very nice work. One noticable aspect of the Uji is that there is a right curve in the blade, forming a slight arch. Newt writes that this accomplished by placing the knife in a jig during heat treatment, which runs 59-60 RC on the 1095.
The grind on the Uji is chisel gound but in a unique way one side has a chisel grind while the other side has only a secondary bevel (with no primary bevel if you get my drift), this asymetrical grind (shisel/flat) produces a very acute edge. Mine came with the edge highly polished and razor sharp.
The knife came equipped with a well fitted kydex sheath, to which I added an adjustable neck cord. The sheath was a huge factor in my decision to carry Newt's neck knives. The Kydex is fitted perfectly to the knives, allowing for a very fast draw, yet providing a secure enough tension level to allow for inverted carry. Listed price was a very reasonable Fifty Dollars ($50.00) which is a tremendous value.
The second knife is the Woo (model 142EX)
The Woo is a chisel Gound Tanto in 1095 with an overall length of 7 3/4" with a 3" blade and black linen micarta handles and comes equipped with a "Rapid Deployment" neck sheath. The Woo came with the asymetrical grind described above and with grooves ground into the spine for added control, the build quality was typical Newt: excellent. Mine came shaving sharp, five minutes with a leather strop charged with jewelers rouge produced a mirror polished razor sharp edge, truly vorpal.
The 142Ex with Micarta handle lists for $45.00 but is also available with a plain handle for $25.00 or with a para-wrapped handle for $27.00, great knife, great price.
The third knife is a NRGS-EX.
The NRGS-Ex is 7 3/4 overall with 3 1/4" flat ground drop point blade of 1095 with a nicely rounded spine and black linen micarta handle. It has a large riccasso and is very nicely balanced. The secondary bevels on the knife I recieved were ground uneven, were rough (maybe 210 grit) and were very obtuse; the right side was ground to about 35 degrees and the left to about 40 degrees with very narrow secondary bevels (reminded me of a company in Oregon).
As I knew I would end up re-grinding the secondary bevels on this knife I used it to test Newt's heat treatment. I began by slicing through a length of co-axial cable which was on its way to the garbage. A half dozen cuts through the cable did no damage to the blade, just very minor scratches in the paranized finish.
I then used it to chop through a wire coat hanger. The blade was not heavey enough to chop through the wire on its own so used used my ASP baton to "whack the spine", and it chopped through with a crisp "thwack". I stopped after 10 chops when my daughter walked in the room and gave me a "boy my dad sure is strange look."
There was no visible damage to the blade, however I could feel a couple subvisible chips and there was a very slight rolled area (1/16' about 2/3 toward the tip.) that I could see with the aid of a jewlers loupe.
I was very pleased with this performance. I find that as long as direct linear pressure with, no lateral pressure is applied, the 1095 at 59-60RC does suprisingly well, I expected the metal to be more brittle and chip out, even with such an obtuse grind.
I spent about an hour with a set of DMT benchstones and ground the edges down to 17 degrees per side (about 35 degrees inclusive) with much wider (size , not angle) secondary bevels. I finished off on a set of strops charged with white polishing rouge and jewelers rouge. The result is a mirror polished edge well suited for slicing (I wouldn't think about the coathanger test with the edge ground this thin.)
My first test was for penetration. I used the knives to "stud" a large leg of lamb with garlic cloves. Using the knives in a reverse grip I stabbed the leg of lamb and stuffed a garlic clove into the "wound".
The ergonomics of all the knives was excellent. My thumb fit across the rounded butts (of the knives guys) in a very natural and secure manner. There was no slippage with any of the knives (O.K. I admit I wore a Hatch kevlar lined "slash resistant" glove the first couple of times
All of the knives punched into the lamb with very little resistance, with the entire blade penetrating every time, with little effort. I felt the tip of the Uji skid off the leg bone a couple of time but there was no damage to the edge or tip.
My next test was a slash test. I used a watermelon wrapped in duct tape and covered with a very old and worn denim jacket. I gave each knife two forward and backhand slashes before I ran out of watermelon. All the knives did well well but the Uji really shined. The slightly curved blade produced a huge wound cavity on both the forward and especially the backhand slash. The Woo and NRGS were about equal, the NRGS making deeper wounds but the Woos seemed slightly wider and seemed to "bite" more easily.
Based on my subjective and unscientific tests I decided to carry the Uji on duty, it is large but due to it's thin design and excellent sheath does not print against my uniform shirt, even with my Second Chance Class IIIA vest on.
The Woo is my choice for off duty, it is very concealable and makes a very controlable utility knife. The leading edge (tanto tip) is very long and when used upside down "zips" through packages great. The grooves on the top of the spine aid in fine control
I have "Bigger" plans for the NRGS-Ex, stay tuned.
For More Info go to www.newt.livesay.com
Be safe,
Chad
------------------
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell
"Those who hold the thin blue line keep order, and insure that anarchy and chaos will not prevail."
[This message has been edited by chad234 (edited 08-26-2000).]
[This message has been edited by chad234 (edited 09-05-2000).]
