Lookin' for a new EDC

Psychopomp · Apr 26, 2005

Well, the time has come to put my good ol' Kershaw Vapor II out to pasture so to speak. Actually, it slipped out of my hand for the very last time at work lastnight. Took a nice chunk of floor with it but left part of it's tip in the ground somewhere. The tip has been broken twice before and I religiously reground it and reprofiled it twice before. But, it's time to move on.

What I love about the Kershaw is the frame lock and the weight.

My two considerations at the moment are a Camillus Heat or a BM710.

I'm leaning towards the Heat because it looks like a big, hefty knife and that's what I really want.

Any good words about this knife? Anything I should look out for? THe money really isn't a factor (the 710 costs twice what the Heat does)... so I'm open to negatives about the Heat.

All in all though, it looks like a good, hard use little knife.

bgenlvtex · Apr 27, 2005

I recently bought a Heat and am suitably impressed. It is very well done ,substantial blade,locks up solid,blade is centered ,very sharp as delivered with what appears as a honed edge(as opposed to a simple ground edge). Nicest knife under $40 I've bought .

Speaker · Apr 29, 2005

I bought my Heat a year ago... haven't had any problems with it.
Solid lock. Light weight. Flat ground blade. Decent steel with good heat treatment - holds the edge well. Easy convertible to manual and back to assisted openning. (I converted mine to manual)
The only thing I would complain about is that it is not very comfortable to open the knife with the thumb stud... at least for me. So I have to start openning with flipper and then continue openning using the thumb stud. Works well. But that might be just me... other people may find the thumb stud comfortable enough.

JOCKO · Apr 29, 2005

Speaker,
What you call a thumb stud is really a blade stop.
This knife was designed to be opened using the flipper.
JOCKO
(10002)

Psychopomp · May 4, 2005

I'm pretty sure I'll be getting one in the next few days, but one last question.

How sturdy is the handle? I've had zytel before but never EDC'd a knife with zytel. Does it feel solid? The SOG Flash II's handle feels like cheap plastic and is very blade heavy.

Well one more while I'm at it. What's the pocket clip like? Does it ride well in the pocket? I don't really like using a sheath when I have the option of the pocket clip.

Thanks,
Ben

ARtsig1 · May 4, 2005

Hey, another NC boy! Cool! To answer your question; the heat has two steel liners with the zytel handles over them. It should give a wider grip than the Dominator does. With that said , your other choice ain't a bad idea. The 710 has great lines, slim enough to carry comfortably..yet a heavy duty folder. The axis lock ain't bad either. One in M2 blade steel would give you a knife that would cut, and cut, and then cut some more.

Psychopomp · May 6, 2005

artsig1 said:
Hey, another NC boy! Cool! To answer your question; the heat has two steel liners with the zytel handles over them. It should give a wider grip than the Dominator does. With that said , your other choice ain't a bad idea. The 710 has great lines, slim enough to carry comfortably..yet a heavy duty folder. The axis lock ain't bad either. One in M2 blade steel would give you a knife that would cut, and cut, and then cut some more.

I ordered the Heat the day before yesterday. I decided to go with the black, clip point blade (don't like tanto blades at all). I always go for the clean metal blade when I have the choice, so I decided to try something different... I'll be tactical for once in my life. At first I wondered if I should be concerned with the finish wearing, but then I realized that if I intend this knife for EDC use it's gonna get some scratches, so whatever.

But I've already decided that, no matter how much I like the Heat, I will get the 710 eventually just because I don't own a Benchmade (I don't think I really need a better reason than that to buy a new knife

). I love the design of the 710 (and the Heat, that's why I was so torn on which to get), it looks like a very clean, classic knife. Yup, it'll be next, M2 of course.

Psychopomp · May 9, 2005

I picked the Heat up from the post office today. Cut the shipping box open with my Sebenza (couldn't find my Kershaw this morning so I picked up the Sebbie) and got the Camillus box out.

My first thought was that it was a kinda cheesy box. I like plain boxes when it comes to knives... like Kershaw's little grey boxes, or the white boxes my SOGs have come in. This one has flames on it, which goes along with the knife, but still.

Not that boxes are important at all... just thought I'd mention it.

So I opened the box and slid the knife out. The sheath was a disappointment, even though I never intend to use it. It isn't a bad sheath and I'll find something to use it for, but it just doesn't fit the knife. But again, that's not important.

Should I rant about the red box they shipped it in too??? nah.

Now we get to the important part, the knife. All I had to say after first inspection, before even flipping it open, was wow. My first Tiawan knife, so I was a bit concerned about that, but my concerns were unfounded. This thing just feels stout.

I flipped it open with a nice satisfying THWICK and a good bit of recoil. Inspecting the blade I was even more impressed. The thick wide blade makes me very, very happy. And sharp. Scary sharp. This knife is nearly perfect in its blade to handle ratio, for my hands at least.

The handle scales seem to be of better quality than my SOG Flash II, which is also zytel scaled. It's also a heftier knife than the SOG, which I like... it doesn't feel like cheap plastic.

Fit and finish are first rate, and the lock up is solid with the liner engaging between 25 and 50% of the tang... plenty of room for wear.

Unfortunately, I'm off today and have nothing to really put this knife to use on. I've cut some paper... and don't get me wrong, it was satisfying as hell to slide through that paper, but it had no practical value.

After several hours with it, I'm very, very pleased, and happy with my decision. I'm sure the BM710 will come my way soon enough. It'll be fun to carry a knew knife for the first time tomorrow... I always feel like a kid with a new toy when I get a new knife.