LTWK Illuminous 5 & Ambush Alpha

C

Chashmal

Joined
Oct 8, 2017
Messages
19
2 things i haven't understood for a long time, maybe someone can clarify this for me.
1, why is the LTWK Illuminous5 totally off the radar? For me it hits every high note for an all around midsize camping knife, 3v, great scandi (-> i.e. carves even though it's large), maximises usable blade in a smaller package resulting in more blade than comparably length or even longer knives (e.g. SRK, glock etc) while still keeping the (very strong drop point) tip manageably close to the handle. 5/32" thickness 5.7" 3v blade+micarta handle provides the ability but renders it 'bulletproof' to hard use/abuse (batoning/prying) but isn't overly heavy. I compare it to everything else i have and it keeps coming out as best allrounder for me, kind of like a LTWK outback/Bk2 with a 5.7" blade.
(I just wish it arrived in kydex) but basically nothing exists about it online, while other (excellent) but to my experience inferior knives have ardent fans, anyone know why?

2, The second knife i don't understand why it didn't garner more interest is the Ambush Alpha. It's comfortable, 5" 3v/micarta/G10, nice looking and comfortable classic spearpoint Sabre good bulletproof compact allrounder camping knife, great kydex sheath, Apparently it got so little interest that Ambush shut down.
Why?
I look at it and can't understand why people spurned it?
It seems to me to be a great knife, imho of the best off-the-shelf knives of its class/size/materials/price at the time, and this was at the very same time as people were falling over themselves to gamble more money (with longer wait times and less hope of actually receiving) on Survive Knives which were similar in design and of the same great materials?
What am i missing?
 
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I can't answer that for sure but LTWK does offer a lot of different knives. Some models just get lost in the shuffle I guess. One thing I noticed when I searched the Ill5, KC lists the handle as 4.6", TKC shows 4.875", and LTW sites says about 4.5". At first glance, the handle looked short to me. That might be a turn off for some people.
The price for this model is on the higher end compared to other LTWK models too. Some folks might just buy a reg GNS and be happy they saved $70.

Never heard of Ambush knives. It is a good looking knife. I found a video from DLT trading. The Gen 2 version had more rounded contouring on the handles vs the Gen 1. It sounds like they got a lot of complaints about the handle on the Gen 1 with hot sports, especially on the bottom of the handle. For a new company that only offers a few knives, that can be a steep hill to overcome. I never did a price associated with the Ambush Alpha.

Just a few thoughts ...
 
Market saturation plus advertising, is my guess. LTW obviously does well enough to keep themselves in business, so they're doing something right.

They're aiming for the woodscraft fellas, and although Bladeforums does have Wilderness Skills, there are specialized forums now, for the bushies. Maybe we just don't see much about them because we're not really their target audience.
 
Gazz98 thats actually quite interesting, as i had the impression (from looking and handling it) that the handle was extra large and generous, now that you pointed that out i put it up next to an LT Outback (the only other midsized LT i have) and they have exactly the same length handle down to the millimetre (12.2 cm length) & seemingly the same thickness (2.5/2.7cm) which i would never have guessed from casual handling (also the Illuminous handle is a bit wider front to back). I don't think i noticed it because the Outback slopes more gradually at the beggining and end vs the Illuminous5 steeper ends.
Regarding the Ambush, i got the 2nd Gen, i saw the criticism of the 1st Gen but couldn't relate it to the 2nd Gen i have, they definitely must have fixed it in the 2nd Gen.

Shorttime
Yes, after i asked the question i realised that the illuminous5 is a relatively new knife (not sure from when but its sparse internet presence doesn't seem to be from far back), and i guess it missed the hyped Survival knife craze.
However Survive Knives was a hot (& fiery) topic on Bladeforums and even so, Ambush Alphas seemed to be totally unpopular with only one or 2 rather unenthusiastic reviews, there also seem to be plenty of nature blade afficionados (Beckers, Bucks Ontarios certain Benchmades etc) here. I don't think only 'knife and your underwear' survivalists appreciate a camping knife that comfortably really does it all.
 
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