Review Manly Folders: Comrade, Peak, Wasp. Fixed Blades: Patriot and Drugar, Made in Bulgaria

Gary's right. It's a VERY stiff spring. I wouldn't hesitate at all to use it for anything but self defense.

The only time I could see an issue is backing the knife out of a cut where some wedging had occurred. Not really something you should do with any knife though if you're practicing safe handling techniques.

It's truly a slipjoint for demanding use.
 
Tom1983 said:
Yes Gary, no worries. It seems that this is not the right model for him. I on the other hand got interested in it! I never owned a slipjoint. While I was cutting boxes today, I asked myself if the comrade would hold up to it. What's your take on that? I know many lock nuts believe that using a slipjoint for such tasks is simply not safe.
Click to expand...

I've been using both my Comrade and my Patriot for miscellaneous chores in the back yard. The blade steel, which has a composition equivalent to D2, is excellent. The blade geometry of each knife is also excellent. The full flat grinds are great.

Cutting cardboard? No worries. Cardboard is cut with the edge, not the point. Pushing against a surface with the edge forces the blade open. I've cut plenty of cardboard with a regular stockman or other slipjoint and have never felt my fingers to be at risk.

On the other hand, I have found piercing cuts with the Comrade to be quite possible. Though I am careful when I make them, I am less concerned than when using other slipjoints. I can exert much more force with the point of a Comrade than I can with a regular slipjoint before I reach the point of fearing that the knife will start closing.
 
This weekend was walking the small bit of property we have, picking up branches that have blown down, and using both the Comrade and Patriot on some whitting of these hard dead branches, both did great, of course the Patriot was a bit more forceful but then it is a fixed blade, but the Comrade also cut deeply and cleanly into the wood, both are great knives and glad to have both at my disposal for about any chore that comes up.

I'm liking the static cord I am using for the Patriot for carry, basically looped around the belt or belt loop and as you pull on the handle the knife/sheath come to a stop as you reach the end of the cord and the knife pulls clear quickly for use, and the sheath just dangles from the cord. To return the knife to the sheath is a breeze as you pull the cord up to get the sheath and you have sheath and knife in hand to put the knife back, no fussing with a sheath near your body that you might let precious fluids leak out if you are not careful :) so you can easily see and put the knife back into the sheath.

G2
 
Hale Storm said:
Has anyone found out where\how I can order a Patriot
Click to expand...

Boker sells them.

A bit of info that might help you with the rust on the blades (they do rust if you don't take care of them) - try rubbing them with a CrO compound or diamond paste to clean the surface - grinding leaves microscopic imperfections on the surface where rust starts to form. If you treat them - this won't happen.
 
Hopefully BladeHQ will be carrying them in the near future, today I'm carrying both, nice knives!

Manly_Group.jpg~original


G2
 
Hello, Gary,
My name is Veselin - greetings from Bulgaria! I am proud that you and lots of knife enthusiasts here like manly ..I do not want to mess with the topic, but could not resists to ask here the question what steel has the perfect edge retention - is it a steel with the most vanadium carbides(cpm 10v, cpm 15v) , the stainless ones(cpm s110v, cpm s125v) or the truth is simply somewhere in between ..What is your opinion of VG-10 steel and how does it stand next to the aforementioned? I recently got a knife from a bulgarian knifemaker, made out of Bohler K390 at 65 HRC, full flat grind. I did some batoning on a tree branches and was amased how it performed - there was not a single chip on the blade(the secondary bevel angle is around 26 degrees inclusive!), considering the high carbide volume, I think it did pretty well ..What bothers me is that I want the blade to whittle hair. In fact now it shaves without pressure, but cannot scrape a free hanging hair - it actually did a couple of times, but quite rare ..I sharpened it on a fixed angle sharpener with DMT 8000 grit, after that freehand stropping at 0,5um diamond paste and finally with 0,1 -0,3um CrO paste. Could you guys advice me what to do so that I get my blade sharp enough to whittle free hanging hair? Thank you in advance!
 
Welcome Veselin ! both to this thread and to Bladeforums as well.

Your question is a hard one to answer as those are all very good steels, the CPM ones are powder metal type where the VG-10 is not, but I've had some VG-10 that have taken an exceptional edge as well. As usual it will come down to the treatment given the knife by the maker, which can make or break...literally...a knife steel.

I would direct you to my friend Jim's very well documented thread on a vast number of steels seen here in this thread A lot can be learned from that thread regarding the various steels that knife makers are using today.

As to whittling free hanging hair, it does take a very very fine edge to accomplish but afterwards I do not think it would be a practical edge.

A long time ago I met a fellow while I was sharpening a folder up, he asked to inspect it, then he took the knife and holding it like a comb, tried to 'comb' the back of his head and said 'this is sharp enough, it catches on the hair' meaning it was sharp enough to shave hair and just lightly moving the blade like that he could feel it start to bite into the hair. I took and tried it myself and yep, pretty cool, just don't get carried away trying it ;)

Any more one of my 'tests' is to see how well the blade will push cut down through 550 paracord, while some will feel sharp, they might not easily push down through good 550 paracord as well, it seems to be a fast and easy check of an edge.
G2
 
As far as the perfect edge holding steel goes, you may as well be talking religion or politics. Tons of opinions and schools of thought and none are definitive. My best advice is to just try many and see what works for you. There's just too many variables to say.

For a hair whittling edge, it's all technique. You can polish the edge as high as you want, but if the edge isn't keen enough, meaning it's rolled slightly or there's still a bit of wire burr, it won't whittle the hair. Just keep practicing with the strops and use a jewelers loupe to inspect the edge.

Good luck and happy cutting.
 
Gary, I know you've had experience with Chambriard's Le Compagnon. Is this Comrade the same basic size? Is the perceived strength of the spring 'lock' about the same as the French knife? THanks!
 
I would say about the same size, but it has a stronger pull and the Chambriards are grounded thinner. And the Manly blade has a kick which will help protect the blade when closing, where the Chambriard's you can hit the back spring if you let it fall closed on it's own, but, I don't let that happen ;).
G2
 
Last edited:
I just bumped this one to say how impressed with it I am in-the-flesh. I ordered from one whom I THINK is a sponsoring dealer here, along with a few other toys. The black and gray was the only 'subdued' color left on-hand, and I have to say I am not disappointed. The sculpted pattern of the G10 makes for a very reassuring grip, and the visual pattern is just enough to be different.

The descriptions posted here are pretty well spot-on, in how firmly one must grip the blade, and then walk it through the intermediate stops. With the effort of that spring, I was not prepared for how gently and quietly it closes. Although specs clearly indicate it's probably considered 'large' for a pocket knife, it seems smaller in-hand than the numbers would indicate. Perhaps because the blade is not ridiculously wide for its length, nor the scales at all bulbous.

I would encourage anyone who's been hesitant about this one to buy-n-try. I've already seen them go quickly I the Ads forum, so there's little risk here if it's not your thing.
 
Thanks Victor I'm tempted to get one of the grey/black ones now :)
G2
 
I had hopes that Boker would be releasing the Patriot this year at shot show. I couldn't find it if they did. So I just checked the Boker website and now they don't even show the Comrade. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get my hands on a Patriot :confused:
 
An addendum of sorts for the Manly knives lineup, just got in a very nice Lockback folder they named Peak, comes in several flavours, has a left or right tip up carry clip that holds well, the blade is fairly strong to open as it doesn't have any nail nick but not bad at all, it is not a blade/handle drop kind of thing, so you really need two hands to open it, but I can also pinch the blade and push the handle away with my pinky so I can open it one handed if need be.

The blade on this one is made of CPM 154, which is the powdered metal version of the same name, haven't sharpened it yet, as it arrived with a decent edge, I will have to say the Comrade folder arrived with a bit sharper edge but then that one is also ground down thinner, this one is fairly thin but has some beef to give you confidence during use. The short time I've used it today proves that thought, and the handle is shaped well and is narrow but not too narrow, and has great texture in the G10 scales. The lock has a solid thunk when you open it, and there is not any blade play at all, very solid folder! The blade is a saber grind and the spine is thick out to the tip so the very tip is not wimpy, you can use it without fear of snapping it off, now...don't go crazy but just saying it is a good strong tip and yet very pointy !

Some spec's on this, taken from their card that comes with the knife;

Overall length is 220 mm
Closed length is 124 mm
Weight is 115 grams
Blade steel, on this one is CPM 154
Blade length is 94 mm
Blade thickness is 3 mm
Blade width is 25 mm
Sharpened angle is listed at 15 degrees
Scales are textured G10, and a nested frame inside the G10, the metal frame is milled out for weight reduction, nicely done, also some aggressive knurling near the guard area, which would hold your hands back especially when wearing gloves as those are quite grippy!

What I like, the blade is made so when you are cutting into material you have a better ability to move at different angles if you need to, meaning the blade is not so wide as to bind up when making a turn cut say into cardboard.

The handle has a comfy curve to it's shape, making it easy to grip and maneuver, for close up cutting or heavy cutting, equally as well.

Manly sent an allen wrench in the box as well, nice touch ;)

Here are just a couple of images, I'll be back when I can get some nicer ones, but wanted you all to be on the lookout for this folder. They will have several choices of steel which will be at different price points, one that interests me has an S90v blade, but this CPM 154 is sharp and from reading about that steel, it is a good performer.


Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Right now not sure where they can be gotten, as this one came in from a friend from Bulgaria, in fact he even had the spine of the back spring etched with my name :) also a nice thing to have!

G2
 
Nice one Gary!
I am keeping an eye out for the peak. Interested in their s90v version as well, but I would guess cpm 154 would suffice for edc ;)
Also nice touches like the filler tab for the unused clip side as well as being available in a one and two handed version.
 
Exactly sir and thanks. There is that unused clip filler tab and I'm thinking of making a special one that has a bent over loop that could be used for a lanyard hole, ya know I love lanyards or rather fobs...

And they do have two 'versions' one with an oval shaped hole in the blade, I asked if this was used by permission but it seems the patent has run out on that and since they made it as an oval it is not a round hole. I opted for this style as the blade looks to be overall slimmer and rides in the pocket without much trouble at all.

Here are some images taken tonight first one is on my new workbench with my leather tools hanging in the background;

Peak_154_board by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


Looks like the handle scales are the same on either version, as you can see how they have made access spots smoothed out for you to thumb open the other style blade, but this also fits the hand too with a little relief as you grip it there.

Peak_154_closed by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


Some don't like the clip's name of Manly on there, but that is the company's name.

Peak_154_clip by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Very slim profile of the blade, long sweeping clip down to a nice point

Peak_154_open by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Even bevels arrived on this with a toothy edge, cuts well right out of the box.

Peak_154_90 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


the G10 scales have some excellent grip without being too grippy, doesn't appear it will chew up my pants but does give a confidence in use. Notice at the top of the back lock release there is some jimping there as well, nice touch, you do need to depress this fairly deep as the lock mech has a deep notch it drops into...." The better to keep you closed my dear :) "

Peak_154_loc by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


and aggressive jimping at the guard area as well,

Peak_154_jimping by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Here you can just see how the liner is machined inside, nested and also milled out to lighten the handle.

Peak_154_inside by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


Taken to work today she handled great, long narrow blade on this cut well, nice folder by Manly, I think they will become available pretty soon.

G2
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top