I called MOD/Blackhawk inquiring why the knife was discontinued?
About a day later the former owner of MOD called himself, Jim Ray. I was amazed that the main man called back to answer my questions. He said this knife had a special place in his business education. He expected that the stinger would have become a commerical home run. He never in his wildest dreams ever thought that the large knife would be the success. It like the flip side of an of 45 become the hit.He said he was humbled by what he liked versus what the public wanted. He said he put a lot of effort and time designing this knife.
The blade is fine and is sharpened on both sides. The handle is superb for my hands. The pry bars/points work.The balance is superb to me.
The sheath is interesting. Much like your mother in law going over a cliff in your new Audi S4. Mixed emotions. I like the sheath but again mixed emotions.
The sheath system works but seems a little thick to me. I have expermented with a number of modifications/changes. The first was removing the handle secondary hold down. You can change a number of features. Perhaps I just have not found the best position for me?
I like the size of the knife and so far it has been used in a daily carry situation. I am a fixed blade knife person and have very little use for a folder. I used the M-10 for years and like the blade of the MOD better. The handle of the Stinger is to me better and more useful in a EDC situation than that of the Gryphon M-10. Because of all the sheath options I have to admit the sheath is more costly than the sheath of the M-10. It is just the M-10 is so simple and works for me. So the Stinger is to me and only to me. A better designed knife, the handle and blade for an EDC work better for me. I have many fixed blade knives and so far only the M-10 and the Stinger are winners. I have for example a Randall 15 with a border handle and it never felt right to me. It instantly became a member of my drawer collection of never used fixed blade knives.
I purchased the Stinger from Knife Center in Maryland. They had them on sale. I got the plain silver blade because I found out after 6 months of so prying, cutting and even digging the black coating eventually looks like silver blade and somehow the black blade always cost more and hardly ever cuts any better (LOL).
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Timmberman
