- Joined
- Sep 11, 2002
- Messages
- 3,548
I've always admired Matt's (Pontiaker here on the forums) knives, and I was lucky enough to get one last week. The grind lines on the blade, the sculpted titanium scales, a nice beefy blade, and the unique options like the Fizz[super]tm[/super] treatment and carved clips make them very appealing.
I wanted to be different, so I asked Matt if the "Fizz" could be anodized- this wasn't possible, so Matt heat-colored the handles a nice blue color instead. I also needed the blade to be under 4", and he took care of that no problem. I opted for the carved clip in titanium. The timascus is very pretty, but stands out too much for my taste. Matt did a great job:
I've carried the knife for about a week now. The blade is 3/16" thick, 3 7/8" long, and the knife is 9" overall. It weighs 6.2 ounces, a little more than the thinner Sebenza, but less than my heavy-duty DMKnives folder. It rides comfortably in my pocket whether I wear jeans, slacks, or even linen.
The ergonomics are excellent. It fits my hand very well in a saber grip, hammer, icepick, or pikal. It opens very smoothly, though the thumbstud could be a little grippier. It is a tip-up carry, which I usually prefer. It balances well in my hand, even though it should be blade-heavy- the carved handle is comfortable, and the weight of the blade forces it into your palm, for a secure grip. The cutout on the back of the handle allows you to grip it firmly with the edge up, as well.
The action is silky smooth and the lockup is very snug. When locked, there is zero play in the blade. The framelock snaps perfectly and has a nice spring to it- unlocking it is smooth with no sticking. The knife does lend itself to flicking and I asked Matt if that was okay- he said it was fine as long as I don't pound it open or try to bend the blade in a vise
The knife flicks open readily with the right swing of the wrist, and has never come open in my pocket, or accidentally when handled.
The blade cuts very well for thicker stock. The belly gives it good slicing ability, making up for the lack of an acute point. The blade has a definite choil and can be choked up on safely. The point is more rounded like a Banshee model because I asked for it to he shorter than normal. It was a little difficult to clean my fingernails with the blade, but it's certainly possible without pain
The heat treat is excellent and while I did not beat on the blade this week, I did cut through thick zip ties, with no blunting, rolling or chipping of the edge. I forced the point through a zip tie loop, and also put the belly against the thick plastic and rocked it through, with no deformation to the edge. The knife still takes hair off my arm- not razor sharp due to the thick grind, but sharp enough to remove hair. It is more of a slicer than a push-cutter, and excels at cutting nylon rope, boxes, and wadded up cloth. The point is well reinforced, and while I did not have reason to stab into wood at work last week, I'm confident it would hold up well. It is S30V, a steel I'm very comfortable sharpening.
Overall this is now one of my favorite folders, and my favorite heavy folder. The design is excellent. It's a very good cutter, especially for a thicker blade. Very solid, confident feel to it. The only improvements I can think of are very minor:
Grippier thumbstud; the stud has 2 rings cut into it, it might benefit from a third closer to the dome.
Thumb grooves in the back of the blade or handle. The grip is pretty secure as it is, and never slipped on me even when I was push-cutting through thick plastic. But grooves like that do make you feel safer, especially if your hands are slick.
The carved clip is beautiful, and works excellently- better than most clips I've had- but scratches easily. A little 0000 steel wool and it's as good as new, though! The scales are unscratched, compared to my Benchmade 630, which scratched when I looked at it funny
The knife could be pointier. This is my fault for wanting a 3.9" blade instead of the full 4". If I did it again I'd go for the full 4" length and not mess with the Sirocco's excellent blade design.
And now it goes back in my pocketses! A great knife, definitely worth getting if you like beefy framelocks, recurves, and fine workmanship. The Fizz treatment gives extra grip to an already finely designed handle, and looks great, to boot. In fact, I'm quite tempted to order a mini version of one of Matt's new Batwing or Poncho folders. This is one guy to watch. And with an ironclad 100% warranty, this knife will see a lot of use down at the Port!
I wanted to be different, so I asked Matt if the "Fizz" could be anodized- this wasn't possible, so Matt heat-colored the handles a nice blue color instead. I also needed the blade to be under 4", and he took care of that no problem. I opted for the carved clip in titanium. The timascus is very pretty, but stands out too much for my taste. Matt did a great job:
I've carried the knife for about a week now. The blade is 3/16" thick, 3 7/8" long, and the knife is 9" overall. It weighs 6.2 ounces, a little more than the thinner Sebenza, but less than my heavy-duty DMKnives folder. It rides comfortably in my pocket whether I wear jeans, slacks, or even linen.
The ergonomics are excellent. It fits my hand very well in a saber grip, hammer, icepick, or pikal. It opens very smoothly, though the thumbstud could be a little grippier. It is a tip-up carry, which I usually prefer. It balances well in my hand, even though it should be blade-heavy- the carved handle is comfortable, and the weight of the blade forces it into your palm, for a secure grip. The cutout on the back of the handle allows you to grip it firmly with the edge up, as well.
The action is silky smooth and the lockup is very snug. When locked, there is zero play in the blade. The framelock snaps perfectly and has a nice spring to it- unlocking it is smooth with no sticking. The knife does lend itself to flicking and I asked Matt if that was okay- he said it was fine as long as I don't pound it open or try to bend the blade in a vise
The knife flicks open readily with the right swing of the wrist, and has never come open in my pocket, or accidentally when handled.The blade cuts very well for thicker stock. The belly gives it good slicing ability, making up for the lack of an acute point. The blade has a definite choil and can be choked up on safely. The point is more rounded like a Banshee model because I asked for it to he shorter than normal. It was a little difficult to clean my fingernails with the blade, but it's certainly possible without pain
The heat treat is excellent and while I did not beat on the blade this week, I did cut through thick zip ties, with no blunting, rolling or chipping of the edge. I forced the point through a zip tie loop, and also put the belly against the thick plastic and rocked it through, with no deformation to the edge. The knife still takes hair off my arm- not razor sharp due to the thick grind, but sharp enough to remove hair. It is more of a slicer than a push-cutter, and excels at cutting nylon rope, boxes, and wadded up cloth. The point is well reinforced, and while I did not have reason to stab into wood at work last week, I'm confident it would hold up well. It is S30V, a steel I'm very comfortable sharpening.
Overall this is now one of my favorite folders, and my favorite heavy folder. The design is excellent. It's a very good cutter, especially for a thicker blade. Very solid, confident feel to it. The only improvements I can think of are very minor:
Grippier thumbstud; the stud has 2 rings cut into it, it might benefit from a third closer to the dome.
Thumb grooves in the back of the blade or handle. The grip is pretty secure as it is, and never slipped on me even when I was push-cutting through thick plastic. But grooves like that do make you feel safer, especially if your hands are slick.
The carved clip is beautiful, and works excellently- better than most clips I've had- but scratches easily. A little 0000 steel wool and it's as good as new, though! The scales are unscratched, compared to my Benchmade 630, which scratched when I looked at it funny
The knife could be pointier. This is my fault for wanting a 3.9" blade instead of the full 4". If I did it again I'd go for the full 4" length and not mess with the Sirocco's excellent blade design.
And now it goes back in my pocketses! A great knife, definitely worth getting if you like beefy framelocks, recurves, and fine workmanship. The Fizz treatment gives extra grip to an already finely designed handle, and looks great, to boot. In fact, I'm quite tempted to order a mini version of one of Matt's new Batwing or Poncho folders. This is one guy to watch. And with an ironclad 100% warranty, this knife will see a lot of use down at the Port!
