I just bought the Meerkat a couple of days ago and I love it!
It's really not a GREAT knife but it is a really good knife and the lock is just awesome!
In fact, the lock really sold me on this knife.
The phantom-lock is such a cool and clever mechanism that you can't help but play with the knife.
As for the other aspects of the Meerkat:
It has the typical Spyderco sharpness right out of the box (if you know Spydercos then you know what I mean).
The double steel liners give it more strength and substance than first appears.
The handle, while small, still provides a really good grip with curves just in the right places. Very ergonomic.
The thumb-hole is a decent size and easy to use, but the phantom-lock itself allows for an easier method of opening and closing.
Simply hold the lock release "open" and flip the blade open or closed (with just the smallest amount of effort too). It's also funny to hand it over to someone else and watch them try to flip it open.
The blade has a nice shape, although just a little too wide IMO.
The negatives (IMHO):
Tip down carry. I prefer tip-up because it's more natural for me.
The wire clip!
I don't like this clip. While it does allow the knife to ride very deep in the pocket, and it does'nt look like a knife-clip, I find that it also does'nt allow much of a purchase to pull the knife out of the pocket. This combined with the tip-down carry makes it fairly slow and awkward to deploy.
Another negative is the peak on the spine of the blade (above the hole). It does provide a good thumb-rest but its also rather sharp and could have been rounded a little more.
Overall, it's a really super-cool little knife. Nice steel (440C), made in the USA, light weight, cool locking mechanism, useful blade shape, thumb-hole, pocket-clip, and very comfortable handle for such a small knife.
And nobody at work freaked out when they saw it (at a hospital no less). Most of the women thought to was "soooo cute".
Cheers,
Allen.
It's really not a GREAT knife but it is a really good knife and the lock is just awesome!
In fact, the lock really sold me on this knife.
The phantom-lock is such a cool and clever mechanism that you can't help but play with the knife.
As for the other aspects of the Meerkat:
It has the typical Spyderco sharpness right out of the box (if you know Spydercos then you know what I mean).
The double steel liners give it more strength and substance than first appears.
The handle, while small, still provides a really good grip with curves just in the right places. Very ergonomic.
The thumb-hole is a decent size and easy to use, but the phantom-lock itself allows for an easier method of opening and closing.
Simply hold the lock release "open" and flip the blade open or closed (with just the smallest amount of effort too). It's also funny to hand it over to someone else and watch them try to flip it open.
The blade has a nice shape, although just a little too wide IMO.
The negatives (IMHO):
Tip down carry. I prefer tip-up because it's more natural for me.
The wire clip!
I don't like this clip. While it does allow the knife to ride very deep in the pocket, and it does'nt look like a knife-clip, I find that it also does'nt allow much of a purchase to pull the knife out of the pocket. This combined with the tip-down carry makes it fairly slow and awkward to deploy.
Another negative is the peak on the spine of the blade (above the hole). It does provide a good thumb-rest but its also rather sharp and could have been rounded a little more.
Overall, it's a really super-cool little knife. Nice steel (440C), made in the USA, light weight, cool locking mechanism, useful blade shape, thumb-hole, pocket-clip, and very comfortable handle for such a small knife.
And nobody at work freaked out when they saw it (at a hospital no less). Most of the women thought to was "soooo cute".
Cheers,
Allen.