Good evening.
In the past month I have been looking to repurchase a Queen mini-hunter with a weaker spring. This endeavor however turned out to be in futility, apparently Queen is very consistent with their construction and all the springs are virtually the same. So, rather than go through the experience of cutting my self up again, I started to look for alternatives. Almost pulled on a CS lockback but decided to wait on that one. Rather, I figured I don't really NEED one and spent the money on gifts for the season. Then I spotted something, and took a small gamble....
I picked up one of these Sarge knives lockbacks. I have had the experience of seeing an example of this company in a woodcraft, a barlow, and had a decent impression of them. 440C, "maple burl" handles, $25 total if I remember correctly. Sounded good, and so far I haven't been disappointed.
First off the f&f is on par with rough rider; it was well done and only had a couple hairline gaps between the scale and the bolster, solid otherwise. The maple burl handles look good The edge however was probably a 90 degree inclusive edge. Took me a good hour and a half to reprofile; I'm pretty darn certain it is indeed 440C. The stand out aspects of this knife that made it a winner for me: Handle is long and wide enough for my tastes, yet is a thin and barely noticeable ride in the pocket. At 4 1/8" its a good bit larger than the Mini-Hunter I so loved, but I'm not complaining. The little hump on the top of the handle is enough that it feels secure, but doesn't get in the way of handling like the Case Mini-Copperlock does. That hump on the copperlock drove me insane, it was great aside from that but it was something I couldn't get over. I've used it for a couple day to cut some salami and cheese, open some bags, remove some IPs, ect. It has a really fine point on it which I like. The blade profile is a very shallow concave, much like a case sodbuster, which glides through everything. The 440C has held its razor edge so far, where as my mini-copperlock would need to be stropped daily.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it. Still might upgrade to the CS in the future, but this lil guy will definitely do the job.
My own poor-quality photo:
http://imgur.com/PoD98
In the past month I have been looking to repurchase a Queen mini-hunter with a weaker spring. This endeavor however turned out to be in futility, apparently Queen is very consistent with their construction and all the springs are virtually the same. So, rather than go through the experience of cutting my self up again, I started to look for alternatives. Almost pulled on a CS lockback but decided to wait on that one. Rather, I figured I don't really NEED one and spent the money on gifts for the season. Then I spotted something, and took a small gamble....
I picked up one of these Sarge knives lockbacks. I have had the experience of seeing an example of this company in a woodcraft, a barlow, and had a decent impression of them. 440C, "maple burl" handles, $25 total if I remember correctly. Sounded good, and so far I haven't been disappointed.
First off the f&f is on par with rough rider; it was well done and only had a couple hairline gaps between the scale and the bolster, solid otherwise. The maple burl handles look good The edge however was probably a 90 degree inclusive edge. Took me a good hour and a half to reprofile; I'm pretty darn certain it is indeed 440C. The stand out aspects of this knife that made it a winner for me: Handle is long and wide enough for my tastes, yet is a thin and barely noticeable ride in the pocket. At 4 1/8" its a good bit larger than the Mini-Hunter I so loved, but I'm not complaining. The little hump on the top of the handle is enough that it feels secure, but doesn't get in the way of handling like the Case Mini-Copperlock does. That hump on the copperlock drove me insane, it was great aside from that but it was something I couldn't get over. I've used it for a couple day to cut some salami and cheese, open some bags, remove some IPs, ect. It has a really fine point on it which I like. The blade profile is a very shallow concave, much like a case sodbuster, which glides through everything. The 440C has held its razor edge so far, where as my mini-copperlock would need to be stropped daily.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it. Still might upgrade to the CS in the future, but this lil guy will definitely do the job.
My own poor-quality photo:
http://imgur.com/PoD98