First things first: Hello everyone. My name is Rok, I live in Slovenia and fortunately for me, our weapons law does not prohibit auto folders (though not specifically forbidden, I guess any police officer would have a conniption over a Microtech's Ultratech or similar knife though, so OTFs are probably not a good idea to carry – they might be classified as weapons designed for assault, which are illegal and whose posession might land you in jail).
OK, all of these topics have been beaten to death at least a dozen times before, but since there is only a limited amount of various aspects about knives to talk about, here's my take on the subject.
I've gotten myself a MOD CQD Auto (the big one, Mark I), with black blade. Plain blade – I detest serrated ones. While they may prove better than a sharp honed blade under certain circumstances, they are certainly not for every kind of use (especially if controlled clean-cuts are required). OK, CQD is not available as a fully serrated blade anyway. So why not partially serrated? Because going that way, you forfeit the benefits of a longer honed blade (which is great for slicing) for a measly 1.5" of serrations that will use up the wrong part of the blade – near the handle, where you've got most control for fine cuts. Which serrated blades are utterly incapable of anyway. Last but not least, I also prefer the look of honed versus the serrated blade. Seeing the hype about partially serrated blades, I'm probably in minority of people who think that way. Oh, well. What the heck.
Onto the knife! Well, no, not literally (ouch!). It came shaving-sharp (tested on the back of my pinky finger). It opens fast with a loud, satisfying "thlack" of the blade locking in open position. Quite solidly, I might add. It also locks back in place very solidly upon closing. I remember reading previously on these forums that the spring only moves the blade about 2/3 of the half-swing, while the final third is by inertia only (and the user wished for a more powerful spring). Well, at first that certainly appeared to be the case. However, when I slightly unfastened the pivot screw (the operative word being slightly; it is still fastened quite tightly and the blade locks open witout any horizontal or vertical play), the blade moves much, much more smoothly (when manipulated by hand). Also, if you unlock the open blade and close it even as little as 0,5" from the fully opened position, the spring swings it back open (providing, of course, the locking button is still depressed at the time). So the spring is obviously powerful enough and does in fact move the blade all the way. It is also possible to tighten the pivot screw enough that the blade doesn't even swing open. The opening action itself is quite, well, for the lack of a better word, violent. Since the blade itself weighs just about as much as the handle (when opened, the knife balances at about 1/5" rear of the pivot screw, approximately where your thumb is when holding the knife), it has quite an inertia (admittedly, Hi-Slip grease helped that to a certain extent by smoothing the movement).
I wiped the entire knife with Tuf Cloth, only to find out that the black titanium nitride coating on the blade looks grayish and downright ugly when the Tuf stuff (pun intended) dried. Using the old-fashioned way of simply oiling it and wiping with a deerskin leather cloth proved to be a much better solution. The wind-walk inserts are great but tend to be rather unfriendly towards clothing, so I decided against pant-pocket carry and removed the pocket clip. That way, the knife feels even better in the hand. The ergonomics is excellent (providing your hands are on the large side; mine certainly are). I'm very satisfied I went with the big one and not Mark II. It feels substantial. And, in fact, it is. Despite its size, it is very easy to handle and control. The side hilts will prevent your fingers from slipping onto the blade no matter what you do (unless you do it on purpose, of course).
One of the CQD reviews I've come across on the Net mentioned that the supportive blade (I believe its official designation is ATAC) doesn't cut paper or cardboard very well, because it "snags" at the end where the blades end and frame begins. That may be. It's not meant to cut paper anyway. It cuts those plastic flexi cuffs very well, though. I haven't tried to cut any seatbelts yet; that's not to say I am not tempted. The carbide window breaker is also giving me some not-quite-so-neighbor-friendly ideas (that I've managed to resist thus far). So no first-hand experience here (yet – evil grin).
Writing on the wall: When I first saw the knife, one of my thoughts was a sarcastic why did they leave out Duane Dieter's E-mail? They seem to have included everything else. In all fairness, after owning it for a while, I rather like the writing. The back side of the blade, with no markings at all, seems rather dull by comparison. However, I would have preferred something along the "CQD MkI" plus the MOD logo instead of the eight words that adorn the blade as it is.
All in all, this is an excellent knife. Tough, substantial, nice fit and finish, good materials, can't really point my finger towards any obvious fault. It screams "military!" and some might find it ugly. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I actually like its appearance. Most people find the fast, loud automatic opening rather intimidating, so if that causes concern, you might be better off with a manual version. Do I regret getting an automatic? Not for a fraction of a second. Mind you, all the great features come with a price to match. In my opinion, it's well worth it, though. It is in a league of its own.
Good day to you all. And please, do feel free to comment.
Rok
P.S.
My ideas for improving the knife? Shave off the ATAC blade (but retain the size of the knife!), make the handle out of titanium, use an even higher grade steel for the blade (CPM 420V, anyone?), and less writing on it (see above). That would come as close to a perfect knife (in my book at least) as it is currently possible.
OK, all of these topics have been beaten to death at least a dozen times before, but since there is only a limited amount of various aspects about knives to talk about, here's my take on the subject.
I've gotten myself a MOD CQD Auto (the big one, Mark I), with black blade. Plain blade – I detest serrated ones. While they may prove better than a sharp honed blade under certain circumstances, they are certainly not for every kind of use (especially if controlled clean-cuts are required). OK, CQD is not available as a fully serrated blade anyway. So why not partially serrated? Because going that way, you forfeit the benefits of a longer honed blade (which is great for slicing) for a measly 1.5" of serrations that will use up the wrong part of the blade – near the handle, where you've got most control for fine cuts. Which serrated blades are utterly incapable of anyway. Last but not least, I also prefer the look of honed versus the serrated blade. Seeing the hype about partially serrated blades, I'm probably in minority of people who think that way. Oh, well. What the heck.
Onto the knife! Well, no, not literally (ouch!). It came shaving-sharp (tested on the back of my pinky finger). It opens fast with a loud, satisfying "thlack" of the blade locking in open position. Quite solidly, I might add. It also locks back in place very solidly upon closing. I remember reading previously on these forums that the spring only moves the blade about 2/3 of the half-swing, while the final third is by inertia only (and the user wished for a more powerful spring). Well, at first that certainly appeared to be the case. However, when I slightly unfastened the pivot screw (the operative word being slightly; it is still fastened quite tightly and the blade locks open witout any horizontal or vertical play), the blade moves much, much more smoothly (when manipulated by hand). Also, if you unlock the open blade and close it even as little as 0,5" from the fully opened position, the spring swings it back open (providing, of course, the locking button is still depressed at the time). So the spring is obviously powerful enough and does in fact move the blade all the way. It is also possible to tighten the pivot screw enough that the blade doesn't even swing open. The opening action itself is quite, well, for the lack of a better word, violent. Since the blade itself weighs just about as much as the handle (when opened, the knife balances at about 1/5" rear of the pivot screw, approximately where your thumb is when holding the knife), it has quite an inertia (admittedly, Hi-Slip grease helped that to a certain extent by smoothing the movement).
I wiped the entire knife with Tuf Cloth, only to find out that the black titanium nitride coating on the blade looks grayish and downright ugly when the Tuf stuff (pun intended) dried. Using the old-fashioned way of simply oiling it and wiping with a deerskin leather cloth proved to be a much better solution. The wind-walk inserts are great but tend to be rather unfriendly towards clothing, so I decided against pant-pocket carry and removed the pocket clip. That way, the knife feels even better in the hand. The ergonomics is excellent (providing your hands are on the large side; mine certainly are). I'm very satisfied I went with the big one and not Mark II. It feels substantial. And, in fact, it is. Despite its size, it is very easy to handle and control. The side hilts will prevent your fingers from slipping onto the blade no matter what you do (unless you do it on purpose, of course).
One of the CQD reviews I've come across on the Net mentioned that the supportive blade (I believe its official designation is ATAC) doesn't cut paper or cardboard very well, because it "snags" at the end where the blades end and frame begins. That may be. It's not meant to cut paper anyway. It cuts those plastic flexi cuffs very well, though. I haven't tried to cut any seatbelts yet; that's not to say I am not tempted. The carbide window breaker is also giving me some not-quite-so-neighbor-friendly ideas (that I've managed to resist thus far). So no first-hand experience here (yet – evil grin).
Writing on the wall: When I first saw the knife, one of my thoughts was a sarcastic why did they leave out Duane Dieter's E-mail? They seem to have included everything else. In all fairness, after owning it for a while, I rather like the writing. The back side of the blade, with no markings at all, seems rather dull by comparison. However, I would have preferred something along the "CQD MkI" plus the MOD logo instead of the eight words that adorn the blade as it is.
All in all, this is an excellent knife. Tough, substantial, nice fit and finish, good materials, can't really point my finger towards any obvious fault. It screams "military!" and some might find it ugly. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I actually like its appearance. Most people find the fast, loud automatic opening rather intimidating, so if that causes concern, you might be better off with a manual version. Do I regret getting an automatic? Not for a fraction of a second. Mind you, all the great features come with a price to match. In my opinion, it's well worth it, though. It is in a league of its own.
Good day to you all. And please, do feel free to comment.
Rok
P.S.
My ideas for improving the knife? Shave off the ATAC blade (but retain the size of the knife!), make the handle out of titanium, use an even higher grade steel for the blade (CPM 420V, anyone?), and less writing on it (see above). That would come as close to a perfect knife (in my book at least) as it is currently possible.
), I managed to damage them (according to Schmidt's Law - If you mess with a thing long enough, it'll break). No, they didn't break, but were seriously marred by my clumsy fiddling. I thought there was an assembly fault since one of them hit the handle (upon opening) before the other. Anyway, when I emailed MOD about this, I received a prompt reply explaining that the thumb stud arrangement is by design, and they were kind enough to send me a new clip screw set, a new thumb stud pair, plus the hex keys for clip screws and the slightly larger one needed to remove the ATAC blade for sharpening. Oh, and two tiny steel drills that are used to fasten the thumb studs. Free of charge. I received the items in one week - on another side of the Pond, mind you. How's that for customer service? It's bloody fantastic, if you ask me. This guys know how to make and keep their customers happy. Kudos, MOD.