Moki Fish Owl carry question

E

EagleIH

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I think I’m putting this in the right forum. I didn’t know where else to post this question. For any of you who carry the Moki Fish Owl, how do you carry it? Loose in your pockets with your keys, etc. or with a pocket slip? It comes with the belt sheath, but doesn’t seem necessary because of the size and weight of the knife. For those who carry in the pocket with keys, change, etc., how is the knife holding up? Sorry for so many questions. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
 
I have a small Moki Fish Owl. It is very light, so it disappears in pocket. I don’t typically carry anything else in my pocket, but I would think the covers would be durable and not readily show scuff marks.
 
The handles are made from micarta. It should be plenty tough, keys and change won’t hurt it any.
 
You could even carry it in your pocket in the sheath that came with the knife if you don't want to wear it on your belt. I have a Moki Glory that I carried on my belt until the belt straps on the sheath wore out. Now I carry it in the sheath, dropped into my pocket.
 
The included sheath is of very good quality, but I would never carry the knife in it. The small one would be absurd to carry on a belt, and even the large one isn't exactly heavy in the pocket either. If you really wanted to protect the knife in your pocket from keys and change or whatnot, I'd recommend a slip sheath from kniveshipfree or CollectorKnives. But really, the Fish Owl's black micarta lends itself to general pocket carry. It's not a rare, expensive knife that needs babying so it doesn't lose its value.

However, being a lockback, and with very tight tolerances, it wouldn't be a horrible idea to keep it slip sheath to prevent lint, dust, and other crud from getting in the space between the blade and the lock surface, and nobody would begrudge keeping it clean for that reason.
 
There are many reasons for liking the Fish Owls: supreme tolerances, minimalist but attractive aesthetics, but my main reason for liking to carry my small version is that it is so light yet tough. Because it's light I don't want to carry it around with a load of coins or keys anyway;) Undoubtedly the best made factory lockback at its price, peerless.
 
when my large fish owl arrives in a few days, it will be carried in my pocket, with whatever else happens to be in there. I don't baby any of my knives.... I have no problem with anyone that does, and their knives will probably stay nice looking much longer, but I just don't have the patience for using a slip.
 
I usually carry my knives in the rfp of my jeans with my phone (which is in a good case). The phone's bulk keeps the knife upright in the pocket and easy to grab out by the butt. Keys and wallet (I have a cheap wallet I'm not concerned about scuffing) go in the lfp. This has worked for me for years and circumvents the horrendous uncomfortability of back pocket utilisation.
Also I usually make my own very streamline slips out of cheap thin suede. Measure them, fold and stitch (you can even just use standard sewing thread) and boom. Super thin.
Hope this aids you in some way. I don't have a fish owl but I use this for my gecs.
 
The Fish Owl models use AUS8 for their blades. Is this considered a "respectable" stainless? Almost all of my stainless blades are 440A or 420HC, I think; how does AUS8 compare to these?

- GT
 
5K Qs said:
The Fish Owl models use AUS8 for their blades. Is this considered a "respectable" stainless? Almost all of my stainless blades are 440A or 420HC, I think; how does AUS8 compare to these?

- GT
Click to expand...
I had a Moki for awhile and found the steel easy to sharpen and it held the edge just fine.
 
5K Qs said:
The Fish Owl models use AUS8 for their blades. Is this considered a "respectable" stainless? Almost all of my stainless blades are 440A or 420HC, I think; how does AUS8 compare to these?
Click to expand...
Found this for you...
AUS-6 (6A) is comparable to 440A with a carbon content close to 0.65%.
AUS-8 (8A) is comparable to 440B with a carbon content close to 0.75%.
AUS-10 (10A) is comparable to 440C with a carbon content close to 1.10%.
 
good to know that.... I know that Cold Steel used Aus-8 in most of their knives for quite some time. I think at that time it was considered almost a premium steel. I never had a problem holding an edge on any of my CS knives.
 
5K Qs said:
The Fish Owl models use AUS8 for their blades. Is this considered a "respectable" stainless? Almost all of my stainless blades are 440A or 420HC, I think; how does AUS8 compare to these?

- GT
Click to expand...

Kinda an odd question to answer because it depends on whom and where you ask. You'll get a lot of turned noses in most other subsections unless you're talking about very inexpensive and "beater" knives, but here, where the most common stainless steels are 440A (old Camillus and Schrade), 440C, 440HC (of varying heat treats), 8Cr13MoV, and the like, AUS-8 will have much more respect. Suffice to say that for the tasks that a knife like the Fish Owl will be used for, AUS-8 is more than adequate, and Moki does a fine heat treat of the steel. Personally I wish it was ground a bit thinner towards the edge, but it still cuts well. I'd prefer VG-10 as well, which Moki uses in some other (more expensive) knives, because I like it more and it'd be more in line with the $60-70 cost of the Fish Owl. But AUS-8 is fine, it'll work excellently for anything you'd expect to do with the Fish Owl, and it'll come extremely sharp and is easy to keep it that way.
 
Planterz said:
Personally I wish it was ground a bit thinner towards the edge, but it still cuts well. I'd prefer VG-10 as well, which Moki uses in some other (more expensive) knives, because I like it more and it'd be more in line with the $60-70 cost of the Fish Owl.
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Agreed, the blade could be ground a little thinner with a finer edge. I would gladly pay an additional $5-10 for the VG-10. I would go $100 to get this knife in that cool laminated ZDP-189 ground to about .005” behind the edge ;)
 
blademan 13 said:
Agreed, the blade could be ground a little thinner with a finer edge. I would gladly pay an additional $5-10 for the VG-10. I would go $100 to get this knife in that cool laminated ZDP-189 ground to about .005” behind the edge ;)
Click to expand...

I'd love something other than black micarta. Carbon fibre, white/ivory G-10 or micarta, anything really. The black micarta is fine, but it's about as humdrum as it gets.
 
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