Many thanks, Sal, Eric and crew, my SE Dodo has finally arrived, and with it a nice catalog, and a laminated "Edge-U-Cation" card with a little Fresnel lens attached to it (i assume to inspect the edge of the knives? ) very nice touch, i was looking for a fresnel lens to use as a focusing collomator for my green laser pointer.....
anyway, i opened the box of the Dodo, and a couple of things surprised me, first off, it's a lot *smaller* than i thought it'd be, i was expecting an Endura or Delica sized handle....
i opened the box, and saw the number 130 on the blade, so looks like i got a Collectors Club model, cool!, i really guess these knives weren't selling well then...
pity really
i picked it up....whoa, that's *light*, lighter than even the Native, blade snicks out like it's on ball bearings, and the ball lock locks it rock solid, no vertical or horizontal play.....
put the knife in hand, it fits like a *glove*, like it was made to fit my hand, extremely comfortable, solid, well crafted blade, the tip is shaving sharp out of the box, as expected (no way in hades i'm going to do the "shave arm hair" test with the entire blade, the tip is risky enough)
test cut the cardboard box it shipped in, as expected, cuts really well, not as good as the Harpy, but then again, the Harpy is in a class by itself...
once again, i performed a Cut-Off competition between my 4 contenders (Dear Og, do i *really* EDC *four* Spydies now, i gotta trim down....)
the victi....errr....subject was a shipping box for a 14" iBook display bezel (box size around 15") when stood on end in the portrait configuration, using light pressure, i pulled each knife down and back as it cut, stopping when the point exited the box....
here's the results;
the winner, *completely* cutting the cardboard clean to the bottom; the SS SE Harpy
Tied for Second Place, 3/4 of the way down; the SS PE Cricket (13" cut) and Dodo (12" cut)
Third place, 9" cut, the Native
overall performance, taking into account ergonomics, ease of cutting and resistance, i'd rank them the following ways;
Overall winners;
First; SS SE Harpy; this is an *unbeatable* knife, comfortable, solid, and cuts like a demon
Second; G-10 SE Dodo; yes, the Cricket cut further (due to the thinness of the blade), but the Dodo was more comfortable *during* the cut, due to superior ergonomics, the blade never once felt like it was going out of control or slipping
Third; SS PE Cricket; It cut further than the Dodo, slightly, but it felt less controlled at the end of the cut, felt like it was going to slip out
Fourth; Native; it cut the shortest distance and had the most resistance (due to the thicker blade), but was quite comfortable, it's poor cutting performance lowered it's overall score
Eric, the Dodo's a *great* knife, i'll be sorry to see it go away, it doesn't *deserve* to be dropped, why not drop something like the Scorpius and keep the Dodo, the Scorpius (admittedly named after my favorite Farscape villan...) appears to basically be a Native-style blade with a striker "tail"
The Dodo's earned it's place in my EDC rotation, it's a great knife, truly a design ahead of it's time, it doesn't deserve such an unfair fate as discontinuation
oh, and as a side note, i let my co-workers try the Dodo and the overwhelming response was "that's the coolest knife i've *EVER* seen, i *love* it!, Steve (the guy i gave my old beater Gerber EZ-Out to) fell in love with it as soon as he held it, i did drop the hint that they've been discontinued and supplies are limited, so if he wants one, he should act fast...
and neither one of my co-workers are knife knuts (yet.....)
i'll get 'em, eventually, i've already offered to sell Steve my Native for $30, and he's thinking about it.... (i told him he can get a new one for $40 at wally-world if he wants a new one)
if anyone's on the fence about the Dodo, get one before it's too late, it impressed this jaded, cynical knife knut, and *I'm* not easily impressed.... (WOW!, a *BLUE* car!)
and i'll take up the rallying cry of SAVE THE DODO! (collect the whole set )
Here's some pics;
anyway, i opened the box of the Dodo, and a couple of things surprised me, first off, it's a lot *smaller* than i thought it'd be, i was expecting an Endura or Delica sized handle....
i opened the box, and saw the number 130 on the blade, so looks like i got a Collectors Club model, cool!, i really guess these knives weren't selling well then...
pity reallyi picked it up....whoa, that's *light*, lighter than even the Native, blade snicks out like it's on ball bearings, and the ball lock locks it rock solid, no vertical or horizontal play.....
put the knife in hand, it fits like a *glove*, like it was made to fit my hand, extremely comfortable, solid, well crafted blade, the tip is shaving sharp out of the box, as expected (no way in hades i'm going to do the "shave arm hair" test with the entire blade, the tip is risky enough)
test cut the cardboard box it shipped in, as expected, cuts really well, not as good as the Harpy, but then again, the Harpy is in a class by itself...
once again, i performed a Cut-Off competition between my 4 contenders (Dear Og, do i *really* EDC *four* Spydies now, i gotta trim down....)
the victi....errr....subject was a shipping box for a 14" iBook display bezel (box size around 15") when stood on end in the portrait configuration, using light pressure, i pulled each knife down and back as it cut, stopping when the point exited the box....
here's the results;
the winner, *completely* cutting the cardboard clean to the bottom; the SS SE Harpy
Tied for Second Place, 3/4 of the way down; the SS PE Cricket (13" cut) and Dodo (12" cut)
Third place, 9" cut, the Native
overall performance, taking into account ergonomics, ease of cutting and resistance, i'd rank them the following ways;
Overall winners;
First; SS SE Harpy; this is an *unbeatable* knife, comfortable, solid, and cuts like a demon
Second; G-10 SE Dodo; yes, the Cricket cut further (due to the thinness of the blade), but the Dodo was more comfortable *during* the cut, due to superior ergonomics, the blade never once felt like it was going out of control or slipping
Third; SS PE Cricket; It cut further than the Dodo, slightly, but it felt less controlled at the end of the cut, felt like it was going to slip out
Fourth; Native; it cut the shortest distance and had the most resistance (due to the thicker blade), but was quite comfortable, it's poor cutting performance lowered it's overall score
Eric, the Dodo's a *great* knife, i'll be sorry to see it go away, it doesn't *deserve* to be dropped, why not drop something like the Scorpius and keep the Dodo, the Scorpius (admittedly named after my favorite Farscape villan...) appears to basically be a Native-style blade with a striker "tail"
The Dodo's earned it's place in my EDC rotation, it's a great knife, truly a design ahead of it's time, it doesn't deserve such an unfair fate as discontinuation
oh, and as a side note, i let my co-workers try the Dodo and the overwhelming response was "that's the coolest knife i've *EVER* seen, i *love* it!, Steve (the guy i gave my old beater Gerber EZ-Out to) fell in love with it as soon as he held it, i did drop the hint that they've been discontinued and supplies are limited, so if he wants one, he should act fast...
and neither one of my co-workers are knife knuts (yet.....)
i'll get 'em, eventually, i've already offered to sell Steve my Native for $30, and he's thinking about it.... (i told him he can get a new one for $40 at wally-world if he wants a new one)
if anyone's on the fence about the Dodo, get one before it's too late, it impressed this jaded, cynical knife knut, and *I'm* not easily impressed.... (WOW!, a *BLUE* car!)
and i'll take up the rallying cry of SAVE THE DODO! (collect the whole set
)Here's some pics;
