Thanks for the info., Frank. But now you are making this AGR barlow more tempting! Now if I can just reconcile myself to the hollow ground.....
Andrew
I wouldn't let that put me off. If you are like me and have more knives than you can wear out, take a run at that knife with a hollow grind. I have more than enough flat ground knives and while they make great heavy work knives (like my JYD, Tyrade, Rat 1, etc., etc.) but I missed the pure slicing power or a well profiled hollow ground blade.
I recently bought a Kershaw Blur on Am@z@n at an astonishing price as a 12 hour special. I have carried those bigger flat ground blades so long I had forgotten just how much slicing power a good hollow grind could have.
To me, this knife hits a sweet spot. It is small enough to carry in your pocket (the flat scales really enhance that) and it is big enough to do practical things that you would expect for a knife this size. With the lock blade feature that just enhances the blade's capability as a work knife to me. While I usually carry two knives, like a big flat ground knife and a peanut or tiny jack, I wouldn't feel under equipped at all going to the job with this knife alone in my pocket.
As far as the steel goes, I have several work knives I use in that 8Cr steel. They don't get babied, they get every dirty job I don't want to use my smaller knives to perform. I often clean tar, industrial adhesives, paint, caulk, etc., off them with lighter fluid after cutting tar paper, caulk tubes, cutting off old sealants, and on an on. I can tell you that in my experience, that steel is a good, solid performer that will take a good edge sometimes great, BUT, it depends on the heat treat as with all steels.
I would buy from AGR knowing that his steel will be treated to its optimum performance.
Robert
