- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Messages
- 6,192
I saw it in an ad in BLADE and just HAD to have it. I pre-ordered this knife from www.knifeworks.com because they were the first ones I heard were going to have them and allowed you to pre-order. I figured it probably wouldn't be too popular and would get discontinued soon so I bought this one to stick in the safe. Well, when it arrived it was so cool and pretty that I knew I had to carry and use it. I have another one coming that comes with a tin box that'll be the safe queen.
So what do I think of it?
Well, like I said, it's pretty high in the pretty and cool department. Fit and finish is pretty good save for a couple tiny cracks where the pins go through the bone and a place or two where the bone coloring doesn't go quite to the very edge of the bone. I've seen better on CASE, but no worries. Everything is highly polished so it fingerprints like crazy and scratches show up practically just from removing it from the package. The tolerances are so close that the blade actually rubbs both sides of the handle when it's closed so there is a slight rub mark on each side of the blade already. It opens and locks with a satisfying "CLACK". It's reasonably comfortable to hold and it's a good size for regular EDC urban jobs. Totally non-offensive looking so it shouldn't draw stares from the sheeple.
The pocket clip is too close to the handle underneigh so it doesn't really allow for the thickness of the material it's being clipped to. Because of this, the tip of the clip sticks out a bit away from the knife when it's clipped onto my pocket. (By the way, it fits perfect in my little watch pocket.) Since the bolsters are highly polished they're quite slick which makes it a little difficult to pull off my pocket.
When I got it, the action wasn't exactly what I'd call smooth. In fact it felt like it was full of gravel. "Crunch" open. "Crunch" closed. Looking inside with a light, it was indeed very dirty inside with lots of black gritty gunk. I don't know what they do at the factory to get 'em that dirty, but it had to go! A BreakFree bath helped and it's getting smoother and smoother all the time.
It wasn't sharp. Or at least wouldn't meet most people's standards on this forum. The edge was ground pretty coarsely too. It looked like it was sharpened on a 80-grit grinding wheel. Heck, it was practically serrated! It sharpened up rather nicely. I used a slightly more shallow angle and it took a razor edge. Careful. It is easy to hit the thumb stud during sharpening and one of my studs has a little angle taken off of it from hitting it a couple times with the hone.
Here comes the reason I'm writing the review:
Now that I've gotten a chance to check it out, there's something I find deeply disturbing about this knife. The back spring. For one thing, it gives considerable resistance to opening the knife with the stud. (More than, say, any other lockback stud-opener like a CS Vaquero or something) This is compounded by the fact that the knife is small and slippery. Another thing, and most disturbing of all, is that considering you need to have your thumb in the way of the blade to close a locking liner (which it is), combined with how much extra force is required to close it - not to mention the fact that these knives with a strong back spring tend to snap closed on their own after a distance... this thing is downright dangerous! I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it bites my thumb or pinky. Why they thought it neccessary to keep the back spring is anybody's guess.
Over all, I'm not sure I quite like it. There's things I love (Did I mention it was pretty?) and hate about it. Will this series be a success for CASE or a flop? Only time will tell. After carrying it for a nearly a week I'm leaning toward the latter. I'd gladly sell or trade it to someone else if they want to give it a try.
See pic and link to specs down the thread.
So what do I think of it?
Well, like I said, it's pretty high in the pretty and cool department. Fit and finish is pretty good save for a couple tiny cracks where the pins go through the bone and a place or two where the bone coloring doesn't go quite to the very edge of the bone. I've seen better on CASE, but no worries. Everything is highly polished so it fingerprints like crazy and scratches show up practically just from removing it from the package. The tolerances are so close that the blade actually rubbs both sides of the handle when it's closed so there is a slight rub mark on each side of the blade already. It opens and locks with a satisfying "CLACK". It's reasonably comfortable to hold and it's a good size for regular EDC urban jobs. Totally non-offensive looking so it shouldn't draw stares from the sheeple.
The pocket clip is too close to the handle underneigh so it doesn't really allow for the thickness of the material it's being clipped to. Because of this, the tip of the clip sticks out a bit away from the knife when it's clipped onto my pocket. (By the way, it fits perfect in my little watch pocket.) Since the bolsters are highly polished they're quite slick which makes it a little difficult to pull off my pocket.
When I got it, the action wasn't exactly what I'd call smooth. In fact it felt like it was full of gravel. "Crunch" open. "Crunch" closed. Looking inside with a light, it was indeed very dirty inside with lots of black gritty gunk. I don't know what they do at the factory to get 'em that dirty, but it had to go! A BreakFree bath helped and it's getting smoother and smoother all the time.
It wasn't sharp. Or at least wouldn't meet most people's standards on this forum. The edge was ground pretty coarsely too. It looked like it was sharpened on a 80-grit grinding wheel. Heck, it was practically serrated! It sharpened up rather nicely. I used a slightly more shallow angle and it took a razor edge. Careful. It is easy to hit the thumb stud during sharpening and one of my studs has a little angle taken off of it from hitting it a couple times with the hone.
Here comes the reason I'm writing the review:
Now that I've gotten a chance to check it out, there's something I find deeply disturbing about this knife. The back spring. For one thing, it gives considerable resistance to opening the knife with the stud. (More than, say, any other lockback stud-opener like a CS Vaquero or something) This is compounded by the fact that the knife is small and slippery. Another thing, and most disturbing of all, is that considering you need to have your thumb in the way of the blade to close a locking liner (which it is), combined with how much extra force is required to close it - not to mention the fact that these knives with a strong back spring tend to snap closed on their own after a distance... this thing is downright dangerous! I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it bites my thumb or pinky. Why they thought it neccessary to keep the back spring is anybody's guess.
Over all, I'm not sure I quite like it. There's things I love (Did I mention it was pretty?) and hate about it. Will this series be a success for CASE or a flop? Only time will tell. After carrying it for a nearly a week I'm leaning toward the latter. I'd gladly sell or trade it to someone else if they want to give it a try.
See pic and link to specs down the thread.
I'll do the tip some day.
