New CS Voyager = Ergonomic Fail

S

sutured

Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Messages
253
I've been singing the praises of the CS Voyager for a while now. I still have the first one I purchased in the early 90's, made in Japan and sharp as you can get. I've gotten more honest-to-god good hard use out of that knife than any other knife I've ever owned, regardless of price or pedigree.

When the pocket clip on my Voyager broke, I used it as an excuse to buy an x-large Voyager. That was five or six years ago, and while that knife wasn't made in Japan it was still an excellent knife. I gave it to a friend last time I was overseas, so I decided to replace it. I ordered a new CS Voyager with the Tri-Ad Lock, and when I took it out of the box and opened it, I was immediately underwhelmed.

The handle design simply isn't very good, in my opinion. It forces your hand into one holding position which really reduces the versatility of the knife. It took me about ten seconds of turning it over in my hand to realize I would just have to send it back. It's a disappointing development, as the earlier Voyagers were not just great knives for the price, they were great knives at twice the price.

Perhaps at some point CS will revert back to the simple handle designs of the past. Until then I'll have to rethink my praise for the Voyager.
 
I thought the same thing, but it has really grown on me. Basically what I realized was that instead of being designed as providing one grip for a giant, it is designed for two different grips. One with you index finger in a choil and one with your pink in the choil. Trying to put both fingers in both choils makes it feel very awkward.
 
I have a new clip point large Voyager and really like it. I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed in yours.
 
I love how mine feels in normal (saber) and reverse grips, it locks in incredibly well. I'm not sure what other kind of grips people use regularly that the Voyager might be failing at.
 
I have to say the new Voyagers are not as ergonomic as the older gen. Many of the newer CS Triad designs sport a largish overhang at the top of the handle, obviously influenced by Demko. I like my Recon and medium Voyager, but wish they'd found a way to incorporate the Triad with the last generation of Voyager configuration. You're spot-on far as I'm concerned, it was one of the most versatile knives out there.
 
Yeah, the older models were shaped like a rounded brick, I don't see how the new models are nothing but an improvement. That old handle design may have been cleaner looking but the new models melt into the hand.
 
I think it is one of the best handles of any folder I've held and use it in a few different grips, might just be differences in hands.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Many of the newer CS Triad designs sport a largish overhang at the top of the handle, obviously influenced by Demko.
Click to expand...

I am actually a big fan of this kind of handle. Personal preference I guess, but it I like the reinforcement
 
Well, I'm glad some people out there can still enjoy the Voyager.

I think that a problem with heavily sculpted handles is that they either fit your particular hand, or they don't.

When you look at hard use knives (like professional chef knives, butcher knives, fish processing knives, wood carving knives and the like) you get a lot of very simple, almost generic handle shapes. I'm trying to think of a knife that has a heavily contoured handle that's favored by people who use a knife for hours at a time, and I can't come up with one.

One of the things I really liked about the old Voyager style was how you could hold the knife in almost any configuration and still have a comfortable, controllable grip. Sort of like the old Buck 110 I favored as a kid.

I guess the lesson here is either handle a new Voyager before you buy it or be willing to risk the shipping.
 
res1cue said:
I am actually a big fan of this kind of handle. Personal preference I guess, but it I like the reinforcement
Click to expand...

I actually like this on a smaller knife, extends the blade a bit, and the edge is short enough I don't mind the slight loss in leverage. On a 4" knife it makes it harder to choke up for detail stuff and I have no real need to maximize reach relative to my hand anyway. I compare it to my old Crawford Casper CRKT - a great knife with a 3" blade, somewhat awkward (for me) in the larger size. I've looked at my Recon to see if there's enough room to cut a small indent out of the "guard" but not so much. Still great knives, don't get me wrong - but I'd rather have a copy of my old Voyager that went missing during a project last year. Even better would be one with the Triad...
 
sutured said:
Well, I'm glad some people out there can still enjoy the Voyager.

I think that a problem with heavily sculpted handles is that they either fit your particular hand, or they don't.

When you look at hard use knives (like professional chef knives, butcher knives, fish processing knives, wood carving knives and the like) you get a lot of very simple, almost generic handle shapes. I'm trying to think of a knife that has a heavily contoured handle that's favored by people who use a knife for hours at a time, and I can't come up with one.

One of the things I really liked about the old Voyager style was how you could hold the knife in almost any configuration and still have a comfortable, controllable grip. Sort of like the old Buck 110 I favored as a kid.

I guess the lesson here is either handle a new Voyager before you buy it or be willing to risk the shipping.
Click to expand...

^ One of several reasons I now carry a fixed blade almost exclusively - in general they come with much better handles than the majority of folders out there.
 
I like the handle, but I also don't use it for extended cutting tasks. I like the molded handle for retention when I'm cutting something stubborn and I feel that I need the extra leverage, but I'll admit that I grab something with a different grip for lighter tasks or if I think I'll be using it for a long period at a time.
 
I personally hated the old handle design. It was the only thing I didn't like about the old Voyagers, actually. I love the new handle, & find it very comfortable, even for long periods of hard use. Everybodys hands are different though,so ergonomics can be a very subjective thing.
 
Its the same with many knives that have a lot of curves....they sometimes just don't work in some peoples hands. Just one of those things. That is why we still have knives with simple straight forward handles. Some don't like it some do.
 
I have both the early nineties model and the new 2011 version. Never liked the old handle, in fact the handle design change was the main reason I bought the 2011 model.
 
I'll add to the chorus & say that I love the new Voyager handles. They're tied for my favorites with my AFCKs as far as ergos go. They have that spot in front of the finger choil to rest your index finger for choking up like the AFCKs too. Handles like those are always hit or miss though. I bet I wouldn't like the 3' Voyagers, although I haven't handled them yet.
 
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