New knives & stuff at Wally-World

Cosmic Superchunk

Cosmic Superchunk

Joined
Jan 28, 2001
Messages
3,709
I just came back from Super Wal-Mart where I noticed a new knife display in their Sporting Goods area. New in their display are: from Gerber come the Paraframes, AR 3.25 Lockback, Vector, Mini-Covert, Total Eclipse Mini-Tool, Recoil Auto Pliers Tool and Freeman fixed blade hunter. From Buck come the Taclite (wood handle), Alpha Folding Hunter and Fixed blade. From Schrade, the Badger and Silhouette folders. I was hoping to pick up the Mini-Covert, but alas, it was not in stock yet. I did check out several folders in full detail (at least the ones they had in stock). Here's what I found:

Gerber Paraframe I: Pricewise, it is comparable to the Kershaw Vapor, but in my opinion, the Vapor is the better buy. The Paraframe is a skeletonized framelock folder completely coated in a dark grey teflon. Fit and finish is okay for a $20 made in China folder, but the locking mechanisms were not as good as the Vapors. Of the 4 samples I looked at, only 1 locked properly. Action is rather stiff on these folders.

Schrade Silhouette: (Not to be confused with the crappy Schrade Cliphanger model also dubbed the Silhouette). This is yet another modern linerlock folder by Schrade which looks very sleak in pictures. Up close, it's a different story. The fit and finish on all the 3 samples I checked out were completely horrible. I'm talking about mismatched anodizing, machining marks around the handle, uneven blade coating and the whimpiest pocket clip I've ever seen. About the only positive I can say about these folders is that the opening/closing action is butter smooth.

Schrade Badger: This is the only Schrade folder that took me by surprise as far as quality. It's a small Zytel handled linerlock with a black coated blade and is made in Ireland. The fit and finish is surprisingly good for a $15 pocketknife, however, the blade is really thin and you can expect the black coating on the blade to wear immediately. Unlike the Silhouette, the Badger opens by means of a cut out in the blade. It's not a pretty looking folder, but not bad for $15 bucks. (It comes in plain edge). I was only able to check out 2 samples of the Badger and none exhibited any blade wobble in the locked position.

Gerber Vector: This is an interesting little utility folder with a modern artsy cutout in the handle to lighten the weight and aid in gripping the handle. It has a matte finish partially serrated edge and comes with a removable black pocketclip which is designed for tip-up carry. The fit and finish of the Vector is quite good for a $30 buck folder and as a Taiwan-made piece, the quality ranks with the likes of CRKT. Lockup is secure and the action is smooth. Of all the knives I checked out, this is the folder I ended up purchasing. I just wished Walmart carried them in plain edge.

Gerber AR 3.25: The last knife I was able to check out was the Gerber AR 3.25 lockback folder. It's a one-hand opening folder with matte silver aluminum bolsters and a black rubber inlay. The knife does not come with a pocketclip, but it does come with a nylon sheath. This lockback feels good in the hand and as is typical of Taiwan-made cutlery, ranks alongside CRKT in quality. Not a bad folder for $40 bucks.

I was hoping to check out the Recoil Auto Pliers tool as well as the Buck Taclite, but they didn't have them in stock yet. By the way, does anyone own the Gerber Mini-Covert? If so, what are your impressions of it?
 
I was at a walmart today and noticed a lot of knives on clearance. The prices were pretty good but there wasn't really anything I was looking for. Maybe they are making room for new knives.
 
I picked up a V'nox Tinker at our Wal-Mart the other day. While I was there I also saw the Taclite picture but they didn't actually have any in stock. It's not a bad looking knife and the money seems reasonable but I know nothing about this knife. Does anyone have an opinion pro or con?
 
The Recoil Auto-Plier is $39.97 at Walmart. I went again to look for the Mini-Covert, but no luck. They did have the Recoil, so I bought one. It certainly has the cool factor. I'll report back on it as soon as I get the chance to play with it a little. ;)
 
The Buck Mini-Taclite with the wood handles is.. interesting.:rolleyes:

The did have more Kershaw, I saw the Vapor II, which I really want one of, but everyone around here only has the 50/50.
 
I'll have to checkout my local Wal-Mart because I too want a Mini-Covert.It has a improved lock on it ,I think.I had to "unload" my full size version because if I sneezed on it,the lock would fail.
 
I was gonna pic up the mini-covert also, as well as the wood handled tac-lite (the tag claims walnut handles). I posted a thread a few days ago asking about blade steel in the mini-covert, since I remembered that it was made in, I believe, Taiwan. If anyone gets to check out the wood handled Tac-lite, lemme know.
 
I checked out the wood Tac-lite and it's a POS!!! Fit and finish is really sorry:( .It looked good on the picture they had in the case:rolleyes: Blade was thin and the handle looked as if it could accept a blade twice as thick so blade play was bad!!!Just my $.02
Todd
 
Originally posted by Cosmic Superchunk
The Recoil Auto-Plier is $39.97 at Walmart. I went again to look for the Mini-Covert, but no luck. They did have the Recoil, so I bought one. It certainly has the cool factor. I'll report back on it as soon as I get the chance to play with it a little. ;)
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Great price. How does it compare to the 600 series? Are the pliers stiff? Thanks. Now I have to redo my wish list:rolleyes: :D .
 
If they're selling below cost and losing money on the deal, I ...MIGHT....consider going in to that job killing place.

Grrrrrrrr.

:mad:
 
Yeah I thought the Gerber Paraframes pretty much sucked. I tried to thumb open both sizes and I couldn't do it. I also noticed that the ParaFrames are made in China. Oh boy! The Buck Mini-Tac was a beauty. Nice satin finish, wood handles, and easy to open with one hand.
 
I got a Kershaw Echo at Wally-World for $6. I also got 32 Schrade SP-1's for $4 each, and 12 Kershaw DWO's for $4 each and a bunch of misc stuff cheap as well.
 
Originally posted by TODD1
I checked out the wood Tac-lite and it's a POS!!! Fit and finish is really sorry:( .It looked good on the picture they had in the case:rolleyes: Blade was thin and the handle looked as if it could accept a blade twice as thick so blade play was bad!!!Just my $.02
Todd
Click to expand...

Thanks Todd1. It sounds like I'll be taking a pass on that one.
 
Good tip, Cosmic. I was in there a few weeks ago, and nothing new. Stopped by on the way home today because of your post and found two wood handled Buck Vanguards on clearance for $39. Picked the best of the two and reground the blade just now. 420HC does sharpen easy... Pretty nice skinner I probably wouldn't have bought, except for the great price. I gotta quit doing this. I will tomorrow, I will, I really will...or at least switch to customs or ultra-fine knives or something. But honestly, that Sharpfinger needed a break.
 
There are 3 Walmarts in my area and none have the Gerber Mini-Covert or Buck Taclite yet. :mad: By the way, is the new wood handled Taclite made in Taiwan?

I thought I'd share my impressions of the Gerber Recoil Auto Plier I bought this morning. First, here's a pic I found of the new tool from REI.com:

700566.jpg


Incidentally, REI has them for $50 bucks, so $39.97 at Walmart ain't bad at all.

According to the box, the tool is made in the USA with USA and imported components (aren't they all?), comes with the typical ballistic nylon sheath and features 4 implements which fold out:
Modified sheepsfoot blade (looks more like a Wharncliffe style)
Fiskars scissors
Phillips screwdriver with bottle opener and twine cutter
Flat head screwdriver with can opener and wire stripper

Now, to the fun part.
The pliers open just like an OTF auto by a simple push of a button. Around the button is a safety switch which prevents accidental opening. Flip the switch up to the "Safe" position and the jaws are locked in the closed position. Switch it to "Ready" and press the botton to fire it up. The auto action is smooth, quick and the jaws latch open ready for use.

To close the thing you have to make sure that the safety is at "Ready," push the botton and hold down on it while you push the jaws against a hard surface and back it into the handle until you hear it click into place, then flip the switch up to "Safe" and you're ready to go.

Because of the space required to house the coils which propell the jaws, there are only 4 folding implements that lock in place via Gerber's Saf-T Plus system. I suppose they could have worked around it to add more implements, but then the tool would just be too thick.

Nail slots are used to open each implement, but the way my Recoil is configured, I find is that it is impossible to access the scissors or the Phillips screwdriver without having to open the blade or Flat-head screwdriver first. That's the only downside in my opinion.

Having owned a SOG Switch-Plier before, I must say that I like the Gerber Recoil better. For one thing, it's all steel (aside from the plastic parts covering the springs), unlike the powder coated aluminum handle of the SOG Switch-Plier. I also prefer the "out the front" opening of the Gerber over the side opening SOG. Plus, you can access the blade and other tools without having to open the pliers. Just my preference. I kind of wish it had a saw, but I carry a Leatherman CS4 Juice with me at all times, so if I need a saw, I could use it instead.

Anyway, I like this tool alot and find that it is sturdy, functional, and easy to operate. For $40 bucks I think it's a great bang for the buck tool with the cool factor for all gadget fans.
 
I got home from work at about 1:30 a.m. and read this thread, then went out a half hour later, driving 15 minutes to my nearest Walmart to check out the selection. I just had a jones to go shopping for some new toy of some sort, and I usually end up with at least a DVD or two (for $5.88) and an LED flashlight if nothing else when I go on these late-night trips.

I got a friendly woman employee to page John, the guy who had keys to the locked knife case. He was friendly and helpful, too, but ultimately I was disappointed by a meager selection. Although there are plenty of knives in the photo in the case, John told me that there were lots of knives out of stock inside the case. I was interested in buying the Kershaw Vapor for $19.99, but alas it was one of the knives he could not find stocked. :( bummer. It woulda been my new EDC beater for a while. In fact, I'm in need of one that I truly don't care if I beat to sh*t. Been carrying an AFCK that I generally try my best to *avoid* using, just to keep it nice. :P

Who knows when this particular walmart will stock back up, so I may just go a bit farther some day when my travels take me to a superwalmart just a bit more distant.

---Jeffrey
 
I checked out the recoil on sunday 22nd. it was blah.

size wise, it is bigger than the wave, but the feeling in the hand is much better. when squeezing hard, the handles were comfortable.

I have to agree with the extraction of the tools posted above, you can't get to the bottle opener or the scissor without opening the tools in front of them. the nail nick is just not wide enough, and if when you replace them into the handle and pushed a little far, there goes its entirety. I thought I didn't like the clumping on my WAVE, but this is sheer torture.

I really liked the spring loaded plier feature, especially when it auto open the handles and the plier heads, but there are problems with that too. the plier head didn't fully retract, the little nubs of the plier tips pokes out of the top. And the amount of force needed to retract the pliers is ungodly. Took three tries to push the thing in there all the way.

one positive features unmarred was the blade shape. I thought it was more in line with a wharncliff, but gerber calls it a "drop point". Regardless, this is the most practical blade shape. if leatherman would adopt this shape for their plain edge and add a ruler, detachable diamond file to the WAVE, it'd be near perfect.

conclusion, neat gadget in need of re-design. for $40, it's ok but I didn't buy it to replace the wave.
 
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