The Gnome as landed! Or maybe the Gnome has surfaced? Whatever Gnomes do, I have one in hand and wanted to provide my first impressions along with some photos.
Right off the bat, I can tell this is going to be an awesome little knife. It feels good in hand. It seems to work well with a thumb or forefinger on the spine providing either power to the cut or very fine control over it. One small improvement I immediately noticed, though, would be to bevel the edges of the butt just a little to increase comfort when the butt is nestled in your palm.
This is my smallest Fiddleback. The closest in size from my collection is a Pocket Kephart. The Gnome's dimensions are stated in the FF thread, but I've included them here for convenience:
OAL: 5 5/8"
Blade: 2 1/2"
Handle: 3 1/8"
Weight: 3.2 oz
The balance point is between the pins, perhaps just a tad bit closer to the second set.
Following are couple of comparative photos. The first shows all four knives aligned at the butt. They don't appear so in the photo, but a straightedge was placed perpendicular to the mat on the 12-inch line, and the knives were positioned up against it. The second shows all knives aligned at their plunge line. The knives used in this comparison are, top to bottom,
- Pocket Kephart
- Gnome
- Esquire
- Handyman
The Gnome fits nicely in a Diomedes Industries APS Baron, although it sits pretty deep. I don't have one to try out, but a Diomedes Industries APS Gent may be a better fit. I imagine any sheath that fits a Pocket Kephart or Runt would also work just as well for a Gnome.