A few months ago I decided I wanted a neck knife for the primary use of handiness, not just SD. After a bit of browsing I was torn between the MOD Scorpion and the Emerson la griffe. Well, like any poor fool I went out and I bought both NIB, and let me tell you, there was a BIG difference. First, both knives looked nice when they came, and they fit OK in the hand. The la griffe was considerably more comfortable. It wasnt like the MOD dug into my hand, it just seemed like the handle is a bit too short (and I dont have large hands by any stretch of the imagination). I just always felt like my thumb was going to slip up the back of the spine and get sliced by the serrations (thankfully, that never happened). Fortunately, such a concern was irrelevant for the la griffe thanks to the finger hole and the way that the knife fit in my hand which placed my thumb out of reach of the blade. Second, the sheaths were markedly different as well. The fit of the blade in a sheath which is planned to be worn around the neck either exposed to snags or right next to my wussy little bare skinned belly was a matter of much importance to me. The MOD sheath did NOT offer me any reassurance in the area of retention. Just holding the sheath with the knife it and lightly shaking the sheath produced too much (for my comfort level) rattling, both side to side and vertically. After noticing that, I turned the sheath upside down and shook the rig again trying to (in my best effort) simulate walking running jumping motions (realizing that there would be quite a bit of bouncing/jerking going on if the thing was around my neck on the chain). The blade slid out about 1/8 of an inch within seconds and flopped around even more loosely than before. Same test with the la griffe but there was absolutely NO movement with that rig, the only way I could get the knife out was by putting my finger in the hole and giving it a good yank. Fortunately, the MOD does come with a tek-lok (sp?) and that would be the only way I would ever carry this blade. Finally, the every popular sharpness test. Out of the box the MOD was quite dull, would scratch the surface of a finger nail but would prefer to bend paper than slice it. I worked on the blade for about 30 minutes on my sharpmaker but to no avail ( I did however take the blade to a local shop and the guy there was able to get it quite sharp, but still, such should be the out of the box condition IMHO, at least). Again, were the MOD failed the la griffe excelled, blade is incredible sharp, perhaps the only knife that I have handled whos out of the box sharpness rivals my SERE. I know that one may think that the blade shape of the la griffe would not lend itself to EDC use but I was pleasantly surprised. I recently returned from a few day camping/fishing trip and the knife was used for all our small tasks and performed far beyond expectation.
So all this to say that I was very impressed with the la griffe, and very disappointed by the scorpion. And I didnt even cover the SD aspect, I think I leave that to those who have more of a clue than I do (although I would take the la griffe hands down
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So all this to say that I was very impressed with the la griffe, and very disappointed by the scorpion. And I didnt even cover the SD aspect, I think I leave that to those who have more of a clue than I do (although I would take the la griffe hands down
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