Newbie to the idea of a small fixed blade for pocket carry - your thoughts please!

Glad it arrived safely Keith, enjoy the test drive! Interested to hear your impressions after you get a chance to kick the tires a bit.
 
Here's an update after a few hours of carry & use of the City Knife. These thoughts are in no particular order, and I may ramble on a bit …..

Tom told me when he shipped the knife that this was one of his users and he wouldn't have time to sharpen it before sending it. Since this would be my first experience with a convex edged knife I told him I wouldn't attempt to sharpen it either. ;) The knife still did pretty darn well with the thumbnail test and the paper cut test.

I was cleaning the garage this afternoon and had a bunch of cardboard boxes that needed to be reduced in size. I was impressed how well this knife cuts cardboard! I compared it to my GEC 73 and couldn't tell much difference on how smoothly it slid through the cardboard. And the blade on the City Knife is a fair amount thicker than the 73. Does a convex edge make that much difference? Honest question.

In addition to this being a first for me regarding convex edges, it's also my first experience with a G10 handled knife. It's gorgeous! There's something timeless & classic about black and silver together on a knife - be it ebony, blackwood, G10, Micarta ….. stainless steel, nickel silver, polished or brushed steel, etc. The knife by virtue of its handle shape and girth does provide a solid three finger grip in use, but the G10 does feel somewhat slippery.

Pocket carry in the Adirondack sheath that Tom sent with the knife is a breeze. I won't be carrying anything else in that pocket though, and that's fine. Accessing the knife is also a piece of cake. Very handy - reach in the pocket, grab & go! Now, returning the knife to the sheath ….. you obviously don't just shove it back in the pocket and hope it hits the sheath.

I did a little experimenting and found if I hold the knife as shown in the pic, with the index finger extending beyond the tip of the knife to prevent inadvertently stabbing something (like the sheath or my leg), and used the tip of my finger to "find" the opening of the sheath, that I could maneuver the knife back into the sheath with the sheath still in my pocket. It's neither fast nor intuitive, but it is one handed. I imagine with practice it may become easier. Probably depends on how deep your pockets are and how tight. Mine are deep - good for carry, not so much for reinsertion; and loose - OK for carry & reinsertion.

Well, that's enough for now. I'm gonna say the jury is still out ….. but I did get an RMA from KSF for the Pro Scalpel. ;)

Last, but certainly not least, thanks again Tom for the trial run! :thumbup:



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Thanks for sharing your initial thoughts, Keith. That was a good read. Pretty neat how you already figured out how to get it safely back in the pocketed sheath. I carried mine for at least a couple weeks and that method never occurred to me.

I'm a little rusty on Bark River knives lately. Is the blade on Tom's knife CPM 154? I can't quite make it out in the pics.
 
Thanks Rick! It's CPM S35VN. I'm no steel expert by any means so I can't comment any further. ;)
 
Keith - SO glad you are enjoying the test drive (so far;))! I never thought to try to replace the blade that way, thanks for sharing that. I grip these about the same as you do, but think I have smaller hands so my pinky kind of wraps around the end of the handle. I have found the convex grind to be a great slicer, for a myriad of materials, but as you noticed these are fairly stout so not ideal for thinly slicing a tomato (although they do a pretty decent job on those too).

Glad to see you can pocket carry it comfortably as well. At first I thought a pocket sheath for a fixed blade was a bit of a weird idea, but for me it works and is very easy. The handle on the specific knife I sent you is polished G10, and it is a bit slippery. I have found in my limited experience that the natural bone and linen micarta handles are a bit grippier (is that a word :confused:?). Looking forward to your extended impression of it my friend.

Hey Rick - yes, it is S35v. I have a couple of others in CPM 154, and they seem fairly similar steels to me. S35v may hold a slight advantage in edge retention, but I am far from a metallurgist or steel expert, just my experience. Both are darned good stainless steels for me.
 
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Tom, I'm REALLY enjoying the test drive so far! :thumbup:

A couple weeks ago I never would have thought about pocket carrying a fixed blade knife, but I found out today how easy & comfortable it is - I'm amazed. Thanks for the heads up on the other handle materials - I figured something else might be a little grippier. And grippier must be a word - spellchecker didn't try to change it. ;)

I'm looking forward to the next few days of carry & use. I probably won't update this thread with my impressions every day - don't want to bore everyone - but I'll post my final thoughts when the test drive is over. :)
 
Coyote...yes, full convex knives are, for me personally, the pinnacle of slicerdom.
 
coyote711 said:
Thanks Rick! It's CPM S35VN. I'm no steel expert by any means so I can't comment any further. ;)
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Thanks Keith. Judging by what I've read in the past, anything "CPM" is good stuff.

Whetstone39 said:
Keith - SO glad you are enjoying the test drive (so far;))! I never thought to try to replace the blade that way, thanks for sharing that. I grip these about the same as you do, but think I have smaller hands so my pinky kind of wraps around the end of the handle. I have found the convex grind to be a great slicer, for a myriad of materials, but as you noticed these are fairly stout so not ideal for thinly slicing a tomato (although they do a pretty decent job on those too).

Glad to see you can pocket carry it comfortably as well. At first I thought a pocket sheath for a fixed blade was a bit of a weird idea, but for me it works and is very easy. The handle on the specific knife I sent you is polished G10, and it is a bit slippery. I have found in my limited experience that the natural bone and linen micarta handles are a bit grippier (is that a word :confused:?). Looking forward to your extended impression of it my friend.

Hey Rick - yes, it is S35v. I have a couple of others in CPM 154, and they seem fairly similar steels to me. S35v may hold a slight advantage in edge retention, but I am far from a metallurgist or steel expert, just my experience. Both are darned good stainless steels for me.
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Hi Tom! I've never owned anything in S35v but two of my current EDC knives are CPM 154 and and I like it just fine. When I owned a City Knife I think it was CPM 154 but I don't remember for sure. If I ever did get another City Knife I would try out the S35v just for something new. In all honesty though, as long as it's some type of stainless steel I would probably be happy with it.

This has been an interesting thread guys. I've enjoyed following it and I'm looking forward to the outcome, whatever it may be.
 
BigBiscuit said:
I wet the sheath a while ago and I have it setting with my pen light and the Bark River in it as we speak.
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Bob, please let us know how the sheath forming turns out, and your overall impressions of the sheath once you start using it again. Thanks! :)
 
I will Keith. Yesterday's wet forming went well. I'm going to do it again today with a small folder to loosen things up a little more.
 
I agree on the convex edge Keith. I've never experienced one except for the convex I put on my hatchet. The north river I have atm is a secondary convex bevel with a flat grind and while it may not slice phonebook paper with the same authority as my 47, it can slice tomatos, oranges, cardboard and bite into wood well for only a 2 inch cutting edge. For now I've just been stropping it lightly on a stropblock until my stropman comes in the post.

Whenever I looked at bark rivers I wished they came in with a bead blasted micarta vs their polished for the issue of grip on some of the knives without a pronounced choil or guard. I do understand we're talking about 3 finger fixies here but security is nice pro when you're using alot of force.
 
Ryouchijtx said:
I agree on the convex edge Keith. I've never experienced one except for the convex I put on my hatchet. The north river I have atm is a secondary convex bevel with a flat grind and while it may not slice phonebook paper with the same authority as my 47, it can slice tomatos, oranges, cardboard and bite into wood well for only a 2 inch cutting edge. For now I've just been stropping it lightly on a stropblock until my stropman comes in the post.

Whenever I looked at bark rivers I wished they came in with a bead blasted micarta vs their polished for the issue of grip on some of the knives without a pronounced choil or guard. I do understand we're talking about 3 finger fixies here but security is nice pro when you're using alot of force.
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I'm inclined to agree. I vowed not to use my City Knife for aggressive push cutting tasks. I didn't want to find out the hard way that the shallow finger guard and the smooth texture of the G10 might present a safety issue under those circumstances. The only negative aspect I found with the City Knife.
 
Ryouchijtx said:
I agree on the convex edge Keith. I've never experienced one except for the convex I put on my hatchet. The north river I have atm is a secondary convex bevel with a flat grind and while it may not slice phonebook paper with the same authority as my 47, it can slice tomatos, oranges, cardboard and bite into wood well for only a 2 inch cutting edge. For now I've just been stropping it lightly on a stropblock until my stropman comes in the post.

Whenever I looked at bark rivers I wished they came in with a bead blasted micarta vs their polished for the issue of grip on some of the knives without a pronounced choil or guard. I do understand we're talking about 3 finger fixies here but security is nice pro when you're using alot of force.
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Thanks for checking in, Tim. I appreciate the comments on the convex edges! And yes, I agree on the grip issue and the lack of a pronounced choil or finger guard on the City Knife. I tend not to think of the choil or guard issue with regular pocketknives of course, and don't stab or aggressively push cut with one. I don't know if having a small fixed blade would cause me to "let my guard down" (pun intended), or not. Certainly an issue worth of consideration.

And thanks again for your input, Rick. I remember you addressing this issue on your first post in this thread. This is weighing on my mind, as it should.
 
Railsplitter said:
I'm inclined to agree. I vowed not to use my City Knife for aggressive push cutting tasks. I didn't want to find out the hard way that the shallow finger guard and the smooth texture of the G10 might present a safety issue under those circumstances. The only negative aspect I found with the City Knife.
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coyote711 said:
Thanks for checking in, Tim. I appreciate the comments on the convex edges! And yes, I agree on the grip issue and the lack of a pronounced choil or finger guard on the City Knife. I tend not to think of the choil or guard issue with regular pocketknives of course, and don't stab or aggressively push cut with one. I don't know if having a small fixed blade would cause me to "let my guard down" (pun intended), or not. Certainly an issue worth of consideration.

And thanks again for your input, Rick. I remember you addressing this issue on your first post in this thread. This is weighing on my mind, as it should.
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Anytime, so far though, the north river has been in my pocket daily since it has arrived/ I always though the city knife was one of the prettiest of the bunch but preferred the silhouette of the bravo necker as a multi purpose knife if I jumped to BRK. Then again these are 'pocket' fixed blades after all. Glad to see how much you're enjoying one as well.
 
The beauty and clean lines of the City Knife is what first attracted me to this apparently newfound …. dare I say obsession, with fixed blade pocket carry. While the Bravo Necker isn't nearly as pretty to my eyes, there is something to be said for form following function. Just a tad longer than the City Knife, less weight, nice choil/finger guard, jimping on the spine … no doubt it's a safer knife under conditions we spoke of earlier.

I may end up with more than one Bark River at some point, but I'm still leaning towards a City Knife as the first one. ;)
 
This thread has been helpful.:thumbup::thumbup: Thank to all who posted.

I had a sell off some time ago and am now wanting to get a small fixed edc again. I had the PSK in elmax, and was thinking of the BRK Little Creek, but I when I saw that the Little Creek handle was actually smaller and the blade was thicker, the PSK came back to mind. So, Im going back to the PSK. My only worry w/ elmax is the ease of sharpening compared to A2. Plus, I like patina. :D

I would consider the City knife but it just doesn't call to me. The handle looks thicker than what I would enjoy for an edc.

I'll probably get the Esee Candiru just for the fun. Has anyone of you that own(ed) the Candiru ever made handles for it? The micarta seems thick and Im not sure how I feel about paracord wrap.

Bob, I would love to see an update on the holster stretch. Im considering picking one up but really want to be to get a AAA light in the secondary pocket.
 
I'm a fan of small fixed blades. I have a few. This knife I occasionally make up for guys in the want. I use a factory blade ,1/8" 440C ,it has a nice hollow grind & holds an edge decent. This usually comes in around 6-1/8" OAL with 2.5" of edge. I've made many,and everyone really likes them & some come back for seconds & thirds. Others get them off me for their bud's,once they are handled.
This example has book matched ,figured stabilized maple from Mark here " Burl Source". The Larry Parsons saddle grade cowhide sheath is hand split by Larry,a work of art in itself. This sheath is compact enough to go in a pocket,but still has a belt loop too.
The knife is compact,but allows a four finger grip. I like a slack belt finish all the way around the spine. All in all,a unique knife that won't break the bank

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