Official BK18 Harpoon Thread

Wabbit69 said:
Holy crap! I am reminded how much I like 1095 Cro-Van. The vanadium refines the grain structure enough to easily put very refined mirror edge. I just "tree-topped" my arm hair with my 25 dps edge.
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Some great stuff, I love it. So easy to field sharpen as well.
 
Oh, I was suggesting merely ONE knife that could be converted to match the fashion of the day.
 
I thought Ethan adopted my son ... at least when it comes to knives.
 
Just because it's a dealer exclusive doesn't necessarily mean it's a limited run. They are out of those now but I've got a feeling they are gonna get more. It's pretty common for a vendor to get the rights to a certain version of a knife, and then do a "RUN" of that item and then when it sells out, do another "RUN" of that same knife. Spyderco has a bunch of vendors doing dealer exclusives like that almost always.
I'd be very surprised if the black version wasn't available for years to come from some vendor.
I'm sure you knew all that.
 
I found no discernable difference in performance between the 15 and 18 in onion dicing. I found the extra length of the 15 to offset the taller blade and extra finger clearance on the 18. BOTH did the task just fine.

I've got some meat and veggies to slice up for kebabs this evening. I'll sacrifice one small Roma tomato to compare the slicing performance. Although I'll admit the test might be somewhat an "apples-oranges" test with the different edge geometries I have them tuned to. Next will be some feather-sticking in the yard.
 
On effective cutting length. I compared the 18 to the 15 by curving a Nite-ize rubberized flexible tie to conform to the edge length of the 15 marking it, then bending it straight to measure the total length, repeating for the 18. Although the 15 is an inch longer from the tip to the handle scales, it only gives up 3/4" of edge total edge cutting length, mostly due to the lack of ricasso.

While conducting this measurement, I did note that there isn't much difference between the straight line length from the start of the cutting edge to the tip: 4 7/8" for the 15, and 4 3/8" for the 18, for only a half inch difference. This indicates that the trailing point blade shape is very efficient at maximizing total edge length for a given blade length. Upon reflection, this makes sense, since the trailing point is defined by having the point above the centerline axis of the handle.

ETA: I did the head-to-head comparison for feather-sticking. Hands down the win goes to the 18. The belly is extremely slicey. I will say that feather sticking is one task that the Harpoon does exceptionally well at.
 
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New pants on the 18.

And FYI these TKC scales won’t work with the stock sheath.


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knifejunkie1928 said:
New pants on the 18.

And FYI these TKC scales won’t work with the stock sheath.


018f0919ca21c68681e8c4dc300b04d0.jpg
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Looks like a totally different blade.
Were you able to get that shorter fastener, (the one closest to the cutting edge) tightened down so it wouldn't move?
I couldn't, I think the aluminum center post is too long.
 
Just sand it down a bit?
Looks very cool like that.
 
I was wondering about TKC scales with the scallops. I was eyeballing those on TKC's web-site yesterday. It looks like the stock sheath grips the handles where the scallops would remove material.

I tested the 18 against the 15 making kebabs with ribeye (no sirloin at the store), red and yellow peppers, and some parmesan crusted zucchini slices in the oven. The results are as follows:

Meat: While the 15 slices meat very well, the 18 sliced it EXCEPTIONALLY well. The huge belly on the 18 is made for it. Win for the 18.

Veggies: this is where things got interesting. Again, I found the extra length of the 15, along with the slightly more acute primary grind and secondary bevel to slightly favor straight down push-slicing for the peppers. For the zucchini, the blade length wasn't a factor, but again, the grind and edge geometry made a discernable difference until.......

....when I changed my technique from straight-down push cutting to moving the blade forward to take advantage of the belly the difference disappeared.

I was humbled by the learning experience. It reminded me that there's more than one way to get a job done, and efficient task performance is just as much a function of matching the technique, or "software" component, as is the tools, or "hardware" being utilized.
 
FAL'ER said:
Looks like a totally different blade.
Were you able to get that shorter fastener, (the one closest to the cutting edge) tightened down so it wouldn't move?
I couldn't, I think the aluminum center post is too long.
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Pins fit on mine but I did have that problem with a bk16. I just sanded it down.
 
I think two different sized posts come with tkc g10 grips, maybe you had them reversed.
 
Sheath mod. I replaced the dangler strap with two IWB belt loops. With my small frame, I was expecting the pancake style width to be uncomfortable, but it's not. I canted it slightly forward by using the top rivet on one side, and the rivet bellow on the other. It hugs my body for nice discrete carry.

ETA: this is my first pic uploaded, so let me know if I botched it.

https://imgur.com/YHfjNgk
 
Wabbit69 said:
Sheath mod. I replaced the dangler strap with two IWB belt loops. With my small frame, I was expecting the pancake style width to be uncomfortable, but it's not. I canted it slightly forward by using the top rivet on one side, and the rivet bellow on the other. It hugs my body for nice discrete carry.

ETA: this is my first pic uploaded, so let me know if I botched it.

https://imgur.com/YHfjNgk
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Nicely done! :thumbsup:

And, you’re a class act for having both poo-porri and wipes on your very clean toilet. ;)

What’s the folder with the wire clip peaking out of your pocket? :)
 
Spyderco P'Kal. Left-carry. It's my "Please GTFO my gun" knife.

And the Poo-Pourri commercials are the best.
 
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