Olamic Wayfarer 247 closing smoothness

SaraLikesKnives said:
Do what I did and get both!!

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Very beautiful.
 
Lord_Balkan said:
Unfortunately I don't think I have the funds to pick this up right now. I can but I shouldn't. And I don't know if there are any I currently have that I am willing to give up. I will have to wait a couple of weeks. I just hope the one I want doesn't go out of stock.
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If it does go out of stock just let me know which one it was and we can fulfill it when the next run hits.
 
Lord_Balkan said:
Now the question is do I go blue or bronze....
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Officer's Match said:
I think it carries very nicely, as it is actually fairly slender given how tight the gaps are between the blade and scales. Also very contoured and smooth. Mine has the smooth backspacer, and I like that I can easily slide past the knife to retrieve items from my pocket. I am fairly sensitive to pocket blockers, and plenty of otherwise great knives have passed through my ownership due to not being able to retrieve items from my RFP without being grabbed by a knife.
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My vote goes to the bronze with the smooth backspacer. I would have loved to have the bronze beveled-edge holes too, but couldn't find one and got an excellent deal on mine at RussianKnives.com. Just a great knife.

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I've had mine a couple weeks and the detent's broken in very nicely so the knife's an easy, but snappy flipper. The blade free-drops when I release the lockbar until the flipper tab hits my thumb. Beyond that the blade closes CRK smoothly, index finger flicks shut, but will shake closed with a fair amount of wrist. I'm pretty sure I could adjust and lube the pivot to get it to close more freely. I may fool with it after a bit more break-in, but I'm very happy with it as is. Just a beautiful knife with super F&F that cuts great and feels like it belongs in my hand.
 
^^I had this one in my cart, but someone got it out from under me. I blame you ;)

I grabbed the last sculpted Stealth instead. Should get here today!
 
Armadew said:
^^I had this one in my cart, but someone got it out from under me. I blame you ;)

I grabbed the last sculpted Stealth instead. Should get here today!
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Yup, mine was the last one. I'd rather be the bad guy, though, than not have my beautiful 247. :apologetic:

Be sure to share your sculpted steal when you get it.
 
ChazzyP said:
Yup, mine was the last one. I'd rather be the bad guy, though, than not have my beautiful 247. :apologetic:

Be sure to share your sculpted steal when you get it.
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I got it a couple hours ago. :)

Can't do a proper review yet as I'm still at work, but first impressions are positive. Perfectly centered, perfect grind, solid lockup, gorgeous, fits my hand perfectly, carries slim in the pocket.

It flips well, but the action is a bit gritty, so it doesn't open/close as smooth as I expected. I can see some particles in the pivot so I'll flush it out and lube it when I get home.

I can't open the knife with the thumb-hole. Even with the thumb-index pinch grip. Perhaps it will break in to the point where I can. Not a big deal if no.

The sculpted scales aren't too aggressive. They give a good grip without any obvious hot-spots. They do make it a bit difficult to extract from the pocket, so it might be a bit of a pocket shredder, but only time will tell.

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Great pics, gang. I am loving how Olamic is becoming more well known here these days. :thumbup:
 
Olamic's customer service is also excellent; I sent my 247 in for service (it had some detent play). Got the knife back in a week, with tracking, and it's perfect now. They also reblasted the scales, which is nice. It's like a new knife!
 
The design doesn't speak to me personally, and I am worried that it will be too bulky or heavy (though I didn't mind the weight of a BM 860 Bedlam because of the balance). But everyone continues to say amazing things about this. It should be coming Thursday so I will post some pics. I got the bronze anodized one with holes and a satin blade. I love the steampunk vibe it gives off while still looking like something you can use.
 
It isn't bulky at all and surprisingly light. I can do some comparison pics and weights with the Bedlam when I get home if you'd like.
 
Armadew said:
It isn't bulky at all and surprisingly light. I can do some comparison pics and weights with the Bedlam when I get home if you'd like.
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If you don't mind that would be awesome. I am not getting mine until Thursday. Seeing it next to bigger and smaller knives can help get a sense of the size of it for others that might be on the fence. I couldn't find many comparison pictures online.
 
Lord_Balkan said:
If you don't mind that would be awesome. I am not getting mine until Thursday. Seeing it next to bigger and smaller knives can help get a sense of the size of it for others that might be on the fence. I couldn't find many comparison pictures online.
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No problem. Any special requsts? Specific knives to compare, camera angles, etc.?
 
Here are some quick and dirty (literally) photos. I'll get some better ones with more comparisons after I feed my baby. :)

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I'm pretty new to modern flippers, but I have some questions. I don't want to offend anybody or come across as accusatory. Please take this as somebody that's ignorant of this subject looking to educate himself.

To my eye the Olamic Wayfarer looks like a Hinderer clone. More accurately, it looks like a modified, refined XM-18. The frame is pretty much identical, the spanto blade is pretty close to identical, the lanyard hole placement and shape is pretty much identical, and even the screw placement is pretty much identical. I don't have a lot of experience with upper end modern folders, so I guess I'm wondering if this is normal. The only high end flipper I've owned to this point is a Hinderer XM-18. I like the knife quite a bit, but it's not an easy knife to open. I started looking for a similar knife that would be easier to operate and came across the Wayfarer threads. I was pretty shocked at how similar it looks to my Hinderer. This weekend I went to a knife show and Dave Curtiss had a table there. I loved his F3 and was considering buying one. When i went back a couple days later with my wife and showed her the F3 she commented "Isn't that the same as your orange knife?" referencing my XM-18. When I looked again in that light I was kind of surprised at how similar the F3 really was to my Hinderer. Again, it seemed to me like a refined XM-18.

My questions are: Did Hinderer take this design from somebody else or did it originate with him? Do Olamic and Curtiss license the design from Hinderer? Can I expect that most flippers in this range are going to be pretty much identical like these three knives are? Are there hangups in the community with purchasing a knife that has borrowed so much from another maker?

I don't mean to derail this thread, but while I was reading through it these are the thoughts that popped into my head. Since somebody from Olamic has been posting in this thread I thought it might be the best place to ask these questions and get an answer. If this has all already been gone over can somebody please link me to the appropriate thread? Thanks for your help.
 
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