- Joined
- Apr 24, 2009
- Messages
- 662
Hi,
OK, this is my first attempt in a preview of a pocket knife. I would like to make it clear that I am not experienced user/reviewer of folding knives, so please take the following really as my impressions. On top of that - this Freeman flipper is the very first. The only other knife worth mentioning that I have is small Sebenza and I have handled the large one briefly, so when possible I will try to compare it to it. Please do note that I had the knife for just few days and did not put it though any real use as it was going back and so had to be in new condition.
Background:
I ordered the knife in the framework of my quest after large pocket knifethat should be more directed towards slicing rather than heavy duty work. I have shortly tested the large Sebenza 21 and while being a great knife I decided to check out a few more knives. After all - Sebenza knives are readily available (a true advantage of already a great knife).
I have ordered the knife from g-gear.com (in Germany) and it arrived 2 days later. It was just wrapped in soft-wrap - so no fancy box, papers or certificate.
My first impression was - wow, that is a big one. I have chosen one with green (not the moonlight one) G-10 inlay and it looks, IMO, great. I took the knife out and flipped it opened with first attempt. Cool, now that's what the fuss all about with the flippers
The handle sits very well in your hand. I have rather small hands and find that mould for index finger a tad too wide, but not enough to bother. The knife fills your palm and allows for a very secure grip - gives really good, confident feel. On top of that mould there is the flipper that acts as finger guard so the probability that your hand would slip accidentally is pretty much zero.
The blade makes very strong impression, the edge grind is even, polished and reasonably sharp OOT (part of the blade shaves, the other not). The grind is flat (the grooved-part). The distal taper only starts when the grooves meet the spine towards the tip.
The pivot. As you know it is running on ball bearings and you will notice. It gives very little resistance and is nicely smooth. For someone like me it is quite and experience as when you keep the lock pushed you can move the blade freele up to is final position and once you let the lock button go the blade just says in its place. When you flip the blade it lock with a relatively quite click - definitely more quite than then you open a Sebenza. That is probably not a surprise as sebenza is a frame lock and when that tensioned piece of Ti releases you can really hear it. I would still say that handling the Sebenza gives you better feel, but the reason for that is that the washers gives certain amount of resistance when opening or closing the blade what makes the motion feel very smooth. The unlocked blade of the Flipper moves with nearly no resistence, so you just can not get a smooth feel when there is none
The detent (I am not sure that is the correct term for button lock knives) that holds the blade in closed position is relatively weak and it is possible to flip-open the knife with a quite wrist movement. That also means than accidental opening of the knife could, at least in theory, happen more easily as with e.g. Sebenza.
Performance
Well, this is the point I can not tell you much. I did a very quick test with piece of cardboard and while the knife was willing to cut, the sebenza gave less resistance. Main reason for that would be the thickness of these knives and difference in grinds (even though I do not consider the hollow grind on Sebenza optimal for such a task). I can not tell you anything about edge holding or toughness, though I would expect the blade to be on the tough side - it is, after all, made out of D2 steel.
So - that is pretty much all I can tell you about the knife. It is well done, heavy duty knife, with cool design. I am trying to decide whether to keep it or not. On one side I love its character, on the other side I need knife with thinner blade and if I keep it the less cash I will have for something else (the Shirogorov Hati, F95 or even Canabis are really calling my name)
Now some photos
And a few side-by-side photos with small Sebenza 21:
OK, this is my first attempt in a preview of a pocket knife. I would like to make it clear that I am not experienced user/reviewer of folding knives, so please take the following really as my impressions. On top of that - this Freeman flipper is the very first. The only other knife worth mentioning that I have is small Sebenza and I have handled the large one briefly, so when possible I will try to compare it to it. Please do note that I had the knife for just few days and did not put it though any real use as it was going back and so had to be in new condition.
Background:
I ordered the knife in the framework of my quest after large pocket knifethat should be more directed towards slicing rather than heavy duty work. I have shortly tested the large Sebenza 21 and while being a great knife I decided to check out a few more knives. After all - Sebenza knives are readily available (a true advantage of already a great knife).
I have ordered the knife from g-gear.com (in Germany) and it arrived 2 days later. It was just wrapped in soft-wrap - so no fancy box, papers or certificate.
My first impression was - wow, that is a big one. I have chosen one with green (not the moonlight one) G-10 inlay and it looks, IMO, great. I took the knife out and flipped it opened with first attempt. Cool, now that's what the fuss all about with the flippers
The handle sits very well in your hand. I have rather small hands and find that mould for index finger a tad too wide, but not enough to bother. The knife fills your palm and allows for a very secure grip - gives really good, confident feel. On top of that mould there is the flipper that acts as finger guard so the probability that your hand would slip accidentally is pretty much zero.
The blade makes very strong impression, the edge grind is even, polished and reasonably sharp OOT (part of the blade shaves, the other not). The grind is flat (the grooved-part). The distal taper only starts when the grooves meet the spine towards the tip.
The pivot. As you know it is running on ball bearings and you will notice. It gives very little resistance and is nicely smooth. For someone like me it is quite and experience as when you keep the lock pushed you can move the blade freele up to is final position and once you let the lock button go the blade just says in its place. When you flip the blade it lock with a relatively quite click - definitely more quite than then you open a Sebenza. That is probably not a surprise as sebenza is a frame lock and when that tensioned piece of Ti releases you can really hear it. I would still say that handling the Sebenza gives you better feel, but the reason for that is that the washers gives certain amount of resistance when opening or closing the blade what makes the motion feel very smooth. The unlocked blade of the Flipper moves with nearly no resistence, so you just can not get a smooth feel when there is none
The detent (I am not sure that is the correct term for button lock knives) that holds the blade in closed position is relatively weak and it is possible to flip-open the knife with a quite wrist movement. That also means than accidental opening of the knife could, at least in theory, happen more easily as with e.g. Sebenza.
Performance
Well, this is the point I can not tell you much. I did a very quick test with piece of cardboard and while the knife was willing to cut, the sebenza gave less resistance. Main reason for that would be the thickness of these knives and difference in grinds (even though I do not consider the hollow grind on Sebenza optimal for such a task). I can not tell you anything about edge holding or toughness, though I would expect the blade to be on the tough side - it is, after all, made out of D2 steel.
So - that is pretty much all I can tell you about the knife. It is well done, heavy duty knife, with cool design. I am trying to decide whether to keep it or not. On one side I love its character, on the other side I need knife with thinner blade and if I keep it the less cash I will have for something else (the Shirogorov Hati, F95 or even Canabis are really calling my name)
Now some photos
And a few side-by-side photos with small Sebenza 21:
