First of all: Forgive me my bad english... it´s not my native language.
Intro
Pi-Knives is a one man knife company driven by its creative head, the Salzburg (Austria) based Sami Stinner. Sami told me by telephone that the thought to the Dobolock (dobo = stands for double bolt, referring to the spring loaded hardened steel bolts that lock the blade) struck him like lighthning and he has since then been refining the design for about a year to put the knife to mass production.
The main problem when producing the knife was to find a manufacturer who could turn Samis plans into reality, in topmost precision, but still cost-effective. The result is something to be proud of!
Description
The knife comes in a black cordura knife case which is delivered again in a cardboard box. It also contains a piece of cord and two (optional) opening pins with detent screws and a suitable wrench for mounting them, but these are not really necessary, however, to be able to operate the knife.
The processing of this knife is flawless. One would see such precision in a Microtech with pleasure! Sami Stinner confirmed towards me that there is a relatively high drop out rate in the production cycle, because only the best hand chosen pieces are used to assemble the knives.
The body is mace of aluminum and provides a firm hold even with wet hands due to the many flutings in the material, everything is executedmost cleanly, there are no irregularities. Before the Anodizing (there are gray and green variations) the material matter blasted to produce a clean and even surface.
In the screwed on "parry elements" two small Plungers are seated which release the blade when locked open. Again one finds only the best manufacturing quality great attention to detail.
To open the knife, one must hold it with the thumb and 3 fingers on the lateral sides of the handle and with the index finger on the front side of the side plate (latch). The Index finger flips the latch open, against the hold strength of the magnet keeping the side plate closed. With a movement of wrist the side plate swings open, the blade swings out of the handle, then the side plate, by a quick turn of the wrist closes with a nice snap.
The play factor is huge... just like with balisongs, but there is no risk of injury. If one holds the knife in such a way that he would come in contact with the edge,the side plate is blocked and the knife does not open. It is possible nto mount the opneing aids for operation with with gloves, But this will only be necessary with really thick gloves.
The blade presents itself evenly sharpened and with a finely polished edge. Besides the two-edged configuration also a one-edged variant is available. The sharpness of the AUS-8 steel is noteworthy. The edge is polished cleanly, I wish other high dollar knife manufacturers would achieve this level of sharpening, too!
The DLC coated blade is 4 mm thick and accommodates - beside the axis, around which the blade swings open - the locking mechanism. Two spring loaded hardened steel bolts which come out at the side of the blade, as soon as they are congruent with the steel sockets that are inlayed in the handle. Sami Stinner reported that he tested this locking mechanism - he loaded the open knife, fixed to a workbench at the tip of the blade, at the end of the handle with an approx. 20 kg (40 lbs) bucket. Indeed, the knife bent, but went back to its original state, as soon as the load was taken away. No damages remained.
Cutting Stuff with this blade is pure joy, it works its way through several materials like the ex-wife through your savings.
In order to close the blade both plungers in the parry elements have to be depressed and a quick movement of the wrist gets the blade unlocked, the side plate opens, the blade swings in and a slight counter movement closes the handle.
Observations
In the area of the blade root some wear tracks originate from the aluminum of the side lid, because the steel blade slides along the lid upon closing/opening the knife. These tracks can be wiped easily off the blade, however, in the side plate a small nick appears, which is normal and originates from 100s of openings and closings. There is no functional problem. The blade still sits bomb proof in the handle.
Also the side plate developed a very slight rattle in the hinge area, probably due to the smoothing out of the anodizing in this area. This can probably be cured by later adding a very thin teflon foil washer....
Conclusion:
A very interesting concept which is still under development, according to Sami Stinner he plans on using other materials (SS, Damascus) and blade strengths.
Is it suitable as an EDC knife? With a little practice - yes, although it will be no substitute for a crowbar.
However, as an universal knife with excellent cutting performance and the "Wow" effect this technical tidbit can serve any time.
The knife can be ordered from Sami directly at http://pi-knives.com/ - the site should be up in english language withein a few days, too.
