- Joined
- Sep 15, 2013
- Messages
- 5,648
First of all, I must say this is not a thorough review and I've never reviewed anything before (first time!). Secondly, have in mind English is not my first or second language. Thank you all for making such a great, interesting and awesome forum to learn and share everything related to one of our passions: Knives.
I want to thank Sulfingringo for introducing me to the Salt series, and thank him having help me find my perfect and favorite EDC after years of search.
Just a quick look to the (painted by me) knife:
I added the "ZipTie" wave mod after seeing it in this very forum. For me its very important to have a quick-single hand deployment method, for comfort and security reasons. The opening hole is comfortable by itself, but the mod guarantees an almost 100% sure deployment when drawing the knife from the pocket.
About the knife's carrying profile, I must say it's really lightweight due to the FRN-linerless handles. It is my lightest EDC after my KaBar Dozier, weighing just shy over 3 oz. It is thin and unobtrusive, and I forget it is there during my daily activities, which is a plus for me (I also carry other tools and clunky things on me). But, when I need it, I know its secure clip will have it there prepared and ready to see some action.
The blade is long, almos four inches, and reasonably thick at the spine almost until the tip. It's a saber-ground blade, so it offers more resistance when cutting than most FFG Spydercos. But, oh boy, is it a cutting beast.
It came shaving (razor) sharp out of the box, and it's really easy to resharpen with the Sharpmaker. I can cut zip-ties, hard plastic, wood and cardboard with little effort, and the blade holds up to abuse. You can feel the handle flexing and the lock suffering when cutting tough things, but it's never failed on me. Easy to open and close one handed.
But, the most attractive aspect of the knife to me was the steel and construction. The knife requires very little maintenance, and even though the H1 steel scratches really easily and doesn't hold its edge like some of those new super steels, it is perfectly fine for most daily cutting tasks.
I beat up this knife, I put it through dirt, petrol, river and putrid waters and after cleaning it with a bit of clean water it just keeps going. No rust, no dirty stuff between the liners or inside the handle, nothing.
I modified the tip since its almos sheepsfoot profile wouldn't allow me to do precision cutting chores and slip the blade through tight and weird angles and spaces, a reason why I don't use my LM Wave's serrated blade anymore for many cutting tasks. See the video (taken today to exemplify) below.
[video]http://vid1314.photobucket.com/albums/t562/ThePeacent/Mobile%20Uploads/20150709_095100_zpsk3rzxsfk.mp4[/video]
[video]http://vid1314.photobucket.com/albums/t562/ThePeacent/Mobile%20Uploads/20150709_100134_zps7xl0v8mx.mp4[/video]
Now, H1 is really easy to grind, soft like butter, and it behaves like a champ when contacting hard surfaces. I bend the blade or the dentations quite often, but they are really easy to repair or place back in a correct angle using a sharpmaker style ceramic rod. I use the lansky one. A few passes on this thing and I have it shaving sharp again. The following pictures are before cutting anything, at the beginning of a normal day.
This picture is after the cutting tasks. Excuse the lighting, but I hope you can see the bent tips. That was after about 30-35 zip ties and contacting metal fences.
And this one is after six passes on the sharpening "rod" I have on my keychain.
Never chipped this steel, and I can tell you the serrations will cut for a long time before dulling, and even then they'll rip through cardboard and plastic.
So, to wrap it up.
PROS: Very little maintenance, tough and flexible steel, totally rustproof, light as a feather and unobtrusive while packing a chainsaw-like performance. Perfect for heavy and abusive cutting tasks and environments. Easy one handed opening and closing. Hard to lose do to its coloured handles (painted mine to draw less attention when clipped or using it while in public spaces). Adjustable pivot. Easy (monkey easy) to resharpen and regrind or modify. Strong, reversible clip.
CONS: Handle and lock can feel weak if performing certain cutting chores (but I've never had it fail on me). Easy to scratch and bend the H1 Blade (can be seen as an advantage if the other option is chipping the steel). H1 steel won't hold an edge as long as many other steels, it feels butter soft. Long blade (can be solved purchasing the Salt I instead) and not sheeple friendly with all those serrations.
So, if you want a new EDC, are looking for a "different and interesing" steel to experiment and learn from, or just desire a lighweight, reliable and environment-proof or maintenance free pocket knife, I think you should look no further. Perfect compliment to you Multi Tool as well!
Thanks Spyderco, Surfingringo and this forum for being so nice and making such good recommendations, knives, comments and being such a great community! Please feel free to tell me what can I do to improve my reviews or make this community wiser, wider and better. Thank you all!
I want to thank Sulfingringo for introducing me to the Salt series, and thank him having help me find my perfect and favorite EDC after years of search.
Just a quick look to the (painted by me) knife:
I added the "ZipTie" wave mod after seeing it in this very forum. For me its very important to have a quick-single hand deployment method, for comfort and security reasons. The opening hole is comfortable by itself, but the mod guarantees an almost 100% sure deployment when drawing the knife from the pocket.
About the knife's carrying profile, I must say it's really lightweight due to the FRN-linerless handles. It is my lightest EDC after my KaBar Dozier, weighing just shy over 3 oz. It is thin and unobtrusive, and I forget it is there during my daily activities, which is a plus for me (I also carry other tools and clunky things on me). But, when I need it, I know its secure clip will have it there prepared and ready to see some action.
The blade is long, almos four inches, and reasonably thick at the spine almost until the tip. It's a saber-ground blade, so it offers more resistance when cutting than most FFG Spydercos. But, oh boy, is it a cutting beast.
It came shaving (razor) sharp out of the box, and it's really easy to resharpen with the Sharpmaker. I can cut zip-ties, hard plastic, wood and cardboard with little effort, and the blade holds up to abuse. You can feel the handle flexing and the lock suffering when cutting tough things, but it's never failed on me. Easy to open and close one handed.
But, the most attractive aspect of the knife to me was the steel and construction. The knife requires very little maintenance, and even though the H1 steel scratches really easily and doesn't hold its edge like some of those new super steels, it is perfectly fine for most daily cutting tasks.
I beat up this knife, I put it through dirt, petrol, river and putrid waters and after cleaning it with a bit of clean water it just keeps going. No rust, no dirty stuff between the liners or inside the handle, nothing.
I modified the tip since its almos sheepsfoot profile wouldn't allow me to do precision cutting chores and slip the blade through tight and weird angles and spaces, a reason why I don't use my LM Wave's serrated blade anymore for many cutting tasks. See the video (taken today to exemplify) below.
[video]http://vid1314.photobucket.com/albums/t562/ThePeacent/Mobile%20Uploads/20150709_095100_zpsk3rzxsfk.mp4[/video]
[video]http://vid1314.photobucket.com/albums/t562/ThePeacent/Mobile%20Uploads/20150709_100134_zps7xl0v8mx.mp4[/video]
Now, H1 is really easy to grind, soft like butter, and it behaves like a champ when contacting hard surfaces. I bend the blade or the dentations quite often, but they are really easy to repair or place back in a correct angle using a sharpmaker style ceramic rod. I use the lansky one. A few passes on this thing and I have it shaving sharp again. The following pictures are before cutting anything, at the beginning of a normal day.
This picture is after the cutting tasks. Excuse the lighting, but I hope you can see the bent tips. That was after about 30-35 zip ties and contacting metal fences.
And this one is after six passes on the sharpening "rod" I have on my keychain.
Never chipped this steel, and I can tell you the serrations will cut for a long time before dulling, and even then they'll rip through cardboard and plastic.
So, to wrap it up.
PROS: Very little maintenance, tough and flexible steel, totally rustproof, light as a feather and unobtrusive while packing a chainsaw-like performance. Perfect for heavy and abusive cutting tasks and environments. Easy one handed opening and closing. Hard to lose do to its coloured handles (painted mine to draw less attention when clipped or using it while in public spaces). Adjustable pivot. Easy (monkey easy) to resharpen and regrind or modify. Strong, reversible clip.
CONS: Handle and lock can feel weak if performing certain cutting chores (but I've never had it fail on me). Easy to scratch and bend the H1 Blade (can be seen as an advantage if the other option is chipping the steel). H1 steel won't hold an edge as long as many other steels, it feels butter soft. Long blade (can be solved purchasing the Salt I instead) and not sheeple friendly with all those serrations.
So, if you want a new EDC, are looking for a "different and interesing" steel to experiment and learn from, or just desire a lighweight, reliable and environment-proof or maintenance free pocket knife, I think you should look no further. Perfect compliment to you Multi Tool as well!
Thanks Spyderco, Surfingringo and this forum for being so nice and making such good recommendations, knives, comments and being such a great community! Please feel free to tell me what can I do to improve my reviews or make this community wiser, wider and better. Thank you all!
