P'kal Teaser

J

Joe Talmadge

Joined
Oct 3, 1998
Messages
4,842
A very quick teaser on the P'kal:

- Overall quality-wise, it's what we all hoped.
- After light testing, it handles great and thrusts straight
- After light testing, plus some heavy spinewhacks, the lock is solid and very smooth. The "wings" on the ball-lock work great, easy to close one-handed, though I still prefer to use two-fingered
- The draw has always been my biggest concern, but after a day of fooling around with it, it's starting to feel good. No conclusions on this until I get a trainer and pressure-test it, but I'm very hopeful. Under no stress, the draw feels good, I've gotten to where I'm getting max contact with the handle considering I need space to roll into pakal, and the roll is happening naturally and securely.
- For utility use, in standard forward grip, I put my middle finger in the small groove and my thumb on top of the removable wave, and it works fine. This addresses my concern that this would be an SD-only knife.
- The clip came way too tight considering the draw requires a pinch grip. With the clip loosened, the draw becomes reasonable.

I'm trying to reserve judgement until I really put it through its paces this weekend, but so far it's what I'd hoped.

Joe
 
Joe thanks for the insight. I'm sure the million dollar question on everyones mind is when these will be available. Any idea?
 
I believe they'll be in the pipeline fairly soon! The one I have is the final version, so obviously some production-quality are ready to go
 
How does it feel in a sabre or hammer grip?

With the knife's operative nickname, I thought you had posted this thread in the wrong forum. ;)
 
Thom,

I think the problem here is that however I answer, it will mis-set expectations. My expectation going in is that in those grips, the knife would feel terrible. Because my expectation was so low, I was pleasantly surprised. If my expectations were high, I'd probably be disappointed. I did a little box cutting in sabre grip, and it's comfortable and secure enough that I do not feel the need to carry a second knife for utility work. That said, if I knew I was going to be doing a bunch of utility work in sabre or hammer grip, I wouldn't pick this knife. For self defense use in sabre or hammer grip, I wouldn't pick this knife. But if the question is, "if I'm carrying the P'kal and want to open my mail or break down a few boxes or cut some rope, will I feel comfortable using the P'kal?", the answer for me is yes. I will not be carrying a second knife for occasional utility use unless I just feel like carrying two knives, but if I'm going to the garage to break down 20 boxes, I may pick something else.
 
Okay, more detail, after spending another day and a bunch of time playing with it:

The lock: is very smooth, as smooth as my best axis locks. Again, one-handed two-fingered closing is my preferred method, it's very difficult with one finger, by design. The break point from when it biases closed to open feels very similar to the break on my 710 axis. I stabbed the blade into some hard plastic and torqued it hard, no sign of lock play or accidental release. No problem with spine whacks. All in all, really well done.

Penetration: I had to adjust just a little bit ... I trained under Ray, and I think his mechanics are a little different than SN's, as evidenced by the knives Ray and his instructors have designed, versus the vastly different bladeshape SN favors. I made some small adjustments and then got great power and penetration into my target -- a bunch of cardboard with a 1/4" very-hard-plastic backstop, which I mounted both horizontally for forehand downward thrusts and vertically for pakal jabs. I realize this choice of backstop doesn't emulate a body at all, but it's tough to penetrate and so a good measure of how much power and penetration I'm getting. Since the whole target is on a backstop that compresses, it also forces me to get develop good speed and power and penetration angle -- too slow and it buckles without penetrating. With a little practice, I could get penetration all the way down to removable wave, which I'm very pleased with.

The draw: I'm getting more and more comfortable with the draw. My hand seems to be developing the right movement without me consciously thinking about it ... right now, I can barely feel the roll into pakal, something I had to really concentrate on just two days ago.

Utility: It seems like an odd topic, but a lot of Spyderco fans are thinking about picking this knife up, whether or not they care about combatives or pakal, because it represents the highest-tech knife Spyderco has done so far. As reported earlier, I had very low expectations of how the knife would feel in a utility grip (sabre grip), but perhaps because my expectations were so low I was pleasantly surprised. With my middle finger in the small cutout and my thing on top of the wave, it's secure and comfortable enough for occasional utility cutting. This isn't the knife I'd choose if I knew I was going to break down 20 boxes and cut lts of big lengths of rope into little lengths, but it is absolutely better-than-adequate for occasional utility cutting, no need to carry a second knife. In fact, as I was breaking down boxes for my target, I found I liked using the P'kal better than my 710, because of the P'kal's shorter hooked blade.
 
Joe, just wanting an update. You hae the knife set-up so that the clip is positioned for left-hand carry, and is clipped towards the front of the right pocket, correct?
 
Joe Talmadge said:
... With my middle finger in the small cutout and my thing on top of the wave, it's secure and comfortable enough for occasional utility cutting. ...
Click to expand...

OUCH!! :eek:

As long as you don't use it for batoning...

;)

Just teasing.

Sounds great, Joe. I'm really glad to hear it isn't completely awkward in saber grip for utility, like, say, a dedicated saber-grip knife might be in RGEI.

Can't wait to get my hands on the production one. It's the next prodo in queue for me!

Thanks for the awesome review.

-j
 
I realize that for some of you guys, your thing won't reach the wave. In that case, you can put your thumb there instead. LOL

DH: Yep, clip on the left side, but carried on the right. There are also a couple of ways to carry the knife loose in the pocket, and open it quickly either to pakal or forward grip edge up (obviously, using the hole or kinetic opening rather than the wave)
 
Here is a pic of the P'kal in S30V for those that haven't seen it.
Joe, will there be a serrated version?

SC103GP.jpg


mike
 
2brothers, I haven't heard about a serrated version, but that doesn't mean anything, I'm not in the design loop. However, given the style this knife is designed for, serrations would not make sense in my opinion, so I'd be surprised if a serrated version was planned.
 
Joe Talmadge said:
2brothers, I haven't heard about a serrated version, but that doesn't mean anything, I'm not in the design loop. However, given the style this knife is designed for, serrations would not make sense in my opinion, so I'd be surprised if a serrated version was planned.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking after asking that. Still a very unique design.

mike
 
Thanx Joe for the comments.

The P'kal is a very design specific model. It was created at the request of some forumites interested in a folding version of the Shivworks Disciple. The design took much longer and was much harder to refine than originally conceived.

It is being promoted by S'narc as a tool for undercover Law Enforcement professionals.

sal
 
The long wait since the inception of this knife, I've heard, was partly to be sure it was solid and reliable.

And it is. I've had mine just minutes--only long enough to swap the clip over to the right side, as I'm a lefty. I've tried a few draws, seems a little tight, but it'll work itself smooth because I'll be drawing this thing all evening. Sharp as a serpent's tooth, and all business. The lock works perfectly.

Congratulations, Mr. Glesser. Another winner for Spyderco.
 
i kinda like the design of the P'kal...at first i didnt,,,kinda growing on me now,,,
 
Joe instead of accessing by inserting your thumb into the pocket and rolling into pikal. try inserting your index and middle finger into the pocket your thumb on the outside, This will let you access into pikal right away without having to roll the blade. hope this helps .AMOK! Randy
 
Here's a couple shots of the new honey:

This one compares it to the Shivworks Disciple and Clinch Pick
P'Kal 001.jpg

And this one shows it in-hand:
P'Kal 002.jpg

One of these days, I'm getting a better digital camera.
 
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