evilgreg
Why so serious?
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2012
- Messages
- 4,092
. . . with this knife, the A.G. Russell Skorpion:
Here are the A.G. Russell site specs for the knife:
Starting with the basics, a few snapshots:
It's ultra-slim and and quite light. Lighter than expected when I first weighed it:
But I forgot that I'd removed the clip. About the clip, it's drilled for every option, four ways, and comes with both a regular and deep carry clip:
With the heavier of the two clips installed, the deep carry one, it weighed as listed:
The specs and description on the site don't really explain just how thin this thing is (about 7mm thick, not counting the clip). Here it is lined up between a couple of similarly sized knives, a Spyderco Sage 2 and a Benchmade 940:
I picked the 940 and Sage 2 because they're both thin knives, but as you can see they're pretty fat compared to the Skorpion.
I rooted around for knives that were a similar thickness, and had to move down to smaller knives to find some that were in the same thickness neighborhood for comparison, this shot shows it between a Mcusta Tsuchi small and a CRKT Ripple:
Here's another comparison shot with the Benchmade 940 and a ginormous Spyderco PM2:
And again next to one of the knives that I found in my pile that was similarly thin--the difference being that the Skorpion is a much, much larger knife:
It feels surprisingly great in hand. The blade shape is almost a long Wharncliffe-type deal, and I really like it. Also, it surprised me by feeling so sturdy, really sturdy. I really levered and twisted hard looking for play or lock-up issues, but this thing is solid in every direction. I mean, locked it feels like a thin, strong bar. And it's so thin and light for a big knife that it disappears in a pocket--even clipped it didn't pull when I wore it with dress pants this morning while working.
The handle is surprisingly comfy considering how thin it is, though in a full grip I use most of the handle from the flipper down (I have average size hands) so I could see it being a touch small maybe for someone with huge mitts. Comparatively it feels like a bigger handle and is a bit more comfortable than a Benchmade 940 to me when in use.
It's not perfect, of course. Mine arrived quite tight, so tight that while it would flip with the flipper, I couldn't open it with my thumb using the provided hole.
Like any knife-loving freak, I have lots of torx bits though, so no problem, I'll just loosen it up, right? Not so much, the pivot screws are so tight and the screw heads so soft that I immediately stripped one. Now, having stripped one side already I was really careful having a go at the other side--and still stripped it anyway.
After wearing it in some I'm pretty sure they send them out that tight intending for you to really just use the flipper for one handed opening, and I wish I hadn't mangled those screws or messed with it at all now that I've played with it all day.
It flips a lot like the Ken Onion/CRKT Ripple/Eros knives I own. Tough detent and then pow, it snaps out. It's addictive to flip, I flipped it so much that the tip of my finger is sore and I wore a groove in my index fingernail.
My other minor complaint is that the lock is a touch difficult to disengage, but that may wear in and stop being a problem (my experience with some other frame locks that started out that way).
To sum it up: this thing is IMO an insane deal at $75 for anyone that likes thin knives that disappear into a pocket. Sure, it's not titanium and some super steel, but it's strong, thin, light, and really pretty nice. I'm actually surprised I haven't heard more about these--I really like thin, light knives, and this one seems like a no-brainer.
If only the pivot screw heads weren't made from silly putty--I want to get them replaced, but I'm already so fond of this knife that I'm loathe to send it in . . .
Is it wrong to love an 8Cr13MoV blade made in China?
Here are the A.G. Russell site specs for the knife:
Starting with the basics, a few snapshots:
It's ultra-slim and and quite light. Lighter than expected when I first weighed it:
But I forgot that I'd removed the clip. About the clip, it's drilled for every option, four ways, and comes with both a regular and deep carry clip:
With the heavier of the two clips installed, the deep carry one, it weighed as listed:
The specs and description on the site don't really explain just how thin this thing is (about 7mm thick, not counting the clip). Here it is lined up between a couple of similarly sized knives, a Spyderco Sage 2 and a Benchmade 940:
I picked the 940 and Sage 2 because they're both thin knives, but as you can see they're pretty fat compared to the Skorpion.
I rooted around for knives that were a similar thickness, and had to move down to smaller knives to find some that were in the same thickness neighborhood for comparison, this shot shows it between a Mcusta Tsuchi small and a CRKT Ripple:
Here's another comparison shot with the Benchmade 940 and a ginormous Spyderco PM2:
And again next to one of the knives that I found in my pile that was similarly thin--the difference being that the Skorpion is a much, much larger knife:
It feels surprisingly great in hand. The blade shape is almost a long Wharncliffe-type deal, and I really like it. Also, it surprised me by feeling so sturdy, really sturdy. I really levered and twisted hard looking for play or lock-up issues, but this thing is solid in every direction. I mean, locked it feels like a thin, strong bar. And it's so thin and light for a big knife that it disappears in a pocket--even clipped it didn't pull when I wore it with dress pants this morning while working.
The handle is surprisingly comfy considering how thin it is, though in a full grip I use most of the handle from the flipper down (I have average size hands) so I could see it being a touch small maybe for someone with huge mitts. Comparatively it feels like a bigger handle and is a bit more comfortable than a Benchmade 940 to me when in use.
It's not perfect, of course. Mine arrived quite tight, so tight that while it would flip with the flipper, I couldn't open it with my thumb using the provided hole.
Like any knife-loving freak, I have lots of torx bits though, so no problem, I'll just loosen it up, right? Not so much, the pivot screws are so tight and the screw heads so soft that I immediately stripped one. Now, having stripped one side already I was really careful having a go at the other side--and still stripped it anyway.
After wearing it in some I'm pretty sure they send them out that tight intending for you to really just use the flipper for one handed opening, and I wish I hadn't mangled those screws or messed with it at all now that I've played with it all day.
It flips a lot like the Ken Onion/CRKT Ripple/Eros knives I own. Tough detent and then pow, it snaps out. It's addictive to flip, I flipped it so much that the tip of my finger is sore and I wore a groove in my index fingernail.
My other minor complaint is that the lock is a touch difficult to disengage, but that may wear in and stop being a problem (my experience with some other frame locks that started out that way).
To sum it up: this thing is IMO an insane deal at $75 for anyone that likes thin knives that disappear into a pocket. Sure, it's not titanium and some super steel, but it's strong, thin, light, and really pretty nice. I'm actually surprised I haven't heard more about these--I really like thin, light knives, and this one seems like a no-brainer.
If only the pivot screw heads weren't made from silly putty--I want to get them replaced, but I'm already so fond of this knife that I'm loathe to send it in . . .
Is it wrong to love an 8Cr13MoV blade made in China?
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