So this is my first review of any kind, and here we go. Im just gonna throw all the pics in at the end. Theres a small story behind this knife in that i actually won it. The knife is called "The Surgeon" and its made my EOS Cases which is known for their minimalist wallets, Ti Key-Bars, Ti Multi-tools and various other Ti things. The owner and designer behind the company John Koerner held a drawing for the first prototype of their 3rd knife and posted a video of the drawing on Instagram. I think he said they had around 700 people who could win. I had my name in the mix because I bought one of his wallets, which I am definitely a fan of. So i get a call and John tells me i won a knife and to check out his instagram page. Not only did i not know i was entered but i didnt have an instagram account or even been on there before. I checked out his page and saw everything people were saying and i started to feel bad because of how much people wanted this knife and how excited they all were. But when i saw the name of the knife I actually felt a little less awkward as its also my job title. EOS' first 2 knives, the Orca and the Squid, flippers, were made in limited editions of around 150 i believe. Both sold out in pre-order and were well liked as best i could tell.
But I get the knife and it comes in a Nanuk-nano case, which was great; easily on par with Medfords pelican cases. I open it up and the quality of the anodizing on the frame is instantly apparent. Its violet with a teal clip, thumb stud and barrel spacer. All very well done. John calls it the "Joker Edition" and its not a color scheme i would of ever picked out for myself but actually looks really good and works. I pick this bad boy up and its heft is noticeable, this aint no dainty little EDC. I dont have any specs from the maker but i measured it at exactly 8.5" overall length, 4.75" closed, with a 3.75" long blade (3.3" cutting edge & 1 7/16" wide). As you can in the picture with the Medford its a beefy blade, i measured it at 3/8" at the base of the blade. I was told its CTS-XHP steel and I wont lie, it was pretty dull. I am as yet to sharpen it as my spyderco sharpmaker is in the mail. Ill come back and add this review after i get a chance to sharpen the blade properly. But when i first deployed the blade i found my two favorite parts of the knife: the oversized teal thumbstud with the 5 holes in it, and the deeply satisfying thud when the blade locks up. The heft just makes for such a great sound. But when I go to close it I noticed the first problem: lock stick. And not like kinda stuck, I mean REALLY stuck, and it did it at least 75% of the time. But i looked up how to deal with it and since I did the pencil trick it hasnt been a problem at all. My guess is the problem lies with the fact that it doesnt have a steel insert on the frame lock. But the lockup is rock solid, it aint going nowhere, as is its detent. This is a very well put together knife. Between the size of the blade and the overall construction I feel like I could cut an aircraft carrier in half with this thing.
After I took care of the atrocious lock stick my only complaints with the Surgeon are in its cosmetic design, nothing to do with function. 2 are IMHO but i believe one could be considered an actual fault. The fault is when its closed. As you can see the back side of the blade sticks out a good 3/8". This was done so it would line up with the back of the frame when opened. I did a simple 15 minute photoshop of what the blade would look like if you trimmed both the blade and the frame. The next thing that caught my eye was the clip. I just dont feel like it lines up well with the rest of the frame. The frame is simple and both sides are parallel, so i feel like the clip should be the same to just keep the same flow. Now this is just IMHO, its a personal preference and Im being picky here for sure. But I trimmed the clip on one of the pics so you can see what it would like if i had it Burger King (my way). My only other issue was also in the looks and its a single line near the spine of the blade. Again, this is something thats IMHO and totally has to do with my personal preferences, but i feel like the lines of the blade should follow the lines of the rest of the knife and all the lines are parallel, heading in one direction and this line just throws off the flow. I know how I sound when Im picking on little shit like this because it does not effect the performance at all but to me this is not a knife just about performance, its also a piece of art and the amazing purple and teal anodizing job, snazzy pivot, oversized and well designed thumbstud truly pushes it in that direction. Oh yea, i didnt mention the pivot: Im a big fan. The detail in it is great. really pops in contrast to how simple the overall look of the knife is.
What else is there? It feels good in hand. It looks very angular but manages to be fairly comfortable with the chamfering around the edges. I feel like it could use some jimping to help with grip as the super smooth titanium can get slick. I couldnt imagine what it'd be like with sweaty hands. There appears to be jimping along the spine of the frame but because the grooves dont extend all the way thru the frame they are actually decorative and in no way functional. There are no hot spots. There is a tiny little spot on the base of the base frame lock that could be a problem if someone really did some seriously heavy duty activities and gripped it a particular way but with regular EDC activities it is fine. This is not an "organically designed" knife and it doesnt just melt in your hand, but its definitely NOT UN-comfortable at all. Just somewhere in between. Oh, as much I was pooping on the design earlier there are 2 things I truly do appreciate about some low-key stuff John did with this. The screws for the pocket clip are completely hidden and the milled out undersides of the frame are freaking gorgeous. I mean you can hardly see them but when you peak in there they look awesome. And with the single teal spacer makes this is a VERY open knife, which I am a big fan of. I think another spacer or two might give a chance to add a little more of the teal anodizing but thats not a criticism, just a thought.
I need to end this by saying I wouldnt trade or sell this knife for anything. As much as I feel like i $h!+ all over it, and I honestly feel bad for saying anything negative about something i got for free, I love this thing. I own a medford praetorian and its much more expensive but I feel like this is the jewel of my collection (albeit a very small, but growing one), and I honestly doubt that will ever change. I mean I won it, cmon, how awesome is that? and the guy who gave it to me is super cool, and its a color id never pick and a style I probably wouldnt buy if i had to spend my own money on, but thats not a knock on the knife, its just a preference thing. Everyone has their own tastes and I know there are a TON of people out there who really want this knife. Its funny that i know who they are because they always say they want it on instagram anytime John posts a pic. Even if this wasnt true I wouldnt care, cause its mine. But like i said, I really do relish having this knife. Its just such a pretty purple
thanks John, youre the man. And good work Steve, i know you probably put some time in on this too.
Obligatory "Knife stuck in a tree" picture
snazzy artsy type photo (im trying to be creative, which im not very good at, so im actually just imitating what i think other people would do)
in all its glory
blade shape and size
my second favorite part, the milled out guts
my favorite part: the thumbstud (and cool pivot)
blade stock comparison to medford micro praetorian (its beefy)
the one possible hot spot, and thats if youre REALLY trying, but still not likely
in hand. i wear a double xl glove
FANTASTIC centering on this bad boy
quick and dirty photoshop of how itd look if i could change it
My favorite part of this knife. the fantastic THWAK when it pops open
[video]https://youtu.be/9JjnMAs8HkA[/video]
But I get the knife and it comes in a Nanuk-nano case, which was great; easily on par with Medfords pelican cases. I open it up and the quality of the anodizing on the frame is instantly apparent. Its violet with a teal clip, thumb stud and barrel spacer. All very well done. John calls it the "Joker Edition" and its not a color scheme i would of ever picked out for myself but actually looks really good and works. I pick this bad boy up and its heft is noticeable, this aint no dainty little EDC. I dont have any specs from the maker but i measured it at exactly 8.5" overall length, 4.75" closed, with a 3.75" long blade (3.3" cutting edge & 1 7/16" wide). As you can in the picture with the Medford its a beefy blade, i measured it at 3/8" at the base of the blade. I was told its CTS-XHP steel and I wont lie, it was pretty dull. I am as yet to sharpen it as my spyderco sharpmaker is in the mail. Ill come back and add this review after i get a chance to sharpen the blade properly. But when i first deployed the blade i found my two favorite parts of the knife: the oversized teal thumbstud with the 5 holes in it, and the deeply satisfying thud when the blade locks up. The heft just makes for such a great sound. But when I go to close it I noticed the first problem: lock stick. And not like kinda stuck, I mean REALLY stuck, and it did it at least 75% of the time. But i looked up how to deal with it and since I did the pencil trick it hasnt been a problem at all. My guess is the problem lies with the fact that it doesnt have a steel insert on the frame lock. But the lockup is rock solid, it aint going nowhere, as is its detent. This is a very well put together knife. Between the size of the blade and the overall construction I feel like I could cut an aircraft carrier in half with this thing.
After I took care of the atrocious lock stick my only complaints with the Surgeon are in its cosmetic design, nothing to do with function. 2 are IMHO but i believe one could be considered an actual fault. The fault is when its closed. As you can see the back side of the blade sticks out a good 3/8". This was done so it would line up with the back of the frame when opened. I did a simple 15 minute photoshop of what the blade would look like if you trimmed both the blade and the frame. The next thing that caught my eye was the clip. I just dont feel like it lines up well with the rest of the frame. The frame is simple and both sides are parallel, so i feel like the clip should be the same to just keep the same flow. Now this is just IMHO, its a personal preference and Im being picky here for sure. But I trimmed the clip on one of the pics so you can see what it would like if i had it Burger King (my way). My only other issue was also in the looks and its a single line near the spine of the blade. Again, this is something thats IMHO and totally has to do with my personal preferences, but i feel like the lines of the blade should follow the lines of the rest of the knife and all the lines are parallel, heading in one direction and this line just throws off the flow. I know how I sound when Im picking on little shit like this because it does not effect the performance at all but to me this is not a knife just about performance, its also a piece of art and the amazing purple and teal anodizing job, snazzy pivot, oversized and well designed thumbstud truly pushes it in that direction. Oh yea, i didnt mention the pivot: Im a big fan. The detail in it is great. really pops in contrast to how simple the overall look of the knife is.
What else is there? It feels good in hand. It looks very angular but manages to be fairly comfortable with the chamfering around the edges. I feel like it could use some jimping to help with grip as the super smooth titanium can get slick. I couldnt imagine what it'd be like with sweaty hands. There appears to be jimping along the spine of the frame but because the grooves dont extend all the way thru the frame they are actually decorative and in no way functional. There are no hot spots. There is a tiny little spot on the base of the base frame lock that could be a problem if someone really did some seriously heavy duty activities and gripped it a particular way but with regular EDC activities it is fine. This is not an "organically designed" knife and it doesnt just melt in your hand, but its definitely NOT UN-comfortable at all. Just somewhere in between. Oh, as much I was pooping on the design earlier there are 2 things I truly do appreciate about some low-key stuff John did with this. The screws for the pocket clip are completely hidden and the milled out undersides of the frame are freaking gorgeous. I mean you can hardly see them but when you peak in there they look awesome. And with the single teal spacer makes this is a VERY open knife, which I am a big fan of. I think another spacer or two might give a chance to add a little more of the teal anodizing but thats not a criticism, just a thought.
I need to end this by saying I wouldnt trade or sell this knife for anything. As much as I feel like i $h!+ all over it, and I honestly feel bad for saying anything negative about something i got for free, I love this thing. I own a medford praetorian and its much more expensive but I feel like this is the jewel of my collection (albeit a very small, but growing one), and I honestly doubt that will ever change. I mean I won it, cmon, how awesome is that? and the guy who gave it to me is super cool, and its a color id never pick and a style I probably wouldnt buy if i had to spend my own money on, but thats not a knock on the knife, its just a preference thing. Everyone has their own tastes and I know there are a TON of people out there who really want this knife. Its funny that i know who they are because they always say they want it on instagram anytime John posts a pic. Even if this wasnt true I wouldnt care, cause its mine. But like i said, I really do relish having this knife. Its just such a pretty purple
thanks John, youre the man. And good work Steve, i know you probably put some time in on this too. Obligatory "Knife stuck in a tree" picture
snazzy artsy type photo (im trying to be creative, which im not very good at, so im actually just imitating what i think other people would do)
in all its glory
blade shape and size
my second favorite part, the milled out guts
my favorite part: the thumbstud (and cool pivot)
blade stock comparison to medford micro praetorian (its beefy)
the one possible hot spot, and thats if youre REALLY trying, but still not likely
in hand. i wear a double xl glove
FANTASTIC centering on this bad boy
quick and dirty photoshop of how itd look if i could change it
My favorite part of this knife. the fantastic THWAK when it pops open
[video]https://youtu.be/9JjnMAs8HkA[/video]
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