review of the Timberline "Discovery"

DirtyDave · Sep 11, 2000

Just recieved two Discoveries (like my knives in pairs)from Danny @ 888 knives r us, he gave me a superb deal. Let's just say, far less then 80.00 bucks a pop, like some other folks are asking!!! Anyway... the Discovery, despite it's homeland of Taiwan (CRKT's are made there)is a fairly decent knife for the money (about 60.00), blade is razor sharp, construction seems solid, machining is average for a knife of this price, the assisted opening is as fast or faster the the Kirshaws, Tanto blade design was a plus. Only critique I can offer, which can be a major problem, is the blade *lock up*. Seems a little on the Mickey Mouse side. Since I have no plans to charge into battle with this knife, I'll never know just how well it holds. I prefer either the inner/liner type lock or back lock like Boker and Buck. If you can get one cheap, their kind of cool.

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God Speed
PS
The S&W knives are junk.

DirtyDave · Sep 12, 2000

I have now owned the Discovery for almost 24 hours. After careful inspection of the locking mechanism, I've come to the conclusion it's rather solid, just not what I am use to. The second thing I must remark on is the *speed* of this knife. Pretty damn fast!!! Rivals any push button opener. I mean were talking lightning fast!!! Not a good knife for Californians, could end you up in the clink, it behaves just like or better then a swith-blade and unlike the Ken Onion design, you have NO control over blade speed. I recommend buying at least one for the collection. Check with Danny @ 888 knives r us, he'll cut you a great deal.

RealAlan · Sep 12, 2000

I saw this knife on www.knifecenter.com and was hopeing to see a review on it. I couldn't find a website for Timberline and I read a bad review of the "neeley lock"(http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/001165.html) which I believe it has. My main question is what are the "ingredents" ie what type of steel and handle scales and liners. It sounds like from your review, that the opening mechanism is similar to the Onions, I wonder if it was done within respects to Ken's patten.

Alan.

DirtyDave · Sep 13, 2000

Ok, then the juries still out on the *lock*. It seems solid enough, but don't want to ram it into a tree to find out. The knife is assisted, much like the Ken Onion, however, short of taking it apart I don't know how closely they matched his idea. The blade is 440V, going to be a pain to sharpen. the scales are aircraft aluminum, or so they say. The liners are stainless steel, blade has a unique Tanto type design, I like it. Over all, if you can get one for around $60.00, it's well worth it. If anything else, just for the uniqueness. I've had a little fun playing with it. The scales are smooth, not scored. Don't know how you feel about that, I am ambivalent. Hope this helps. best place to get one is 888 knives r us, Danny will square you away and he has a considerable amount of knowledge. Very reputable guy, NO B.S.Dantes Knife Works also has a few, but their a few pesos more.

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God Speed

S&W knives are junk.

anthony cheeseboro · Sep 13, 2000

You might want to be careful with this model. My local dealer returned most of his shipment because the speed safe mechanism did not work. The overall fit and finish and the lock did seem to be quite good however.

DirtyDave · Sep 13, 2000

what went wrong with the *speed safe* mechanism, now that I own 4???

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God Speed

S&W knives are junk.

Sergiusz Mitin · Sep 13, 2000

DD,
I saw this knife in prototype at IWA'2000 in March, it had cutouts to show how the mechanism works. It is completely separate design nothing to do with Ken Onion's Speed Safe.

As to "pain" with CPM 440V sharpening, I think it is slightly exaggerated

Get a set of good diamond whetstones, for example DMT and they will cut your 440V blade as easy as it would be AUS-6. SPYDERCO ceramics works nicely with this steel as well.

DirtyDave · Sep 13, 2000

Well folks, I come with bad news. Just recieved a shipment from a very reputable dealer, second of two Discoveries failed. The lock and/or *speed safe* mechanism just broke, the third time I opened it. I am hoping to trade up for a SOG Seal PUP M37, instead of another Timberline. Not good when they fail like that. I have not had that happen many times, actually I think this is the first!!! So, even though I was really pumping how cool these knives are, I retract my recommendation. I am still stuck with a few, hope they hold out!!! At $64.00 bucks a pop, that would be one hell of a loss. Buyer beware!!!

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God Speed

S&W knives are junk.

Flick! · Sep 17, 2000

Sorry, DirtyDave (and everyone else) -

The steel on the Discovery is 440A, NOT 440V! There's a pretty wide disparity between the two. Nothing too special 440A, but after all, it's all in the heat treat, annealing and hardening!

Enjoy!

DirtyDave · Sep 17, 2000

Sorry if mistaken on blade material, thought I read somewhere "440V". Oh well. easier to sharpen. I am posting a follow up on my Timberline "Discovery" experience after several days of opening,closing and inspecting the remaining three I own. So far my personal failure rate with this knife remains at 25%, four knives, one failure. the remaining three are holding up fairly well. Each of the three remaining knives has been opened and closed aprox 100 times over the past several days without malfunction. Although, I remain leery. Dan @ Dantes Knife Works has squared the deal on the broken knife, so not all is lost. Seal "PUP" on it's way. Decided to add a fixed blade to the collection.

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"The conviction of the justification of using even the most brutal weapons is always dependent on the presence of a fanatical belief in the necessity of victory"