dogboye
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 1999
- Messages
- 6,872
I received the subject knife on June 21, from Kevin at The Edge Equipment. I guess the one that I have would actually be the "Prototype" of the knife that is now called the "Enigma." You can see a picture of the knife that I bought at Rinaldi Prototype. It is the first issue of a Rinaldi knife that is going to be exclusively available from Kevin. While I can come nowhere near as thorough review of a knife as Gaucho or Cliff Stamp, I thought people might be interested in my initial impressions. I havent gotten a chance to use it much, although I have "made it mine" (more on that later).
The blade is a drop point type, and the knife is billed as a "mid-sized tactical utility knife." From Kevins page, edited for my particular knife: It is full flat ground with a distal taper. The stock is 1/8" D2, heat treated by Paul Bos. The blade is 3 3/4", with an overall length of 8 1/4", and is 1 1/4" wide at the widest point. The handle scales on mine are black micarta, nicely contoured, and secured with mosaic pin stock. Now on to impressions....
The Blade
The blade, as described above, is a dropped point type. IMO, the shape of the blade on this particular knife is ideal for my uses. With the shape of the blade, and the distal taper, the point is very fine, and ideal for any detailed work that I would need to do. In fact, it is so fine that I have used it to clean under my finger-nails. Yeah, I know, that is an insult to the knife, but I think it is an adequate description of the fineness of the tip. The spine of the blade is square, but with the edges "melted" for comfort. There are thumb serrations on the spine, just forward of the scales, in an ideal position for a saber (?) grip. There is no choil, per se, as I understand the term. However, there is a small half-circle cutout at the base of the edge, next to the ricasso (? I hope Im not murdering these terms...). In any case, next to the index finger contour. I like this detail, as it clearly defines where the cutting edge starts. It is nit of mine to have the cutting edge just fade away as it gets near the handle. This cutout is rather small, and while I could see it trapping some types or shapes of materials in it, such as twine or small cord, I think that its shape will prevent that from being a big problem. The full flat grind of the blade does not break the spine of the knife (as has recently been discussed here in this forum), but fades away almost perfectly as it reaches the spine. The grinds along the flat of the knife are symmetrical from side to side, as best as I can tell, and are not undercut at all. The entire blade and spine are bead blasted finish, with a nice subdued gray finish. In fact, the entire knife, including the spine and scales, are bead blasted. The only fault, or really just an imperfection, that I could find with the blade were the primary bevels of the edge. For most of the length of the edge, they were symmetrical and even on both sides. However, in the last maybe 1/4" nearest the ricasso/scales, the primary bevel on the right side of the blade (pointed away from you, with the edge down) went from maybe just under 1/16" width to only about 1/32" or less. The blade arrived sharp enough to work with, but not so sharp that I couldnt run my thumb LIGHTLY along the edge without cutting through the outer layer of skin. Not sharp enough to suit me, but easily rectified.
The Handle
The black micarta scales on my Prototype appear to be bead blasted as well. They have a rough texture which feels as though it would be fairly grippy when wet. The texture is rougher than that of any of my other micarta scaled knives, but not so rough that it feels coarse. Just right, IMO. The scales are fixed to the knife with mosaic pins, and fit flush with the tang of the blade all around. There are no gaps at all between the scales and the tang, anywhere. To the best of my judgement, the scales are the same thickness on either side of the knife, and contoured symmetrically. There is a slight swell to the grip right where it passes across the palm of my hand. The edges of the scales are rounded, and are VERY comfortable. This is not a BIG knife, but fits my rather small hand very well with the knife gripped in either a saber or hammer grip. The knife feels like it is locked into place in either of those grips, as well as in an ice pick grip. Very secure. While I have not done any stabs into materials, I would feel confident, based on how locked the grip feels, and my experience with other handles while stabbing into wood, phone books, etc. There is a pronounced index finger groove, and a slight curve to the handle that contributes to the fantastic feel of the knife handle. The only imperfection that I could find with the handle scales was a tiny bit of epoxy that had squeezed out from underneath the scale on one side, right at the base of the blade (ricasso?). Like I said, an "imperfection." Thats all, and hardly noticeable unless you are examining the knife VERY closely.
The Sheath
The sheath is a pouch type (one piece folded over), of black concealex, probably 0.080" thickness. It was supplied with a Tek-Lok attachment device, and an IWB belt loop of probably 1/2" nylon. The IWB loop is folded over and fixed with an eyelet, and the severed ends of the nylon are melted. The sheath also has holes and eyelets at the tip, to facilitate neck carry, if one wanted to. They could also be used to lash the sheath to a pack or shoulder strap I suppose. These eyelets are smooth on both sides, not crushed out as has been reported on some sheaths. However, to be honest, the eyelet of the IWB loop is crushed out on one side. For the loop, this is not a big deal, as the side will be against the sheath, actually help prevent rotation of the loop. {Italicized portion added on 8/4/00} The IWB loop works OK, but I prefer the Tek-Lok, now that I have figured it out the retention adjustment, and tried it as a cross-draw, 45 deg cant. It works pretty much perfectly, and I must have been on drugs when I originally wrote this first impression, where I panned the sheath. The sheath works great with the Tek-Lok, now that I have more experience with it. And the sheath that I made for IWB carry works great with the PTD straps, which I talk about elsewhere, in another thread.
Summary
Overall, I LOVE this knife. So much so that it will likely replace all my others as my daily carry when the weather gets a little cooler, or when I can walk around this summer with my shirt un-tucked. Definitely any circumstance where I would really rather have a fixed blade that can do tactical duty. The knife balances well, and while it is heavy when you pick it up, when you take a proper grip, it feels like an extension of your arm. There is only one thing that I would change on this knife, that would improve it for me personally, and maybe for others. I would remove a little of the pronounced extension between the index finger groove and the rest of the handle. As I received the knife, it almost felt like I was holding a small sub-hilt fighter. And that extension was rather sharp at the end. Removing approximately 1/8" would be about perfect (at least that is what worked for me
). Yes, I did it. I just couldnt help myself.
I took a dremel and sanding drum, and removed about 1/8" from that extension, rounded it off, and then sanded smooth. That being done, the knife just fits me perfectly, and is much more comfortable. Unfortunately, if you look VERY closely, you can see it, since it doesnt have the blasted finish. One other thing I did was take some maroon scotchbrite and knock off a little of the bead blast finish. To me, a knife with a blasted finish just feels too.... draggy... when cutting through some materials, and also when sheathing and unsheathing it. I have found that taking the maroon scotchbrite pad to it reduces the drag while maintaining the subdued gray of the original finish. Definitely "my knife" now, after that, grinding off the 1/8" on the handle, and the sharpening.
I will try to add to this post as I get the opportunity to use the knife more. In closing, I cant forget to say what a pleasure it was to do business with Kevin. Service was quick, very courteous, and the prices were, IMO, quite reasonable. There was the inevitable small mark-up that occurs when you add another person between the maker and the end-user. But, Kevin seems to keep the mark-up very reasonable, and in return you get the knife much more quickly (assuming it is in stock). Probably more quickly even if not, since it would seem to be in the makers best interest IMO to put a little higher priority on his distributors orders.
------------------
iktomi
[This message has been edited by rockspyder (edited 06-26-2000).]
[This message has been edited by rockspyder (edited 08-04-2000).]
The blade is a drop point type, and the knife is billed as a "mid-sized tactical utility knife." From Kevins page, edited for my particular knife: It is full flat ground with a distal taper. The stock is 1/8" D2, heat treated by Paul Bos. The blade is 3 3/4", with an overall length of 8 1/4", and is 1 1/4" wide at the widest point. The handle scales on mine are black micarta, nicely contoured, and secured with mosaic pin stock. Now on to impressions....
The Blade
The blade, as described above, is a dropped point type. IMO, the shape of the blade on this particular knife is ideal for my uses. With the shape of the blade, and the distal taper, the point is very fine, and ideal for any detailed work that I would need to do. In fact, it is so fine that I have used it to clean under my finger-nails. Yeah, I know, that is an insult to the knife, but I think it is an adequate description of the fineness of the tip. The spine of the blade is square, but with the edges "melted" for comfort. There are thumb serrations on the spine, just forward of the scales, in an ideal position for a saber (?) grip. There is no choil, per se, as I understand the term. However, there is a small half-circle cutout at the base of the edge, next to the ricasso (? I hope Im not murdering these terms...). In any case, next to the index finger contour. I like this detail, as it clearly defines where the cutting edge starts. It is nit of mine to have the cutting edge just fade away as it gets near the handle. This cutout is rather small, and while I could see it trapping some types or shapes of materials in it, such as twine or small cord, I think that its shape will prevent that from being a big problem. The full flat grind of the blade does not break the spine of the knife (as has recently been discussed here in this forum), but fades away almost perfectly as it reaches the spine. The grinds along the flat of the knife are symmetrical from side to side, as best as I can tell, and are not undercut at all. The entire blade and spine are bead blasted finish, with a nice subdued gray finish. In fact, the entire knife, including the spine and scales, are bead blasted. The only fault, or really just an imperfection, that I could find with the blade were the primary bevels of the edge. For most of the length of the edge, they were symmetrical and even on both sides. However, in the last maybe 1/4" nearest the ricasso/scales, the primary bevel on the right side of the blade (pointed away from you, with the edge down) went from maybe just under 1/16" width to only about 1/32" or less. The blade arrived sharp enough to work with, but not so sharp that I couldnt run my thumb LIGHTLY along the edge without cutting through the outer layer of skin. Not sharp enough to suit me, but easily rectified.
The Handle
The black micarta scales on my Prototype appear to be bead blasted as well. They have a rough texture which feels as though it would be fairly grippy when wet. The texture is rougher than that of any of my other micarta scaled knives, but not so rough that it feels coarse. Just right, IMO. The scales are fixed to the knife with mosaic pins, and fit flush with the tang of the blade all around. There are no gaps at all between the scales and the tang, anywhere. To the best of my judgement, the scales are the same thickness on either side of the knife, and contoured symmetrically. There is a slight swell to the grip right where it passes across the palm of my hand. The edges of the scales are rounded, and are VERY comfortable. This is not a BIG knife, but fits my rather small hand very well with the knife gripped in either a saber or hammer grip. The knife feels like it is locked into place in either of those grips, as well as in an ice pick grip. Very secure. While I have not done any stabs into materials, I would feel confident, based on how locked the grip feels, and my experience with other handles while stabbing into wood, phone books, etc. There is a pronounced index finger groove, and a slight curve to the handle that contributes to the fantastic feel of the knife handle. The only imperfection that I could find with the handle scales was a tiny bit of epoxy that had squeezed out from underneath the scale on one side, right at the base of the blade (ricasso?). Like I said, an "imperfection." Thats all, and hardly noticeable unless you are examining the knife VERY closely.
The Sheath
The sheath is a pouch type (one piece folded over), of black concealex, probably 0.080" thickness. It was supplied with a Tek-Lok attachment device, and an IWB belt loop of probably 1/2" nylon. The IWB loop is folded over and fixed with an eyelet, and the severed ends of the nylon are melted. The sheath also has holes and eyelets at the tip, to facilitate neck carry, if one wanted to. They could also be used to lash the sheath to a pack or shoulder strap I suppose. These eyelets are smooth on both sides, not crushed out as has been reported on some sheaths. However, to be honest, the eyelet of the IWB loop is crushed out on one side. For the loop, this is not a big deal, as the side will be against the sheath, actually help prevent rotation of the loop. {Italicized portion added on 8/4/00} The IWB loop works OK, but I prefer the Tek-Lok, now that I have figured it out the retention adjustment, and tried it as a cross-draw, 45 deg cant. It works pretty much perfectly, and I must have been on drugs when I originally wrote this first impression, where I panned the sheath. The sheath works great with the Tek-Lok, now that I have more experience with it. And the sheath that I made for IWB carry works great with the PTD straps, which I talk about elsewhere, in another thread.
Summary
Overall, I LOVE this knife. So much so that it will likely replace all my others as my daily carry when the weather gets a little cooler, or when I can walk around this summer with my shirt un-tucked. Definitely any circumstance where I would really rather have a fixed blade that can do tactical duty. The knife balances well, and while it is heavy when you pick it up, when you take a proper grip, it feels like an extension of your arm. There is only one thing that I would change on this knife, that would improve it for me personally, and maybe for others. I would remove a little of the pronounced extension between the index finger groove and the rest of the handle. As I received the knife, it almost felt like I was holding a small sub-hilt fighter. And that extension was rather sharp at the end. Removing approximately 1/8" would be about perfect (at least that is what worked for me
I will try to add to this post as I get the opportunity to use the knife more. In closing, I cant forget to say what a pleasure it was to do business with Kevin. Service was quick, very courteous, and the prices were, IMO, quite reasonable. There was the inevitable small mark-up that occurs when you add another person between the maker and the end-user. But, Kevin seems to keep the mark-up very reasonable, and in return you get the knife much more quickly (assuming it is in stock). Probably more quickly even if not, since it would seem to be in the makers best interest IMO to put a little higher priority on his distributors orders.
------------------
iktomi
[This message has been edited by rockspyder (edited 06-26-2000).]
[This message has been edited by rockspyder (edited 08-04-2000).]
.. I guess some basic instructions on how the sheath works would help with this problem. It has happened before on a few occasions where I hadnt set the tension screw just the way the customer wanted. Anyway glad see its working ok for you now.
