- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
I just got a Carnivour last week on a trade, so I thought I'd review both. Let's get right to it...
<center><h2>Pioneer I</h2></center>
This is the old style Rolling Lock Pioneer. I picked it up used with the tumbled finish for $40 I think! The knife is very stout, has smooth G-10 handles and stainless liners on both scales. Open construction using spacers instead of a closed back. My Pioneer has no play in the blade and is rock solid. The G-10 handles well when wet, surprisingly, and the Rolling Lock is great. I like the old style as much, if not better, than the new one. I have two gripes.
The first is that the clip is held in place by a stop created by folding part of the clip itself over (hard to describe) and the pivot pin. If I tighten the pivot pin enough to keep the clip from moving all over the place, then the thing is to tight it can't be opened. REKAT says to superglue the clip on, but that sucks. YOu also risk supergluing the pivot pin and the joint between the pin and the knife itself, so you could potentially screw a lot up doing this. Plus, it's a simple design flas and it should be corrected in-house, not by the user.
The second gripe is the smoothness. The tang has the original grind lines left on it, and this causes a lot of bumpiness between the Rolling Lock (which always contacts the tang) and the blade when opening or closing the knife. If you have a pile of sandpaper and a ton of elbow grease, this can be corrected, but again, on a knife that retails for $140 or whatever this shold be taken care of in-house. It would take REKAT all of three seconds to polish all the moving parts, saving the user from having to do it himself. More on that later....
<center><h2>Carnivour</h2></center>
The Carnivour is the famous Pat Crawford collaboration. This is a big knife with dual stainless liners and textured G-10 handles. The clip is the same type as on my pioneer, but it is mounted for tip-up carry (opposite the pivot end), so you can tighten the clip bolt without having to screw with the pivot bolts.
I liked this knife right away. The action was a lot smoother and it was nicely made. The liners and the handle scales aren't quite flush, though. Also, the serrations in the scales hurt my thumb, so they needed modification. I got this on trade,and when I received it the blade was hugging one of the liners. I tightened up the action slightly and it was corrected with no problems. The new Rolling Lock mechanism seems to work well.
One gripe is with the textured handles. They are TOO textured! These things are like grip-tape on the pocket and they cause so much resistance on the part between the clip and pocket that it is difficult to draw the knife. They are very secure in hand, but draw and replacement arer tough at best. I would recommend spending some time with sandpaper and a sanding block if you are seriously carrying this knife for self-defense. Otherwise chances are the knife will still be in your pocket and you won't be able to get it out during stress. A smooth scale on that side would take some getting used to, but you get added traction from the clip, which covers a good percentage of the scale anyway. Also, my Carnivour has about 1mm vertical play because the stop pin doesn't quite set in where it needs to. I don't think this is a performance issue, but for a $170 knife it isn't too cool. The stop pin also rattles like a *&tch. The cool thing is that REKAT's are easy to modify, and I spent the weekend doing so. They are a tinkerer's dream, in fact!
<center><h2>Modifications</h2></center>
For the Pioneer, I stripped it down (you only need one size, 1.5 or 2mm (can't rmember which, but it's small)) and sanded and polished the tang, as well as the sides of the blade contacting the washers and the place on the liners where the washers contact. The grind lines on the tang were too deep to remove, so it didn't help a whole lot. From there I cleaned up the finish on the liners just to pretty them up a bit, and then I proceeded to fully filework the liners in a wave sort of pattern. It took a long time and it was my first ever job, so it wasn't great, but it looks pretty good all the same. This also helps traction a bit. I also removed the pain in the butt clip. I could make a Kydex sheath for the Carnivour and the Pioneer, and other makers also have these. It would be a great idea for the Carnivour if you didn't want the texturing removed on the one side.
For the Carnivour, I did the same as above, but the tang was really in good shape, so I spent some time polishing it and it is very smooth. I also fileworked the liners and removed the edge off the teeth, so it is WAY, WAY more comfy on my thumb. A HUGE difference. The filework looks just like rolling waves in the ocean. Turned out better than the Pioneer and also took longer. I also sanded the liners and used my drill press to very lightly jewel them. Unfortunately I wasn't using a method that cuts very well, so you can't see the jeweling very well. I shimmed the stop pin, too, so it would stop rattling, although the play is still there vertically. Side to side play is non-existant.
All in all the REKAT folders are workhorses. They are very dependable and the lock is excellent. REKAT cuts corners on finishing them, but with a little ingenuity and guts that can be easily fixed. Taking them apart is great fun, although it takes a bit of skill and a lot of patience. These are great knives for people who like to screw around with stuff instead of leaving it alone. I got very good deals on both knives, but I don't think I would ever pay retail for one of REKAT's folders. They are heavy, so everyday carry takes getting used to. I would recommend highly getting or making a sheath for either if you get one. Belt carry makes a lot of sense for thse folders and it adds less than $30 to the cost. Are they worth the money? To me, yes, but I got good deals. They are cool knives and they fit my hand very well. I also am a hopeless tinkerer, so I loved making all the mods and turning two otherwise ugly ducklings into pretty classy looking folders! They aren't for everyone, though, so I recommend holding one before you buy.
------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
<center><h2>Pioneer I</h2></center>
This is the old style Rolling Lock Pioneer. I picked it up used with the tumbled finish for $40 I think! The knife is very stout, has smooth G-10 handles and stainless liners on both scales. Open construction using spacers instead of a closed back. My Pioneer has no play in the blade and is rock solid. The G-10 handles well when wet, surprisingly, and the Rolling Lock is great. I like the old style as much, if not better, than the new one. I have two gripes.
The first is that the clip is held in place by a stop created by folding part of the clip itself over (hard to describe) and the pivot pin. If I tighten the pivot pin enough to keep the clip from moving all over the place, then the thing is to tight it can't be opened. REKAT says to superglue the clip on, but that sucks. YOu also risk supergluing the pivot pin and the joint between the pin and the knife itself, so you could potentially screw a lot up doing this. Plus, it's a simple design flas and it should be corrected in-house, not by the user.
The second gripe is the smoothness. The tang has the original grind lines left on it, and this causes a lot of bumpiness between the Rolling Lock (which always contacts the tang) and the blade when opening or closing the knife. If you have a pile of sandpaper and a ton of elbow grease, this can be corrected, but again, on a knife that retails for $140 or whatever this shold be taken care of in-house. It would take REKAT all of three seconds to polish all the moving parts, saving the user from having to do it himself. More on that later....
<center><h2>Carnivour</h2></center>
The Carnivour is the famous Pat Crawford collaboration. This is a big knife with dual stainless liners and textured G-10 handles. The clip is the same type as on my pioneer, but it is mounted for tip-up carry (opposite the pivot end), so you can tighten the clip bolt without having to screw with the pivot bolts.
I liked this knife right away. The action was a lot smoother and it was nicely made. The liners and the handle scales aren't quite flush, though. Also, the serrations in the scales hurt my thumb, so they needed modification. I got this on trade,and when I received it the blade was hugging one of the liners. I tightened up the action slightly and it was corrected with no problems. The new Rolling Lock mechanism seems to work well.
One gripe is with the textured handles. They are TOO textured! These things are like grip-tape on the pocket and they cause so much resistance on the part between the clip and pocket that it is difficult to draw the knife. They are very secure in hand, but draw and replacement arer tough at best. I would recommend spending some time with sandpaper and a sanding block if you are seriously carrying this knife for self-defense. Otherwise chances are the knife will still be in your pocket and you won't be able to get it out during stress. A smooth scale on that side would take some getting used to, but you get added traction from the clip, which covers a good percentage of the scale anyway. Also, my Carnivour has about 1mm vertical play because the stop pin doesn't quite set in where it needs to. I don't think this is a performance issue, but for a $170 knife it isn't too cool. The stop pin also rattles like a *&tch. The cool thing is that REKAT's are easy to modify, and I spent the weekend doing so. They are a tinkerer's dream, in fact!
<center><h2>Modifications</h2></center>
For the Pioneer, I stripped it down (you only need one size, 1.5 or 2mm (can't rmember which, but it's small)) and sanded and polished the tang, as well as the sides of the blade contacting the washers and the place on the liners where the washers contact. The grind lines on the tang were too deep to remove, so it didn't help a whole lot. From there I cleaned up the finish on the liners just to pretty them up a bit, and then I proceeded to fully filework the liners in a wave sort of pattern. It took a long time and it was my first ever job, so it wasn't great, but it looks pretty good all the same. This also helps traction a bit. I also removed the pain in the butt clip. I could make a Kydex sheath for the Carnivour and the Pioneer, and other makers also have these. It would be a great idea for the Carnivour if you didn't want the texturing removed on the one side.
For the Carnivour, I did the same as above, but the tang was really in good shape, so I spent some time polishing it and it is very smooth. I also fileworked the liners and removed the edge off the teeth, so it is WAY, WAY more comfy on my thumb. A HUGE difference. The filework looks just like rolling waves in the ocean. Turned out better than the Pioneer and also took longer. I also sanded the liners and used my drill press to very lightly jewel them. Unfortunately I wasn't using a method that cuts very well, so you can't see the jeweling very well. I shimmed the stop pin, too, so it would stop rattling, although the play is still there vertically. Side to side play is non-existant.
All in all the REKAT folders are workhorses. They are very dependable and the lock is excellent. REKAT cuts corners on finishing them, but with a little ingenuity and guts that can be easily fixed. Taking them apart is great fun, although it takes a bit of skill and a lot of patience. These are great knives for people who like to screw around with stuff instead of leaving it alone. I got very good deals on both knives, but I don't think I would ever pay retail for one of REKAT's folders. They are heavy, so everyday carry takes getting used to. I would recommend highly getting or making a sheath for either if you get one. Belt carry makes a lot of sense for thse folders and it adds less than $30 to the cost. Are they worth the money? To me, yes, but I got good deals. They are cool knives and they fit my hand very well. I also am a hopeless tinkerer, so I loved making all the mods and turning two otherwise ugly ducklings into pretty classy looking folders! They aren't for everyone, though, so I recommend holding one before you buy.
------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
