S!K vs CPK

Karoi

Karoi

Unobtanium Member
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Sep 7, 2014
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I'm interested to hear what people's experiences are with the different models, but also thoughts on the unreleased ones!

2.7-3.5 vs EDC
4.1 vs FK
5.1-7/7 vs name pending (survival knife)
10 vs LC-HC
12 vs HC​

So far I only have the GSO 4.7 and CPK FK. I won’t make any comparisons between size and weight, because the GSO 4.1 seems to be more similar to the FK aside from the spine thicknesses.

This is what I prefer about the GSO 4.7
The handle is more ergonomic for me because of the more pronounced palm swell.
I much prefer the gimping on the spine because IMO it provides greater flexibility for various grip positions.
The spine is sharp (90 degrees) which is very useful for tasks such as scraping bark, smoothing out sections of wood and creating shavings.

This is what I prefer about the FK
The pommel which protrudes further out from the scales. It’s much easier to thread cordage through the hole. There’s also less risk of damaging the scales when striking something.
I prefer the overall blade geometry because of the drop point, pointier tip (spine taper to the point), and the 15 degree bevel. I’m think its generally better in the slicing/carving department.


I’m very eager to get my hands on the new-spec 4.1. The 4.1’s spine is very close to 5/32 thick, and the FK’s spine is 3/16 thick. The FK has a higher sabre grind (I think) and more acute edge though.
 
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I am keen to see where this thread leads. I have been waiting for a thread like this to appear :thumbup:
Got the popcorn ready.

I have a pre-order 6 i am waiting for and currently own a CPK FK. The 6 is my most anticipated knife, the FK was 2nd to it. If the 6 fulfils expectations and is as good as (or potentially better than) expected, i'll be blown away.
Sorry I don't have any valuable input as i don't own a S!K as of yet...until then...I am eager to hear people's thoughts comparisons too. This could turn into a very interesting post, thanks for bringing it up.
 
XtianAus said:
I am keen to see where this thread leads. I have been waiting for a thread like this to appear :thumbup:
Got the popcorn ready.

I have a pre-order 6 i am waiting for and currently own a CPK FK. The 6 is my most anticipated knife, the FK was 2nd to it. If the 6 fulfils expectations and is as good as (or potentially better than) expected, i'll be blown away.
Sorry I don't have any valuable input as i don't own a S!K as of yet...until then...I am eager to hear people's thoughts comparisons too. This could turn into a very interesting post, thanks for bringing it up.
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Thanks for mentioning the 6! It made me realize that I forgot to include the CPK survival (name pending) knife!
 
I'm not a huge fan of the CPK designs. I find that they look a bit to 'artsy' for my taste
I prefer the no nonsense look of the SK

When it comes to matrials, fit and finish and function both companies are excellent
 
Revolverrodger said:
I'm not a huge fan of the CPK designs. I find that they look a bit to 'artsy' for my taste
I prefer the no nonsense look of the SK

When it comes to matrials, fit and finish and function both companies are excellent
Click to expand...

Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder!


Got the e-shovel out and found some very good posts by timichango and TRfromMT

timichango said:
The image that was posted above which had the FK and the GSO 4.7 gave me the opportunity to stage a rough comparison that I've been wanting to do for a while to look at the layout of those two knives from the perspective of handling similarities and/or differences.

Screenshot%202016-10-25%2016.07.38.png


At a glance both knives look like they bring a substantially different functional layout to bear, given the rather straight-looking GSO and the curved spine and canted blade of the field knife. However, when you overlay their silhouettes, and rotate them to situate likely points of hand/finger contact together, which will determine the blade positioning relative to the user's grip, it looks like they both wind up bringing the knife to the work at roughly the same position and offset from the hand. What's interesting to me is that when viewed this way (ie. with the handle as the positional reference, rather than the blade), the GSO 4.7 starts looking a bit more like a nessmuk: the rear handle swell starts looking less like a handle swell, while the mid spine through the blade starts looking a bit sway-backed.
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timichango said:
I received my 4.7 today, and I can see what you mean. The contouring of the 4.7 handle is significantly more pronounced than the FK, and that's not obvious from the photos (to me, anyways).

Also, I'm noticing that it's not just the size of the palm swell contour, but also its axis - which runs from forward/low to rearward/high (the thumb orients nicely across this descending contour towards the front). In my hand, this seems to strongly bias the forward/normal grip, and it indexes VERY positively in my hand - but it seems to be at the expense of the other potential grips. Inverted/rotated grips are noticeably more awkward. I do like the relative thinness at the front of the scales though - irrelevant in a hammer grip, but probably good for precise work with a looser, pinchier grip.

To me it feels like the 4.7 is a bit of a specialist in the forward grip position, where the FK grip is more of an outstanding generalist... I can't find an awkward hold on the FK. It's both secure and neutral.

Caveat: I've barely used the FK for much, and the 4.7 not at all - these are just initial impressions. The real tale gets told with work that'll raise a blister or a cramp.
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TRfromMT said:
Below are comparison shots of the CPK FK next to the new-spec S!K 4.1, and the 4.7 just for kicks. The blade length of the 4.1 and FK are very close, and the overlay (FK over 4.1) shows the edge shape is extremely close. The blade on both are within 1/8" of an inch of each other. The main difference is the handle ergonomics. Both are great, but the FK has more of a drop to the tail.

By the way, if I haven't mentioned it, I hate Photobucket!




And just for fun, here is the same comparison of the CPK EDC to the old-spec 3.5. Also extremely similar for the blade edge profile, but the handle is vastly different.



And just for the heck of it...
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^^^ I'd forgotten about the CPK /S!K overlay picture. Great find, Karoi.

I'd almost like to see someone build the knife that is in the middle of the "ven diagram" of those two knives. Mostly GSO handle, mostly FK blade!

(All S!K Sheath though).
 
I missed out on that comparison overlay when it was originally posted, but that is really helpful to visualize the similarities and differences. Very cool!
 
That purple knife produced by the overlay picture should be their collab. It looks like a gorgeous shape.
 
Lapedog said:
That purple knife produced by the overlay picture should be their collab. It looks like a gorgeous shape.
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Silver Needle said:
Like the bk14 between Kabar and ESEE!!!

Dudes, we need a sweet name for this! CPS!K ?
Click to expand...

Great idea guys! This could turn out to be the best mid-size fixed blade of all time! In saying that though, the FK and 4.1/4.7 are obviously phenomenal knives as they are!

If they also incorporate a little feedback from members around here, it could be something like the CPS!K BFC (blade forums collaboration) :D

Guy, Nathan, and Lorien:- since you guys seem have a lot of spare time these days, perhaps this knife could go into production in about 3 months from now :thumbup: :p
 
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Whatever happened to TimiChango?! He was so vocal on here and also on CPK sub, but feel off the face of the Eath as it seems! Hope all's well with Timi.
 
If one of us here wins the "name the CPK SK pattern contest" get Lorien to produce the Ven knife as the prize!

(I already named it!)
 
It's funny how much crossover there is with many of us. I was just Looking at the same thread over on the other forum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I definitely agree with those suggesting the overlay design :cool::thumbup:
So long as we keep the choil minimal.. or expand it to finger-size. One thing that has kept me away from the CPKs (other than the impossibility of me ever catching one on the Friday sales) is the "elf" choil :p

I STRONGLY concur with Tim's notion about the 4.7 seeming more like a nessmuk design when canted a bit. Indeed, that was what i thought when Guy posted the first picture of the unground 4.7 blank he'd be working from. I saw it and jumped in right then. I'll admit, i was actually disappointed when it was given the standard S!K saber-grind. I'd definitely be willing to invest some extra $$$ in S!K for a "special edition" version with a grind that goes higher on the "hump" portion of the knife.

That is some awesome work on that over-lay :thumbup: I don't own any CPKs and have only sporadically logged into BF recently, so I rarely check Nathan's subforum and never would have caught that had it not been carried over, so thank you much for that :thumbup:
 
Interesting topic....It seems we have a Ford vs Chevy thread!
 
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