SERE2000 Initial Impressions

P

Peter Ervin

Joined
Oct 27, 1998
Messages
178
The Al Mar SERE2000 arrived on my desk this morning. After all the comments I've read about it I was looking forward to getting one.

The handle construction is the strongest I have yet seen on ANY folder. Their are 4 steel posts plus a steel spacer at the rear of the handle. The steel liners are nice and thick. The G10 is thicker than any of my other knives. All adds up for a great solid feel.

The blade is perfectly ground, sharp and has no flaws that I can see. The thumb studs are aggressive and work very well. The clip is the lowest riding clip along with the EDI Genesis I have seen.

The liner lock locks up tight on the near side. Time will tell how it stands up.

I would have prefered the newer model with the black clip and screws. The bright shiny clip negates the benefits of the low ride setup.

The box it comes in has no paperwork whatsoever. A bit strange. I would have thought that Al Mar would use the opportunity to enclose some company info and advertising.

All in all, a great knife. Very solid construction, Heavy but not overly so, great pedigree and definately a heavy duty user.

Cheers

Peter

PS. The blade is not 1/8 inch thick, It is substantially thicker.

[This message has been edited by PETER ERVIN (edited 03-13-2001).]
 
Peter,
Indeed this is a great knife. If not for the introduction of so many other knives this year I think we would have seen more about this one. A few awards may have come its way also! I agree with your assessment. I have had one since late June and find it a delight to carry. I have not carried it exclusively, but off and on. Every time I break it out to carry I regain an appreciation for the quality this knife represents.
I currently have two, both with bright finish. I did tone down the finish on the clip with some 400 wet/dry paper and my Dremel. This has cut the glare without detracting from the appearance. As far as the blade thickness I miked mine out at a little over .130.
All in all a great knife!

------------------
Art Sigmon
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Php. 4:13

"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword"
Heb. 4:12
 
Art, I agree. This knife has alot of quiet but dedicated fans. Another thing I noticed on this knife was the lack of any traction notches in the liners for the thumb to grip. I might add some myself I think.

Cheers
 
Try giving your SERE the spine whack test, say on a rubber mouse pad on your desk.

If yours passes cleanly and repeatedly, you are luckier than I ...

(not to mention the annoyance of sharp edges on thumb stud, amazingly bad, and the liners).
 
rdangerer: I have a SERE 2000 and have no problem with it passing the wack test. I am curious as to why you would keep the knife if the liner lock fails? Call Al Mar or the site / retailer you bought if from and exchange it.

There have been many comments about the thumb studs and I personally like them. They line up perfectly with the size of my hand / thumb. That however, is a personal thing.

This is the best pocket carry folder I have, and I have quite a few.
 
I've read three reports of people getting cut by collapsing blades on the SERE2K so far. There is another such on the Discussion forum right now.

Maybe the strong construction tends to give people a false sense of security with the lock. It is a liner lock folks.
 
Fellas, My SERE 2000 has the best liner lock of any knife I own. It has passed my spine whack test with flying colors. The liner has no creep in it whatsoever when held in a tight grip. Their is no vertical play in the blade at all.

If you have one that is not up to par - send it back for replacement from the dealer you bought from, most have a 30 day policy. Or send it back to Al Mar.

I have heard a couple of bad reports about the SERE's liner lock but I have heard hundreds of great reports about them too.

The quality on mine is outstanding.

Cheers

pete
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by jayharley:
rdangerer: I am curious as to why you would keep the knife if the liner lock fails? </font>
Click to expand...

I sold the SERE, for the record. I bought it used, and there were enough design problems with it for me that I didn't really want it repaired... just gone.

First of over probably 40 folders I own or have owned that failed spine whack. Your luck may vary.
 
I don't normally perform the spine whack test as I don't find it to be of very much merit for real world applications, but for the sake of arguement, I subjected my brand new Sere 2000 to this test anyway.

I dawned a double layered, military repelling, leather gloves and held the handle of the knife very firmly between my thumb and forefinger. Then I whacked the back (spine) of the blade a total of ten times on my porch railing.

NO FAILURES to report!!!
biggrin.gif


Now I know that I didn't attach the knife to a broom handle for extra leverage, but, I did whack the hell out of this knife with all of the force that I dare.

So take that for what it's worth.

Now, on the subject of the sharp thumbstud...

I'm going to have to agree that this knife comes with a fairly sharp stud. I would even go so far as to say that if you had let's say ......fair, womenish, non-working hands, then you will probably end up bleeding on your first attempt at opening this folder.
I fixed this situation on my knife using a jeweler's file to remove the sharp edge. It's perfect now.

The Sere 2000 appears, IMHO, to be a over-built workhorse of a knife that is worth the price. It certainly blows much of the competition out of the water.

So if you are still seeing smoke.......it's probably just from me putting out the fire!!!
wink.gif


--The Raptor--



[This message has been edited by Raptor (edited 03-14-2001).]
 
Ok. Just put both of my SERE's to the test, spine-whack test that is, and happy to report that I had ZERO failures. Lock's held on both.

------------------
Art Sigmon
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Php. 4:13

"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword"
Heb. 4:12
 
Watch yourself with the knife.I whacked the blade 3-4 times with my left hand and the blade lock failed and gashed my right hand. Needed 3 stitches. Evidently it has to be whacked several times for the blade lock to fail and let the blade close.

[This message has been edited by konrado (edited 03-16-2001).]
 
sorry. I forgot I already posted.


[This message has been edited by jayharley (edited 03-18-2001).]
 
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