I got my SFNO CG today. I haven't used it yet, and haven't had a lot of time to spend with it, yet. I don't have it with me, as I write this, but here are my first impressions:
Overall, the design is stunning. Jerry makes a lot of nice designs, but occasionally he comes out with one that is just superlative, where everything comes together in one visionary, integrated piece with a much higher level of design sophistication, near-perfection in terms of both function and elegance. (For example, anyone who has handled the PBF probably knows what I'm talking about.) This is one of those more rarefied designs.
It's more slender than the one I handled at Blade West 2003. I'm not sure exactly what the thickness is, but it seems to be in the middle between 1/4 inch and 3/16 inch thick.
In addition to being slenderer, this one is also flat ground, whereas the one I had previously handled was sabre ground, I think.
It tapers more, toward the point, than I'd realized. It's actually quite tapered, and a rather slender tip.
Combine the above comments with the fact that it is a somewhat tall blade from spine to edge, and the geometry of the flat grind of this knife is more slight than I'd expected... by no means delicate, but more so than any of the E series blades I've owned. On the other hand, while less of a brute, it's more efficient as a cutter.
The dark green coating is much smoother than the black crinkle coating and the desert tan coating and the muddy coating I've experienced, before.
The handle slabs are skinny compared to those on the NO-E, SH-E, BM-E, etc. And while the shape is contoured, it is less so than it appeared in the pictures. The palm swell (top-to-bottom) makes up for the skinniness of the handles, but I wonder whether the narrower area of the bottom edge of the handle, which translates into less area spreading the shock into my fingers, will mean more painful chops when used barehanded. I'm not sure, but time will tell. It makes me contemplate mag handles... but then, the thinner handles are better when wearing gloves. (In any case, I normally affix the knife into a pole-axe when doing serious chopping, anyway.)
The ridges of the patterned texture of the G10 handles are sharper/rougher than I expected... much more so than the diamond quilted pattern on the micarta E handles. They seem like they'd tear up my hands, in hard use. I may have to sand them down, an little.
I prefer the look and feel of the canvas micarta over the G10. The old stuff had more... I'm not sure how to articulate it... more character, and more satisfying texture.
The balance is fairly neutral, and fast, with little strain on the hand, yet the handle allows for easily repositioning to accommodate a further back grip, for chopping.
The sense of control of the blade for precise work is very high. Very, very high.
The handle shape and the fit for my grip is amazing. The best I've felt.
This may not be the absolutely perfect user design, but I have a feeling this is going to be the closest to perfect that I've found, or will find, short of a custom piece.
More coming, soon.
Overall, the design is stunning. Jerry makes a lot of nice designs, but occasionally he comes out with one that is just superlative, where everything comes together in one visionary, integrated piece with a much higher level of design sophistication, near-perfection in terms of both function and elegance. (For example, anyone who has handled the PBF probably knows what I'm talking about.) This is one of those more rarefied designs.
It's more slender than the one I handled at Blade West 2003. I'm not sure exactly what the thickness is, but it seems to be in the middle between 1/4 inch and 3/16 inch thick.
In addition to being slenderer, this one is also flat ground, whereas the one I had previously handled was sabre ground, I think.
It tapers more, toward the point, than I'd realized. It's actually quite tapered, and a rather slender tip.
Combine the above comments with the fact that it is a somewhat tall blade from spine to edge, and the geometry of the flat grind of this knife is more slight than I'd expected... by no means delicate, but more so than any of the E series blades I've owned. On the other hand, while less of a brute, it's more efficient as a cutter.
The dark green coating is much smoother than the black crinkle coating and the desert tan coating and the muddy coating I've experienced, before.
The handle slabs are skinny compared to those on the NO-E, SH-E, BM-E, etc. And while the shape is contoured, it is less so than it appeared in the pictures. The palm swell (top-to-bottom) makes up for the skinniness of the handles, but I wonder whether the narrower area of the bottom edge of the handle, which translates into less area spreading the shock into my fingers, will mean more painful chops when used barehanded. I'm not sure, but time will tell. It makes me contemplate mag handles... but then, the thinner handles are better when wearing gloves. (In any case, I normally affix the knife into a pole-axe when doing serious chopping, anyway.)
The ridges of the patterned texture of the G10 handles are sharper/rougher than I expected... much more so than the diamond quilted pattern on the micarta E handles. They seem like they'd tear up my hands, in hard use. I may have to sand them down, an little.
I prefer the look and feel of the canvas micarta over the G10. The old stuff had more... I'm not sure how to articulate it... more character, and more satisfying texture.
The balance is fairly neutral, and fast, with little strain on the hand, yet the handle allows for easily repositioning to accommodate a further back grip, for chopping.
The sense of control of the blade for precise work is very high. Very, very high.
The handle shape and the fit for my grip is amazing. The best I've felt.
This may not be the absolutely perfect user design, but I have a feeling this is going to be the closest to perfect that I've found, or will find, short of a custom piece.
More coming, soon.
