First let me express my thanks to everyone who posted suggestions earlier this month - I really learned a lot and got some great ideas. A helpful bunch you are!
Anyway, BEFORE I found bladeforums.com I went on Ebay and bid on a couple of knives. Anyone who buys watches (and I'm sure other things) on Ebay knows that if you bid the lowest amount with anything more than an hour left in the auction, you will most certainly be outbid. I do this becuase ebay keeps track of all the auctions you're bidding on - makes it a lot easier to go back and find stuff, or to sort through the ones I like again and actually try to win the ones I want. So I did this with a number of knives, but it turns out, I was the only bidder on one and high bidder on another. This is the first time (and second) that I've been burned with this method - after hundreds of bids.
As fate would have it (some relation to Murphy's Law?) neither of these were the knives I strongly wished to own after I found bladeforums. Now, I'm not displeased, in fact, I'm very happy with what I got, it's just that they're not what ended up being my top choices.
FWIW, I really liked the suggestions for the M2 AFCK, and the REKAT Pioneer. I probably will get one of these eventually, but for now I'm happy with my BM 840SBT and 835SBT.
The 840 came first, and was a bit bigger than I was expecting (yes, get thee to a knife store/show - I hear you). My one gripe is the Zytel handle. I'm sure it's tough, and it's definitely light, but it has that cheap plastic look/feel to it. I think it makes the knife look a little cheaper. It was quite sharp however - I managed to cut myself 6 times (4 of which happened when I closed it on my fingers). It would slice the hair off my arm without hesitating. I've had it about a week, and I've used it only a few times, and already it's not as sharp as it was. One other aspect is that I don't think this knife falls favorably in the eyes of the general public. I was hosting a party and needed to cut open a bag of chicken wings - I whipped out the knife and got a whole bunch of, "whoa, Mark! take it easy. We're all friends here...." Sarcastic, but you get the point.
The other one came yesterday. I don't know what's up with this one. I like the blade a lot better - drop point, thumb knobs instead of the hole, smaller - but it's a little weird. I can't open it with one hand - it gets a little tight between say, 60-90% of being open. This one's also not as sharp as the other. It'll make a nice gift.
FWIW - my fiancee has expressed interest in my old Gerber multitool - and I've decided that my next multi will be the new SAK 'cybertool' since I'm a serious computer dork and that's what I use my Gerber for 90% of the time. The pen is probably the selling factor though - I've been caught without a pen way too many times recently. Any other similar options out there?
Thanks again for all the help - it is much appreciated.
-MarkZ
Anyway, BEFORE I found bladeforums.com I went on Ebay and bid on a couple of knives. Anyone who buys watches (and I'm sure other things) on Ebay knows that if you bid the lowest amount with anything more than an hour left in the auction, you will most certainly be outbid. I do this becuase ebay keeps track of all the auctions you're bidding on - makes it a lot easier to go back and find stuff, or to sort through the ones I like again and actually try to win the ones I want. So I did this with a number of knives, but it turns out, I was the only bidder on one and high bidder on another. This is the first time (and second) that I've been burned with this method - after hundreds of bids.
As fate would have it (some relation to Murphy's Law?) neither of these were the knives I strongly wished to own after I found bladeforums. Now, I'm not displeased, in fact, I'm very happy with what I got, it's just that they're not what ended up being my top choices.
FWIW, I really liked the suggestions for the M2 AFCK, and the REKAT Pioneer. I probably will get one of these eventually, but for now I'm happy with my BM 840SBT and 835SBT.
The 840 came first, and was a bit bigger than I was expecting (yes, get thee to a knife store/show - I hear you). My one gripe is the Zytel handle. I'm sure it's tough, and it's definitely light, but it has that cheap plastic look/feel to it. I think it makes the knife look a little cheaper. It was quite sharp however - I managed to cut myself 6 times (4 of which happened when I closed it on my fingers). It would slice the hair off my arm without hesitating. I've had it about a week, and I've used it only a few times, and already it's not as sharp as it was. One other aspect is that I don't think this knife falls favorably in the eyes of the general public. I was hosting a party and needed to cut open a bag of chicken wings - I whipped out the knife and got a whole bunch of, "whoa, Mark! take it easy. We're all friends here...." Sarcastic, but you get the point.
The other one came yesterday. I don't know what's up with this one. I like the blade a lot better - drop point, thumb knobs instead of the hole, smaller - but it's a little weird. I can't open it with one hand - it gets a little tight between say, 60-90% of being open. This one's also not as sharp as the other. It'll make a nice gift.
FWIW - my fiancee has expressed interest in my old Gerber multitool - and I've decided that my next multi will be the new SAK 'cybertool' since I'm a serious computer dork and that's what I use my Gerber for 90% of the time. The pen is probably the selling factor though - I've been caught without a pen way too many times recently. Any other similar options out there?
Thanks again for all the help - it is much appreciated.
-MarkZ
