Wow! That's an attractive, but intimidating blade, Gaston. What's the length on it?
It is nine inches on the dime, which is nice to see when every other blade, especially Randalls, seems to always be short of spec by 1/10"...
Another nice thing for a fairy low-priced (-$200) blade is that it is
dead straight, which some Beckers (my BK-9 was really bad) and even Randalls, aren't...: My $500 Randall Model 18 has a very gentle curve from heat treating or something... It know it doesn't affect function, but I just can't take as seriously a blade that has a slight "swerve" to one side...
On the downside, like many TOPS it comes butter dull, worsened by the low sabre grind line: You can see, from the huge bevels I put in, that this one is screaming sharp (12° per side at most), but to go deeper than 1.5"" into wood, the open low sabre secondary grind starts to squander all that heavy tip chopping advantage, because the edge is 1.8 mm thick at the base of the bevel (0.070", compared to a big Model 12 Randall that would be 0.020")... Except for my Randall Clinton dagger, don't expect Randalls to be any more tightly made compared to this thing, quite on the contrary... Edge thinness is where a big chopping Randall, like the Model 12, trumps everything else, including the San Mai Trailmaster: Thin hollow ground edges "bite" into wood like nothing else, and the Hellion does take the opposite route of pure blunt force...
It is very heavy at 21 ounces, and I used to hate that it owed much of that to the full tang, until I heard of all these Trailmasters and RS breaking their huge massive stick tang while batoning... That one is in between 3/16 and 1/4" of stock, and I'm sure it won't break while batoning...
The saw will only go 1/2" into wood before stopping, but the good thing is it gets there quite easily: Going around a 3" branch it creates a 2" weak spot that is wide enough to allow a bend, and is thus very easy to break: I thing the $700 Vaugh Neeley SA's saw might be better, but that works well enough for me... The sheath is not great but has proved good enough as well: The twin velcro handle snap straps can be kept folded out of the way, which normal button-snap straps certainly can't do: This actually makes them more convenient for regular use, and yet more secure from unlatching when they are closed around the handle: They are then slow and noisy... Can't have it all...
It has been discontinued a few years ago, and is for some reason very, very rare on Ebay... I think people keep them because they are so "different" from other knives... It has its flaws, but it still has grown on me, now that it is really sharp. I just wish I could find another one...
Gaston
