This is my first Tomcat. A heckuva knife for the price. I generally don't use clips anyway, I don't trust them except for a few specific knives.
Pros:
Big, thick blade
VG-10 steel - excellent choice
Bolster (looks cool)
Arc-lock
Lots of jimping - provides good grip all around
Cons:
Kraton scales (too sticky for my taste)
Thumbstud design - wow, this is about the worst thumbstud ever designed!
Uncomfortable in a reverse grip
Overall I rate it about a 7.5 out of 10. I bought the Tomcat to replace my Spyderco Chinook. While I like the Chinook blade and the Spyderhole (of course!) it is clunky to operate and I prefer the contours of the Tomcat.
Rescaling the knife is just a matter of money, I'll probably get this done in green canvas micarta.
The thumbstud, with its polished, dome shape is just the worst and needs a lot of work to correct. I have a SOG Mini-Xray with a simple flat stud - it works great, I think the "20th Anniversary" team really overdid this simple detail and made the knife less functional.
All in all, I think the knife is a great value, but the stud design is a glaring flaw.
Pros:
Big, thick blade
VG-10 steel - excellent choice
Bolster (looks cool)
Arc-lock
Lots of jimping - provides good grip all around
Cons:
Kraton scales (too sticky for my taste)
Thumbstud design - wow, this is about the worst thumbstud ever designed!
Uncomfortable in a reverse grip
Overall I rate it about a 7.5 out of 10. I bought the Tomcat to replace my Spyderco Chinook. While I like the Chinook blade and the Spyderhole (of course!) it is clunky to operate and I prefer the contours of the Tomcat.
Rescaling the knife is just a matter of money, I'll probably get this done in green canvas micarta.
The thumbstud, with its polished, dome shape is just the worst and needs a lot of work to correct. I have a SOG Mini-Xray with a simple flat stud - it works great, I think the "20th Anniversary" team really overdid this simple detail and made the knife less functional.
All in all, I think the knife is a great value, but the stud design is a glaring flaw.