Just got my new Brous Silent Soldier (wharncliffe version) yesterday and I'm quite pleased with the knife itself. I suspect I might have liked the satin finish a bit more than the stonewash, but I plan to acid-wash/patina the knife anyway so that's no big thing.
Then we come to the sheath/clip setup. In two words: Major disappointment.
The clip is quite strong, but only large enough to accommodate 1-1/4" belts. The sheath is wide enough that the clip could easily have been lengthened so it could handle 1-1/2" belts.
It is angled about 73° from the base rather than 90°. With the clip mounted for left-side carry edge down the clip protrudes halfway across the front hole used to draw the knife, which is hardly going to give a smooth draw. This means there is no good way to carry the knife on the hip with the handle to the rear except on the right side. A clip perpendicular to the mounting holes would have markedly increased carry options.
The reinforced holes provided for clip mounting are not spaced to allow any sort of vertical carry in the belt. Vertical carry of a belt knife seems a rather obvious feature unless it is sold as a horizontal carry only. It certainly would have been simple enough to provide the necessary spacing between holes to allow vertical carry. The holes at the base of the sheath to put a neck chain are not only not reinforced but they are neither spaced properly nor even large enough to accommodate the clip.
I wanted this knife as an open belt-carry EDC on my left side, where I prefer my EDC blades. Knife clips/sheaths have been increasingly made ambidextrous over the past few years. As it is, I'm going to have to use this only as a necker or get a new custom sheath made. Who designed this abortion?
Then we come to the sheath/clip setup. In two words: Major disappointment.
The clip is quite strong, but only large enough to accommodate 1-1/4" belts. The sheath is wide enough that the clip could easily have been lengthened so it could handle 1-1/2" belts.
It is angled about 73° from the base rather than 90°. With the clip mounted for left-side carry edge down the clip protrudes halfway across the front hole used to draw the knife, which is hardly going to give a smooth draw. This means there is no good way to carry the knife on the hip with the handle to the rear except on the right side. A clip perpendicular to the mounting holes would have markedly increased carry options.
The reinforced holes provided for clip mounting are not spaced to allow any sort of vertical carry in the belt. Vertical carry of a belt knife seems a rather obvious feature unless it is sold as a horizontal carry only. It certainly would have been simple enough to provide the necessary spacing between holes to allow vertical carry. The holes at the base of the sheath to put a neck chain are not only not reinforced but they are neither spaced properly nor even large enough to accommodate the clip.
I wanted this knife as an open belt-carry EDC on my left side, where I prefer my EDC blades. Knife clips/sheaths have been increasingly made ambidextrous over the past few years. As it is, I'm going to have to use this only as a necker or get a new custom sheath made. Who designed this abortion?