Those are fighting words to a lot of Strider owners of the past and I would be the first to say I would have been one of them. Imagine a Strider that actually cuts and slices right from design..... That is what Mick Strider created when he designed the SJ-75 aka "Baby Huey".
I have owned many many Strider's over the years. Several SMF and SNG in about every style and design including one Custom SNG DDC. I love the knives. They are solid light, great ergonomics, over built and generally a pleasure to carry. The one common trait to all my Striders were they were never a good slicing/cutting knife. I always had to put a 20 degree reprofile on them to cut and slice. The factory obtuse edge was good for grunt work but not a good slicer. This has always been well known in the knife circles. Think "prybar with a edge."
Well Mick Strider must have been listening to his loyal Strider owners because he designed a slicing EDC machine from the ground up. First the fit and finish has been taken up a notch. The SJ-75 is a bit more polished around the edges without loosing that Strider over built feel. The handle design is as good or better than the SNG CC. Yea, its that good. The G-10 side has the CC feel about it. The edges are rounded off. Grippy but not rip up your pants pocket grippy. I hate to use the word "perfect" but it really is. There is no bad grip on this knife. The knife opens smooth and feels like a custom. You dont have to make any excuses for this knife. It feels expensive
I was initially worried when dealers described the size of the SJ-75 as between the SNG and PT. Yes and no. The reality is the SJ-75 feels like the the size of the SNG CC in the hand. Its actual cutting edge is the same as the SNG. The SJ-75 just doesnt have (or need) the finger choil on the blade. This makes for a smaller over all design and lite 3.8oz package. I am a big Spyderco fan and not many, if any knives slice better than the Paramilitary 2. The SJ-75 is right up there with the PM2 and is similar in size. That is a huge statement because there has never been a SNG/SMF that is even close to the slicing of a PM2. Look at the SJ-75 wrong and its CPM S35VN STAINLESS blade will cut you.
The next big news is the SJ-75 is the first to use Mick Striders new lock design. It is perfect and requires no break in period. No blade play in any direction and lock-up is never gonna be a issue. What Mick did was to take away the radius on the bottom of the blade where the lock face touches the blade. The blade now has a flat diagonal cut instead of the radius that could be sticky or loosen up after a lot of wear.. The new lock disengages very smooth just like my Kirby Lambert knives.
The SJ-75 has a flow through design which I love. This makes cleaning the knife much easier and lighter. The blade shape is a wide leaf style with a hollow grind going up 1/2 to 3/4 of the blade getting wider toward the tip. It allows a very sharp pointy tip but still keeps a strong thick spine for strength. It is a slicing/slashing dream. It slices through heavy rope like a razor blade. The knife was one of the sharpest knife I have seen right out of the box. This is right up there with my PM2 Sprint M390. (as seen in the pics)
The blade, titanium frame, and G-10 has a spine design filed into them. Its cool and adds grip on the top of the blade. The design of this knife doesn't need jimping. The blade is fat enough and swells much higher than the handle that your thumb will never slip over the top of the blade.
Once again the ergonomics are perfect and obviously feels like a Strider design.
I love simplicity of the design of this knife. To me it looks like a modern Cave man knife with a wide flat piece of flint napped and stuck into a stick.
The strength of this knife is not to be questioned. It uses the same over sized bull pivot as the SMF and SNG. This pivot is over sized for the SMF so it is ridiculously over built for the SJ-75. I plan on using this knife in the woods as well as EDC. I field dress a lot of deer each year and the design of the SJ-75 looks to be a perfect skinning knife. Its razor edge ought to slice effortlessly though thick meat.
Calling this knife a "gentleman's knife" is ridiculous unless your gentleman is Rambo. This is like saying a Badger makes a better house pet than a Pit bull because it is smaller. This knife would be just as at home on a soldier or in the woods with a hunter or for the every mans EDC. Strider doesn't build weak knives. This knife has teeth and is a slashing thruster that could easily be called in for fighting if need be. I see the new Strider SJ-75 as a better slicing knife and a more updated EDC design. Mick Strider knows how to build knives and the SJ-75 hits a home run.:thumbup:
UPDATE:
I already took the SJ-75 apart to see how it was made and clean it up. It's very similar to the SNG. The stop pin is secured deep in both sides of the frame. It appears to be very strong.
The SJ-75 has huge bronze washers. There is two different sizes on the knife. The larger washer is on the G10 side. The smaller washer is the same size used on the SNG.
The new large bull pivot is a better design than the SNG/SMF. It can be adjusted with a large flat head screw driver. No spanner tool is required but if you own the tool it will still work.
I got some great pics of the new lock face. As you can see in the pic, Strider no longer cuts a radius into the bottom of the blade. It is a smooth tapered cut.
This is to eliminate any long term for and aft blade play. It also eliminates all the sticky lock break-in period. I can say I have flipped this knife over several 100 times in its first day and the lock disengagement was always smooth.
Older style Strider lock. This is from one of my SMF. Notice the radius cut:
:thumbup:
I have owned many many Strider's over the years. Several SMF and SNG in about every style and design including one Custom SNG DDC. I love the knives. They are solid light, great ergonomics, over built and generally a pleasure to carry. The one common trait to all my Striders were they were never a good slicing/cutting knife. I always had to put a 20 degree reprofile on them to cut and slice. The factory obtuse edge was good for grunt work but not a good slicer. This has always been well known in the knife circles. Think "prybar with a edge."
Well Mick Strider must have been listening to his loyal Strider owners because he designed a slicing EDC machine from the ground up. First the fit and finish has been taken up a notch. The SJ-75 is a bit more polished around the edges without loosing that Strider over built feel. The handle design is as good or better than the SNG CC. Yea, its that good. The G-10 side has the CC feel about it. The edges are rounded off. Grippy but not rip up your pants pocket grippy. I hate to use the word "perfect" but it really is. There is no bad grip on this knife. The knife opens smooth and feels like a custom. You dont have to make any excuses for this knife. It feels expensive
I was initially worried when dealers described the size of the SJ-75 as between the SNG and PT. Yes and no. The reality is the SJ-75 feels like the the size of the SNG CC in the hand. Its actual cutting edge is the same as the SNG. The SJ-75 just doesnt have (or need) the finger choil on the blade. This makes for a smaller over all design and lite 3.8oz package. I am a big Spyderco fan and not many, if any knives slice better than the Paramilitary 2. The SJ-75 is right up there with the PM2 and is similar in size. That is a huge statement because there has never been a SNG/SMF that is even close to the slicing of a PM2. Look at the SJ-75 wrong and its CPM S35VN STAINLESS blade will cut you.
The next big news is the SJ-75 is the first to use Mick Striders new lock design. It is perfect and requires no break in period. No blade play in any direction and lock-up is never gonna be a issue. What Mick did was to take away the radius on the bottom of the blade where the lock face touches the blade. The blade now has a flat diagonal cut instead of the radius that could be sticky or loosen up after a lot of wear.. The new lock disengages very smooth just like my Kirby Lambert knives.
The SJ-75 has a flow through design which I love. This makes cleaning the knife much easier and lighter. The blade shape is a wide leaf style with a hollow grind going up 1/2 to 3/4 of the blade getting wider toward the tip. It allows a very sharp pointy tip but still keeps a strong thick spine for strength. It is a slicing/slashing dream. It slices through heavy rope like a razor blade. The knife was one of the sharpest knife I have seen right out of the box. This is right up there with my PM2 Sprint M390. (as seen in the pics)
The blade, titanium frame, and G-10 has a spine design filed into them. Its cool and adds grip on the top of the blade. The design of this knife doesn't need jimping. The blade is fat enough and swells much higher than the handle that your thumb will never slip over the top of the blade.
Once again the ergonomics are perfect and obviously feels like a Strider design.
I love simplicity of the design of this knife. To me it looks like a modern Cave man knife with a wide flat piece of flint napped and stuck into a stick.
The strength of this knife is not to be questioned. It uses the same over sized bull pivot as the SMF and SNG. This pivot is over sized for the SMF so it is ridiculously over built for the SJ-75. I plan on using this knife in the woods as well as EDC. I field dress a lot of deer each year and the design of the SJ-75 looks to be a perfect skinning knife. Its razor edge ought to slice effortlessly though thick meat.
Calling this knife a "gentleman's knife" is ridiculous unless your gentleman is Rambo. This is like saying a Badger makes a better house pet than a Pit bull because it is smaller. This knife would be just as at home on a soldier or in the woods with a hunter or for the every mans EDC. Strider doesn't build weak knives. This knife has teeth and is a slashing thruster that could easily be called in for fighting if need be. I see the new Strider SJ-75 as a better slicing knife and a more updated EDC design. Mick Strider knows how to build knives and the SJ-75 hits a home run.:thumbup:
UPDATE:
I already took the SJ-75 apart to see how it was made and clean it up. It's very similar to the SNG. The stop pin is secured deep in both sides of the frame. It appears to be very strong.
The SJ-75 has huge bronze washers. There is two different sizes on the knife. The larger washer is on the G10 side. The smaller washer is the same size used on the SNG.
The new large bull pivot is a better design than the SNG/SMF. It can be adjusted with a large flat head screw driver. No spanner tool is required but if you own the tool it will still work.
I got some great pics of the new lock face. As you can see in the pic, Strider no longer cuts a radius into the bottom of the blade. It is a smooth tapered cut.
This is to eliminate any long term for and aft blade play. It also eliminates all the sticky lock break-in period. I can say I have flipped this knife over several 100 times in its first day and the lock disengagement was always smooth.
Older style Strider lock. This is from one of my SMF. Notice the radius cut:
