- Joined
- Jun 6, 2000
- Messages
- 3,625
Oh C4 just for the record I have used a Talonite knife
!
I did not Cliff Stamp it, but I sure felt sick...
It was a small neck knife made by Camillus, I am sure you know the model . Basicly a friend of mine with a fair wad of cash wanted a good small fixed blade for surfing and other water sports/activities. He is also a keen mountain biker, his name is Fraiser and apparently he is a very good mountain biker having been seen on Eurosport and he takes part in compo's. Well as he has spent over 4K on his bike and has a good unterestanding of high-tech, he wanted a Ti neck knife for carry when biking and for water sports. He was under the impression that Ti was the best and wanted a knife that would never ever rust, he spends enough time on his bike that a rusting knife is something he can't be bothered with. Well I explained the situation and told him to go for a Talonite knife (after explaining its downsides and pluses). He did not consider its relative weakness a problem as he does not do the 'heavy' stuff with it and has had no real problems with it. Well I told him to get one and asked to play with it for a couple of weeks (for the advice 
).
I found the material has a strange 'greasy' (well slightly greasy) feel to it. It simply felt more slippery than steel. The finish was not satin or glass bead. The edge out of box was very good and dulled from shaving sharp after a fair bit of use, it did however continue to function to a good level of performance for the full two weeks of use (light cutting). However, after a bit of use in the kitchen cutting mushrooms and bacon I took it to the sink and proceeded to wash it. I lost my grip and it fell about 40cms into the sink. I tried to grab it and in doing so sent it edge first into the stainless steel sink. The result was me cursing like a fool and being brought near to tears when I saw the damage to the edge. A section of the edge about 1.5 cm long near the tip had a 'chunk' gone from it. I thought it had rolled but a steel did little to help. Closer inspection showed about .5 of a mm or so (I don't have the proper equipment to measure it then or now) had simply chipped out. I had no choice but to remove stock to bring the edge back. I sharpened the edge for about 20 mins to remove the damage (Medium sharpmaker stone). Luckily for me, Frasier did not notice anything amiss and nothing has ever been said since. However for a slight drop like this it made me really think twice about paying such a lot of money for such a knife. At some point funds allowing I will buy either the same neck knife (which otherwise was amazing) or the Talonite EDC 154CM which I am looking more towards as the 'normal' steel handles are more grippy for me (I own two of the 154CM models).
So to sum up I think Talonite is very very good, but it is unfair to ignore its very real weakness in strength when compared to 'normal' steels like 154CM or 8a etc.
In perspective I have used a Puma Cougar very VERY hard chopping and cutting in the woods. It dulled sure, but no damage of any noticable manner and it is made from 154CM to 62-64! Must be an amazing heat treat.
When using my 812 M2 for cutting in work a few months back I slipped and sent it full force through a cardbaord box and into a 1cm thick glass top of the counter. The counter had a deep gouge in it and the worst I can say is the tip was no longer needle sharp. A few mins with a steel and five with the white stones on a sharpmaker brought it back to needle sharpness. The steel brought it back to a sharp point, enough for me to be happy with, but as it was a new knife at the time, I wanted to get it just so. Thats M2 for you!
!I did not Cliff Stamp it, but I sure felt sick...
It was a small neck knife made by Camillus, I am sure you know the model
. Basicly a friend of mine with a fair wad of cash wanted a good small fixed blade for surfing and other water sports/activities. He is also a keen mountain biker, his name is Fraiser and apparently he is a very good mountain biker having been seen on Eurosport and he takes part in compo's. Well as he has spent over 4K on his bike and has a good unterestanding of high-tech, he wanted a Ti neck knife for carry when biking and for water sports. He was under the impression that Ti was the best and wanted a knife that would never ever rust, he spends enough time on his bike that a rusting knife is something he can't be bothered with. Well I explained the situation and told him to go for a Talonite knife (after explaining its downsides and pluses). He did not consider its relative weakness a problem as he does not do the 'heavy' stuff with it and has had no real problems with it. Well I told him to get one and asked to play with it for a couple of weeks (for the advice ). I found the material has a strange 'greasy' (well slightly greasy) feel to it. It simply felt more slippery than steel. The finish was not satin or glass bead. The edge out of box was very good and dulled from shaving sharp after a fair bit of use, it did however continue to function to a good level of performance for the full two weeks of use (light cutting). However, after a bit of use in the kitchen cutting mushrooms and bacon I took it to the sink and proceeded to wash it. I lost my grip and it fell about 40cms into the sink. I tried to grab it and in doing so sent it edge first into the stainless steel sink. The result was me cursing like a fool and being brought near to tears when I saw the damage to the edge. A section of the edge about 1.5 cm long near the tip had a 'chunk' gone from it. I thought it had rolled but a steel did little to help. Closer inspection showed about .5 of a mm or so (I don't have the proper equipment to measure it then or now) had simply chipped out. I had no choice but to remove stock to bring the edge back. I sharpened the edge for about 20 mins to remove the damage (Medium sharpmaker stone). Luckily for me, Frasier did not notice anything amiss and nothing has ever been said since. However for a slight drop like this it made me really think twice about paying such a lot of money for such a knife. At some point funds allowing I will buy either the same neck knife (which otherwise was amazing) or the Talonite EDC 154CM which I am looking more towards as the 'normal' steel handles are more grippy for me (I own two of the 154CM models).
So to sum up I think Talonite is very very good, but it is unfair to ignore its very real weakness in strength when compared to 'normal' steels like 154CM or 8a etc.
In perspective I have used a Puma Cougar very VERY hard chopping and cutting in the woods. It dulled sure, but no damage of any noticable manner and it is made from 154CM to 62-64! Must be an amazing heat treat.
When using my 812 M2 for cutting in work a few months back I slipped and sent it full force through a cardbaord box and into a 1cm thick glass top of the counter. The counter had a deep gouge in it and the worst I can say is the tip was no longer needle sharp. A few mins with a steel and five with the white stones on a sharpmaker brought it back to needle sharpness. The steel brought it back to a sharp point, enough for me to be happy with, but as it was a new knife at the time, I wanted to get it just so. Thats M2 for you!
