Talonite Talon Comments

[Kevin Miller]

I just received a Talonite Talon from a fellow forumite in a trade and I have the following comments.

The bevels from the factory were greater than twenty degrees. I used a DMT coarse diamond hone to create a fifteen degree back bevel and then put a primary bevel of twenty degrees with a Spyderco Sharpmaker.

I liked the index and thumb notches and notice that they seem to "grip" one way more than the other. I looked at them under a stereo microscope and found that they look like saw teeth and are angled. The handle fits well in my hand.

The knife seemed a little loose in the sheath so I drilled a hole in the spine side of the sheath and added a chicago screw to tighten it up (pictured below).

I like the adjustable belt loop mechanism and the latch mechanism that allows it to be slipped over the belt quickly. I miss the ability to slip it inside the waist band of my pants like you can with the "G" loop setup of other concealex sheaths.

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Kevin Miller
My Personal Interests Page
kevinandtrish@sympatico.ca
Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always.

 

[SDouglas]

Kevin,

If the sheath is loose it may be one of the original sheaths and Camillus will replace it if you care. It looks like the additional screw will do the job extremely well.

I believe that the thicker angle was put on the TALON for durability since Talonite is softer than steel and therefore more prone to edge rolling if you cut harder material.

I certainly have high praise for the Talon that I carried for awhile before giving it to my Dad.


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AKTI Member No. A000370

 

[Will Fennell]

Kevin,
Glad you like the TALON! We strive for 20-25 degrees on the TALON edge, but we do this operation by hand, so there is some variance. I sharpen my personal TALON the same way you did with my #204 sharpmaker, and it performs very well.

We had some sheaths early on that were loose, we will replace it for you, but it looks like your certainly fixed the problem well! The Tek-Lok is removeable, and works very well with Blade-Tech's IWB loop. Thier IWB set up is sized to fit our eyelet holes[since they make the sheath for us

]. I usually use a 1 ft. loop of 550 cord to carry IWB with a 'rip cord' arrangement. Works well, and is very versitle.

Thanks for being a customer!

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Stay Sharp!
Will Fennell
Camillus Cutlery
www.camillusknives.com

 

[toothed]

Will, can you detail your IWB setup using ripcord? Sounds like something that I would like to try out. Thanks.

Edit: Actually, I guess I would rather have an IWB loop from Blade-Tech. Why couldn't Camillus have included the loop with the knife? With the price of the knife already high, I wouldn't have minded paying a few bucks more for an optional carry method. Perhaps Camillus should include this accessory in future shipments of the Talon out of the factory.

[This message has been edited by toothed (edited 03-20-2001).]

 

[Will Fennell]

toothed,
We haven't considered adding any additional cost to the TALON by including concealment accesorries for a field/utility knife. It just didn't fit with the intended uses for the knife.
I mentioned the 'ripcord' arrangment for someone who might want to carry that way, but I use it on our CQB fighter. It is simply a approx. 1 ft loop of parachute cord through the top eyelet of the sheath after taking off the Tek-Lok. I loop the cord around my belt [ in a 'cow hitch'], and then stuff the sheath in my waistband [you can also do this into your pocket for a 'slip sheath' which would work well for the TALON]. When you grasp the knife handle and begin to draw the knife, the sheath will come with it, then as the cord pulls tight, the cord will hold the sheath, and the knife pops free. Very safe for drawing and re-sheathing.

I hope this helps. If you want a BLadeTech IWB loop, I'm sure they can help you out for a minimal cost. I hope you enjoy your TALON!

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Stay Sharp!
Will Fennell
Camillus Cutlery
www.camillusknives.com

 

[toothed]

Thanks Will. I'll give it a try with the with the ripcord arrangement but will probably look into the Blade-Tech loop.

Yes, I do like the Talon. When handling the knife it gives me a sense of real quality materials. The ergonomics are excellent for my hand. I think it's a nice size for alot of my needs. (I even use it sometimes to cut my sandwiches at lunch). The reputation of the Talonite gives me alot of confidence to use the knife on any material or under wet conditions without worry of rust or corrosion damage. (How rust resistant are the two screws that hold the scales together?). I understand that the G-10 scales are ground to fit the tang exactly--does that preclude someone from easily replacing the scales with stag or some other handle material?

Although I like the knife, I find the supplied Tek-Lock too bulky for my preference and am looking for something more sleek and understated. A horizontal carry leather belt sheath that allows for cross-draws would be interesting. Thanks again for the information.

 

[David1967]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by SDouglas:
Kevin,

If the sheath is loose it may be one of the original sheaths and Camillus will replace it if you care. It looks like the additional screw will do the job extremely well.


</font>

I have just bought another Talon for a friend of mine. Even though it has the newer version of the sheath, the problem is still the same. The knife holds a bit tighter but that is still not enough for handle down carrying position. IMO the older sheath even looked better. The new one has the opening much wider (if I put chicago screw there - as it is on the picture - I will not be able to pull the knife out). I hope my friend will be able to fix it somehow. I saw some pictures of the custom made sheaths by Rob and they seemed to be a bit longer - at least the part holding the scales. Maybe that would be the way to fix those sheaths better....

But regardless of the sheath problems I think that the Talon is very good knife and actually made me think of buying talonite folder.... the TNT.

David



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