Timberline Vallotton (Chameleon)

[Cosmic Superchunk]

Over the weekend while I was out of town I stopped by a sporting goods shop and picked up a Timberline Vallotton folder patterned after Butch's Chameleon folder. This knife is very very lightweight, but don't let that fool you. This is a very well thought out design and comes razor sharp with a solid lockup. The blade is AUS-8 and comes in either plain edge or partially serrated. The one I bought came partially serrated in a combo pack with a Gatco Tri-Seps sharpener.

The action on the Timberline is very smooth and is designed for tip up carry. The handle has dual stainless steel liners with zytel scales and kraton inserts and feels goos in the hand. The only problem with the handle design in my opinion is that since the pocket clip rests on the kraton insert, it is difficult to clip the knife to you pocket after use. However, on the plus side, there is little chance of loosing the knife from your pocket.

Overall, this is a very cool and highly functional knife, which also makes for a good inexpensive gift for anyone into knives.

 

[Bruise Lee]

El Cid, I noticed you bought 2 knives I'm considering purchasing: the CRKT Crawford Falcon Large and the Timberline Vallotten Chameleon. Use would be EDC opening cardboard boxes at work (not all the time, thankfully!), and as a tactical self-defense piece.

I already own a large CRKT Point Guard. I like the knife a lot, but the handle of the knife just does not cover the tip of the blade well enough in my humble opinion. I got a fairly nasty scratch from it just retrieving it from my pocket! I don't know about you, but if a folder is folded, IMHO you shouldn't be able to get cut!

I also have a Kershaw Vapor II. It's a great knife, very well made, ergonomic, and gotta love the frame lock! Only problem is I'm left-handed, and there is only a thumb stud on one side!

The Falcon looks good cause of the LAWKS, and I like the way they drilled and textured the Zytel handles. Also, that knife is about as big as I'd want to go in a folder. I checked out the large CRKT Crawford/Kasper, but it's a bit big and heavy in my opinion.

Things I like about the Chameleon are I really like Kraton on my handles, plus it's really light.

So, I guess my question is: which of these two knives do you find yourself carrying?