Trestle Pines Barlow first impression-
Specs-
625″ Bolster to tip
Half Stop: Yes
Steel: 154CM
Blade thickness: .063″ at the mid point
OAL Open: 6.125″
OAL Closed: 3.5″
Height: .75″
Thickness: .43″
These were produced in both reclaimed wood and a selection of "exotic" varieties.
I'm going to barrow Will Power's format that he used for the superior as I found it very straight forward and informative. After answering the basics I will do my best as a novice to answer some of the questions that have come up now that I have had two of these in hand.
Gaps when held up to daylight? Hairline up by the bolster.
Blade play of any sort? No
Blade centered? Yes
Arrived sharp enough to shave hair? Yes
Decent grinds/bevel? Yes
Pins flush? Yes all 8
Pinch open? Yes
Pull to half stop/open 3 to half stop, 5 to open.
Spring flush open/half stop/closed? Flush open/closed. Slightly proud at half stop.
Visually both of the knives looked amazing. Better in hand than the pictures. The double dyed Boxelder burl and Black Ash burl both have great finishes and are really nice to look at. There was nothing rough or unfinished in either set of covers. I could only keep one and went with the Ash. My wife picked this one out and although my covers are not perfectly matched( this was intentional on her part to compare the difference in sides with time and age) there were others available that were very well paired.
EO cut out-
As for the EO cut out or "easy relief " I would say that this was not an addition thrown in just to be different but instead is placed to be a functional part of the knife. Yes this blade can be pinched open but I feel like that wasn't the intention. It can be done, but with medium to large fingers it becomes a pinch with the very tip of your finger and thumb. Although the cut out is shallow and may look odd with the nail nick that far down the blade these were both positioned to make it nice and easy to open. These features combined with a lighter pull puts it on the opposite end of a nail breaker.
Tip exposure from the EO cut out-
In my opinion there is a good deal more room then it appears in pictures to sharpen the knife before the tip becomes exposed in the notch. With some serious use and a lot of sharpening you could get to that point but by then I think you could do some interesting things re shaping.
Knife edge and the back spring-
it is definitely a tight fit inside the liners and I did the best I could with a small light to try and estimate the clearance of the closed blade to the back spring. From what I can see the clearance is minimal but there are no indications anywhere I can see that the blade is resting on or hitting the spring. So long as this is the case the clearance should only increase with more sharpening.
Profile in pocket-
The knife shares many similarities to the #25 in a drop point. Although the spine sticks up and then angles into the liner it's not noticeable in a negative way and is far less than pictures would lead one to believe.The thin profile of the knife and OAL really make it disappear in the pocket. If you weren't checking closely you might think you'd lost it.
I have a tendency to be hard on things. It's not intentional or abusive but all my knives( which is only a hand full) are well maintained users and I don't baby them. Being 154CM I am going to run this knife through the paces especially around salt water. I'll gladly provide periodic updates on strengths and weaknesses as they develop. Hope this was helpful-
