Looks pretty darn good to me although for my taste there are some changes I'd make.
1] I like the simplicity of the design. Apart from the Kephart thing the shape isn't a million miles away from the Bunderswehrmesser, offerings from Carl Eickhorn, and rather similar to a WW2 Kampfmesser I have seen. Nice and simple and to the point. Very military in appearance but mercifully devoid of the usual over-egging the pudding that usually accompanies such knives.
2] Improvements on this design would be welcome. Even noticed the way the bottom of a Laconico plunge is canted back toward the hand? Very nice touch, puts more blade under you thumb. Boker do this on some of there jobs and the F1 we're probably all familiar with has it too. Not only does the ground vertical plunge miss a trick there but could also have been incorporated into a solution for something else. Generic I hate all choils, and nirvana is a knife just ground all the way to the handle merchants should skip this bit: Despite grinding up to the handle there is a dirty great lump estranging the hand from the blade. It might look all dandy in the ham-fisted autoerotic grip but the moment you move you grip from ninety degrees to it there's a cloddy mound in the way. Whilst the function to protect the fingers is great there's just no way it needs to be that thick.
See already how much useless thickness is between his index finger and the blade. Try gripping that for fine work and your hand is going to be moved even further back.
That is completely unnecessary with a a material such as Micarta. It makes a certain amount of sense to sacrifice that on reenactment pieces, done simply without bolsters, because the handle material is nowhere near as strong as Miacarta and a little sliver of wood there would be quite vulnerable. Leaving it chunky is a solution.
But it is not a solution that is necessary here given the material strength of Micarta. I feel a trick was missed here and they didn't play to the enormous advantages of the material by slimming down that bulk.
I like knives with a certain amount of flat to the handle as it pays dividends amongst the grime in that the handle squirms less easily. To my mind anything that readily promotes a knife to rotate in my hand needs avoiding. That said, it is very plain slab and it would have been a lot nicer if the slabs were wider at the top than at the bottom. It makes cutting resistant stuff nicer.
Uniformity of the blade thickness is something I don't enjoy. For my personal use I like a bit of distal taper because I find that more pleasing to interact with. I like the having a knife tip with fine poise and frankly just prefer the aesthetics too. When I see some blade just left along its length at stock thickness I think of cheaply done homemade grinder effort regardless of how flashy the handle is. In this case I won't knock it for that though 'cos I don't think it is marketed at me. Those at whom this knife seems pitched may well benefit for the tip strength that I would find superfluous.
An essential feature on this kind of knife in my opinion is the handle looks to be a sensible size for use with gloves on. Nothing much to add. This looks like someone who knows had a hand in that.
Price wise it seems bang on even at the introductory price, and I'd certainly expect to pay a lot less than that once the dust settled. To compare though $180 USD is $112.608 GBP . That's about £10 more the excellent Cold Steel Master Hunter goes for here and about par with the lovely little Nimravus Cub also in 154CM. Further, it's only a bit more expensive than Ontario's TAK 1 in D2 and good deal less than an Ontario RAT 5 also in D2. And despite it being VG10 rather than 154 CM a usual suspect in the shape of the Al Mar SERE Operator commands £150 more. Subjective I know, and I've only tried Fallknivens VG10 but I don't see a justified £150 price hike over 154 CM or ATS 34. If you wind in what Rowan manufacturing asks for their TOPS or whatever in a bit of old painted 1095 and this starts to look like a bargain, even at the initial over the top price.
Lots to like with this one. TF he didn't babble some sh1te about how he thinks he's a sheep dog. Irritating as the build up was at least I could stick with it.
) I'm going to pass.
