AntDog
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2001
- Messages
- 27,014
As some of you know, I was blessed to win this knife in an extremely generous giveaway. I'm going to post an initial review of the knife now, and post an update in about 6 months to let you all know how well it holds up. (I have no doubt it will hold up, I just think it will be neat to show off all the character it develops over time!)
Here are the specs straight from the maker, Mark Varga:
Model: Vesper
Blade just shy of 4 @ .16 CPM-154
Handle is 5 6-4 titanium @ .14
.25 pivot
.125 press fit hardened stop pin
Stainless hardware and detent
Peters HT to 61 Rc
GTC bearings
Carved clip
Steve Kelly standoffs
Acid stonewashed blade
Orange peeled titanium
Carbidized lock face
My first impressions of this knife were extremely favorable. It has "presence". When I first took it out of the box and flipped it open, all I could do was say "wow" and stare at it for a while! It just exudes quality, precision, and attention to detail.
The handle is very ergonomic. It feels like it was made just for me. It melts into the hand, and develops no hot spots even during pretty heavy and extended use. I attribute this to the fact that every surface on the handle that would come in contact with your hand (and actually the entire knife) has been "gone over". Everything has been nicely chamfered or dehorned. No part was neglected! Just stunning! The finish on the Ti is excellent, and I think it goes with the blade finish very well.
This knife has a lot of little details that are extremely well thought out and executed. Even down to the perfect tension on the pocket clip. When I pull it from my pocket, I can hear the "click" of the clip making contact with the scale. Soooo nice, and just how I like it. The knife slides easily into the pocket and stays very secure, but slips out with a gentle pull. The clip is also very stable and secure, due to it being triple tapped. That's right - 2 screws on the outside and a third on the inside of the scale for extra security and stability. Also worthy of mention is the heavy duty stop pin. It is press fit into one scale, but comes loose from the other for disassembly. The hardware is all very high quality. The standoffs are nice and beefy.
The blade has a very unique acid stonewash finish. It looks great and hides scratches extremely well. They just seem to blend in. The grind thins out gradually down to a very sharp edge. The blade is thick enough to inspire confidence in almost any task, but the edge is plenty thin and fantastically "slicey"! The flipper works very well, and with the bearing setup it flies open like butter! Mark told me he purposely kept the flipper on the smaller side so it wouldn't be obtrusive. I like the idea, and it works. It doesn't stick way out of the frame, but there's more than enough there to flip the blade open. There is also plenty enough flipper to function as a nice guard to keep your fingers from slipping up the blade.
I am very pleased with this knife. I actually have no complaints about it at all. It's a beast, but still manages to look sleek and sexy at the same time. I have been using it since I received it and it has held up very well. I expect it will continue to do so long into the future.
Mark, I can't thank you enough for the knife. You really knocked it out of the park with this one sir!
Here are the specs straight from the maker, Mark Varga:
Model: Vesper
Blade just shy of 4 @ .16 CPM-154
Handle is 5 6-4 titanium @ .14
.25 pivot
.125 press fit hardened stop pin
Stainless hardware and detent
Peters HT to 61 Rc
GTC bearings
Carved clip
Steve Kelly standoffs
Acid stonewashed blade
Orange peeled titanium
Carbidized lock face
My first impressions of this knife were extremely favorable. It has "presence". When I first took it out of the box and flipped it open, all I could do was say "wow" and stare at it for a while! It just exudes quality, precision, and attention to detail.
The handle is very ergonomic. It feels like it was made just for me. It melts into the hand, and develops no hot spots even during pretty heavy and extended use. I attribute this to the fact that every surface on the handle that would come in contact with your hand (and actually the entire knife) has been "gone over". Everything has been nicely chamfered or dehorned. No part was neglected! Just stunning! The finish on the Ti is excellent, and I think it goes with the blade finish very well.
This knife has a lot of little details that are extremely well thought out and executed. Even down to the perfect tension on the pocket clip. When I pull it from my pocket, I can hear the "click" of the clip making contact with the scale. Soooo nice, and just how I like it. The knife slides easily into the pocket and stays very secure, but slips out with a gentle pull. The clip is also very stable and secure, due to it being triple tapped. That's right - 2 screws on the outside and a third on the inside of the scale for extra security and stability. Also worthy of mention is the heavy duty stop pin. It is press fit into one scale, but comes loose from the other for disassembly. The hardware is all very high quality. The standoffs are nice and beefy.
The blade has a very unique acid stonewash finish. It looks great and hides scratches extremely well. They just seem to blend in. The grind thins out gradually down to a very sharp edge. The blade is thick enough to inspire confidence in almost any task, but the edge is plenty thin and fantastically "slicey"! The flipper works very well, and with the bearing setup it flies open like butter! Mark told me he purposely kept the flipper on the smaller side so it wouldn't be obtrusive. I like the idea, and it works. It doesn't stick way out of the frame, but there's more than enough there to flip the blade open. There is also plenty enough flipper to function as a nice guard to keep your fingers from slipping up the blade.
I am very pleased with this knife. I actually have no complaints about it at all. It's a beast, but still manages to look sleek and sexy at the same time. I have been using it since I received it and it has held up very well. I expect it will continue to do so long into the future.
Mark, I can't thank you enough for the knife. You really knocked it out of the park with this one sir!
