Viper Fortis

Just got home from work and opened it up... I was hoping for a little longer blade length, but it's not a big deal. The knife is perfect in every way, except for the detent. Mine is weak as can be and is too easily overcome. If you don't light switch it hard, it only halfway deploys the blade. That is one of my biggest pet peeves with flippers, and makes me almost want to return it. I like a hard, strong detent that launches the blade with authority. Other than that, it's fantastic. The dimensions are great, the ergos are great, and the materials are great. I just hate weak detents.
 
tantrik77 said:
Just got home from work and opened it up... I was hoping for a little longer blade length, but it's not a big deal. The knife is perfect in every way, except for the detent. Mine is weak as can be and is too easily overcome. If you don't light switch it hard, it only halfway deploys the blade. That is one of my biggest pet peeves with flippers, and makes me almost want to return it. I like a hard, strong detent that launches the blade with authority. Other than that, it's fantastic. The dimensions are great, the ergos are great, and the materials are great. I just hate weak detents.
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Ah, sorry to hear that. May I ask where the balance point is on the carbon fiber version?
 
AF said:
Ah, sorry to hear that. May I ask where the balance point is on the carbon fiber version?
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The balance point is right behind the pivot on the handle side. Slightly in front of your pointer finger when you grip the knife... The balance point is perfect for me. Right where I like it...
 
tantrik77 said:
Just got home from work and opened it up... I was hoping for a little longer blade length, but it's not a big deal. The knife is perfect in every way, except for the detent. Mine is weak as can be and is too easily overcome. If you don't light switch it hard, it only halfway deploys the blade. That is one of my biggest pet peeves with flippers, and makes me almost want to return it. I like a hard, strong detent that launches the blade with authority. Other than that, it's fantastic. The dimensions are great, the ergos are great, and the materials are great. I just hate weak detents.
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Mine was the same way. I added some lockbar tension and now it's perfect. Of course, that means disassembling the knife.
 
tantrik77 said:
The balance point is right behind the pivot on the handle side. Slightly in front of your pointer finger when you grip the knife... The balance point is perfect for me. Right where I like it...
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Thanks, I was wondering because the ti version balances nicely at the lockbar access cutout. I like a neutral to handle-heavy balance. Not sure I'd be as happy with the carbon fiber version.
 
Happy to report my CF/satin version has quite a strong detent! It flips well and opens with the thumbhole still (although probably with a bit more effort than others). The lockbar tension is not super high so methinks there's some variability in the detent hole depth/width.

What I'm really surprised about is how no one has mentioned how exposed the tip is when the knife is closed. In terms of catching your finger on it, it's way worse than the Boker Burnley Kwaiken. Similar to the Rike 1505 I had.
 
Misanthropia said:
What I'm really surprised about is how no one has mentioned how exposed the tip is when the knife is closed. In terms of catching your finger on it, it's way worse than the Boker Burnley Kwaiken. Similar to the Rike 1505 I had.
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I find the backspacer keeps your fingers away from the tip I can't get it to catch any skin even pushing quite hard.
 
Misanthropia said:
Happy to report my CF/satin version has quite a strong detent! It flips well and opens with the thumbhole still (although probably with a bit more effort than others). The lockbar tension is not super high so methinks there's some variability in the detent hole depth/width.

What I'm really surprised about is how no one has mentioned how exposed the tip is when the knife is closed. In terms of catching your finger on it, it's way worse than the Boker Burnley Kwaiken. Similar to the Rike 1505 I had.
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I hadn't noticed that with the Fortis. I'll take another look. Edited - took another look and I see what you mean. They pushed it to the limit with blade length. Still not a practical problem IMO when carrying tip up.
If I was a potential buyer I'd be discouraged by the apparent variability with the detent strength.
 
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Does anyone else have their pivot come loose after 2 or 3 flips? This problem is probably solved with some loctite but I've never had a pivot back itself out so rapidly before. Also, the lockbar insert screws backed themselves out as well.
 
Misanthropia said:
Does anyone else have their pivot come loose after 2 or 3 flips? This problem is probably solved with some loctite but I've never had a pivot back itself out so rapidly before. Also, the lockbar insert screws backed themselves out as well.
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Wow, no. Mine has stayed pretty well set after days of flipping it all day in the car. I did put some plumbers tape on mine after disassembly though. The other screws have all stayed in place for me as well.
 
Misanthropia said:
Does anyone else have their pivot come loose after 2 or 3 flips? This problem is probably solved with some loctite but I've never had a pivot back itself out so rapidly before. Also, the lockbar insert screws backed themselves out as well.
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No, but mine has other problems. It is getting returned... I found the main problem with mine. Not only is the detent extremely weak, the stop pin is not seated completely on the carbon fiber scale side, so it splays the scales apart near the spine of the knife. This results in uneven pressure on the ball bearings/pivot, and after 15 flips or so, the friction is so high in the pivot that the knife won't open completely no matter what you do. I was expecting better QC than this from Viper. I will get a replacement and give it another go. I like the knife a lot, I just got a bad example of it.
 
tantrik77 said:
No, but mine has other problems. It is getting returned... I found the main problem with mine. Not only is the detent extremely weak, the stop pin is not seated completely on the carbon fiber scale side, so it splays the scales apart near the spine of the knife. This results in uneven pressure on the ball bearings/pivot, and after 15 flips or so, the friction is so high in the pivot that the knife won't open completely no matter what you do. I was expecting better QC than this from Viper. I will get a replacement and give it another go. I like the knife a lot, I just got a bad example of it.
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The stop pin is similar on mine, but it hasn't been causing any problems.

Edit: When I open my Fortis slowly with the thumbhole, the lock doesn't engage. I guess the $163 price point now makes sense...
 
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Hate hearing about these quality issues. Mine is full ti and no issues. If anyone else has received one please chime in.
 
Misanthropia said:
The stop pin is similar on mine, but it hasn't been causing any problems.

Edit: When I open my Fortis slowly with the thumbhole, the lock doesn't engage. I guess the $163 price point now makes sense...
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Is that a lockbar tension issue?
 
AF said:
Is that a lockbar tension issue?
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The lockbar tension on mine is quite high, it has a really strong detent as a result. I think it just needs to break in more, I've had framelocks like this before where when you open them super gently, the lockbar doesn't spring over. Not really sure what the cause is.
 
Misanthropia said:
The lockbar tension on mine is quite high, it has a really strong detent as a result. I think it just needs to break in more, I've had framelocks like this before where when you open them super gently, the lockbar doesn't spring over. Not really sure what the cause is.
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If the stop pin isn't fully seated that may be the cause.
 
I've been carrying mine all week. It's really breaking in nicely. I'm very happy with the performance so far.

It does definitely seem though, that the aggressive pricing on this one means that some examples are going to have QC issues. Hopefully that will stop after the first production run, we'll see.

I'm still lusting after the CF version. Question for those who own a CF version: is there any pitting in the carbon fiber scale? This was an issue many people noticed on the Odino and Kyomi. Just curious if they've addressed that on the Fortis.
 
halden.doerge said:
I've been carrying mine all week. It's really breaking in nicely. I'm very happy with the performance so far.

It does definitely seem though, that the aggressive pricing on this one means that some examples are going to have QC issues. Hopefully that will stop after the first production run, we'll see.

I'm still lusting after the CF version. Question for those who own a CF version: is there any pitting in the carbon fiber scale? This was an issue many people noticed on the Odino and Kyomi. Just curious if they've addressed that on the Fortis.
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There are some voids in the CF on mine in two places. There were also a few exposed burrs on the CF on the interior of the scale when I first got it. Cheaper CF will have voids like this so again, kind of makes sense with the price. Although I do see them for $200 on GP Knives, so maybe the initial $163 was a mistake?
 
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