Vosteed... becoming one of my favorites.

[millarddj]

I have a lot of thoughts about Vosteed and have owned a few of them at this point. Nightshade, Mini Nightshade, Chipmunk, Valkyrie, Raccoon button lock, and a couple of different Thunderbirds.

My hot take is that Vosteed has not historically done a good job with their button locks. None of them have been great. I've gotten consistently better action on button locks, particularly those by CJRB/Artisan and Kizer (which is my pick for best budget button lock brand). I was also woefully disappointed to find that I could consistently break the lockup on both Thunderbirds with a spine whack - and neither of them could compete with many cheaper button lock folders in action. So...I was rather disappointed.

Overall fit and finish have always been solid. I am not qualified enough to comment upon their blade steel or heat treatment.

On the positive side, I'm an idiot for getting rid of the Chipmunk. That was a very well built, clever little folder and it is not easy to find (especially in the only decent color combination - black on black).

I recently acquired a Mink in Copper Dune simply because I thought it looked great, and it is an excellent pocket fixed blade. I do not intend to part with it.

I have heard that their top liner lock is top of the budget line game, and would really like to try it out. A Marten in Copper Dune is near the top of my folder wishlist at present.

 

[Chronovore]

I have a lot of thoughts about Vosteed and have owned a few of them at this point. Nightshade, Mini Nightshade, Chipmunk, Valkyrie, Raccoon button lock, and a couple of different Thunderbirds.

My hot take is that Vosteed has not historically done a good job with their button locks. None of them have been great. I've gotten consistently better action on button locks, particularly those by CJRB/Artisan and Kizer (which is my pick for best budget button lock brand). I was also woefully disappointed to find that I could consistently break the lockup on both Thunderbirds with a spine whack - and neither of them could compete with many cheaper button lock folders in action. So...I was rather disappointed.

Overall fit and finish have always been solid. I am not qualified enough to comment upon their blade steel or heat treatment.

On the positive side, I'm an idiot for getting rid of the Chipmunk. That was a very well built, clever little folder and it is not easy to find (especially in the only decent color combination - black on black).

I recently acquired a Mink in Copper Dune simply because I thought it looked great, and it is an excellent pocket fixed blade. I do not intend to part with it.

I have heard that their top liner lock is top of the budget line game, and would really like to try it out. A Marten in Copper Dune is near the top of my folder wishlist at present.

I mentioned that the one example I had of their Vanchor lock had a weak detent. Interesting mechanism but I'm not inclined to try again.

My luck with button locks overall, from any brand, has been extremely hit or miss. The absolute best is my WE Qubit, which is wonderfully snappy and totally opposite from the wet noodle I've felt on the Civivi versions. Otherwise, the best examples I've had have been from Kizer. Still, variation on particular models from the same brand can be a thing too. Some designs seem straight-up better than others in that respect, such as in that WE Qubit having a great reputation for being so much better than its Civivi counterpart.

The top-liner button locks seem to be another story. I recently handled a few of the Kizer Drop Bear 2 with top-liner button locks and they are fantastic. That inspired me to order the Vosteed Kroc. I'll try to remember and post about it soon.

 

[millarddj]

I mentioned that the one example I had of their Vanchor lock had a weak detent. Interesting mechanism but I'm not inclined to try again.

My luck with button locks overall, from any brand, has been extremely hit or miss. The absolute best is my WE Qubit, which is wonderfully snappy and totally opposite from the wet noodle I've felt on the Civivi versions. Otherwise, the best examples I've had have been from Kizer. Still, variation on particular models from the same brand can be a thing too. Some designs seem straight-up better than others in that respect, such as in that WE Qubit having a great reputation for being so much better than its Civivi counterpart.

The top-liner button locks seem to be another story. I recently handled a few of the Kizer Drop Bear 2 with top-liner button locks and they are fantastic. That inspired me to order the Vosteed Kroc. I'll try to remember and post about it soon.

I've not tried anything with the Vanchor lock. Good info on the Qubit. I've nearly pulled the trigger on the Civivi version multiple times, but what's stopped me is the quality difference I've noticed in the one WE knife I own (Banter) compared to a multitude of Civivis I've been through.

Please do share your thoughts on the Kroc here.

 

[millarddj]

You guys need the new Psyop in your life!

Vosteed has been very good to me. Here are the ones I’ve got.

Racoon was my gateway into Vosteed. Civivi was bringing out bangers but then it seemed their designs were boring. Vosteed caught my interest for cleaner and better designs.

All have been sharp as heck. Detents all suffer on them, bounce off as they drop shut you have to watch em. But past that everything on them have been stellar.

The Thunderbird is a fidget king. Marten is a classy knife but the finger choil is to big. The new Psyop is just the right size. The fixed Mink is beyond comfortable in the hand with a sheath that’s top.

In terms of Chinese budget blades Vosteed takes the prize in my humble opinion.

Nice lineup! Those Psyops look bangin'.

 

[Chronovore]

I've not tried anything with the Vanchor lock. Good info on the Qubit. I've nearly pulled the trigger on the Civivi version multiple times, but what's stopped me is the quality difference I've noticed in the one WE knife I own (Banter) compared to a multitude of Civivis I've been through.

Please do share your thoughts on the Kroc here.

In general, my experiences with Civivi and Sencut have been excellent. I've had a veritable boat load of knives from WE across sub-brands and OEM. Every once in a while, there is an issue with something. That's been my experience with most companies though, and not just from China. Customer service under the WE umbrella has been decent. I've been able to swap things out and they do have stateside support last I checked. (I've sent in knives twice, once for lockup issues on a discontinued model and once for a stripped screw. Repairs were good and turnaround time was reasonable.) They actually had a former US knife reviewer with technical skills, equipment, and access to parts handling it for them.

My experiences with Civivi button locks having weaker or less snappy detents has been par for the course with a lot of button locks from a lot of companies. The standout with the WE version of the Qubit definitely seems to be a matter of construction or design. I've handled two. Both pop open with a satisfying "ping". Both have good lockup. You don't get the bottle opener on the WE version but I don't care. The ergonomics are awesome and it's a great knife.

So I got the Kroc. Initial impressions are good. I'll get an actual post once I've had time to mess around with it, carry it, grab pics, etc. Motivated by the discussion here, I did just place an order for a fancy version of the Psyop...

 

[rlewpolar]

I have a lot of thoughts about Vosteed and have owned a few of them at this point. Nightshade, Mini Nightshade, Chipmunk, Valkyrie, Raccoon button lock, and a couple of different Thunderbirds.

My hot take is that Vosteed has not historically done a good job with their button locks. None of them have been great. I've gotten consistently better action on button locks, particularly those by CJRB/Artisan and Kizer (which is my pick for best budget button lock brand). I was also woefully disappointed to find that I could consistently break the lockup on both Thunderbirds with a spine whack - and neither of them could compete with many cheaper button lock folders in action. So...I was rather disappointed.

Overall fit and finish have always been solid. I am not qualified enough to comment upon their blade steel or heat treatment.

On the positive side, I'm an idiot for getting rid of the Chipmunk. That was a very well built, clever little folder and it is not easy to find (especially in the only decent color combination - black on black).

I recently acquired a Mink in Copper Dune simply because I thought it looked great, and it is an excellent pocket fixed blade. I do not intend to part with it.

I have heard that their top liner lock is top of the budget line game, and would really like to try it out. A Marten in Copper Dune is near the top of my folder wishlist at present.

The button lock on my new Psyop 299 is excellent. The detent is also very snappy and the whole knife feels very solid. Interestingly enough, I just returned a full-sized Psyop with a micarta handle. I dunno, the button lock on the full-sized Psyop felt a little tinny is the best way I can describe it and just didn’t have quite the solid feeling and action that the new Psyop 299 has. The button lock Racoon I have is also superb. The Porupine button lock, good but not as good as the Racoon. None of the Vosteeds I’ve had so far have been bad but a couple have been outstanding. No different than any other brand I suppose.

 

[Chronovore]

So I got that Kroc and it is very nice! The top-liner button lock is good and the action is about as good as I'd expect for the overall geometry of the knife. Lock-up is solid too.