Two big disappointments in the last five years. First, the Kershaw Shallot in S110V. It took me 2 full hours to sharpen it up, and it cut well. However, with light jobsite use, the blade chipped! No prying, stabbing, jamming or torquing the knife. Using it to slice white wood pine, it chipped! I learned a great lesson about "super steels" with that purchase. I don't need a $100 letter opener, but I have one. Second, a gorgeous Queen folder in D2. Wanted this one bad as I like the large stockman patterns, but couldn't find one with rounded bolsters I liked for literally years. But a weak spring on this knife turned into a non working spring and now it won't reliably snap shut, but freezes, even when the blade is 90% closed.
Three huge, great surprises. First, Kershaw Tremor. I like big, hard working knives for my job and this one is all that, plus one. It is no longer in production, so I just bought it for a paltry $22 delivered. It is a slicing machine with G10 handles! It is rock solid and I would put it in the feel and performance of an $80 knife with no problems. After using it for a month, I bought two more to set aside for my work (construction) as needed in the future. The steel is just right for a good work knife; it doesn't roll, chip or dull too easily. And when it is dull, I swipe it a few times on my 800gr diamond chef's steel and it is job ready again.
Second surprise, my Ontario RAT 7 in D2. I read so much about the negatives of D2 after getting this knife I was wondering if I should even take it camping. I checked out some videos of guys using this as a knife really hard, not to cut cinder blocks or pierce car hoods, and decided to try it out on my own at the house. Better to have it break at the house than out on a camping or hunting trip. I chopped through a white oak 2X4 that was about 35 years old (think hard as steel), dropped it from six feet into a stump about 20 times to see if the point would break, and did some really hard, aggressive cutting/chopping on a 2X4. Not a whiff of damage to the edge. It was much duller than when I started, but the diamond rod got it right back up to snuff in a few strokes.
The third surprise is a Cold Steel Lawman. This knife was actually recommended by a knife maker here on BF, so that gave me the idea to check one out. Like many, I was put off by the shenanigans by the owner of CS so never really paid attention to the brand. I have never owned a lighter, stronger folder. It's incredible. The hollow grinds make it a good slicer, the all G10 (no liners) body makes it incredibly light. The AUS8 they use has some kind of proprietary treatment applied to it and it blows the other AUS8 knives I have out of the water. Excellent utility work knife.
Robert
it flips like it has bearings...it's incredible.
