Who's gotten their 5.1 Starter?

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Heres my little girly hand with a new 5.1

 
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That could be my hand, size wise. Yet I gotta say, I like the grip. It is quite close to the grip on my Swamp Rat 'mandus, which I think are the best grips I've ever held.
 
rockspyder said:
That could be my hand, size wise. Yet I gotta say, I like the grip. It is quite close to the grip on my Swamp Rat 'mandus, which I think are the best grips I've ever held.
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Actually I just find myself weird for not liking the handle on the RMD as much as many of you here. I think I am weird one here.
 
I actually really do not like the RMD handles either. The top to bottom contours are nice, but the thinness and flatness irritated me. I have come into and let go 3 rmds. Every time really have them a college try. I just couldn't get over the flat handle.
 
Like I said, I like the 5.1's grip. It has not taken over the top spot from my 'mandus, though. And I doubt it ever will. It is specifically the flatness across the scales that I like the best about the 'mandu, I think. There is no ambiguity whatsoever in where the edge is, in any grip, while it is still extremely comfortable working with it due to the swells on the upper and lower edge of the grip. Whereas the more rounded grip of the 5.1 is just slightly more ambiguous, because it is so rounded all around, in my opinion. That is one of the reasons why, I think, I cannot stand any sort of Scandinavian-produced blade. All their handles are so rounded.

At least I think that is why I like the 'mandu grip best. The 5.1 is an EXTREMELY close second, and I could believe as I get more time in the "cockpit" (borrowing a term from Sal Glesser), I will come to like it just as much as the 'mandus. But I don't think it will ever take over the top spot in likeability, for me, in the size range of the 5.1, Ratmandu, INFImandu, SWATmandu.
 
I guess hand grips are very personal. Some like it big and fat whereas some like it thin and flat. Different strokes for different folks. We are all born different.
 
pjandyho said:
I guess hand grips are very personal. Some like it big and fat whereas some like it thin and flat. Different strokes for different folks. We are all born different.
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EXACTLY!

One thing I will note. Jman (?) posted about the tang being above the scales (or was that below?). Anyway, mine are perfect. You cannot run your finger across the scale/tang interface and discern where the tang vs. scale is. At all. It is better than a Busse BG Team Gemini that I have right next to it, where the tang is easily felt all the way around. Not that it is enough to be a problem, and I didn't even notice it until Jman posted about the 5.1, and I pulled out the BGTG to compare to mine.

No, the 5.1 is about as perfect as a knife gets, technically. There will always be variations among individuals on what they like about a knife, such that no knife can ever please everyone perfectly. And the fact the 5.1 is in 20CV (and maybe in the future I'll have one in 3V as well) instead of a coated SR-101 makes it desirable to me as a knife that will be in my line-up of go-tos, depending on where I'm "going to" that day. And even with the INFImandu or SWATmandu, there will be times the 5.1 will get the nod over the 'mandus. Probably mostly depending on my mood that day. The 5.1 will always be a better chopper than the 'mandus. The weight and balance of it is different. Even though they seem to balance at the same point (right behind the "guard" on the main scales), the 5.1 seems to be more blade heavy, and just heavier in general. Much more of a working knife. Whereas the 'mandus feel lighter and livelier in the hand.

To me, the 5.1 is more of a camping knife, one you take with you on a backpacking trip into the middle of nowehere. The 'mandu is one that you keep with you in your GHB, more of an urban survival or EDC type blade. It can do anything the 5.1 can, but because of the weight and the balance, it might require a little more muscle behind it while carrying lighter. As a hunting knife, I would go with the 'mandu over the 5.1. The balance of the blade, and the unambiguity of the orientation of the edge, makes it the kind of blade where you can operate it better by feel, without seeing exactly where it is (I won't go into detail, but that becomes important when you're successful as a hunter). Different needs, different knives. That is why you really can't have one knife to do everything, IMO. It might do it, but why limit yourself to a jack of all trades, even in a narrow size range, when you can have specialists that will do jobs better? That is why the knife world is so great, and why I have so many. Actually, too many. But regardless, variety is good.
 
NoviceNorth said:
Wait... Ellie has contacted some of you to give a final option of scale choice? Really?
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Not that. I was kind of worried after looking at the latest color for the camo canvas and wrote to Ellie to see if they can change all my scales color for all the knives in the waiting list. That was a few weeks ago and so Ellie emailed to ask if I would like to do the changes.
 
I wanted to add to my thoughts above...
Part of the reason the 'mandus may feel lighter is, at least in the case of my INFImandu, the blade is thinner. It is supposed to be 0.170, I believe. Mine was right at that, give or take a few thousandths. The 5.1 was right at 0.190 over most of it. More of a difference in feel than I would have thought. The blade is a little wider, too. So, overall, just a heavier knife.
 
OBX351 said:
You might like the old model a bit better.
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It appears I might as well. Judging by the pics Storm72 posted it does seem as though the older variant was 'thicker' for a good portion of the overall length, which means it would have probably fit my hands better. And yes, I'm still talking about a knife handle! :p
 
The handle on the old ones was shorter though.

Green is my old one, orange my new one.

 
Riz! said:
Photobucket works again!

Heres my little girly hand with a new 5.1

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Yea, that is quite a bit different then what it is for me. I can certainly understand why the handle works so well for you after seeing that picture. My Fiddleback Forge Camp Knife looks similar to that in my hand, but it's only because the handle is 5.5" long!

BHK has a 'design your own knife' option that I took advantage of. My handle spec's? Broomstick that's about an inch wide, almost 5" long and tapers from approximately 1.25" height at the finger guard up to almost 1.5" at the back end. I haven't gotten it yet so I don't know how it's going to work, but judging from what I've found comfortable in the past I'll bet it's going to be very close to ideal. Now you know why I have trouble with most handles... ;)
 
rockspyder said:
One thing I will note. Jman (?) posted about the tang being above the scales (or was that below?). Anyway, mine are perfect. You cannot run your finger across the scale/tang interface and discern where the tang vs. scale is. At all. It is better than a Busse BG Team Gemini that I have right next to it, where the tang is easily felt all the way around. Not that it is enough to be a problem, and I didn't even notice it until Jman posted about the 5.1, and I pulled out the BGTG to compare to mine.
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That was indeed me, and you're correct; the tang is larger than the scales (height wise). That's not even using a thumbnail to discern, it's obvious with just my finger. In a few areas it's actually so pronounced you can actually see it.
 
Riz! said:
The handle on the old ones was shorter though.

Green is my old one, orange my new one.

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Excellent pic! Looking at the previous version compared to the new one I would agree; I could get maybe three fingers on that one.

I'm gonna use it in the field at least once, when the weather warms up a bit, but it's starting to appear as though this knife won't be in my collection for too much longer. :(
 
theJman said:
Yea, that is quite a bit different then what it is for me. I can certainly understand why the handle works so well for you after seeing that picture. My Fiddleback Forge Camp Knife looks similar to that in my hand, but it's only because the handle is 5.5" long!

BHK has a 'design your own knife' option that I took advantage of. My handle spec's? Broomstick that's about an inch wide, almost 5" long and tapers from approximately 1.25" height at the finger guard up to almost 1.5" at the back end. I haven't gotten it yet so I don't know how it's going to work, but judging from what I've found comfortable in the past I'll bet it's going to be very close to ideal. Now you know why I have trouble with most handles... ;)
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This would not be ideal, as it would make the kydex sheath unusable without modification... but have you considered handle liners? I did this to my 1st-run GSO-10. Have you held a Swamp Rat Rodent 9 or a Busse TGLB?

Another thought, have you done the "dough" test? Take a fistful of dough and simply clench it into a comfortable hammer-grip (thumb reaching just over the nail of the index-finger)? If you do this, and cut/shape the finger-side of the dough to be roughly symmetrical with the palm-side, you can get an excellent measurement of your ideal handle circumference in both the swell and the index, as well as an idea of the ideal swell-length. It sounds like this GSO-5.1 handle is a little too thin and short for your hand.

The swell and spine-curvature actually act to better distribute your grip-strength along your entire hand rather than forcing your thenar and hypothenar groups to endure the effort ... but only if they properly fill your hand, otherwise you might as well be holding a broomstick.


By the way, pics of your GSO-5.1 vs Fletcher or a Utility-Tool blade? Very interested in a comparison..... before you send it off.
 
theJman said:
That was indeed me, and you're correct; the tang is larger than the scales (height wise). That's not even using a thumbnail to discern, it's obvious with just my finger. In a few areas it's actually so pronounced you can actually see it.
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Hmmm... that definitely seems like a non-standard issue. Sorry to hear that.
 
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