I think I should at least post some proper thoughts on this knife. It's just first impressions for now but I'll try and turn it into a proper review with pics in time.
the knife arrives in a very nice box, the nicest box of all my knives, I feel that this is a nice touch for such an expensive pocket knife. The little touches don't stop there, there is a small piece of paper explaining that this isn't a lock knife and reminds you to keep a digit on the tang when in use. You also get the certificate giving you some details about the knife. The knife arrives in a nice soft leather slip case, this is meant to keep the knife looking at it's best during pocket carry, I think that this example is much nicer then the one that came with my sebenza. These are all minor things but nice
The first thing you notice when you picket the knife out of the box is how light it is, I knew it was light weighing in at 0.9oz for the larger model. This is due to a very thin blade (about the width of a swiss army knife) and the carbon fiber handle, carbon fiber being so strong can be used in a knife like this without any liners yet still feeling nice and rigid in the hand. To help get the knife out of the case is a soft leather lanyard, no cheap para cord on this knife. Like the rest of the package it's fairly simple looking yet eligant and functions well.
There isn't much of the blade showing when you take the knife out of the case (a good thing in my opinion). because it's a friction folder there isn't a thumb stud or a large opening hole like other knives out there, all you have to do to open the blade is push on the tang. The tang is a rather small compared to other friction folders that I've seen but is plenty to open the blade with. It has a nice bit of file work n it which aids grip, I don't think this is as nice as some file work out there but more classy then the grooves common on other knives.
When you open the blade there is a time at the start when you need to put a bitof force behind it, similar to opening a liner or frame lock, once past this the blade opens smoothly and quickly until you hear a quiet click as the blade goes into the fully open position. Normaly on friction folders there seems to be a fair amount of friction stopping the blade from opening quickly. Once in posistion you really do need to push on the tang to stop the blade from closing from even the lightest of knocks against the spine of the blade, this isn't a problem for my uses of the knife but don't kid yourself into thinking that this friction folder is some way around the non locking laws, unless you have your thumb/finger on the tang this will close with much less force then any knife with a sprine holding it open.
Once open you have a 3inch (or in some cases about 2.4inche) spear point blade withan almost full height slightly hollow grind and a slight swedge on the top which runs for about 3/4 the length of the blade. On the basic model there is a definate line showing the join between the outer stainless layers and the inner ZDP-189 core (which is 67Rc)with a small secondary bevel forming the edge. On mine there seemed to be a load of black stuff on this edge which at first made the blade look like there were flat spots but it all wiped off leaving a very sharpe neatly done edge. This is the sharpest production knife straight from the box
Because I bought this knife with the intention of using it as my carry knife for a lot of the time I bougt a black clip case to go with it (I don't get on with clip cases), unlike the slip case the knife is a really tight fit. At the moment I need to hold the clipcase with one hand whilst drawing the knife with the other and if I don't I end up pulling the clip case off my belt/trousers. I hope in time this will loosen off
though closed length is the same as a UKPK this seems much smaller, part of it's closed length is the tang but without the ned for a thumb stud or whole the blade doesn't need to be so deep, coupled with a thin light handle this knife feels very small yet gives you the same (if not slightly more) cutting edge as a UKPK
the knife arrives in a very nice box, the nicest box of all my knives, I feel that this is a nice touch for such an expensive pocket knife. The little touches don't stop there, there is a small piece of paper explaining that this isn't a lock knife and reminds you to keep a digit on the tang when in use. You also get the certificate giving you some details about the knife. The knife arrives in a nice soft leather slip case, this is meant to keep the knife looking at it's best during pocket carry, I think that this example is much nicer then the one that came with my sebenza. These are all minor things but nice
The first thing you notice when you picket the knife out of the box is how light it is, I knew it was light weighing in at 0.9oz for the larger model. This is due to a very thin blade (about the width of a swiss army knife) and the carbon fiber handle, carbon fiber being so strong can be used in a knife like this without any liners yet still feeling nice and rigid in the hand. To help get the knife out of the case is a soft leather lanyard, no cheap para cord on this knife. Like the rest of the package it's fairly simple looking yet eligant and functions well.
There isn't much of the blade showing when you take the knife out of the case (a good thing in my opinion). because it's a friction folder there isn't a thumb stud or a large opening hole like other knives out there, all you have to do to open the blade is push on the tang. The tang is a rather small compared to other friction folders that I've seen but is plenty to open the blade with. It has a nice bit of file work n it which aids grip, I don't think this is as nice as some file work out there but more classy then the grooves common on other knives.
When you open the blade there is a time at the start when you need to put a bitof force behind it, similar to opening a liner or frame lock, once past this the blade opens smoothly and quickly until you hear a quiet click as the blade goes into the fully open position. Normaly on friction folders there seems to be a fair amount of friction stopping the blade from opening quickly. Once in posistion you really do need to push on the tang to stop the blade from closing from even the lightest of knocks against the spine of the blade, this isn't a problem for my uses of the knife but don't kid yourself into thinking that this friction folder is some way around the non locking laws, unless you have your thumb/finger on the tang this will close with much less force then any knife with a sprine holding it open.
Once open you have a 3inch (or in some cases about 2.4inche) spear point blade withan almost full height slightly hollow grind and a slight swedge on the top which runs for about 3/4 the length of the blade. On the basic model there is a definate line showing the join between the outer stainless layers and the inner ZDP-189 core (which is 67Rc)with a small secondary bevel forming the edge. On mine there seemed to be a load of black stuff on this edge which at first made the blade look like there were flat spots but it all wiped off leaving a very sharpe neatly done edge. This is the sharpest production knife straight from the box
Because I bought this knife with the intention of using it as my carry knife for a lot of the time I bougt a black clip case to go with it (I don't get on with clip cases), unlike the slip case the knife is a really tight fit. At the moment I need to hold the clipcase with one hand whilst drawing the knife with the other and if I don't I end up pulling the clip case off my belt/trousers. I hope in time this will loosen off
though closed length is the same as a UKPK this seems much smaller, part of it's closed length is the tang but without the ned for a thumb stud or whole the blade doesn't need to be so deep, coupled with a thin light handle this knife feels very small yet gives you the same (if not slightly more) cutting edge as a UKPK