I know this knife has been reviewed a lot, but if anyone was having doubts about picking one up, I'd say go for it.
I suffer from analysis paralysis, apparently even on $30 knives. Embarrassing, I know. So obviously, when my brother said that the OD-1 I got him a few years back could no longer hold an edge (used a bench grinder, excessively, maybe messed up the heat treatment? I don't know...I'm a user, not a metallurgist) I figured I'd pick him and my Dad up something new. The obvious 'which ones?' were the Rat 2, the Zancudo, and a Leek. I finally decided on the Zancudo after spending two days stressing over it, ordered them, then continued to read on the knives here in the forum.
It's then that I read about quality of the scale being terribly cheap feeling, the knife being difficult to open, and the frame lock requiring two hands to disengage. And, admittedly, the more I read the more it seemed the Rat 2 was better, but I'm not a huge liner lock fan (lay off, it's a knife forum, I'm allowed to not like something for a completely superficial reason). I should of got one of each, but for some weird reason, I like the idea of them being matching. Weird...I know.
Anyways, back on topic for anyone thinking of picking up one of these: I don't have any of the issues that others had. Seriously, none. The knives flick open with no thumb pain, with pressure going both out or up. It isn't the easiest knife to flick, but it opens solid every time, again and again. Both thumb and thumb nail. No issues at all
Closing is easy one handed. Again, maybe a bit more pressure than my own OD-1 (awesome knife by the way, though I rarely carry it), but nothing I would even mention to anyone asking about the knife.
Last, my scale sits on the knife perfectly, with no play, no lifting. I am not an FRN hater, so that may be part of why it doesn't feel cheap to me, but I think it feels great in hand.
Maybe this is a new batch? Maybe not. Who knows. I don't have a Rat 2 to compare to. I may I'll pick one up just to see if it really is that much better (but I really do dislike liner locks, so I probably won't). Anyways, I've already ordered another one to give to my brother, as I'm keeping this one.
Okay, like I mentioned earlier, I'm not a huge collector (of my "collection" of 10 knives, all are users) and I keep reading about 'over travel' of the frame lock. Can someone explain that? Does the knife become less secure if it travels over too much? On one of my new knives, it's about 2/3 over.
I suffer from analysis paralysis, apparently even on $30 knives. Embarrassing, I know. So obviously, when my brother said that the OD-1 I got him a few years back could no longer hold an edge (used a bench grinder, excessively, maybe messed up the heat treatment? I don't know...I'm a user, not a metallurgist) I figured I'd pick him and my Dad up something new. The obvious 'which ones?' were the Rat 2, the Zancudo, and a Leek. I finally decided on the Zancudo after spending two days stressing over it, ordered them, then continued to read on the knives here in the forum.
It's then that I read about quality of the scale being terribly cheap feeling, the knife being difficult to open, and the frame lock requiring two hands to disengage. And, admittedly, the more I read the more it seemed the Rat 2 was better, but I'm not a huge liner lock fan (lay off, it's a knife forum, I'm allowed to not like something for a completely superficial reason). I should of got one of each, but for some weird reason, I like the idea of them being matching. Weird...I know.
Anyways, back on topic for anyone thinking of picking up one of these: I don't have any of the issues that others had. Seriously, none. The knives flick open with no thumb pain, with pressure going both out or up. It isn't the easiest knife to flick, but it opens solid every time, again and again. Both thumb and thumb nail. No issues at all
Closing is easy one handed. Again, maybe a bit more pressure than my own OD-1 (awesome knife by the way, though I rarely carry it), but nothing I would even mention to anyone asking about the knife.
Last, my scale sits on the knife perfectly, with no play, no lifting. I am not an FRN hater, so that may be part of why it doesn't feel cheap to me, but I think it feels great in hand.
Maybe this is a new batch? Maybe not. Who knows. I don't have a Rat 2 to compare to. I may I'll pick one up just to see if it really is that much better (but I really do dislike liner locks, so I probably won't). Anyways, I've already ordered another one to give to my brother, as I'm keeping this one.
Okay, like I mentioned earlier, I'm not a huge collector (of my "collection" of 10 knives, all are users) and I keep reading about 'over travel' of the frame lock. Can someone explain that? Does the knife become less secure if it travels over too much? On one of my new knives, it's about 2/3 over.
