Wilderness Sharp

I feel like such a badass...

2012-02-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

I broke my SMF. Fortunately Strider will replace it. Which is great of them. One of the few companies actually willing to back-up there products.

I wish they could replace it with a 3V blade, but I would be asking too much.

Spyderco Manix II CTS-XHP Sprint Run

2012-02-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been about a year to a year and a half since I've owned, used, sharpened, use, sharpened, and used my sprint run Manix II with Carpenter's CTS-XHP (440XH) steel.

I'm still going to keep using it and eventually I will write a review. The CTS-XHP edition of the Manix is an amazing addition to the Manix Line.

A little annoyed with the new Manix XL. Wish they would do a Manix II in CTS-20CP

Strider PT Review

2011-05-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Whoa...it has been quite awhile since I have made a new post.

Anyways, I got a new knife and I feel like it needs a review.

I decided that I needed a smaller more robust folder than the ones that I had been previously EDCing.

Lo and behold, a Strider PT.

This is quite small knife with an overall length of 6.5 inches. Here it is compared it it's much bigger brother, the SMF.

The construction of the knife is your fairly standard high-end folder. S30v blade with a great heat treat (more on that later). A Ti6Al4V slab for the lock side and a milled out slab of G-10 for the handles. This particular PT has the blade stonewashed and the new pivot.

Initial Impressions:

I was fairly impressed by the fit and finish of the knife when I first received it. Everything was tight, no blade-play. It was pretty sharp and had a very strong detent. However, after opening and closing the knife for a month a very slight (and I mean very slight, you had to really push and pull on the blade) up and down play. This was due to the lock-bar not being stress bent far enough.

So I took the knife apart and proceeded to bend the bar just a bit further. Now it's perfect. Absolutely no play what so ever and very tight lock up.

I think one of the main reasons for this problem is how Strider has the lock-bar face contact the tang of the knife. Unlike most liner/framelocks, the Strider only doesn't have the entire lock face contact the tang of the knife. As Strider explains, the idea was to prevent gunk build up on the lock-bar face. Well, I guess it can do that since there is a small amount of space. However, I think having the entire lock-bar contacting the tang of the knife is actually better. More surface area on the lock-bar, more force dispersed along the lock-bar face and transferred down the length of the lock bar. Also, less chance of developing even that slight up-and-down blade play. I think they should also harden the contact portion of the titanium to make the unlocking smooth and not "sticky" (though this can also do with the tension on the bar itself).

However, Strider did get the cutting out of the lock-bar correct. Having the lock-bar cutout on the outside should make any liner/framelock stronger. This is because the force, from closing the knife, is now engaged along the entire length of the frame. Essentially, the frame is being compressed axially. Now, if the lock-bar cutout was on the outside, when force is applied, the titaniums (at it's weakest point) is now being laterally stressed.

If you take a knife that has the exact same frame thickness, the exact same cut-out, the exact same lock-up, but with the cutouts on different sides, the knife with the cut out on the outside will have a stronger lock (take more weight on the handles with the blade open).

Think about it, which is easier? Bending a thin slab of titanium or trying to compress the titanium lengthwise? Well, by the fact that I can take a apart any knife and re-bend lock-bar with my hand, I'd say laterally stressing a piece of titanium is easier.

Anyways, back to the knife itself. For most folks, 300 bucks is a lot of money. Especially for a knife. This knife in particular doesn't quite feel like $300. It feels cheap and weak (light is probably a better term). However, what I have done with it is quite the contrary.

Testing:

(Just to let you know, the following testing was done for my curiosity. As far as an EDC knife goes, the knife is great. I just go through a little strength test to see if this knife is actually worth what I paid for.)

Now one of my biggest pet peeves is tip strength. I've broken many knife tips in the past from digging into wood. Now if you say it's abusive to tip-pry with a knife, well, the tip is part of the knife. Since the knife itself is multi-functional, all parts of the knife should be multi-functional. In fact, a great knife is exactly that. The tip isn't just good for puncturing soft tissue. The tip should be able to drill (for a fireboard), tip pry (in wood to find dry wood, or make traps), not break when just batoning the tip. The list can go on.

With that being said, I decided to do some tip prying test. I'll let the picture speak for themselves.

That's right, I took a piece of dried wood and pried it part into three pieces with the tip of my PT. You can even see the impressions that the tip made before the wood was split. Many folding knife (mainly production that I have experienced with) tips will just snap. I did try to test a little tip-prying with a Kershaw Zing just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, which I wasn't. I was able to feel and see the tip of the Zing bending. If I pushed it, I would have broken the tip of my Zing.

No tip-damage. No lock-failure (stabbing into wood). No blade-play developed (from leveraging knife). So far, so good. It's quite impressive considering how thin the tip actually is, here is the PT tip compared to the SMF.

While the wood that I used was dried, I'm still not sure how well the tip of the PT would fair against pitchwood and aged white oak (or some of the other harder woods). Though, for most purposes, the tip is very strong. This is also quite a testament to Striders heat treat of S30v (which is actually a protocol developed by Paul Bos).

I was also able to do some batoning (no pics, sorry) on some really well aged wood (not sure what kind, but definitely more dense and solid than the block that I did for preliminary testing). Because of how short the blade is, I wasn't really able to baton your average fireplace logs into many pieces. A sub-3 inch cutting edge isn't much to work with when batoning a 10in D log. It still worked out very well and there was no damage to the blade. No change in lock-up either (I was giving the knife some pretty hard hits with quite a big club).

Nor was there a change in the finish. The stonewash finish really hides use. It's fantastic. My blade still looks new, even after it's been batoned through wood. All satin blades will get scratched and coated blades...well...you know what happens.

Now, when I went to making fuzz sticks, this is were the knife wasn't particularly great. It's not actually due to the grind, but the final edge sharpening. The edge degree bevel is quite high and so the knife doesn't cut all that well. Not a terrible problem, a little reprofiling of the edge and I can make it a razor sharp.

After that, just to pique my curiosity, I did some more tip prying. This time, like I said, the wood was well aged and dense. Still no problems. The tip is indeed strong and can handle wood that is denser than the wood block that I pried apart.

However, a thing that I didn't like was the that the handles taper towards the ricasso. This makes the knife very uncomfortable to hold in a hammer grip. In fact, the design of the handle was made so that it is very comfortable to hold in a slightly cantered forward grip with the thumb along the spine of the blade.

For normal EDC work, that grip is just fine and is quite perfect. However, in the woods, the handles can get a little uncomfortable because the handles don't fill the hand when utilizing a "stiff" arm technique. Also, when holding the knife using the "chest/shin lever" technique, the handles don't give you the purchase that makes the technique so powerful (it still works, but you have to grip the knife really tight). This is especially true if you have larger hands (I were a medium sized glove, very snugly). I really think if strider made a mini-AR/GB, all the problems that occur in the PT for outdoor use can be solved. Still, this knife is primarily an EDC and not a bush knife (but the PT is still remarkably capable in this field, albeit with a few problems in the handles).

After all the test work, the knife could still cut paper but no longer shave. The paper cuts are also not as clean as they can be. Again, a little sharpening and profiling should fix this.

As far as carrying the knife goes. I just slip it in my coin pocket on my jeans. Fits perfectly, even with the pocket clip. I'd predict that the CC version of this knife would even be better for this style of carry.

On to the pocket clip. It works but a large portion of the handles sticks out. Some people complain that because of how the handles stick out the knife can easily fall out of the pocket. I don't mind it and it hasn't slipped of my pocket at all, even if I purposely try to shake it out. It doesn't matter what pocket I use, the clip holds the knife in very well. The stonewashed Ti lock slab and stonewashed Ti clip are also really easy on the pant's pockets.

Conclusion:

So far, this little PT has proven itself worthy. I put it through some test that I normally wouldn't even think of for a folder. However, like I said, this knife is $300. That's a lot quite a lot for a production knife. Now, with that being said, this knife, initially, might not feel like a $300 dollar knife, but you can bet that the knife will perform like a $300 folder should when the time comes.

As an EDC it's great. As a woodsman's tool, not that best, but still very capable (as far as folder goes, it is quite resilient)

Now, some (or many) or you may have heard in that past how Strider's QC has been shoddy and that their customer service is not as good (in addition to the shady past for the two knife makers). I will agree that the QC is still somewhat lacking for a semi-custom knife company. However, I have had great custom service (even though turn around time is quite long). In fact, I actually had to send my SMF in to get the blade centered, blade-play removed, and some sanding of the scales to get flush to the Ti frame. Mind you this was an older version of the SMF (probably made sometime before people started complaining) when the Hinderer lock-stop was flame colored instead of just a solid color. They, Strider, did all of this and I had no problems what so ever.

As far as QC, it is getting better. My PT, at first came with no problems, and I honestly think that the slight up-and-down play was just my minor OCD. However, I think Strider could change some things in their designs to improve QC. That's just my two cents. (I also think they should make a PT sized AR/GB. I'd buy that in a heart beat considering how much I like the PT). I will note that the QC has improved vastly since their introduction into the knife world. This is only comparing to my older SMF (which was really shoddy), getting the new PT, and the various data on the internet saying the Strider's QC is getting reasonably better.

Anyways, the Strider PT is now my choice EDC pocket knife and will likely remain so for quite a long time.

Spyderco Endura 4 Foliage Green G-10

2010-07-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

Well it has been quite a long time since I've done a video review and now that I can finally take pictures off of my camera I might as well do a nice thorough write-up.

I've had my Endura 4 in G-10 for quite some time, a little over 6 months and I have been using it like mad. Rather than this knife being intended for the woods/outdoor use, I treated more of a regular EDC, and it performed about as such.

I'll breakdown the review as such: blade, handle, and carry. That's really the bare bones of it.

The blade shape is the classic Spyderco severe clip/drop point (since the blade is actually a clip point, but the final point is much more of drop point. It's a classic design and I like it. The length of the blade is 3.75 in and is 0.125 in thick. A good size and thickness for an EDC. The finish is a little rough. It's hard to tell in the picture below but the flats at the ricasso are unevenly finished. It just a minor cosmetic issue, but really something that Spyderco's "CQI" should have caught.

I personally think the blade looks nicer with the full flat compared to the older saber grind but the tip of the blade is severely thinned down. Though that's not really important since I'm not gonna do any tip prying soon and I know it isn't a "tough beater folder" (I'll get my hands on one of those soon hopefully). I'm not going to abuse this knife like some of my other knives. I bought it mainly to have a dedicated slicer, and it excels at that very well.

Blade steel is classic VG-10.

Decent performance and quite easy to sharpen. The blade steel isn't anything spectacular and anyone who actually uses their knives will probably not notice too big of a difference in edge retention from other steels. The knife does cut and it cuts well. I can put a nice hair-whittling edge on it, but after using it for a couple of weeks it will just become barely able to shave hair (but still cut very well). Kitchen work is where this knife is been the most: boning meats, cutting vegetables, etc. It does however, slice so well because of that nice full flat and it does of course hold a much better edge than most (probably all) kitchen cutlery (since it does have a higher hardness and the steel itself is just much better). It's pretty much all that I can ask for.

Now on to the handle. The Endura 4 has a 5in handle. I've owned an Endura FS with FRN handles before but really never used it. The main reason, as you might guess, was the FRN handles. I know it's quite stupid to criticize a knife with good steel that I'm just going to use as just a knife. However, for some reason, I just couldn't stand the FRN handles. This model is fantastic though, the G-10 just feels much more solid and has a much more tactile feel to it.

The added full steel liners is also a big plus.

As you can see from all the scratches, I have indeed been carry this knife and using it. I must say the contours on the handles are great and while I'm not a big fan of jimping, the little that is on the thumb ramp doesn't really bother me. The thumb hole is also great not just as opening mechanism but also as a balance point for grabbing the thumb hole with your thumb and index finger (like you would grab a cleaver to mince). The ergonomics on this knife is fantastic.

The biggest gripe that I've heard people say is the lack of choil. In all honesty, I don't mind, there really isn't a need to choke up on the handle. Even then there are ways around the problem. I actually rarely found myself needing to choke up on the handle for finer work.

Like I said I have been carrying this knife pretty much every day for that past 6 months. I do have some gripes about the pocket clip, but it can be remedied by either not using the pocket clip (just dropping it in my pocket) or throwing it in my backpack (which is what I normally do). It does have 2-way-left-right orientation for the clip. I have mine tip-up-right-handed carry. The only thing that I don't like is how high the knife rides in the pocket. I much prefer a classy deep carry clip. But it's not that big of a deal. It's not that big of knife that just carrying it in my pocket is a problem. It's also still light considering the weight is under 5 oz.

Overall this is an absolute fantastic EDC. For those wanting to just a get a knife to use as a knife and not anything else. This is the only one you would need. This isn't a knife I'm going to baby, but it also isn't a knife I'm going to abuse. The knife is the absolute best example of a purposeful production every-day-carry knife. Beyond this is just excessive and ostentatious (although the G-10 and satin finish is quite nice).

If you guys are interested in buying one with G-10 handles, the secondary market and few small online sites might have them. This was a limited sprint run. Though other than that if you don't mind the FRN handles, the full height flat version with FRN is still a great buy.

I still might in the future seek out one with the saber grind as I still prefer a little less delicate of a blade (mainly to swap handles).

Redemption

2010-07-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well, stupidity aside, I have finally acquired a Memory Stick Duo Pro Adaptor (I know it's "adapter" but that's how it's spelled on the little device).

So, I can now add pictures.

Voilá!

Whittling hair fun and bit obsessive when it comes to sharpening stuff....

Stupidity.....

2010-06-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

It's quite fantastic that I can, now, sort of blog about stuff with tons of awesome pictures and I was so excited given my current state of being. Having a decent camera that can take pictures and videos is great.... but....

lo and behold, I don't have a memory stick adapter..... O' curse you Sony for using this type of card for storage. If only it were a SD card my laptop would graciously accept it and transfer files (shoulda kept my D80 with me............). I don't even have the proper wires to connect the camera to my laptop.

This is quite the misfortune.

But for now... random awesome picture of me.

I'm back... well sort of...

2010-06-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Ahhh.... summer is here. Woot!!!

This would mean that I can continue to be a woodsmonkey, but unfortunately I've decided to stay on campus for most of the summer.

But this does mean that I have free time and can blog about random stuff here.

Though, I have so many things to review when I DO, in fact, get back to my neck of the woods nearing the end of the summer. I'll have a couple weeks to do those reviews and upload them so just be on the look out for those.

You guys have no idea, I have so much knives and gear to review... I can't wait. Oh and did I mention I also have a HD camera to record everything with.

Well.... I can't wait just to be within in the serenity of the forest.