Kershaw Junkyard Dog 2

04/03/2010 by thebrain

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

First I will say not for those with small hands handle before buying. I have had no scratching and it still looks new after over a year.I have used it for everyday carry and outdoor utility and it excelled at everything I threw at it. The opening method is a "flipper" I have a few knives with flippers and some work better than others this one works well.The blade steel is sandvik 13C26 I have had no spotting even with the bead blasted finish,the edge holding has been wonderful I have only had to strop it after reprofiling it when I got it,it can filet a hair.I have no complaints and I have found no flaws ,I do however have a concern the liner lock seems like it is too easy to open I have a fear of it opening during use if I were to squeeze it too hard on the handle,I do not know if this is common or just my knife I would like to hear others comments .I also would have liked it to have a more "normal" clip it has what others have called a "batman" clip that is not as classy as the brand and quality deserves,also a four way clip would have been a great addition to an otherwise great knife.

Kershaw Speed Bump

04/03/2010 by therbain

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

First I will say I love this knife .I have had no problems with scuffing or scratching of the alum. handle scales. Before purchasing the knife I had never handled a stud lock knife I was surprised how easy it was to get used to and the solidness of the lockup,easy to open with the flipper and easy to close with one hand the stud is hard to use to open the knife but it has a flipper. The edge holding has been great I have only had to touch it up a few times in the year I have had it,the steel is sandvik 13C26 .If you use this knife you will first notice the handle is really only comfortable in a standard grip but I have had no safety issues when using it in awkward positions. The handle scales are a bit on the square side but it really hasn`t been a problem like I had thought it might be.Overall the speedbump is a cool looking,comfortable and durable knife with a unique and secure lock. I have had many comments like "cool knife "or "what kind of knife is that?"

Cold Steel Bushman

04/03/2010 by xxo

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

The one piece spring tempered SK5 construction of the Bushman make it a very rugged and versatile field/survival knife that can be used as a spear head and as a throwing knife, if you are so inclined. The Bushman not delicate, pretty or expensive - there's no reason not to use it and use it hard. A great fun knife for camping trips and also a very good survival knife.

The Bushamn does have some down sides; one is the round steel handle which does not give a very comfortable or secure grip, but can be vastly improved by wrapping with some grip tape, paracord or some duct tape as I did with mine. Another problem is that the Bushman does not have a guard and it is real easy for your hand to slip onto the sharp edge (and they do come sharp from the factory) especially if you did not wrap the slick steel handle. I use a para cord lanyard that goes around my fingers and is tight enough to prevent my hand from slipping on to the blade.

The steel does not hold a razor edge very long (but is easy to re sharpen) and will rust if you don't keep the edge oiled.

The Bushamn I have is an older Taiwan made one with a cordura pouch sheath with a thin plastic liner, current ones are made in China and have a different sheath with a pouch on the front.

The old cordura sheath I would rate as adequte at best, don't know if the new ones are any better or not.

Gerber Big Rock

04/03/2010 by xxo

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I have not been too impressed with most of Gerber's products in recent years, particularly the stuff they have made in China, but I saw some good reviews of this knife on Bladeforums and decided to get one - glad I did because the Big Rock seems to be a very good knife and a great value.

The Big Rock came with an extremely sharp factory edge and excellent fit and finish save for a few places where the scales did not perfectly meet the tang. The near full flat ground drop point blade is great for a hunting or camp knife. The grip is very comfortable and secure but could be a bit thicker. I really like the built in "guard", over sized lanyard hole and full tang construction. I did not much like the slightly tacky feeling rubber over-mold on the handle scales.

The hard plastic lined nylon sheath is plain but functional.

Blade steel is listed as 440a and seems to hold a decent edge for what it is.

The changes I would like for the Big Rock would be a satin blade finish instead of the typical Gerber bead blast and slightly thicker grips without the thin rubber over mold. A better sheath and blade steel would be nice too, but it would be a tall order at this price point. As it is the Big Rock is an excellent value.

Spyderco Rescue 93MM Emerson Opener

04/03/2010 by xxo

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Other
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This is the best dedicated folding rescue knife that I know of. Great for police, firefighters, EMT's, first responders, riggers, search and rescue, and anyone who works with horses or is into boating. The fully serrated sheep's foot blade is great for cutting all kinds of rope or webbing quickly in an emergency and the sheep's foot blade makes it less likely to injure your self or the victim you are trying to save.

The Spyderco 93mm Rescue is very well made with unlined a FRN handle for light weight, a strong back lock mechanism with a Boye dent and the blade steel is VG10. I really like the Emerson opener (wave) feature, for me nothing is faster to deploy! I also like the fact that that this is a very simple knife with no springs or s an safeties to worry about or fumble with like on an auto or an assisted knife, just pull it out of your pocket and it's open.

The only changes I would make to this knife would be to give it a full flat grind, a wire clip and maybe a slightly larger lanyard hole. I would also like a yellow handled Atlantic Salt with the Emerson opener. A full plain edged option would be cool too.

Victorinox Hiker

04/03/2010 by Sevorius

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I love my Victorinox Hiker. I picked mine up at the local target store for $15 on sale, and have loved it ever since. The distal taper and full flat grind on the primary blade make Swiss Army Knives cut exceptionally well. The biggest complaint most people have about SAK's is the relatively soft steel used (dulls quickly), but it is so easy to sharpen that I don't even mind. the quality is simply unbelievable for $15. The tools have all worked perfectly, and the saw especially cuts better than I had expected, cutting through a 2x4 in about 20-30 seconds. A great buy for anyone who wants a multiple tools but does not want to carry a heavy full size leatherman/gerber/sog/Victorinox multi-tool

Spyderco Endura 4

04/03/2010 by Sevorius

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I bought this knife 2 years ago and have used it hard in the time since. This knife has held up well to everything I have thrown at it, including carpet, drywall, and even O gauge battery cables. The only complaint I have about this knife is the very thick factory edge (due to the shallow saber grind). It took me several hours on a ceramic sharpener to thin the edge out so that it would slice paper well. Overall it is a very strong and reliable hard-use folder, but personally I prefer something with a thinner grind.

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Kershaw Junkyard Dog 2

04/03/2010 by Sevorius

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I picked the black g10 version up on Amazon for $50 shipped, an incredible value. This knife is a liner lock, but thanks to an exceptionally thick liner the strength of this lock is closer to that of a frame lock. Out of the box it was hair-popping sharp, which is a first for me from any manufacturer. The knife arrived absolutely flawless, very sharp, and with perfect lockup. Overall I'm very pleased.

SOG Kilowatt

04/03/2010 by victgerbsogcamill

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

Blade AUS8. The blade doesn't seem to hold an edge long, have noticed some very tiny nicks in the blade and I'm not that hard on it. The handle is Zytel with finger grooves. This knife feels so good to hold and handle. Perfect fit, has jimping on the spine were your thumb naturally comes to rest.

This comes with wire strippers built in and it works great. Also has an so cord insulation stripper which is awesome with a little practice. Has holes in the handle for stripping communication cord.

This is a great knife for anyone who has anything to do with wires/so cord/communication cable/ etc. Electricians/ havac/etc.

I like this knife especially the so striper. Its worth the money.

Zero Tolerance 0100

04/03/2010 by Socom Elite

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

The ZT0100 is a sweet looking Knife that when I opened it reminded me of a fixed blade "Spec Bump" The overall quality of the knife and sheath is top notch save for the blade grind, which I will explain later.

Blade-

The blade is an awesome recurve/bumpy grind made of CPM3V. I have never used this steel before so I was eager to test her. The blade Has a DLC coating, which Kershaw's is nice and should hold up well over time. There is also a blood grove on both sides which gives it a killer look. The blade shape itself is pretty cool and usefull. It has a good sharp tip, but still seems strong as there is no swedge that runs to the tip, thank god. The grind of the blade is a little slack. Both sides are ground, but the two do not meet to make an edge untill about the very left edge of the ZT logo. I hope the pics show it. Which takes away about an inch or a little more from the cutting edge. But hey, what do you want for $230. Maybe Maddaddy can clarify this and hopefully it's only cause it is a first production run or a giveaway or something. This one had a very low serial number so it might be a FPR or something.

Handle-

The handle is the winner here and feels great. If you have ever held a spec bump you will know what I mean. This is thicker then that and with the palm swell feels better. The jimping is better then most, but the groves could be a little bigger so it grabs more meat of your thumb. The blade tang sticks out just a little from the handle so you can drive in into something without breaking the G10 scales. The G10 scales are textured and very nice and give good grip. After some use I did find some hotspots, but it wasn't too bad.

Sheath-

The sheath is sweet. Awesome retention with the Kydex insert. When I carried the knife I buttoned the top strap around the back of the knife (using the secondary button they provide) which was nice. The Kydex holds it firm enough to where I didn't need the secondary strap. Towards the bottom of the sheath there is a screw. I assume this is so you can take the Kydex insert out and flip it around for left hand carry. I should have tested this, but I didn't. Sorry. On the front of the sheath there is a fairly large size pocket that you can use to put stuff in, like a field sharpener, compass or other supplies. That pouch also has two buttons so that it can expand. I even put my ZT0301 in there and it snapped closed perfectly. Like I said awesome sheath.

Testing-

I did get to use this one. I cut some 1/2 inch rope which it did well. Then I took it to a 2x4. First I did some whittling and that went well. Then decided that I would try to chop through it. I have always seen people do it and figured I would give it a shot. After a couple min. of chopping I wasn't getting far. This blade just isn't large enough. I put a lanyard on it and held the very end of the handle so only my index and middle finger were holding the handle. That gave me some extra reach and I was able to build up momentum when swinging it to do some damage to the 2x4. Once I did that it chopped very well and didn't take long to go through it. After I chopped about 5" off the board I used the longer piece to baton through the smaller piece. Too easy for the knife. The DLC coating still looks good too.

Overall this knife is very nice and the CPM3V blade had zero problem with any cutting task I gave it

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SOG Seal Pup

04/03/2010 by victgerbsogcamill

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Blade is AUS6 from Seki Japan. Partially serrated blade that is powder coated, very nice looking, I love it.. Zytel handle.

What I love about it. This knife feels great in your hand, extremely comfortable. This knife comes wicked sharp. Very well balanced. Cuts like nobody's business, rope, cloth, partially frozen meat (I was making jerky and my kitchen knives were not getting it done. Went and got the seal pup and it sliced it with ease.)

What would be nice, is if the handle could be used for hammering but I'm sure the zytel would not hold up. I love the way it feels just wish the handle could take a beating.

I did not like the kydex sheath that came with the knife. I understand what they were trying to do. But functionally did not work for me. It was well made, great fit, but I did not care for the way it attached to my belt. Nor did I really have a need for the "Groove" in it for cutting lines or seat belts. So I bought a different sheath.

I love this knife, It was worth every cent and then some. If I could carry this everyday I would. This is a good camping / hiking knife. Blade really not long enough for hard camp chores, chopping etc. For survival probably not the knife I would chose. Now for a defensive weapon, here you go, great balance, wicked sharp, like an extension of your hand.

Emerson Knives A100

04/03/2010 by Wolfjohn

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

A great knife, top notch!