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Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip
Cons: Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type
Mixed Feelings
Bought the 04SS to supplement the M16-13Z I've been carrying for ~25 years, which has at this point seen better days. I thought maybe a little more blade would be nice, and a tanto more useful for scraping or chiseling-type tasks, so a slightly larger package was acceptable, and this model was on significant sale at the time. Why not?Well, the blade itself is significantly stout, and the whole package thin enough to be worn easily in most pockets for a guy of my size. But it is all a bit on the heavy side. My first frame lock, I found that orienting the clip for left pocket carry leaves the lock exposed for my left thumb to put pressure on it inadvertently, so I probably wouldn't recommend this model to a lefty. A liner lock model would work better if that kind of carry is in your plans. The thumb studs on this model are all but useless for much beyond striking a match on, though the flipper works as expected.The pivot on my example, unfortunately, was not assembled correctly when I received the knife, which kept the blade from opening freely with a simple flick of the flipper. Too much and uneven pressure on the blade presented too much friction. I disassembled the pivot and arranged the O-rings to correctly support the pivot, and voila! Blade perfectly aligned within the frame, flipper action maximized with a light application of simple mineral oil. Though the blade is much heavier than that on the 13Z, it opens relatively slowly even without excessive friction. It's just a good chunk of steel. And if I really had to be super-picky, the shallow grind is pretty wavy under the well-done surface finish. Edge retention, sharpening, and stainless properties appear at least as good as the AUS-8A blade of my old 13Z, and I would at this point say that in the future I would slightly prefer 12C27 to AUS-8A, though AUS-8 certainly gets the job done.So, overall, for the sale price I got this knife for, I'm not remotely upset. It's a well-built knife (though not properly assembled at the factory), acceptably made out of good materials. It's just perhaps a bit big for the EDC job. So I believe this knife will end up in the console of my truck. If I had to do this over again, I would probably go for the M16-03KS or the -03DB instead, as a more fitting replacement for my 13Z.
