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Pros: Blade Material, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Weight
Cons: Blade Sharpness, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip
Really Close to Good
Really mixed feelings on this one. First, the good. The flipping action and lockup are excellent. Really snappy, and really solid when open. The centering is absolutely perfect on mine. Not much else to say there on function. It's really well put together and operates beautifully. The other positive is the simple fact of what it is: a USA-made titanium frame-lock for less than $100. That's fantastic. The D2 steel is a known performer for budget oriented knives, and shouldn't disappoint anyone for the price and being American made. The pocket clip is an overall positive for me. It's mounted really well. It's very flush with the handle, and though the mounting screws aren't totally recessed, they don't really interfere with anything at all. Lefties will be disappointed that the clip isn't reversible. My biggest knock against the clip is that I think it's just a bitntoo big for the size of the knife. NOW, the bad: the blade. Mine came pretty sharp, but not impressively so. Mine also came with a little ding in the edge, which was disappointing. But, I thought with the so-so sharpness and the ding, it was a good reason to test out the knife's "sharpenability". That's where the biggest trouble showed itself. I ended up deciding to slightly re-profile the edge to 20° per side (I like a tougher edge, and on a thin knife, I don't think 20° is too much). One side of the edge came along very nicely, and I soon had a good, even bevel going. If the other side of the blade had been ground symmetrically, I would have had a nice, new edge going. But the blade was NOT ground symmetrically. I feel silly for not noticing upon initial inspections of the blade, but it's easy to miss on the semi-mirror-polished blade: the plunge grinds were WAY off. Onse side was excellent, dropping almost instantly down. The other side of the blade had a much more gradual plunge, creating a totally uneven and inconsistent edge. It would take a lot more time than I ended up having the patience for to get an even edge. In the end, I got it sharp enough to cut decently. But I never did get the factory ding out of the edge, and I wasn't willing to wear out my Precision Adjust stones to get it right. Bear got really close with this one. And giving the benefit of the doubt, someone else might get one with an evenly-ground blade. I want to like it, but the QC just wasn't there on my example. Thanks to KC for the good service, as usual.