(2 reviews) 
Been a customer here since 2021, but I don't normally feel compelled to review a knife.
When I saw this knife mentioned and noticed it was made by Mr. Andersen, I immediately assumed it would be a lower quality item in exchange for the credentials (sorry!). And looking at photos, I honestly was expecting something of a fairly average quality. Yet, something still compelled me to order one anyway because of how he described the knife.
While AR-RPM9 steel doesn't exactly scream "premium" and is completely unknown to me (as I have no other blades with this steel), I thought at this price point even with 440c it would be worth trying.
After receiving the knife, I was blown away. Out of the box, everything was immaculate; blade centering perfect, zero blade play in any position, grind looks even, and the sharpening is good enough (no factory sharpening is ever perfect; sharpen your own) to beat many other knives at higher price points.
Smallest hint of gnashing when actuating the bar lock, but that seemed to disappear after a few times compressing the bar lock knobs. Drop shut is super smooth. And I haven't even tuned it up yet. Will take it apart and clean it up after using it a bit just to see how it does from the factory.
All that said, it is the little touches in the design that impress me. The weight of the blade when opening/closing seems ideally balanced. I do wish it had jimping on the blade spine, but the scales themselves have an indent right behind the blade lock which still gives some purchase even if further back. There's a very comfortable chamfering at the tip of the scales which makes it feel better when pinching the front for more precise actions (like snapping a zip tie) and lets you sort of press the back of the scales against your palm to hold it steady.
The feel in the hand is just right. It feels light and sleek, and not like so many other bulky or falsely heavy budget knives. The feel in the pocket is just right... doesn't feel like I have a steel bar in my pocket, and easily becomes "invisible" in terms of feeling it there, even in loose clothing. I think the relative flatness of the scales, while still being rounded, achieves this comfort in the pocket.
I did immediately remove the clip, as I generally always do since I dislike belt clips (they just wear through pant pocket material no matter how smooth they are, and they stick out too much and cause dents in anything they press against), so I don't have much to say about the clip.
My initial intention was to use this as a beater knife and just abuse the blade in the worst ways (cutting down cardboard, prying out staples, trimming flash on plastic, cutting lock ties sometimes against metal, trimming splinters from wood surfaces before sanding; some exposure to humidity and water and other cleaning chemicals), fully expecting to replace it with something else in a year or two after I damaged the edge too much to want to deal with reprofiling it.
Now that I've held it a bit, it seems too nice to abuse that way. Might still use it as a true beater. Might find a different beater and use this one less destructively. I find myself now wishing they had a magnacut version, and who feels that way after handling a "budget" knife design?
Indeed the S90V version of this knife is at a more typical "premium" price point, and so I may have to check that out after feeling the design in my hands with a non-premium steel (this one, AR-RPM9). However, for working knives I prefer to sharpen often and easier than to sharpen less often and have the edge hold out... at least for value knives. So again this seems to tick the box for what I want in a working/beater knife.
How AR-RPM9 steel will hold up over time is unknown and untested (at least, to me). Hope to be pleasantly surprised, but that's the only thing I can't vouch for thus far. Let's hope the CJRB site data on this steel is close to realistic, because if it is this may be an ideal folding working knife.
Regardless, the design has me very impressed and wanting more. For the money, this knife seems like a grand slam home run. And if AR-RPM9 steel lives up to its promises, all the better.
