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Pros: Blade Material
Cons: None
What a deal!
I don't always feel like carrying a thick, heavy, assisted-opening Benchmade. I have been really happy with the size and light weight of the slim slipjoint Spyderco UK Penknife (longer drop point blade version with the full grind) that I bought before going to England - what a handy knife! I've been carrying it a lot on my weak (RH) side. But . . . well, as my friend put it when I set the thing in his hands for the first time, "I want my knife to have a lock." I mean, I don't hardly do anything rugged with it and the 50/50 choil and half-stop make the UKPK as safe as a nonlocking knife can be . . . but I'd sure feel stupid if I had to get stitches, eh? So, I've been looking around. For a knife that's similar, but has a real lock (not a liner or frame lock - why do things halfway?) - but that's still a value knife because - well, I have fancy knives, and I wind up not carrying them for regular days. (Why mess up something fancy?) And I found a knife that is well reviewed, inexpensive and almost precisely the same size and width - with a real lock. I picked one up in last week here at Knife Center for less than I paid for a fancy burger yesterday. Delivered right away (of course). The KA-BAR (Cutco) Folding Hunter was designed by a guy who knows what he's doing - it fits together right and cuts right and sits tight in your hand (great grip from the molded checkering and well placed jimping). The not-low clip (tip up only, reversible) sits it a bit high in the pocket (so I bought it in Normie Friendly Blue) and seems a little flimsy but holds the knife well. The Taiwanese AUS8A blade is nothing fancy, but I have a number of blades in this steel and I like how easy they are to keep touched-up - honestly, I'd rather have a more malleable blade than one that's hard to sharpen. I'd read a number of reviews, which were all of the "This is a bargain!" sort, but there were some concerns raised about difficulty opening the blade. I have not found that to be the case: the (reversible) thumb stud is well situated and knurled and opens the blade just fine - I haven't even felt the need to oil this particular knife's hinge. And, like most of the knives I saw reviewed, this one came shaving sharp. Anyhow, I'm going to put it into use as I've been carrying the UKPK, on my weak side, generally in a dedicated knife pocket. I'm pretty pleased with it - particularly for the Knife Center price. It's every bit as nicely built and designed as the UKPK it's replacing, it's got a great lock and it cost less than a THIRD what the Spyderco set me back.
