Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Pocket Clip, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness
Cons: Lock Ease of Use
Not experienced any of the problems in reviews
I've carried this knife as my only EDC for well over a year now. I've used it for anything from cutting apples to cutting thick packaging straps on two ton pallets of stone, and I've dirtied it up multiple times cutting through ball and burlap on root balls of trees. It has performed all this with only one sharpening and a few freshen up swipes on a Spyderco SharpMaker. It holds its edge incredibly well for all the tasks I've described above and more. I've read a few comments in the reviews of the Leek over the years that its blade is too thin, that its tip is too "dainty." I thought that as well when I first started using leeks years ago. Let me say, however, that the blade is extremely tough, and I've never experienced any of the "bending" incidents some reviewers describe, nor have I ever felt the knife was not up to just about any task I've used it for. Granted, this knife is not going to chop wood, but I hope no one is expecting a three inch folding knife to do much of that. Also, the black DLC coating on the current knife I'm carrying has but a few superficial rub and scratch marks - I'm surprised it hasn't even worn off in any visible areas. As I said, I use this knife around dirt and grit all the time. The spring mechanism works as well now as it did a year ago, and I've never oiled it. In fact, the only thing I've done is run the knife under water to wash off the grime and then dry it off. I've never had a single issue with the spring assist, and never seen a spot of rust on the visible parts of the knife. I guess as I get older I'm less enamored of the 'big boy' knives that show off their 4" plus blades, mostly because those knives aren't what I'd call "EDC," but special application knives for survival, camping and/or combat situations. The weight of larger knives usually makes my pants droop, or wears out the reinforced pocket lip too quickly. The lighter weight of the leek coupled with what I have experienced is a bomb proof and tough little knife make it an excellent everyday carry. Something about that oddly shaped modified almost wharncliffe style blade makes the knife surprisingly useful in a huge variety of applications. I also love that the knife is USA made and has been for the decade I've been using one. I will never buy anything but American made knives -- no reason to buy foregin made ones when there are a huge number of American made choices from most major manufacturers. And for an American made product it seems like a huge value; I've never paid more than $50-$60 for a leek, and I have many of them. I really only need two or three for replacements, but I'm goofy in the sense I like the security of having many, many backup knives as I want this to be my EDC even should the knife (gasp!!!) go out of production one day. Great knife and I've never experienced any of the stated problems other reviewers have mentioned. The only thing that is a minor issue is the blade lock mechanism once in a while deploys while the knife is in my pocket. Please read that correctly -- I've never had the blade deploy in my pocket, only the lock mechanism which keeps the blade FROM deploying. A slight fraction of a turn from a screw driver fixes the issue, though, so it's really a non problem. Incredible knife at an incredible value.
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