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Pros: Blade Material, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Weight
Cons: None
Half the cost of a bugout, just as slicey!
This knife is awesome, for the price point. First, by no means an I a SOG fanboy. I have had a couple over the years and always considered them a beater knife with subpar materials and quality. Something I would happily use as a screwdriver as much as a knife. However, There is absolutely zero blade play with this knife if the pivot screw is adjusted properly. I did need to take this knife apart once and clean it after I first got it (it's still a SOG). but once I did and used a little lube and lock tight on the pivot, such a nice action. The knife is almost as light as a bugout even with the scales being reinforced. Which means there is very little flex in the scales. The "axis" lock is really well done and works well. My one complaint is that the pull tabs of the lock rattle a bit. This could have been done much cleaner and would have added to the overall value quite a bit! I don't like the color options, but the squid blue isn't horrible if you usually carry a black or equivalent pocket knife, I have the squid blue. It looks better in person than on the website and has grown on me a little. Still basic black with grey axis lock would be much nicer and if it comes out in that color I'll probably order another one. Now for the blade, which is hella slicey! It's cpm154 which is basically equivalent to S30v, so a pretty apples to apples comparison to the bugout base model. The blade has a nice thin profile and it's a drop point which personally I like quite a bit in a knife this size. I'm not a fan of sheepsfoot except for specific tasks. This knife is serviceable sharp out of the box, but to make this knife really shine I have reprofiled the edge to a 22° main edge with a 18° micro edge and holy #@$& this thing is a laser! You could actual shave with it, not just arm hair. And since the steel is pretty good I've had to touch up my micro edge about once every 4-6 weeks. For half the price of a bugout, no blade wobble, reinforced scale that don't sueeze much and basically the same weight I can deal with the color issues. If you want to save some bucks and want a nice slicey little knife this is the ticket.