Pros: Blade Material, Materials
Cons: Weight, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Sheath/Scabbard, Finish, Blade Sharpness
A Beast - but lacking fit/finish and a clear purpose
First, this thing is an absolute beast - for better or worse. Indestructible, but heavy and clunky. I can carry a smaller knife AND and a high quality (Gransfors Bruk) axe, or a machete, for the weight, bulk, and price of this thing, and get more done with those more appropriate tools. I'd still have kept it, due to its sheer personality, but QC issues turned me off, and I returned it: 1. Sheath is sturdy and high quality otherwise, but the retention strap has little material below the stud, and is extremely tight - so impossible to unhook one-handed...and I have pretty good - some would say crushing - grip strength. 2. The swedge is ground at about a 135-degree included angle, which in combination with its curvature (presenting a lot of forward-facing blunt surface area) ensures that it will hang up should you try to stab something. It would take a ridiculous amount of time to reprofile to something that can be sharpened. My intention was dual use for camp/woods/clearing knife and pig sticker, so this quibble my not apply to you. 20% thinner blade stock, and a swedge ground to 45 degrees or so would fix all this, without compromising performance elsewhere. 3. Edge had a nice convex grind, but was not sharp at all. The upper limits of the grinds were uneven each side of the blade. 4. This is obvious enough from the pics, but the handle is straight. You'll want to wrap it to aid retention and reduce shock. The limbsaver wrap that guy on Youtube used seems like a great idea.