Feeling Edgy

Everybody should have a pocket knife.  If not - you’re a wuss. Why the hell don’t ya? A knife is man’s first tool. And that tool is even more important today. Every try to get an MRE bag open with out a knife? What about a bag of cereal inside that cereal box? You just got to have a knife. Priority Mail comes in a pouch that could qualify for safe shipping for nuclear material... These are just SOME of the things you can come into contact with that needs a cutting. 

The knives in this picture are clockwise from the top:

Mtech M-25 that I worked on... I polished the blade and rounded the G-10 on both sides.  I also took the knife apart and polished the internal bearing areas so the knife opens smoother than any other pocket knife I have ever owned.  Like butter.

This is the Kershaw/Onion Boa that I mention below.  This gun rides in my pocket all most all the time.

The Mtech Kerambit.  I'm not into this style of knife, but it's a beefy knife with a heavy blade for it's size.  I carry it sometimes, but not very often. 

The big blade at the bottom is the Cold Steel Recon Tanto.  These knives are tough knives by any measure.  Solid and well made.  The rubber handle never gets slippery so it's always giving you a good grip.  The blade is what, 7 inches long?  That's plenty of blade for anything you need to cut.  If you need more than that, you probably need a sword.

The dagger is a Cold Steel Culloden. It's made in the traditional scottish style of dagger called the Skean Dhu.  That means "Black Knife" but the blade came in a plane finish.  I blued it, but did a pathetic job of it.  Turns out that it might not look pretty, but it does look scary.  Its so sharp, that it should look scary... reminds you to be careful with it.

I like the whole line of Spyderco products. My favorite Spydie is the Native - based on looks and feel alone. I have several Natives of different types. You can’t pick a bad Spydie. They are all good. The Endura is perhaps perfection in a pocketknife. If I can’t get a Native, I’ll take the Endura. The Police model is very aggressive and angry - the Military is harsh and powerful - the Delica is small and accurate - and the Native cunning and dangerous... All great knives for every day use. Well – okay, honestly the Police Model is not good for every day use even if you’re a Police Officer. It has a very straight edge profile that makes its actual utility somewhat reduced. One of the best Spydies is the Wegner Jr, which is now discontinued. This knife is a PERFECT little every day to the office knife. This is due to its deep belly.  It has a nicely shaped curve that lets you put a lot of cutting edge onto what you are cutting.  

I also favor the AFCK series from Benchmade. The AFCK is basically a Spyderco made by Benchmade... It has the whole hole in the blade thing going for it... I like the full sized version - but the Mini AFCK gets carried all the time. I just got a M-2 version of the Mini AFCK – M2 is a High Speed Tool Steel. It can cut other steels. To test this I shaved a chunk off the head of a hammer! 

Another knife I really like comes from Kershaw, designed by Ken Onion it is called the BLACK OUT. It uses the SPEED SAFE mechanism. If you want a Switch Blade knife - but want to be legal about it - get one of Ken's Speed Safe knives made by Kershaw. Very Fast! It is the fasted opening knife I ever had. There is no button or switch so it opens with you thumb manipulating the blade - you push the thumb stud to move the blade - about 2/16th of an inch and the blade will snap out with authority. It’s a sharp knife - but not as sharp as the NATIVE. The Black Out has a great handle that is very ergonomic yet carries well... Just not as well as the Native... Okay - here it is:  I want a Speed Safe version of the Native or Mini AFCK M2 - and I will be a happy man.  A knife is an effect tool for self defense. In this anti gun country, there are any places that I can't carry a gun legally - yet I can carry a knife. If I can’t carry a knife - I don’t go there. 

A gift arrived via priority mail yesterday.  To my surprise it was a new knife.  A Kershaw Boa. The Boa is designed by one of the best knife makers on the planet, Ken Onion.  Clean smooth lines that just fit the hand perfectly. I've wanted the Boa since I first heard about it while surfing Bladeforums.com where Ken Onion is a member and often discusses his knives.  He posted up some pics a long time ago and I just plain fell in love with it.  Kershaw is manufacturing the knives for Ken so that normal people can have one.  A Ken Onion original often costs the same as a new 1911!  Now, for over a year and a half I have carried a Benchmade Mini AFCK M2 almost exclusively.  Fantastic little knife.  This Boa - WOW!  Just plain awesome.  It's every bit as good as I expected this unexpected gift to be.  Very sharp right out of the box. The recurved blade makes the most of it's length, allowing the cutting edge to be on the material being cut for as long as possible.  There is no choil that could stall a cut either, letting this knife cut to its max potential.  There is a lot of potential too. The blade steel is flat out the BEST blade steel out there.  I thought the M2 high speed tool steel of my Mini AFCK was perfect.  Oh, it's good steel alright. But CPM440V is just unbelievable.  Hard as hell, coated with a titanium coating that actually makes the surface steel even harder.  Hardened aluminum scales, dimpled for a good grip and blackened for a low profile while riding in your pocket.  This knife is perfect for work because its under the allowed length for bringing to work, it rides low and doesn't attract attention.  Now for the bonus. It has the Speed Safe mechanism.  Perfect!  This isn't my first Ken Onion Kershaw, the first was the Black Out... Loved it.  Hope this isn't my last either! A special thanks goes out for this... You rock, my friend.

This is the Boa.  Subtle knife... not much to look at... not flashy or gimmicky like some other knives out there.

The other side of the knife, we see the pocket clip.  It carries tip down, and this is my preference.  I tried a tip up automatic knife and it stabbed me in the hip when I climbed into a Mazda Miata. 

Nice recurved blade profile.  You can see my knife has the partially serrated blade.  This makes for a seriously aggressive cutting tool.

This is the trigger... you pull that back and WHAM!  You have your blade at the ready.

Very simple, very elegant for a "tactical" knife.  

I just wrote a review of this BOA that I posted on TFL.  You can see my take on it here.

Favorite knives

These lists are not in any order…  * means it is a knife I have owned.

Folders:

*SOG Vision

SOG Pentagon Elite

*Benchmade AFCK

*Benchmade Mini AFCK

*Benchmade Elishewitz series

*Beretta Airlight, large & Mediums

Spyderco Military

*Spyderco Endura

*Spyderco Native

*Spyderco Police

*Spyderco Wegner

*Kershaw Boa

Kershaw Leek

*Kershaw Blackout

Kershaw Whirlwind

Kershaw Chive

CUDA Maxx Stiletto

Masters of Defense Trident (and the Auto Trident)

V-Tech Raptor

V-tech Venom

William Henry – All of them.

CRKT Point Guard

*CRKT Titanium M-16

*Emerson Commander

Emerson Mini Commander

*Emerson Raven

Gerber Fairbairn Covert Double Bevel

*Gerber Mini Covert

Gerber Spectre

Chris Reeve – All of them

*Boker Infinity 

Boker AFT

*Microtech Amphibian

Microtech Lightfoot LCC

Microtech Tachyon

REKAT Pocket Hobbit

REKAT SIFU

*REKAT Carnivour

Fixed:

SOG Tigershark

*SOG Government Agent

SOG SEAL 2000

CUDA CQB

*KaBar Warthog

KaBar USMC Next Gen Fighter

Gerber Yari

*Cold Steel Recon Tanto

*Cold Steel Peace Keeper

*Cold Steel OSS Figher

*Cold Steel Culloden

Cold Steel Onaybun

*REKAT Hobbit Warrior

*REKAT FANG

I’m not sure what classification a Lightsaber would fall under, but that would be the ultimate wouldn’t it?