Pocket Knives

My recent bout of KAD (Knife Acquisition Disorder) is somewhat under control now. I have accumulated an acceptable collection of knives, and I'm not really itching to make another purchase just yet. Of course, I'd love me one of those Chris Reeve Sebenza knives, but the price tag keeps my fiscally responsible side well-grounded in reality. I don't think that last sentence makes sense, so let me rephrase it: I can't afford it.

When I was a wee lad I carried a pocket knife to be cool, carve my initials into wooden objects, and play mumblety-peg with the neighborhood degenerates. I recall having a cheap single blade folder and a medium sized Swiss Army Knife way back when. However, I stopped carrying pocket knives after getting out of high school (yeah, back then pocket knives were allowed in school), and never really missed them or gave them much thought until a few years ago.

So what happened a few years ago? I was on a weekend hike with another family, and my friend broke out an absolutely enormous Swiss Army Knife that I immediately ridiculed and scoffed at. No, it wasn't THIS monstrous, but still. After getting my friend on the defensive, he explained all about the practical utility of having an EDC pocket knife: sawing logs for a lean-to; spontaneous tooth picking; and blah blah emergencies blah blah. He was very convincing. So, I dug my old Swiss Army Classic out of my drawer and started to carry it on the regular. I soon decided to get something different, and that led to the acquisition of a Buck Scholar knife.

KAD took over in 2012, and I really went haywire that year. My knife purchases went like this: Spyderco Dragonfly2 in May; Spyderco Manix2 Blue Lightweight in June; Benchmade Mini-Griptilian in July; Coldsteel Tuff Lite in August; Gerber Dime in November (returned to Amazon in November); Leatherman Juice S2 in early December; and Spyderco Native5 ordered on December 31, 2012. Wow, that's a little overboard, but the lineup looks great:

The knives are shown in chronological order according to when I got them: top row left to right, then bottom row left to right. So my oldest knife is the SAK Classic, and my newest is the Native5. I don't really carry the Classic or the Scholar these days, simply because I prefer the other knives as EDC items. I rarely carry the Manix2 because I don't want to scare or intimidate any sheeple in the neighborhood. Seriously, the Manix2 is only a "pocket" knife in theory or if you're rockin' giant baggy MC Hammer pants.

I guess that I can do some retroactive posts related to the Dragonfly2, Manix2, and Mini-Griptilian knives. So be on the lookout for those posts. Unless, of course, KAD kicks in again and/or a Sebenza magically appears in my mailbox. If that happens, I'll write about it immediately.

Leatherman Juice S2

As I wrote in an earlier post, my first multitool (the Gerber Dime) was a multifail. I returned the Dime the day after I received it, and immediately began the acquisition process to identify a better product. As soon as I returned it, I knew that I would be looking for a Leatherman multitool. I looked at the different Leatherman models and decided to get one of the pocket sized multitools. The Skeletool models look super cool, but they have limited functionality. Ditto for the Freestyle model. After eliminating those models, I was left with the different Juice models. From there it was easy for me to pick the Juice S2 model because it has scissors in lieu of a corkscrew. I don't drink wine, and consider a corkscrew to be a silly addition to a multitool. I decided to acquire the orange version because I thought that it would be distinctive, difficult to lose sight of, and easy to locate.

The orange color is unusual, but not annoying or childish at all. I like it. I also like the awesome fit and finish of the S2, which blows away the fit and finish of the Gerber Dime that I had.

My original intent was to EDC the S2 for a month to see whether or not I would ever need to use any of the tools other than the knife or the scissors. Speaking of EDC, the S2 is small and light enough to EDC, although for me it pushes the envelope of what I would call "comfortable" EDC. Whether or not the S2 is too bulky or bothersome for use as an EDC item will depend on which pocket you use and how it settles into the pocket.

When I hear the word "Leatherman" I immediately envision a set of pliers. The Juice S2, as expected, includes a set of needle nose pliers that also serve as wire cutters. The clamping action and tolerances are very good; I only wish that they were spring loaded.

The above picture is my attempt at showing most of the S2's tools: phillips screwdriver; knife; scissors (look at the size of that thing!); bottle/can opener; and flat screwdrivers. Would it be nice to have some other items? Sure, but then the S2 would become bloated, heavier, and lose its primary selling point (for me at least): EDC functionality. By the way, the S2 can also be configured into a Transformer-like bipedal Edward Scissorhands thing:

This is an unadvertised benefit and function of the S2 that brings the tool count up to thirteen in my book. Anyhow, I got the Juice S2 in early December 2012 and didn't use anything other than the knife and scissors for a good while. Fast forward to Christmas day, and I had an opportunity to deploy the pliers, the phillips driver, and a flathead driver. I also used the scissors and the knife to break down some boxes. To be honest, I could have used a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine for some guests, but whatever.

As mentioned above, my goal was to to EDC the S2 for a month or so to determine whether or not it makes sense to carry all of that functionality around. Well, the S2 didn't last an entire month. The day after Christmas, I needed a phillips screwdriver to install some batteries in my kid's toy. I made a point to announce to all the EDC disbelievers in the house: "it sure would be nice if I had a screwdriver on me . . . wait a second, I DO happen to have one right here in my . . . hey, where's my Leatherman?" It wasn't in my pocket, it wasn't in my EDC valet tray, and it wasn't in the garage near the boxes that I had broken down. I swore that I placed it in an unforgettable place after breaking down the boxes. Where did I put it? Why, on the back bumper of the car! Brilliant.

Unfortunately, my bright orange Juice S2 was not covered with a grippy rubbery exterior coating. Nor was it outfitted with an ultra heavy duty magnet. Accordingly, it fell off the bumper on the way to the local wine shop. I retraced my drive in an attempt to find the S2 in the street, but the distinctive and conspicuous orange sheen did nothing for me. Meh.

Anyway, I really enjoyed and liked the S2 during the few weeks we had together. I'm glad that I captured some pictures of it before I lost it.

PS - I acquired another Juice S2 a couple of months ago. I got the gray colored model and haven't lost it yet.

Spyderco Native5 Knife

I was perusing my Amazon Wish List awhile ago and was surprised to find a couple of pocket knives near the bottom of the list. I tend to populate my Wish List in an ongoing manner whenever something of interest grabs my attention (which happens far too often). I must have added the knives to my Wish List a long time ago when I was suffering from a bout of Pocket Knife Acquisition Disorder, and before I purchased my Cold Steel Tuff Lite. The knives I found lurking deep in the bowels of my Wish List were both Spyderco knives: the Delica4 (ZDP-189 blade steel version); and the Caly3 (carbon fiber version).

Seeing those awesome Spydercos again triggered my Add-to-Cartitis, and I made up my mind to acquire one of them. I struggled with my choice, so I did a search for "Delica4 versus Caly3" and spent the next day or three reading and watching far too many reviews of both knives. I deleted the Delica4 from my cart after convincing myself that the Caly3 looked better and appeared to have a more modern design. I was about to pull the trigger on the Caly3 when I read a review that mentioned a knife that I had never heard about before: the Spyderco Native5.

Spyderco Native5

I can't recall where I read the Native5 review, but I do remember that the writer considered the Native5 to be an improvement over the Caly3. I think it had something to do with the lock and/or the pivot design, but whatever it was, I was sold (because I believe everything I read). It didn't take long for me to delete the Caly3 from my cart, navigate over to Blade HQ, and buy the Native5 (G-10 version).

The Native5 gets its name from the fact that it is made in the United States (Golden, Colorado to be exact). This knife is beautiful, and it has the best fit and finish that I've seen thus far, which really doesn't mean much because I haven't seen many knives and I only have a very small collection at this time. This is my first knife with G-10 scales, and I really like the material. G-10 is not as high-tech or trendy looking as carbon fiber, but it still looks awesome, it has a great feel to it, and by all reports it is very strong and tough.

G-10 Scales

The brushed/polished steel and black colorway is impressive, and it makes the Native5 look more like a "gentleman's" blade rather than some radical steroid-laden tactical knife for use in hunting honey badgers. The machining of the parts and the assembly tolerances are nearly perfect. Check out the next picture, which shows the back lock mechanism and the edges of the steel liners; it's tough to distinguish the liners from the back lock:

According to Spyderco, the blade is made from CPM S35VN steel (by Crucible). Don't ask if that is good or bad, because I'm not really sure. It sounds impressive, though. The blade is three inches long, which is exactly the size that I was looking for. The blade is flat ground, it has a nice finger choil on the bottom and jimping on the top, and of course it features the obligatory Spyderco thumb hole.

The knife is weighty even though it features "dual skeletonized liners" for strength. The Native5 employs a pivot bushing and is assembled using Torx screws so that adjustments can be made if so desired. Even the pocket clip is designed well: it is polished nicely; it has the little spider icon engraved on it; and it can be installed in four different positions (right-handed, tip-up carry for me, thank you very much).

To be honest, I use my knives to open boxes and envelopes, slice pizzas and burritos when in tactical gastronomic situations, and to cut an occasional string or thread. I admit that any decent butter knife could probably satisfy my everyday cutting needs. That said, I DO appreciate high quality steel, nice blade shapes, and knives that hold sharp edges. I feel that the Native5 is more than satisfactory in this regard. Moreover, the Native5 looks and feels better than any other knife that I currently own. This knife will spend more time in my pocket than any other knife in my current collection. No contest.

My Two Cents on the Gerber Dime

I've wanted a Leatherman multitool thingy for many years, but never pulled the trigger on one because my desire to own one had been driven primarily by the "cool factor" more than the "hey, I could really use a multitool on a daily basis" factor. That said, I've recently changed my attitude about multitools and I convinced myself to buy one for the "just in case you need pliers or a screwdriver in an emergency" factor. That fresh outlook ultimately led me to the Gerber Dime keychain sized multitool.

Once I convinced myself that a multitool must be acquired, I did some research and price comparisons. I was browsing the offerings on the Leatherman website and got a little overwhelmed with all of the different models. So I did what I always do: checked out some online multitool reviews. I went straight to the reviews posted on the awesome Everyday Commentary blog, focused on the highest rated products, and was impressed with this stellar review of the Gerber Dime. Once I saw the 20/20 score, I was sold.

I purchased the Dime from the evil empire known as Amazon (free shipping with my Prime status) for less than $17.00 . . . "not bad" I thought. When I received it a few days later, I was surprised at its tiny size. The Dime truly is an EDC keychain-carry item. I was also surprised that the product looked like a pre-owned item. For example, the printed lettering on the scales was scuffed up and shoddy looking out of the box. Not really a deal breaker, but also not a great first impression.

Of course, I immediately started to fiddle with the Dime in an attempt to discover all of its useful features. Scissors: check (easy to deploy, well made, cuts paper). Knife: check (easy to deploy, sharp enough, interesting blade shape). Flat screwdriver: damn, that thing is jammed in there, let me try again; damn, I just chipped off my thumbnail, let me try again; WTF this thing sucks, does anyone have a Leatherman that I can use to open this screwdriver? Package opener tool: ditto (now there are two shards of thumbnail on the table next to the Dime). File: check (somewhat easy to deploy, and it came in handy to tune up my jagged and severed thumbnail).

I Used This! Twice!

The Dime also has something that is advertised as tweezers. Unfortunately, the tweezers are not very useful because they are biased in the closed position. Fortunately, I was able to use the end of the file as a pry bar to tweak and bend the tweezers open. After performing this tweezers mod, I used them to pick up and discard my thumbnail shards. Alas, the mod was only temporary; the tweezers returned to the closed position after I slid them back into their retaining slot. The tweezers in my little Swiss Army Knife are much better, and they work as intended without modification.

The pliers are well-designed, easy to deploy and fold, and have a nice spring action to them. I can't really complain about the pliers, and I'm tempted to keep the Dime simply for this nice feature. Tempted, but not convinced.

The Dime also has an exposed bottle opener and a split ring for a keychain. I didn't use either of them, but I assume that they work fine. Here's a picture of the Dime in all of its glory:

I honestly think that I may have gotten a unit that was made on a Monday or a Friday, because I refuse to believe that every Dime has tools that are virtually impossible to deploy and/or use properly. It's a shame, because this multitool has an impressive set of features, it looks great, and it seems to be solidly built (other than the tweezers).

These pictures will be saved, but the Dime is going back to Amazon. First impressions go a long way with me, and the Dime just doesn't make the cut. I still want to get a multitool to keep in my car, so it looks like I'll be navigating the Leatherman website again real soon.

New Pocket Knife: Cold Steel Tuff Lite

Payday = New Stuff! In this case, new stuff = new knife. I'm still searching for cool EDC knives to add to my meager collection. There are billions of knives on the market these days, which makes it rather difficult to choose only ONE to buy. Fortunately for me, there are loads of blogs and YouTube channels devoted to knives, EDC concepts, etc. Indeed, the awesome Everyday Commentary blog led me to investigate the Tuff Lite knife by Cold Steel. More specifically, this post includes a good review of the Mini version of the Tuff Lite. That review really piqued my interest, but I had second thoughts after seeing pictures that show the tiny size of the Mini Tuff Lite. Not to worry; my research flow path quickly led me to the larger sized Tuff Lite knife (shown in the picture).

Rather than "review" this knife, I'll just point out some features that led me to buy it. First, I wanted to try a different/unusual blade shape. This knife has a Wharncliffe blade shape (yes, I learned a new word) that is characterized by the straight cutting edge and the curved top edge. I like this shape because I often use my knife to open packages and unruly envelopes, and the blade works well for those applications. Second, I like the way it looks when the blade is open. Third, I wanted to try a different brand (I already have a Spyderco and a Benchmade).

The knife is somewhat portly when closed. It's probably the thickest knife I own as of today. I like the look of this knife when closed, but it really looks great when open. The curved "turtle shell" profile is different than any other knife I own.

Although impossible to tell from my pictures, the blade is hollow ground, and it is literally razor sharp. The straight cutting edge will be perfect for all of my extreme box-cutting chores lol. If I ever encounter a particularly menacing box, those super well-defined finger choils (yet another word recently added to my vocabulary) should do the trick!