I like the shape of the scales, looks like it would provide a good grip when pulling it straight up and out, but more than that, I'm new to fixed blades and Cold Steel is a brand I trust. (as weird as that may sound).
Nothing really fancy here. I'm new to the QSP brand, but think I will be buying more. The Ripley's lock needs some breaking in and the Penguin Glyde has a little stick too, but I think they will be operating smoothly soon. As dumb as it sounds, I was actually worried about them costing so little.
I love that shade of purple with a black blade on the Penguin, I always try to get that color combo when it's available. Those stripes on the Ripley are deeply cut and provide a strong grip.
The third knife in the last pics (got it yesterday) is a Blade Show Prototype (the QSP Badger). It basically has a cross-bar lock that wraps over the spine on the knife. I think it's cool, but no idea what quality the finished product will be or what the retail price will be. The blade is marked "sample" on the back. 4.5" closed, 3.5 inch Nitro V blade. Dual thumb studs. Lanyard hole. Tip-Up reversible pocket clip. Glow in the Dark G10 backspacer.
This is from the Blade Show. I love new locks and this one is interested me. The crossbar "button" wraps around the spine from each side, meaning you can pull back the button from either side or on top (doing one side alone is a bit difficult), but much easier to pull both sides, or just pull back on the spine... kind of like a an Atlas Lock, kinda. I heard someone else call it a shotgun pump, I'm not sure about that, but I think it's a cool knife.
It's a really good knife even without this new lock.
The blade is marked "sample" on the back. 4.5" closed, 3.5 inch Nitro V blade. Dual thumb studs. Lanyard hole. Tip-Up reversible pocket clip. Glow in the Dark G10 backspacer.
This is from the Blade Show. I love new locks and this one is interested me. The crossbar "button" wraps around the spine from each side, meaning you can pull back the button from either side or on top (doing one side alone is a bit difficult), much easier to pull both sides, or just pull back on the spine... kind of like a an Atlas Lock, kinda. I heard someone else call it a shotgun pump, I'm not sure about that, but I think it's a cool knife.
It's a really good knife even without the lock.
The blade is marked "sample" on the back. 4.5" closed, 3.5 inch Nitro V blade. Dual thumb studs. Lanyard hole. Tip-Up reversible pocket clip. Glow in the Dark G10 backspacer.
I finally got the Bodacious SPY27 around a month ago and love it so much I had to get the S90V-Carbon Fiber one. The Bodacious is a beast. It's CF is both kind of smooth and rough, "a subtle peel-ply texture" is what they call it. Almost an ounce less the the Shaman and of course does not have a huge choil, but it does have a much longer cutting edge... it's a tradeoff.
I've been wanting to get a Kapara for a long time, absolutely love it too. Fidgety fun. It feels and looks premium. It's not slim, but barely noticeable in the pocket. The Kapara's Carbon Fiber is hard and smooth, but I've seen a lot of people who hate that hard CF. . Anyway it's a nice knife, only issue (only an issue for some people) is I could only find it in S30V. I'm totally fine with it being S30V and I'll probably never try to get rid of it anyway.
I had just started looking at or researching fixed knives, and I quickly came across KA-Bar Knives, of course I'd heard of them , but didn't know much of anything about their knives.
I'm also a retired Army veteran, so when I came across this knife, I couldn't stop laughing. Then I kinda forgot I ordered it until this morning when it showed up. And I love this stupid thing, it's a legit good knife. And I can assure you, the Space Force guys think it's funny too.
Why is it funny? It's dark comedy, joking about it makes it feel less real. If any Commander ever walks into a SCIF or Command room/office and says, "Gentlemen, Fixed Bayonets!" and every Soldier, Air Person, Navy, or USMC won't be laughing, because they are likely to be captured or killed very soon.
I plan to get a Ka-Bar for or each of the branchs, but when I saw this Space Force Ka-bar, I had to pick this one first.
edit: Also, the colors look great too. The baby blue handle w/whatever kind of matt-silverish/grey cerakote coating they are using looks great
I really like it, never owned a QSP before, and I know almost nothing about QSP and had no idea what I was buying really. It was $25, no huge loss if it's just junk. It was plastic wrapped in it's own box and I saw the QSP letters on top of the box. I've clearly heard of QSP and know they are a respected knife company. It's a little beat up but I decided to take it home anyway.
I'm trying to see how popular this particular one was. It's the QSP Penguin Button Lock in "Shipwreck Carbon Fiber". I've found a few sites that were selling them around $200 (I highly doubt mine is worth that much), but I have no clue if they actually sold for that much. So, was it a good buy or am I just confused and it's a dime a dozen knife? I'm not looking to sell it, I went to their site and I will get a Penguin Plus soon. Below are some links to this particular one.
Anyway, my whole point is just to say, "check out your local pawn shops. You may find a good deal."
If I ever did sell them, it would be less than what I paid for them. It's more therapeutic than trying to make a buck. Sometimes I kinda get burned out trying to be on time when a new knife drops. And there's no pressure with taking my time to find the right scales, hardware, and assembling it, It's nice. Oh, and the "workshop" is more of a man cave.
These all have good steel, magnacut in the Spydies, 3V in the 20.5s, and 20cv in the Nano. I don't want to customization a cheap or less desirable blade steel. I'm normally indifferent about Tanto blades, but they look awesome on those Demko's. They should use Tanto blades more often... and so should Spyderco. I would love to have one of those Tanto PM2s.
I also did a very unscientific sharpness test straight out the box, no sharpening or stropping. These results mean absolutely nothing. Results below:
This may be common knowledge about these scales for some people on here, but it wasn't to me when I ordered the knife.
These FG1 titanium scales on the AD20S feel soft, yes, soft (to me anyway). In the second pic I included a Titanium Demko 20.5. In the following pics you can see how there's no sharp edge on the FG1 scales, it's all rounded off, while the 20.5 has some sharp edges. It feels much better than the 20.5., fits like a glove.
It looks like BladeHQ still has a few of these AD20S FG1s left. Oh, the last pic is with the other AD20S I got today, a grey G-10 for customizing later.
I was just going to get the Bodacious, then I saw the deal went with it. Second pic is the Bodacious vs Shaman. They kinda look alike, but that's it. The Bodacious is not a copy of the Shaman. The cutting edge is much longer, and I don't need that big choil on the Shaman. IMO. Also, the G-10 on this Bodacious has a slightly different feel than most other G-10s I've held. Really smooth, nice.
I didn't know how small the Ladybug is, lol, it's basically a keychain knife. But I already have a Micro Cold Steel Recon 1 for that (last pic).
I've been wanting to try out a Ram-Lok since they came out a few years ago. I hope my question makes sense... If I were to buy just one (for starters), which one will the lock feel best on Stitch, MSI, or Amphibian?