Dead Trees

I've been slowly acquiring and working my way through the "Honor Harrington" series by David Weber. I'd picked up book 1 ("On Basilisk Station") at a used book store in Pike's Market in Seattle, and since picked 2-4.

The local Borders Books is on the chopping list, so I stopped in last night to see what they had. Aside from the nausea-inducing wall-to-wall hangings every other ceiling tile in red/black/yellow screaming "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS", "STORE CLOSING", "ENTIRE STORE 20-40% OFF!!!", they had not been thoroughly picked over yet - that'll be when it's 50% or more off, I expect. I didn't want to wait, so picked up books 5-11 in the series, leaving just one to find ("Mission of Honor") at a later point. I should be set on reading material for a few weeks, in any case.

From there I wandered over to $BoxSportingStore to burn a rewards certificate that expired tomorrow. I eyeballed their ammo selections (all overpriced) then the display of knives. I've been carrying a Kershaw Chive as my pocket knife for a while, and while it's a fine knife, it's really too small for my hands. I played with a Kershaw Zing briefly and decided to get it. Except they were out of stock. So the clerk sold me the display model (no box) for $30 - ten bucks off the list price. Knock off the $10 reward certificate, and I walked out with a brand-new Kershaw for $20. No complaints. Nice size knife, no complaints thus far!

Pocket Knife comparison

I think most of us carry a knife of some sort on a daily basis. For many of us, it's a single-blade folder. Benchmade, Gerber, CRKT, Kershaw, whatever. All are great knives with a purpose. But let's face it - some days, a knife blade isn't quite the best tool for a job.

Over the summer I picked up a Victorinox Tinker and carried it around for a week before giving it to my brother-in-law as I got on an airplane to go home. It was a nice knife to have around.

Looking for something along the same idea as a Victorinox Classic, I decided to get a Leatherman Style. That arrived early this month. A few weeks ago, Amazon did a sale on Victorinox knives, so I picked up a few, including an Alox Classic.

Once I had them side-by-side, a review pretty much became mandatory.



The specs are pretty similar. Both are a hair over 2" long, both have a short knife blade, both have a file/screwdriver, both have scissors. Either of them can be had for under $20, and usually under $15.

The Alox Classic is a VERY slim knife, and foregoes the tweezers and toothpick that Swiss Army Knives are known for. It's also about 2/3 the weight of the Style. By getting a traditional red Classic, the thickness increases, as does the weight, but it adds tweezers and a toothpick.

The Style... I want to like it. The size is right. The tools are right. Leatherman has a great reputation for quality tools - I own at least four of their full-size tools and have zero complaints about any of them.

Unfortunately, the Style is a piece of crap.

It feels cheap and unfinished.

Here we go, with pictures:



First up, the knife blade. Both are a bit over 1.5" long; a good size for opening envelopes, peeling an orange, cutting small rope or twine - basically, any small-knife tasks! Out of the box, both are VERY sharp.

The Style has a "normal" blade profile, and is single-grind: the back side is flat all the way to the cutting edge, the front side has a fairly wide angle to it. Easy to sharpen, but for a left-handed user, a push-cut will be less effective. Additionally, the spine of the blade has VERY sharp edges - a quick grind down both sides would have smoothed it out tremendously. It just feels unfinished.

The Classic has the usual pen knife "spear point" blade, and is a lighter blade than the Style. For anything this size knife is appropriate for, the lighter blade is perfectly acceptable.




Both have a nail file/flat screwdriver combination blade, and the only gripe I have about the Style in this regard is that the opening divot is within the file. It's an unpleasant sensation to grind the end of a nail into the file, as opposed to filing it.

Neither screwdriver is suited for heavy tasks, but that's typical of any small knife - and many of the larger multi-tools, as well. If you need a screwdriver, go get a screwdriver!




The scissors... The scissors on the Style are pathetic. The little lever that is supposed to open them up for you doesn't have enough oomph to open them any further than what you see above. Acceptable for snipping a thread, perhaps, but nothing else. Additionally, because of where the moving part of the scissor is relative to how it folds out, getting a full-depth cut means squeezing the lever past the edge of the knife. It's really a poor design.




Style on the left, Alox Classic on the right. The Style is, quite literally, twice the thickness of the Classic.



Next to keys for size comparison; I keep the Classic on this keyring now, and the Style has been quickly relegated to the drawer o' knives.

One other point about the Style: on the right end (in the picture above), the pointy end is not tacked or riveted down. It's made of very thin metal, and has a penchant for bending away from the body of the knife just slightly. It was less than 24 hours before I stabbed the end of my finger on that point, quite painfully (but no blood).

I still like my Leatherman multi-tools. A PST, a Core, a 200, and a Kick all float around my pockets and gear from time to time. I gave my groomsmen Squirt tools for my wedding, and those are, to the best of my knowledge, still getting regular use.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the Style as a wise purchase. If you need a small pocket knife for times when a clip-on folder isn't appropriate, spend your money on a Victorinox or Wenger Swiss Army Knife.

Pocket knife

I've mentioned many times that I nearly always have a knife with me. Often it's two knives - a standard folder and a multitool.

Up until I lost it, I had a SOG Twitch II and felt it to be just about perfect. Slim, assisted-opening, took and kept an edge, and felt good in the hand. After I lost it, I tried a CRKT Point Guard for a while, but that was chunkier than I cared for. I dug into my drawer o' knives and pulled out a CRKT Bandera.

The Bandera is a decent knife. Slender, nice blade profile, kept an edge... but. BIG negative: the back edge of the blade has a very sharp corner that sits forward if you use the pocket clip of the knife. I scraped my hand many many times reaching into the pocket for other stuff, and more than once actually cut myself enough to bleed.

I finally got tired of it.

I went to the local Dick's for a few other things and gritted my teeth to buy another Twitch II... but they were out of stock. Since I had an expiring coupon, I looked over the other options, and ended up getting a Kershaw/Ken Onion "Chive".

So far, I like it, with the minor complaint that it's a tad small for my hands. The blade is a great size, but the scales are shorter than I'd like. My opinion may change somewhat when I try to sharpen it - recurve blades are a pain in the ass to sharpen on anything but Croc sticks, and I'm a diamond-whetstone kinda guy.

Knives

As most of you reading this know, a knife of some sort is just part of being dressed. Sure, there have been times I've been knife-less over the past ten or twelve years, but more often than not I've had a blade of some kind with me. Most of the knives I've acquired over the years are still in my possession. Not all, but most.

The *first* knife I was given was very similar to this one. Basic Cub Scout knife. One blade, a screwdriver/bottle opener, and an awl. Mine had blue scales, though. Lost by a fifth-grade teacher who confiscated it from my desk and promised I could have it back at the end of the week.

Sometime in junior high, I was given a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. I don't recall what model, but it was very similar to the Huntsman, lacking only the hook. Lost that one on a scout camping trip.

In high school I was given a sheath knife - a gift from my great grandmother. I still have it. Not sure of the brand, but the blade is etched "Pioneer". It's gone hunting with me once or twice, but otherwise lives on a closet shelf.

Before I went to college I was given a Leatherman PST. This is, IMHO, the perfect balance in a pocket tool. Enough things to be useful, but not so large as to be unwieldy. It now lives in the console of my truck and still sees occasional use.

At some point after college I acquired a Wenger Swiss Army Knife; the traditional executive-style knife with a penknife, file, and scissor. Lost somewhere along the line.

When I started doing tech stuff, I always had a small blade with me, usually a Gerber Mini Paraframe. Nice size, sturdy, inexpensive, but wouldn't keep an edge for crap.

On business trips (systems installations), work provided us with a Leatherman Supertool 200. It's a brick - but it's got everything. I still have one floating around; I think MrsZ has appropriated it into her garden toolbox.

When I joined the fire department, I put a Gerber AR 3.0 in my bunk gear. Great knife - until it walked away one day. I wasn't willing to drop the change to replace it with another one, so I bought a Gerber Paraframe II and it's been around ever since.

On fire calls, I found myself looking for hand tools on a regular basis, so the Gerber was supplemented (not supplanted) by a Leatherman Core. The Core seems to be the evolution of the Supertool 200, and is a great multi-tool. Sturdy as hell, nice lock mechanism, and has everything.

At some point along the way I had misplaced the aforementioned Leatherman PST and wanted a multitool for daily carry. I picked up a Leatherman Kick for about $25, which is the current (lighter) version of the PST. It's now my daily-carry multitool. The plastic liners are slightly melty from being dropped into a charcoal grill, but it still works fine.

I also carry a pocket knife with me - the Leatherman is a great tool, but it's not a great knife. For a while it was the Mini Paraframes mentioned above, then a Leatherman c301. That knife lasted me quite some time, until I found a SOG Twitch II. Knife love. Light, slim, assisted-opening, sharp as hell, took an edge easily, kept it a long time... just about the perfect knife. I lost it tromping across a field to retrieve a ground blind that blew off in a wind storm.

I replaced the SOG with a CRKT Point Guard for a while. Not a bad knife, but was much thicker than the SOG. Next stop was a CRKT Bandera, which I'm still carrying. This knife is almost right... it's slim, the blade profile is great, it takes and keeps an edge nicely... but the back edge of the blade points UP in my pocket, and is SHARP. I've nicked the back of my hands more than once reaching into my pocket for change or my phone. I need to grit my teeth and cough up the money for a new SOG.

... And that's just the daily-carry stuff!

When I go hunting, I usually have at least two and sometimes three knives with me. For a while it was the previously mentioned Pioneer sheath knife, which is too big to be a great hunting knife, IMHO. After a bit of shopping, I ended up replacing it with a Buck Diamondback Guide. This is, in my opinion, the perfect knife for small- and medium-game hunting (up to whitetail size, in other words). Profile is perfect for opening an abdomen without puncturing the gut, and the size is such that I can put my whole index finger along the spine to guide the cut. Shaving-sharp out of the package and takes an edge easily. It gets sharpened again each time I dress a deer with it. (The rubber grip doesn't get too slippery in cold and blood, either.) I've got a spare one living on the shelf in my closet and a third one in my truck console.

I've also taken to carrying a Buck 110 when hunting. It's handier than the Diamondback for finicky stuff, and narrow enough to make it easy to cut around the anus when dressing a deer. EVERYONE should have a Buck 110. $30-40 depending on what store you visit, and worth every penny.

Of special note, for the hunter who has everything: Buck now offers one-off 110s with engraving etc. A bit pricey, but a heartfelt gift for the right recipient.

The one knife I am currently missing is one to have with dressier wear. I need to find a Schrade or Case with stag scales for my nice pants...