Dan Jackson

Dan is the creator of BladeReviews.com. He founded the site in 2010, and for the first 5 years Dan wrote all of the reviews and recorded all of the video reviews. He grew up using pocket knives, and the decision to start the website stemmed from his fascination of all things sharp combined with a deep passion for writing. At this point he has personally reviewed almost 300 knives of all shapes, sizes, and price points. He is widely recognized as an authority on daily carry knives and has consulted with knife companies on product design and has been featured on national media outlets including the WireCutter. In 2016 Dan decided to branch out and experiment with the website by reviewing watches, flashlights, and multi-tools. Today BladeReviews.com features a number of expert authors reviewing a wide range of daily carry gear. He is proud to write detailed long format reviews with original photography. The website remains largely independent with the vast majority of the products reviewed being purchased by Dan personally. When he isn't writing knife reviews from his home in Southwest Florida, or talking about himself in third person, he enjoys practicing law, reading, fishing, cigars, and weight lifting.

At this point he has personally reviewed almost 300 knives of all shapes, sizes, and price points. He is widely recognized as an authority on daily carry knives. He has consulted with knife companies on product design and his opinions on pocket knives have been featured on national media outlets including the WireCutter. In 2016 Dan decided to branch out and experiment with the website by reviewing watches, flashlights, and multi-tools. Today BladeReviews.com features a number of expert authors reviewing a wide range of daily carry gear. He is proud to write detailed long format reviews with original photography. The website remains largely independent with the vast majority of the products reviewed being purchased by Dan personally.

When he isn't writing knife reviews from his home in Southwest Florida, or talking about himself in third person, he enjoys practicing law, reading, fishing, cigars, and weight lifting.

Emerson Sheepdog Review

by Dan Jackson 10 Comments

Last Updated: July 30, 2019
Having reviewed many Emerson knives over the years, and reaching largely the same conclusions, you would think I am a glutton for punishment in selecting the Emerson Sheep Dog for review. However, the Sheepdog brings something new to the table. This is the first Emerson flipper I have reviewed, and it features their new ball bearing system. Plus the handle has been drilled and tapped for ambidextrous carry. This is big news from a company that is very much set in their ways.

Buy the Emerson Sheepdog at BladeHQ

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This isn’t the only flipper Emerson has done. They also released the CQC-7 flipper. The CQC-7 flipper seems interesting on paper, as flippers have been in vogue for years now and the CQC-7 is the knife that put Emerson on the map, but the design is uninspired and the end result is literally a CQC-7 with a gigantic shark fin flipper pasted onto it. I can understand the appeal to some, but personally I wasn’t interested.

In contrast the Sheepdog isn’t a model where the flipper was an afterthought. The knife was designed to be a flipper, per the specifications of Lt. Col. David Grossman, the man who approached Ernest Emerson about collaborating on a knife and designing something for David’s company Sheepdog Knife and Gun.

David Grossman is the author of On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, a seminal text on the psychology of the act of killing, how most men are reluctant to kill, and how law enforcement and military have trained people to overcome this reluctance. I’m sure On Killing makes for stimulating beach reading, but I didn’t pick up the Sheepdog to write a book report.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Sheepdog has an overall length of 8.4″, a 3.5″ blade, and it weighs 5.54 ounces. This knife is made in the USA. This is a purpose built utility and self defense knife geared towards law enforcement (hence the name). Grossman wanted something functional for a Police officer’s daily work, yet relatively non-threatening. The handle is generous, while the blade is big enough to get work done without being over the top. As usual this won’t be practical for your average urban or suburban EDC, but no Emerson is. I have carried my knife primarily on evenings and weekends.

The Sheepdog comes with your choice of a clip point or spear point blade. Personally, I like the look of the spear point a little more. I think that visually the spear point blade it balances out the handle a little better. It’s also a little less aggressive looking than the clip point. Both designs provide good all round utility and come with partial flat grinds. Both blade shapes are cut from 1/8″ thick blade stock.

As usual the blade on this Emerson is immaculate. Crisp lines, beautiful satin grinds, a generous sharpening choil, and sparkling stonewashed flats. The tip on my clip point is needle fine, while the spear point version appears to have a little more meat behind it. The primary grind is “V” ground, while the edge is only applied to the show side.

Like all the other Emerson’s I have reviewed, the Sheepdog comes in 154CM. At this point the 154CM stainless steel is a known quality. It comes sharp and stays sharp for a good while. Maintenance is easy. You sharpen the bevel side as you normally would, and that quickly raises a prominent burr. I then knock the burr off with a single swipe on a ceramic rod, and the blade is good to go. I have a suspicion that Emerson heat treats their 154CM on the softer side. It makes it an easy knife to sharpen, but you lose a little edge retention and the blade shows wear without much effort.

The Sheepdog takes a nice toothy edge, and has no problem with boxes, and I broke down plenty in the wake of assembling furniture and appliances for my rental house. I also used the knife on wood and for some mild food prep. The clip point is a practical blade shape, although it’s a little aggressive for use in public. It slices well, but also offers excellent penetration ability. Corrosion resistance is pretty good, but 154CM will stain if you aren’t careful with it.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The handle is classic Emerson: coarse peel-ply black G10 scales over a stainless steel non-locking liner, a titanium locking liner, black stand offs, Phillips head body screws, and a slotted pivot. Fit and finish is good on my knife. Emerson got a bad rap for their knives a few years ago for off-centered blades, tooling marks on the liners, late lockups, etc. These days those issues have largely disappeared. All the parts line up, the body screws are counter sunk, the edges are chamferred, and the pocket clip screws don’t stick out past the liners. If I had to nit-pick, I’d say that one of my liners is about .1 mm proud on one spot of the handle, but beyond that I can’t complain. This is a solid knife and it isn’t horrible to look at either.

The ergonomics of the Sheepdog may be inspired by Grossman, but they are pure Emerson. Like most of his designs the handle has an almost orthotic quality to it. The simple shape comes with decades of experience and the end result works great. Your index finger sinks into a deep finger groove while the flared pommel catches your pinky perfectly and the gently sloping spine supports your palm. This handle design would keep your hand in place work without excessive handle texturing, but of course Emerson offers the knife with sandpaper like G-10, and a broad thumb ramp with mild jimping. The end result is an undeniably comfortable and functional handle, but the G-10 will shred your pockets if you aren’t careful.

I know not everyone will share in my excitement, but I think the craziest feature on this knife is the fact that the handle has been drilled and tapped to accept a pocket clip on either side of the handle. Holy shit, what a concept. Some people may be less enthusiastic about this great advance in technology, after all these days you can get a $5 gas station knife that is drilled and tapped for ambidextrous carry, but for Emerson this is a big freaking deal. I’m glad Grossman got more than his company logo on this knife. Congratulations on getting this thing to come ready for ambidextrous placement of the pocket clip.

The clip is the same black parkerized stainless steel spring clip that you will find on every other standard Emerson. It’s a nice functional clip. Here it has been placed on the high on the handle for relatively deep carry. It’s not super deep carry, but you can easily retrieve the knife. The Sheepdog carries pretty well. It’s a relatively big knife, and it is thick, but it’s not going anywhere with this pants-shredding G-10. It carries as you would expect it to.

Deployment and Lockup

While the three extra holes in the handle are a big step forward, the flipper is what truly sells the Sheepdog. Since this is one of Emerson’s first flipper I wasn’t sure how successful of a flipper this would be. I was pleasantly surprised with what arrived. The Sheepdog flips well thanks in part to a large flipper tab, relatively heavy blade, and GTC bearing system. The detent doesn’t feel an stronger than your typical Emerson, and you can use the thumb disk or wave if you want, but it still provides enough resistance for the blade to flip open every time. The blade doesn’t pop like a Zero Tolerance flipper, but it isn’t a wet noodle either. I’d say it’s a solid 6 on a 1-10 scale, with a 5 being a Spyderco Domino, and a 10 being a ZT 454.

The GTC bearing system is worth another paragraph. Regular readers know I am not a fan of the teflon washers found in the regular Emersons. These bearings are like night and day in comparison. While the teflon washers are slow and gritty, these bearings are fast, smooth, and a pleasure to operate. This is is a caged bearing system designed by Brazilian custom knifemaker Gustavo Cecchini of GTC Knives. Gus knows what he is doing, and Emerson has done a great job implementing this bearing system into their knives.

Here is a parting size comparison with my Spyderco Paramilitary 2:

For lockup we have your typical titanium liner lock. As usual I found my lock was sticky out of the box. I applied a little Sharpie marker to the tang of the knife, and it helped tremendously in alleviating the lock stick. I have to re-apply the Sharpie every couple weeks but it makes the knife much more pleasurable to operate.

Blade centering is perfect on my knife.

Emerson Sheepdog Review – Final Thoughts

I think this is the Emerson knife a lot of people have been waiting for. While the company has made minor incremental improvements to their products over the years, the knives have remained largely unchanged. This Sheepdog is still very much a traditional Emerson, but the inclusion of bearings and an ambidextrous pocket clip are big steps. The flipper is successful as well. This isn’t the sleekest flipper design, and the action won’t rival a ZT, but the flipper is functional and less clumsy looking than the CQC-7 flipper. I think they did a good job with it.

I find little to complain about here. I am ecstatic about the switch to bearings. I wish they did this for all their knives. The extra pocket clip holes are nice too. The liner lock still sticks but there is a workaround if you are willing to periodically apply Sharpie marker to the tang of the knife.

I suppose the biggest hangup for me is the bulkiness of this knife. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as Emerson knives are always big and thick. You notice them in the pocket and people will notice you if you use the knife in a public setting. If you already realize that going into the purchase, then I think you will find a lot to like with the Sheepdog. It features significant improvements over past Emerson knives.

I easily recommend the Sheepdog for Emerson fans. But I also recommend it for someone seeking a large folding “tactical” knife. This is my favorite Emerson to date, and is a successful collaboration with Lt. Col. Grossman. I hope it inspires the company to try more new things.

Emerson Sheep Dog - Spear Point Blade - Folding Knife with Wave SF

I recommend purchasing the Emerson Sheepdog at Amazon, and BladeHQ. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Lansky 4-rod Turn Box Crock Stick Sharpener Review

by Dan Jackson 12 Comments

I have long been an advocate for the Spyderco Sharpmaker. If you are looking for a simple high quality knife sharpener, I am still convinced that it is a great option. I have had mine for 5+ years, and continue to use it on a weekly basis.

Buy the Lansky Crock Sticks at BladeHQ

Buy on Amazon

However, at $50+ at retail, the Sharpmaker isn’t an inexpensive option. I am sure some people just getting into knives and sharpening would prefer a cheaper starting point. I’ve played around with the ultra low budget pull sharpeners, and I would not recommend these unless you were looking for a backup sharpener and wanted to sharpen inexpensive knives.

So the quest for an inexpensive knife sharpener continued, and the Lansky Crock Sticks intrigued me. It’s a similar setup to the Sharpmaker, but for under $15 it is a fraction of the cost. Does it work? How does it compare to the Sharpmaker? These were some of the questions I had going into the review.

What You Get

The Crock Sticks come in a simple clear plastic clamshell package. Inside you have the wood box, which performs double duty as your carrying case and base, 2 medium grit ceramic rods (brown), and 2 fine grit ceramic rods (white).

The box is 2 pieces of wood held together with a screw. Turning the small end cap reveals the ceramic rods. It’s a simple system, but it works.

What I like about this system is that it is simple and compact. It’s smaller than the Sharpmaker and more simple.

Use

The Crock Sticks have 2 sets of holes for 2 edge angles: 20 degrees and 25 degrees. I have most of my knives set at a 40 degree inclusive edge thanks to the Sharpmaker, so that is what I stuck with with my Crock Sticks.

Set up is dead simple. Remove the sharpening rods from the box and set them into the base. You are now ready to sharpen. Just like with the Sharpmaker, the trick is to put the system on a flat and level surface, and then hold the knife perpendicularly to the base. Gently run the edge down one of the rods, and then run the edge down the other side. Make sure you are sharpening from heel to tip, and be careful not to pull the tip “over” the rod as you finish your stroke. Do 10-15 passes per side on the brown medium rods and then repeat the process with the white fine rods.

I have tested my crock sticks over the past few months on a number of folding and fixed blade knives. I have found this works great for basic steels and knives that don’t need to be reprofiled. The ceramic rods work well, but you need something more aggressive for re-profiling or repairing a chipped edge. Lansky does offer a version of the Crock Sticks with diamond rods, much like how Spyderco offers diamond rods for the Sharpmaker. The diamond set costs an extra $10 and I haven’t had a chance to check them out yet.

The nice thing about a rod system like this is that you can also sharpen serrations. You can free-hand sharpen individual serrations with the rod, or you can sharpen both sides of the serrations by sharpening the knife just like you would a plain edge (on both sides with the stones in the base).

Since the sharpening rods are made of porous ceramic, you will need to periodically clean the rods to remove built up metal shavings from the ceramic. I use Bar Keepers Friend for this, but any kind of powder cleaner like Ajax will work.

Lansky Crock Sticks vs. Spyderco Sharpmaker

I am guessing that some readers will want some guidance on whether to buy the Crock Sticks or Sharpmaker. Since the Sharpmaker is 3-4x more expensive than the Crock Sticks I think it’s a valid question.

I actually like these Crock Sticks quite a bit, and think that most people will get a lot of value out of these. The biggest trade off I can see is that the sharpening rods on the Crock Sticks are shorter than the Sharpmaker. This will make it harder to sharpen bigger blades.

There may be some advantage to the triangular stones on the Sharpmaker, but practically speaking I’m not sure I notice a difference. With that said, my Sharpmaker is 6 years old, and I’ve owned my Crock Sticks for maybe 6-8 weeks now.

The Sharpmaker remains the gold standard, but I like these Crock Sticks. Especially at the price point. The Crock Sticks work. If you are just getting started in the hobby or simply want to save money I think you can easily get away with a set of Crock Sticks. If you are into sharpening then my guess is you will eventually want to upgrade to a SharpMaker.

Lansky Crock Sticks Review – Final Thoughts

For under $15 I should have bought a set years ago. These work great for small knives with “regular” steel. This wont be the best fit for a dull S110V blade, or a thrashed machete, but it’s perfect for maintaining small EDC knives with steel like AUS-8, 1095, 154CM, S35VN, CTS-XHP, etc. It is a small and portable system that tucks away into a tool box or kitchen drawer and is dead simple to use.

The Crock Sticks strikes me as a great gift option for someone as well. Knife guys take this for granted, but being able to sharpen your knives is empowering. It breathes new life into tools and enhances your work, whether that is in the kitchen or on the job. For well under $20 you can give this to someone and they can sharpen a knife in 5 minutes with minimal skill or instruction. That’s pretty cool and I can’t say that about any other sharpener I have reviewed. This would be a nice gift for a friend or family member that wants to be able to sharpen knives casually.

I highly recommend the Lansky Crock Sticks. This is a low cost alternative to the Spyderco Sharpmaker that gives you 90% of the utility at a fraction of the price.

Sale

Lansky Ceramic Turn Box 4-Rod Knife Sharpening System - LCD5D

Intuitive to Use: Many find the conventional knife sharpening stone difficult to use, but with this blade sharpener, you can easily maintain a consistent angle simply by moving your knife straight down along each knife sharpening rod.
Portable: Many knife sharpeners can be difficult to transport, but this Lansky knife sharpener kit fits neatly within its compact wooden case. A professional knife sharpener is great, but it isn't always convenient. This knife sharpener tool allows you to restore a razor-sharp cutting edge on the go! When you're done, store it in your toolkit, kitchen, car, or backpack.
Dual Grit: This pocket knife sharpening kit provides two gray course grit ceramic sharpening rods for establishing a bevel on a dull blade and two white fine grit ceramic honing rods to hone your edge. This allows for a 2-stage sharpening process in one system.
Multiple Options: This pocket knife sharpening tool boasts two set angles: 20 degrees and 25 degrees. Use the more acute angle for kitchen knives and fillet knives and the more obtuse angle for pocket knives and utility knives.
All-in-One Package: This ceramic knife sharpener kit features everything you need to turn your dull knife into a razor-sharp one.

I recommend purchasing the Lansky Crock Sticks at Amazon or BladeHQ. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

WE Knife Company Model 605 Review

by Dan Jackson Leave a Comment

WE Knife Co. (or “WE Knives”) is a relatively new manufacturer from China. Technically that isn’t true as, they produced OEM knives for other brands for years, but WE Knives has recently garnered attention from knife collectors under their own brand. This is thanks to a combination of precision machining, high end materials, and a unique aesthetic.

Buy the WE Knives 605 at BladeHQ

I thought WE Knives were interesting, but largely dismissed them as most of their models feature 3.75″+ blades. I don’t mind a bigger knife, but for a true daily carry piece I gravitate towards knives with a 3.5″ blade or under.

The WE Knives Model 605 is a strong departure from their typical 4″ bladed behemoths. Here we have a compact and curvaceous design. Offered in a variety of colors and finishes, the 605 is anything but boring. And when I got a chance to check one out in person at Smoky Mountain Knife Works, I knew I had to pick one up for review.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Model 605 has an overall length of 7″, a 3″ blade, and weighs 4 ounces. My particular model is the 605J, with grey titanium handles, a two-tone blade, and purple anodized accents. This is a nice size for daily carry, but the knife itself is almost too nice to really beat on. It certainly could be considered a collectible, and it comes in a zippered nylon pouch with microfiber cleaning cloth.

The blade is a modified drop point. It has a satin finished high hollow grind and swedge, and black oxidized flats. The blade is beautiful featuring immaculate grinds, a perfectly even edge, a rounded thumb ramp, and interesting details around the thumb hole.

WE Knives went with S35VN blade steel for the model 605. Knife enthusiasts will know that this is an American steel made by Crucible. Much like Kizer, WE Knives appears to import raw material from the United States to manufacture their knives. That level of attention is uncommon, and helps shuck off the stigma that Chinese knives are cheap and undesirable.

S35VN is an excellent choice for blade steel and is cropping up in a lot of the high end knives I review. Much like CTS-XHP and CPM-154, S35VN gives you a good balance of edge retention and ease of sharpening. It’s a practical steel for a user knife. It’s high end, but not high maintenance. It also takes a beautiful polish as this 605 clearly demonstrate. I had a tough time getting a photograph of the blade without getting reflections in the shot.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The handle of the 605 is another thing of beauty. The crisp lines, the use of texture, and faceted handle all serve to catch the light and draw in the eye. The bookmatched titanium handles provide the illusion that the handle is made from a single piece of material. And of course we can’t ignore the purple hardware. Usually purple isn’t my first choice for a knife, but it’s a nice change of pace from the typical blue. WE Knife Co. has a muted color palate that they like to feature on all their knives. It’s unique and I like it. Another surprise is the fact that the inside of the handle has been milled out. This lightens the knife and shows even more care and attention.

While the handle itself is immaculate, I care less for the choice of proprietary star head hardware. Much like on the Southern Grind Spider Monkey, hardware like this makes the knife impossible to take apart without a special tool. That said, at least WE Knife Co. has the decency to include a take down tool with every knife. That is much more forgivable to me, but it still requires the use of a specialized tool.

The 605 ergonomically dialed in. This is a small knife with several finger grooves. Oftentimes that spells disaster, but here WE Knives managed to get this spaced right, at least for my larger hand. There is just enough room on the handle for a full 4 finger grip. However, if you use the forward finger choil on the blade there is plenty of room the spread out. I’m generally a fan of forward finger choils, and the one on the 605 is no exception. For traction you have light texturing on the handle and a short run of jimping on the spine of the blade. This jimping is good: it offers some traction without being too aggressive.

The 605 comes with a milled titanium pocket clip. Milled clips seem to fall in and out of favor. At first they were a desirable high end feature appearing only on expensive custom knives. As they became more accessible some people came to the conclusion that they were ineffective pocket clips, bulky and with poor spring retention. I haven’t had a ton of experience with milled clips, but I can say the one on this 605 is excellent. Retention is about perfect. The knife slips in and out of the pocket easily, but isn’t loose. Aesthetically, I think it’s a big improvement over a stamped clip.

This knife carries well, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. It has a small blade, but at 4 ounces and .54″ thick it’s pretty chunky. The pocket clip does a good job keeping the knife in place, and I largely forgot about the 605 as it rode in my pocket.

Deployment and Lockup

This knife comes with both a thumb hole and a flipper. Of course most people will be drawn to the flipper, myself included. I found it flips nicely. It’s on par with my Zero Tolerance flippers and my Kizer Intrepid. Much like some Zero Tolerance folders, you do need to take care when opening up the knife with your right hand. If you put pressure on the lock bar, it will make it tough to deploy the blade. That is one of the few perks of being a lefty.

Of course if you get tired of the flipper you can also open the knife with the thumb hole. The detent on the 605 is substantial so it will take some dedication to use the thumb hole, but it’s entirely possible to open the knife this way. Action is smooth thanks to a ceramic ball bearing system. It is not the absolute smoothest knife I have operated (that is probably reserved for the ZT 0454 or the Shirogorov 95t), but it’s pretty damn smooth. You can shake the knife closed after disengaging the lock.

Speaking of locks, the 605 comes equipped with a titanium frame lock with stainless steel lock bar insert. The lock has been executed perfectly. There is no lock rock, lock stick, or blade play of any type. I would again put this on par with my ZTs, which I consider to be a gold standard for titanium framelock flippers.

Blade centering is dead perfect.

WE Knife Co. 605J Review – Final Thoughts

We are only 3 months in to 2017, and I am already thinking that this could be the nicest knife I review all year. I enjoy it because it is unique, meticulously machined, and above all, thoughtful. There are so many details to consider that I can’t help but compare this to a Shirogorov. It’s not quite on that level. It is pretty close, but it’s not a $700 knife. Everything from the superbly finished blade to the pocketed titanium handle has been a fanatical level of consideration. I also enjoy the design. It won’t be to everyone’s taste but I think the 605 is unique and compelling. This is something I can’t say about every one of their models.

I am glad I took a chance on the WE Knife 605. I’d recommend it without reservation if you are interested in the design. It isn’t cheap, but I see a lot of value for money here. I think you will be impressed.

We Knives 605J – $242.25
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the We Knives 605J at BladeHQ. Purchasing anything through any of the links on this site helps support BladeReviews, and keep this review train running. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated.

Leatherman Wingman Review

by Dan Jackson 11 Comments

It has taken me a long time to “get” full size multi-tools. I don’t think I am alone with this. They sound great in theory, but they are so big and bulky that for the average person they are more trouble to EDC than they are worth. Sure they come with belt sheathes, but lets face it, unless you work in the trades or some other physical job you can’t get away with carrying one of these on a belt sheath.

Buy on Amazon

I suspect this is why Grayson didn’t care for his Charge TTi, and this is why my Leatherman Wingman spent months on my desk after I bought it. I liked the spring loaded pliers on my Micra and Squirt, so I decided to pick up the Wingman. It was cool but I didn’t find much of an occasion to carry it.

But all of that changed when we bought a fixer upper house. Suddenly, instead of spending Saturday morning drinking coffee and writing knife reviews I was out at the new house, demolishing, shoveling, hauling, sanding, scraping, hammering, priming, and painting. A house like this isn’t a project; it’s a hundred small projects, all of them requiring the use of basic hand tools.

On a whim I decided to take my Wingman with me, strapped to my hip in a belt sheath. Only then did I finally understand the point of these multi-tools.

Several weeks later and the Wingman has transformed from glorified paper weight to coveted construction site tool. I am surprised at how excellent and practical this ~$40 tool is.

Also, I apologize for the pictures of the clapped out Wingman. Usually I photograph my knives and tools before carrying them extensively. In this case I did not.

General Dimensions and Pliers

The Wingman has an overall length of 3.8″ (closed), weighs 7.0 ounces, and is made in the USA. This is Leatherman’s budget full size multi-tool. They released this a couple years ago along with the Sidekick, which is basically the same tool, but has a saw instead of scissors. I figured I’d get more use out of scissors than a saw.

What drew me to the Wingman is the fact that it came with spring loaded pliers, and that it was cheap. For around $40 I was willing to take a gamble on the Wingman and see if I liked the spring loaded pliers and pocket clip.

The pliers are excellent. The teeth are fine, and the jaws line up nicely with each other. The spring loaded feature is awesome. I used these pliers extensively for all kinds of jobs; pulling staples and nails, manipulating bolts, and getting into tight spaces. Leatherman is known for their pliers-centric tools, and even the budget Wingman doesn’t disappoint in the pliers department.

The wire cutters are also handy. I ended up using them to hang pictures and install light fixtures. The wire cutters don’t close all the way like on my Blast, but they still cut wire easily.

Additional Tools

The Wingman comes with a host of additional tools:

Partially Serrated Knife
Scissors
Flathead Driver
Phillips Head Driver
Can Opener
Bottle Opener
File
Ruler
Plastic Clamshell Opener

The knife and scissors are accessible without opening the tool. This is a great feature, as the knife was the tool I used the most next to the pliers.

I did not EDC a stand alone blade when I was working on the house, instead relying on the knife supplied by the Wingman. This is a 2.6″ blade, which is more than adequate for most folding knife jobs. The blade is a partially serrated reverse tanto with a partial hollow grind. The knife is accessed with an oval thumb hole. The blade runs on little phosphor bronze washers, and I am able to open the blade with one hand. This is another feature that came in handy all the time.

I used this knife quite a bit for a wide range of construction related tasks. Everything from trimming expansion foam, cutting open tubes of caulk, scraping away paint, trimming wood shims, cutting rope, cutting fiberglass insulation, breaking down boxes, and the innumerable other random tasks that come up in a day of varied manual labor.

I found the knife to be more than adequate. It held a good edge for several weeks. When I was ready to sharpen it I noticed some edge deformation on the serrations, but I was able to sharpen it away on my SharpMaker. It gets extremely sharp with little effort. On the subject of serrations, I like the ones used here. They are mild and easy to sharpen. Normally I’m not a big fan of serrations, but found them handy on a tool like this. At one point in the project I forgot to sharpen my Wingman and the serrations could still cut long after the plain edge dulled.

The blade locks open with a liner lock. There is a little up and down play in my knife, but I was too busy using the tool to care. I used this knife hard and never had a problem.

The scissors saw a lot less action than the knife, but they come in handy for more delicate tasks like trimming away heat shrink from electrical cables, cutting weather stripping, and other more precision oriented tasks. The scissors are sharp, and they are a good size, but I wouldn’t want to use them for extensive cutting. They are also accessible without opening the handle, and they lock open with a liner lock as well.

You need to open up the handle to get to the other tools. The tools inside the handle that I used the most when fixing up the house were the screw drivers. I used a screw gun a lot, and had a good assortment of manual screw drivers with me, but having the Wingman on my belt meant that I always had a flathead and Phillips driver on me, wherever I was, so both drivers got a lot of use.

The Phillips driver is excellent. It is a true 3-D driver and works great on normal screws. The driver comes to a fine point so it even works on more delicate screws as well.

The main Flathead driver is also servicable. It’s thick and wide. I found it to be great for light prying and regularly used it to open paint cans. There is a finer Flathead driver on the file for more delicate tasks like replacing outlet covers.

I must confess that the can opener / bottle opener didn’t see a lot of action, but these are handy to have, especially at a camp site.

The file also didn’t get much use. It’s a single cut file and it’s a decent size. I used it to remove the burr on some aluminum, and it did a good job. The file has a tiny ruler on the back side. The ruler is less than an inch long and is basically worthless. I’d prefer a double cut file on that side, but if they did this to keep costs down I won’t complain.

Rounding things out is a plastic package opener. This is for slicing through heavy plastic clamshell packaging without cutting the contents of the package or your hand. I used this to open up the plastic packages containing batteries and new locks for the exterior doors. This is kind of an odd tool to find, but it works well. It came in handy after countless trips to the hardware store.

Pocket Clip and Carry

An interesting feature to the Wingman is the inclusion of a pocket clip. I thought it might come in handy, and I did try to EDC this tool using the pocket clip a couple times. I found that the tool was too heavy for this to work well. I had an extra Leatherman nylon sheath lying around and found that was the way to go.

Ironically, when using the Wingman with the sheath I found my fingernail catching on the pocket clip a number of times when removing the tool from the sheath. This was fairly painful. I think I will remove the clip at some point as I prefer a belt sheath, and the clip gets in the way.

Build Quality

I think it’s worth commenting on the general construction and build quality of this tool. For $30 I wasn’t expecting a whole lot. The Wingman is surprisingly solid. it is assembled from stamped parts, which is how they keep the cost down, but the steel they use is thick and it feels substantial. Just like on the Micra and Squirt PS4, I am impressed by how well made these tools are for the money.

Leatherman Wingman Review – Final Thoughts

I’ll admit that I’m not the best person to do these multi-tool reviews. Most of the time I’m just not doing enough cool stuff to test out a tool like this fully. Most of the time I am at a desk shuffling paper around. When I exercise, it’s usually in the controlled environment of a gym. But buying the fixer-upper house was a great excuse to take this Wingman for a spin, and I ended up spending a lot of time with this multi-tool.

At the end of the day, I have a lot of respect for the Wingman. It was very helpful to have. I used it all the time and everyone else working on the house was asking me for it at some point.

Carrying it on your belt is the way to go. I quickly forgot it was on my belt until I needed it. In my opinion this is much better than fishing around for it in your pockets or using the pocket clip.

The Wingman is a budget multi-tool, but I think for real work that is a good thing. People who work construction for a living beat the hell out of their tools. They don’t carry $100 pocket knives; they carry $5 folding box cutters. The ~$40 Wingman is a definite upgrade over box cutters, but it’s still at a price point where I didn’t care if I got caulk all over it, or if we needed it for a messy job involving quick-crete. It took a beating and got the job done time and time again. My EDC when working on the house was this Wingman, my Casio DW-5600E, and a Streamlight MicroStream (compliments of Ben). This was a rock solid EDC. All of these tools are simple, rugged, and reliable.

I highly recommend the Wingman. It’s not just a great tool for the money; it’s a great tool. The spring loaded pliers and easy access knife and scissors are luxuries I didn’t have on my expensive Leatherman Blast. All the tools work well except for the ruler. The wire cutters could close all the way. Beyond that, I find little to complain about.

The Wingman is a great inexpensive multi-tool. Buy one and find something cool to work on.

LEATHERMAN, Wingman Multitool with Spring-Action Pliers and Scissors, Stainless Steel with Nylon Sheath

ONE OF OUR BEST: A classic, designed and assembled with premium materials; The Wingman is your go-to tool for projects around the house, on the job or at the campsite
14 TOOLS IN 1: Equipped with 14 tools to handle almost anything: knife, pliers, screwdrivers, wire cutters, a wire stripper, scissors, a package opener, bottle and can openers, a file and a ruler
OUR GUARANTEE: We’re proud to stand behind every product that leaves our factory in Portland, Oregon; That’s why we offer our 25-year warranty, so you can be confident your Leatherman lasts a lifetime
ONE-HAND OPENING: Open all the tools with one hand, even the ones that aren't accessible from the outside; And with a locking blade, you can cut with confidence
ALWAYS ON HAND: With its compact size, lightweight design and removable pocket clip, your Wingman is always within reach and ready to work

I recommend purchasing the Leatherman Wingman at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Arthos Knives Drop Point Fixed Blade Knife Review

by Dan Jackson 2 Comments

It’s not every day I get to share a new manufacturer. I was recently approached by Robert Yates with Arthos Knives about checking out his new line of fixed blade outdoors knives. Robert is an engineer by day, who decided to take the leap and start his own knife company. I think basically anyone who enjoys knives long enough eventually dream of designing their own knives, or starting a knife company. I thought it would be interesting to see what he developed, and I told him I’d be happy to check out his new knife.

Arthos stands for “The ART of Hunting, Outdoors, and Survival”. This drop point fixed blade is the only knife in their catalog currently, and it does not have a name. I will refer to it as the “Arthos” throughout the review.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Arthos has an overall length of 8.6″, a 4.0″ blade. The handle and sheath are made in the USA while the blade is made in China. The knife is finished an assembled in the USA.

The Arthos is geared towards the outdoors crowd. It is a little bigger than my ESEE-3. This could be a good camp knife. It’s big enough to do some light chopping and batoning, but small enough to carry around on your belt without issue. I’m not a hunter, but could see it being used in that capacity.

The Arthos has a simple drop point blade. This classic blade shape is capable and versatile. The edge is almost a continuous belly ending in a strong tip. Arthos went with a saber hollow grind. It makes for a strong knife.

I tested this knife on some seasoned oak firewood, bamboo, 2x2s, and green wood. The Arthos came sharp, and is a good carver. The uncoated blade peeled off thin slices of wood with ease, and did a good job limbing small branches. I am a little spoiled by heavy duty convex ground blades like my Fallkniven A1, and Bark River Bravo 1 (to be reviewed), but for a mid size knife I felt like the Arthos held its own. The tip is strong and held up under some light prying.

I also did a little batoning with the Arthos. The relatively thin and short blade don’t make this a great choice for batoning, and neither does the saber hollow grind, but the blade held up to the beating and I was able to pop apart smaller diameter pieces of wood.

Arthos decided on D2 steel for their fixed blade. D2 is a good choice for a camp knife. It’s tough and it holds a good edge. D2 has a reputation for being stubborn to sharpen, but I haven’t noticed any issues with this simple blade shape. In fact, the Arthos sharpens up nicely on my Lansky Crock Sticks. D2 is a semi-stainless steel, so it will stain and it may rust if you aren’t careful with it. Arthos does offer this knife with a black coating, which may not be a bad idea for humid environments.

Handle and Ergonomics

Robert mentioned to me that it always bugged him how the handles on knives felt like an afterthought. Here he wanted to give the handle special attention. I gotta say he did a great job with it. The Arthos features a fully contoured CNC machined G10 handle. These were done by Stoner CNC, and they did an excellent job.

I will note that there is no locktite on the torx hardware. If you plan on using this knife spiritedly you will want to add some thread locker prior to taking it out.

Arthos offers their knife with a variety of color options. The scales are held in place with T-10 torx bits.

As you can imagine, the handle feels great. There is plenty of palm swell to support your hand, and your fingers fall naturally into the countours of the handle. There is a short run of jimping on the spine of the blade. Personally, I feel that the jimping is too sharp to be useful without gloves. On the bare thumb the jimping is painful for any kind of serious cutting. Beyond that I found the handle to be comfortable. I think the choice of machined G-10 handles kicks things up a notch on the Arthos.

Sheath

The sheath is another part of the knife where Arthos went above and beyond. The Arthos features a hand fitted custom kydex sheath. This pancake style sheath has been nicely finished; no sharp edges and a generous drain hole. The blade pops out with the deliberate push of a thumb, and slides back in with a satisfying “thwack”. There is no rattle or wiggle.

Arthos also included a Tek-lok pre-attached to the sheath. This is an expensive add on to include, and makes the sheath easy to attach to a belt. At this price point you will be hard pressed to find a knife with a nicer sheath.

Arthos Knives Drop Point Fixed Blade – Final Thoughts

For a first offering, I think Arthos did a great job with their D2 hunter. The handles and sheath are top notch, and serve to elevate the basic blade. I can’t think of anything else that has handles and a sheath as nice as the Arthos at anywhere near this price point. The blade is serviceable, but pales in comparison to the sheath and handles. The grind is basic and I am not a fan of the jimping, but the blade performs well and the D2 steel is a good choice for and outdoor fixed blade.

If I were to offer Arthos Knives some constructive criticism, I’d recommend upgrading the blade. I might suggest thicker stock with a full flat or higher grind, and perhaps bringing the manufacturing of the blade over to the USA. It may significantly increase the price, but at that point you would have a truly premium product, and I think the handles and sheath justify it.

As it stands I think this an impressive first offering from a new company. For those that are interested in this knife, I think that the Arthos provides a lot of value for money, and the exceptional handles and sheath distinguish it from a competitive market. I’d recommend it.

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I recommend purchasing Arthos Knives directly from the manufacturer or at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Leatherman Squirt PS4 Review

by Dan Jackson 15 Comments

My Leatherman Micra review sparked some pretty excellent responses in the comments section. Great points were made about how much utility is packed into some of Leatherman’s smallest offerings, and how it’s sometimes more acceptable to whip out a multi-tool than a pocket knife. Knives will always be my first love (and main focal point of the website), but you can’t deny the practicality of a multi-tool.

Buy on Amazon

While the Micra is a great tool, it is based around scissors. I think most people associate multi-tools with pliers-centric designs. Enter the Leatherman Squirt PS4. It’s roughly the same footprint as the Micra, but based around a small set of spring loaded pliers rather than scissors. It seemed like a natural succession to my review of the Micra so I decided to pick one up along with a Gerber Dime to test out this segment of the multi-tool market.

General Dimensions and Pliers

The Squirt has an overall length of 2.25″ (closed), weighs 2.1 ounces, and is made in the USA. This tool is similar in size to the Micra. The Squirt is a little thicker, but the Micra is a little longer. The PS4 is advertised as a “keychain multi-tool”, and while technically you could carry this on your keychain, I’m not sure if you would want to.

This is a small tool and can be easily stowed in a pocket, or strategically tucked away in a tool kit, vehicle, or tackle box. That is primarily how I like to use these small multi-tools. They may not be a true “EDC” piece for me, but for around $25 most can afford to have this be a dedicated tool for their car, as part of a little tool kit, survival kit etc. Of course there is nothing wrong if you want to make this a daily carry object as well.

And on the subject of price, I still can’t believe how nicely made these small Leatherman tools are for the money. The pieces all line up nicely. There are no unintentional sharp edges. The action of the springs are all high quality. The tools themselves are all nicely finished. There are no stray tooling marks and everything goes where it should. The handle scales are hard anodized aluminum. The pliers close neatly together. This is a quality tool that is satisfying to articulate. It’s not a disposable object, and it feels like you actually get something for your money.

At the center of the Squirt is a small set of stainless steel pliers. The pliers come to a nice tip and are almost fine enough to be used as tweezers. They can certainly pluck hair, and could probably pull a splinter in a pinch, but they are strong enough to be used to pull staples and manipulate small bolts. The jaws open to over an inch wide but are better for smaller tasks. In fact, these pliers are great for getting into places that are too tight for my fat fingers.

Additional Tools

The Squirt comes with an assortment of 7 additional tools to the pliers. The toolset includes:

Scissors
Penknife
Bottle Opener
File
Flathead Driver
Phillips Driver (small flathead driver)
Wirecutter

This is a nice list of commonly used tools. All but the wire cutter can be accessed from the outside without opening up the tool. That may seem like a small detail in theory, but in practice being able to access the tools without opening up the pliers is huge. I think that feature is right up there with spring loaded pliers.

The scissors are very small. They cut, and can work for delicate tasks, but I wouldn’t want to use them for a lot of cutting. That said they are sharp, spring loaded, and certainly cut. They can be great for when you need to trim something small or make a delicate cut, like trimming away heat shrink from a wire.

The knife blade is small but serviceable. It is flat ground with a chisel edge, and comes sharp out of the box. It’s made from 420HC steel. It won’t win and edge retention competitions but in a pinch it will open a piece of mail or shave down a piece of wood. It’s a slip joint, but if you are smart with it you will be fine.

The file is possibly my favorite tool on the Squirt. It’s over an inch long and is double sided. One side is a single cut file, the other is double cut. Both sides are abrasive and work great for small jobs.

The screw drivers are adequate. The “Phillips” driver is not a true 3-D driver, but it can work in a pinch. The flat head driver is about a quarter of an inch wide and works well.

The bottle opener is small and shallow. It will get a bottle opened, but takes some work and is a far cry from the bottle opener on the Alox Cadet.

Leatherman Squirt vs. Gerber Dime

As I mentioned in the intro, I bought this along with the Gerber Dime. I think the build quality of this Leatherman blows the Dime out of the water. The Dime isn’t a bad tool, and it’s anywhere from $5-15 cheaper than the PS4, but I prefer the PS4.

I mostly prefer the PS4 for it’s slightly better build quality, and the bottle opener jutting out of the back of the dime turns me off, even if it’s a more successful bottle opener than the one on the Squirt.

That said, others have had great luck with the Dime, so if you are torn you can buy them both for under $50 like I did. If I could only keep one I like the PS4 more.

Leatherman Squirt PS4 – Final Thoughts

They say the best tool is the one you have on you. The Squirt isn’t going to replace a tool box, or even a full size multi-tool, but it’s handy in a pinch for small jobs. Given the size constraints I think it’s a great little multi-tool, and you get a lot for your money. That said, I prefer a full size multi-tool for working on bigger projects. The problem with a full size multi-tool is that they are tough to carry unless you can get away with a belt sheath.

I continue to be impressed with the fit, and finish of these inexpensive Leatherman tools. The stellar build quality combined with how they are legitimately useful, make this one a win for me. The fact that the Squirt is made in the USA is icing on the cake.

This is a great back up or EDC item. Even if it doesn’t get tons of use, at around $25 you can’t go wrong with it.

LEATHERMAN, Squirt PS4 Keychain Multitool with Spring-Action Scissors and Aluminum Handles, Built in the USA, Black

LITTLE LIFESAVER: A colorful, keychain-size multitool with durable aluminum handles, spring-action pliers and more
9 TOOLS IN 1: With a knife, pliers, screwdrivers, wire cutters, scissors & a bottle opener, this lightweight mini-tool handles everything from snipping fishing line to wrapping birthday gifts
OUR GUARANTEE: We’re proud to stand behind every product that leaves our factory in Portland, Oregon; That’s why we offer our 25-year warranty, so you can be confident your Leatherman lasts a lifetime
ONE-HAND ACCESS: For those moments when you only have one hand to spare, the Squirt PS4 only requires one hand to open and use all the tools
ALWAYS ON HAND: The Squirt PS4 weighs just 2 ounces and is equipped with a key ring so it's always within reach and ready to work

I recommend purchasing the Leatherman PS4 Squirt at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.