Benjamin Schwartz

Ben Schwartz is a writer and gear geek. When not contributing to BladeReviews, he is the editor of KnifeNews.com reporting on the latest news on new and popular knives, production knife companies, custom knife makers, and things happening in the cutlery industry. Here are his barely-maintained Twitter and blog.

Chris Reeve Knives Small Sebenza 21 vs. Strider PT CC – Knife Showdown

by Benjamin Schwartz 16 Comments

Last Updated: August 3, 2019
Five years ago the $300+ production knife market was a frontier town, with just a few big names able to operate successfully at these empyrean price points. Two of the biggest were Chris Reeve Knives and Strider. For a long time the line between production and custom knives was drawn by these two companies.

But you already know all that. They may just be two products in a now-crowded space, but years of archived forum texts and reviews will show that the Sebenza and the Strider SnG and their variants are among the most talked-about production knives ever made. Denigrate them, worship them, collect them, avoid them – it’s practically a rite of passage to have some kind of strong opinion about these knives.

They’re legends. But legendary is one thing and utility is another. Mythical statuses don’t really befit something we throw in our pocket and use to break down boxes. So I’ve procured, carried, and tested the Small Sebenza 21 and the Strider PT CC to see which knife will stand triumphant in the BladeReviews Showdown Arena. Let’s treat these hallowed blades with a certain familiar contempt, see how they work as knives, and discover which comes out on top.

General Dimensions

The specs for the knives are:

	Small Sebenza 21	Strider PT CC
Overall Length	6.875”	6.5”
Blade Length	3”	2.75” (2.1” cutting edge)
Weight	3 oz.	2.3 oz.
Blade Thickness	.13”	.13”
Handle Thickness	.43”	.40”
Blade Material	S35VN	S35VN
Handle Material	Titanium	Titanium/G-10
Country of Origin	USA	USA

These are both canonical choices for a high-end, smaller-sized EDC blade.

Blade Geometry and Cutting Performance

The Sebenza has a nuanced hollow grind that removes enough material to make it a capable slicer, but leaves meat behind the edge to dispel any concerns of frailty. It just gets out of the way while you work with the blade – just like a good grind should.

Starting with an equally thick stock, Strider decided to lean into toughness with a gradual flat grind. In extreme situations it might be able to soak up more abuse than the Sebenza, but when it comes to cutting tasks – even heavy duty cutting tasks – it is worse. Not terrible, but you’ll definitely have intimations of wedgeiness as you cut with it.

So unless you value durability over all else in a small EDC knife, the Sebenza has the clear advantage here.

Winner: Sebenza

Blade Steel

Made in 2016, my Sebenza has S35VN blade steel. The sequel to S30V, S35VN brings additional positive characteristics to the standard-setting original. There’s a tendency in high-end steels to get too esoteric too quickly. ZDP-189, S90V, M4 – these kind of steels trade in extremes. They appeal to enthusiasts and lose the everyman. S35VN is my favorite super steel because it offers high levels of performance while remaining accessible, easy to sharpen and maintain. On my Sebenza it is superb.

The steel on my PT is…also S35VN, also superb. There may be a difference in heat treat or Rockwell, but in use I’ve noticed no difference, so this category can only shake out one way: a draw.

Winner: Draw

Handle Construction

The phrase “beautifully machined” is a tired one, but it assuredly applies to the Sebenza: its titanium scales have been meticulously attended to, inside and out. The media blast is consistent, the chamfers precise, the construction rigid, reliable, and handsome.

The PT’s contoured G-10 show side scale, integrated backspacer, and titanium locking side make for rock-solid build quality and surprisingly light weight – you wouldn’t think this knife would be lighter than the Sebenza, but it is. Nothing about the PT immaculate, but everything feels right, and it’s a pleasure just to hold. Despite its “Duty Tool” attitude, the PT CC feels like a handcrafted luxury item – which, of course, it is.

Really, this is a difference is between cold and warm finishes: the precision of the Sebenza vs . the inviting luxury of the PT. in the end, I think I’m going to give this one to the PT. It may not show the same attention to detail as the CRK knife, but its handle is smartly designed and well put-together.

Winner: Strider PT CC

Ergonomics

Neutral ergonomics are always good, even when they aren’t inspiring. The Sebenza is serviceable in all relevant grips. Each angle and cut in the handle serves a purpose. The edge chamfering lends dimensionality. The clip rests just between the middle and forefinger. Even sub-ergonomic details like the cut in the lock bar release are finely-tuned. The Sebenza design has been fussed over and it shows.

With a double finger choil the PT isn’t ergonomically neutral. You’re expected to hold it a certain way, but that way works so well. And credit to Strider for making the forward choil roomy enough: many knife makers shrink it down and ruin the point. After several years and many knives in between the PT’s ergonomics still remain at or near the top in my collection.

This was a tough category: the neutral, versatile, but never extraordinary ergos of the Sebenza, or the more restricted, more refined design of the PT. It came down to this: which knife do I holding and using more? The answer is the PT CC.

Winner: Strider PT CC

Pocket Clips and Carry

CRK’s double dip clip gets a lot of love. For the most part, it’s deserved. It did lose a little tension over time, but nothing catastrophic. Retrieving and stowing the knife is painless. Retention is strong and sure, and the knife itself so trim and thin that carry is totally effortless.

The clipless PT CC comes into this category at a disadvantage. It is, however, quite good carried loose in the pocket. It can be hard to feel comfortable with a $300 knife banging around alongside coins, keys, and other jagged pocket paraphernalia, but I think the PT is beefy enough to take it.

Both knives are in the top tier in their respective carry categories. However, the PT is fighting a losing battle due to its lack of a clip. Given the choice, I’m always going to choose pocket carry. The Strider is great in the pocket, but the Sebenza wins here.

Winner: Sebenza

Deployment

A strong detent and custom washers make opening the Sebenza a different affair than its more conventional cutlery brethren. I enjoy its unique calibration. It’s smooth, but provides plenty of feedback throughout opening. You can also flick it open once the knife is broken in a bit.

The PT CC is more conventional: nice and poppy and well-tuned. You can flick it out with minimal effort, or slow roll it without having to climb a mountainous detent. The oval is intuitive and the blade stops work okay as thumb studs. I tend to run this knife with little lubrication and there is no discernible decline in its action.

It is tempting to give the Sebenza the nod here, because it is more enjoyable to open and close. However from a practical point of view I have to give it to the PT. It is just as reliable, but faster and without the learning curve.

Winner: Strider PT CC

Lockup

Like the deployment, the Sebenza’s frame lock is different than the industry standard – and in this case I think better. You can’t trick it into locking up less, and there is absolute, positive rigidity once it’s open – not even a hint of play in any direction. Whether it’s the tolerances, the lock geometry, the lock bar tension, or the alchemy between all three, this is as good as folding knife locks get.

The frame lock on the PT is less exalted, but still very good. It may not have the world-beating tolerances of the Sebenza frame lock, but there is nothing to complain about in a practical sense.

It isn’t always the case that the original remains the best, but the Sebenza’s frame lock is still a marvel.

Winner: Sebenza

Price

These are both expensive knives. The Sebenza costs $350. The PT CC cost $300 when I bought it but appears to have gone up to $320 since then. At that price there’s about a 10% difference between it and the Sebenza. I love both of these knives but let’s be real here: you don’t need a $300+ knife. You buy a Sebenza or a Strider because you love knives and you want to see what can be achieved when price is not a concern.

Small Sebenza 21 vs. PT CC – Some Objective(ish) Final Thoughts

This is an iconic matchup, so it’s disappointing that it ends in a tie. Kind of like an action movie ending with good guys and bad guys both out of ammo and walking away shrugging their shoulders.

But in a way that’s fitting, particularly when you take into account the high price tags of both knives. As landmark products of the high-end folding knife market, the Sebenza and the PT should hold their own against the other, and they do. The Sebenza is the better cutter and the PT is better ergonomically, but both are pretty competent even in their respective weak areas. Prices are within spitting distances of each other, so it’s going to come down to what you value more as a buyer. However…

My Subjective Final Thoughts

When I first came up with this showdown but before I began writing it, I thought the Sebenza would blow the PT out of the water. I had just got my Small 21 and was still cross-eyed as we all get when we acquire a grail. As time and testing went on, however, I came to appreciate my long-neglected PT CC again. What I thought would be a blowout became a very close race.

That being said, for me the Small Sebenza 21 does still win. I like the blade better, I like having a pocket clip, and the incredible tolerances make for something that is 100% reliable compared to the solid but idiosyncratic PT. Ergonomics are very important, and the PT is great in this area, but the Sebenza offers a more rounded package. But having completed a leg of the knife buyer’s journey by acquiring a Sebenza and a Strider, I can tell those still on their way to these landmark blades that no matter which you pick, you’ll be satisfied.

If you are considering buying a Strider PT or a Chris Reeve Knives Small Sebenza 21, I recommend purchasing them at BladeHQ or KnifeArt. By purchasing things through any of the links on this website you support BladeReviews.com, keep the website free of annoying banner ads, and help produce future reviews. Thank you very much.

Strider PT – $300.00
From:BladeHQ KnifeArt

Chris Reeve Knives Small Sebenza 21 – $350
From: BladeHQ KnifeArt

Mora Companion Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 3 Comments

I’ll always be a folding knife guy at heart, but recently I’ve been on a fixed blade kick. I never thought they would appeal to me, but I’ve come to appreciate fixed blades of all shapes and sizes. And in a nice little fluke of symmetry, just as my appreciation of folding knives began with an affordable, European everyman’s knife, the fixed blade that opened my eyes is similarly affordable, European, and populist: the Mora Companion.

Buy on Amazon

The Mora Companion, and Mora in general, has a complicated reputation in the knife world. This complication stems from its intersection with the hardcore outdoorsman / survivalist / bushcrafter communities. Whether or not it was designed for the kind of applications these guys put it through is unclear (and Mora’s own literature on the subject is vague), but it has become a point of contention amongst enthusiasts, who tend to think it is an indispensable tool or a sham of a knife.

I approached this review with no significant outdoors experience, no previous Mora experiences, and no fixed blade preferences. The Companion thoroughly impressed me. I put this through an especially wide array of cutting chores and it never flagged, never failed to impress me. This is a beautifully simple tool. It was an impulse purchase for me, and the best one I have ever made.

(For the record, the model I reviewed is a standard Companion with the 12C27 stainless steel blade.)

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Companion has a 4” blade, a 4.5” handle, and an overall length of about 8.5”. It comes with a plastic friction fit sheath. Combined, the knife and sheath weigh just about 4 oz. Like all Mora knives, the Companion is made in Mora, Sweden. The Companion is exactly the right size for the sort of general outdoor tasks you would call on it to do.

Mora has a near-perfect rendition of the drop point here. One thing that is hard to notice in photographs is the balance between straight and curved edge. It may not look like it, but the blade is divided, length-wise into equal portions of curved and straight edge. Some blades favor one or the other but here, the balance is exact. Whether you’re slicing, roll cutting, push – or pull-cutting, you’re going to have enough length of the edge you need for the job. Brilliant.

Steel is 12C27 – a great blade steel, especially at the price. There are plenty of proponents of the carbon steel Moras out there. I’m sure that the carbon steel is great, but I abhor rust and I abhor having to worry about my knives so I went with the stainless. It’s kept a little soft at 57-58 Rockwell, which is probably good given that it might be pressed into more demanding tasks.

The Scandi grind is a traditional element of Scandinavian knife culture, present and accounted for on the Companion. It’s a little reductive, but the way I think of a Scandi grind is as a sabre grind with an extremely small edge bevel. Scandi grinds are renowned for their woodworking ability, and my experience with the Companion reinforces this. This knife took huge, even bites out of a block of basswood. Beyond this, the general geometry of the edge made the knife excel at just about everything. I cut woods, thick plastic ties, paper, cardboard, and produce. The Companion went through everything with ease, and I never fought to push it through media until it was almost totally dull.

The first time I sharpened my Companion I just went along the tiny edge bevel and had great results, although I understand now this isn’t the traditional method. If you watch videos on how to sharpen a Scandi-ground knife, they tell you that the primary bevel sets your sharpening angle. This means that you should never have to reprofile a Scandi-ground knife, even after years of use. It also means that if you’re using something like a Sharpmaker you may have to configure it for freehand sharpening.

The second time I sharpened the Companion, I set it along the primary bevel as I was supposed to. It worked well, although I marred up the mirror finish on the knife a bit. I was using a dry diamond plate instead of a wet stone, so this may have had something to do with it.

Handle and Ergonomics

The Companion’s handle is made from plastic, with a TPE-like wrap around the center swell. It’s great, plain and simple. The palm swell is exactly my style, and there is just the slightest amount of Coke bottling to fill the hand. The downturn at the butt of the knife and the guard at the front are both gentle enough to preclude any issues of finger crowding. This is a great, task neutral handle.

Some designers overengineer their handles, with embellishments like finger grooves, parrot beaks, palm swells, different traction inserts for different parts of the handle, jimping, thumb ramps – eventually it just becomes too much. The Companion is wonderful in the hand without being overdesigned. I wouldn’t call it understated so much as simply stated: this is just a knife, plain and simple. The handle is here so you can use the thing, so go out and use it, however you want.

Sheath

The sheath is your standard plastic friction fit Mora affair. Although it didn’t move me to my core, I like this sheath. The plastic, while not as handsome as leather, doesn’t look any worse to my eye than nylon and is very lightweight and durable. There’s a drainage hole at the bottom to let out accumulated moisture, and I like that the belt clip doesn’t require me to take my belt off and loop it through. You simply pry it open far enough to slide over your belt, and you’re golden. It almost works like an oversized pocket clip.

Another small feature that I found surprisingly handy was the thumb ramp on the corner of the sheath. You can push off it with your thumb to disengage the Companion from the sheath with ease, and it helps index when you’re putting the knife away.

Mora Companion – Final Thoughts

I’ve gone this long in the review without addressing the Companion’s price, so I’d like to do so now.

A lot of people say or think that the Companion is a good knife for the price. I don’t believe in good knives for the price. There are good knives, and there are good values. You can pay too much for a good knife, but you can never say a bad knife is a good value.

I think that reviewers need to address the cost of all the products they review, because value – what you get for what you pay – is an intrinsic part of good design. It contextualizes design decisions. This is why we’re okay with AUS-8 on a $25 knife but less thrilled when we get it for $80 – it doesn’t make a knife a worse knife, but it makes it less well-designed, and thus less attractive as a possible purchase.

If I paid $75 for the Companion, I’d still tell you that it was a good knife, but I would take issue with design choices relative to its price, and it wouldn’t get a recommendation.

Sale

Morakniv Companion Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife with Stainless Steel Blade, 4.1-Inch, Military Green

BUSHCRAFT KNIFE: The perfect all-in-one knife for outdoor enthusiasts, this outdoor knife makes an ideal camping knife, backpacking knife, fishing knife, hiking knife, or survival knife
PREMIUM BLADE: 0.08-inch thick hardened Sandvik 12C27 stainless steel knife blade stays sharp longer than carbon steel and is less prone to rust; Ideal for carving, food prep, and cutting tinder
HIGH-FRICTION HANDLE: Made with an ergonomic polymer handle with a soft friction grip and finger guard, this knife is safe and efficient for use in all weather conditions
PROTECTIVE POLYMER SHEATH: Easy-to-clean plastic sheath comes equipped with a belt clip, so you can easily attach your knife to a belt or rucksack
SPECIFICATIONS: Blade thickness: 0.08 inch (2.0 mm), blade length: 4.1 inches (104 mm), total length: 8.5 inch (217 mm), net weight with sheath: 3.9 ounces (110 g)

I recommend purchasing the Mora Companion 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.

Ontario Utilitac 2 8904 Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 6 Comments

Last Updated: August 26, 2019
Some knives never quite get their due. The community only has so much bandwidth for new product every year, and the criteria for making the transition from flash in the plan to fully qualified classic are hazy. We see not so good knives getting attention they don’t deserve, and good, even great designs collecting dust in obscurity a year after their release.

Buy the Ontario Utilitac 2 at BladeHQ

Buy on Amazon

While the fate of the Utilitac II isn’t quite that tragic, it seems like it’s well on its way to being forgotten. Which would be a shame, because it is a really good knife. Without even looking that closely, it checks a lot of boxes: great price, a lot of options, and a custom maker pedigree. But when you look closely, you see a knife that is thoughtfully designed, bringing a ton of consideration and character to budget knife design.

One thing to note: the Utilitac II comes in a variety of configurations, some of which are so different as to essentially be different knives. There are two different blade shapes – a tanto or a clip point – and two different handles – rounded or coffin-shaped – to choose from. You can get either blade shape with either handle. My Utilitac II has the clip point blade and the rounded handle.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Utilitac II has a blade length of 3-7/16”, a handle length of 4-5/8”, and an overall length of 8”. It is made in Taiwan for Ontario Knife Company. The Utilitac II weighs 5.6 oz., which puts it firmly in the Mid-Size category. For me, this is about as big a knife as I’m likely to EDC. I don’t mind the Utilitac II’s dimensions. It’s an integral part of its character. You either like this size and shape of knife, or you don’t.

The Utilitac II was designed by Joe Pardue, son of Griptilian designer Mel Pardue. The younger Pardue’s design style is more flamboyant than his father’s, but still conveys the same overarching commitment to functionality that makes the Griptilian so likeable. The most eye-catching element of any version of the Utilitac II is the blade. Both the tanto and the clip point have exaggerated comic book proportions. The clip point is wide and curvy. It is almost reminiscent of the blade on the Spyderco Rubicon, albeit with a more aggressive tip and a slight recurve.

I’m not crazy about recurves in general, but the one on the Utilitac II is inoffensive. And it does make the belly extremely aggressive. Combine this with the excellent overall grind and very competent edge bevel, and you get a great mid-size cutter. The Utilitac II chews through thickish media with ease. Cardboard, foam, plastic – these are the sort of cutting tasks the Utilitac II is made for. In delicate cuts it is less impressive, but by no means bad.

AUS-8 is good stuff. Anybody can sharpen it. It ls one of few steels that I feel genuinely confident with every time I take it to the stones. It offers reasonable toughness and reasonable edge retention. High end steels are pretty much all good, but in the budget realm AUS-8 is a good steel amongst merely acceptable ones. And on the Utilitac II, AUS-8 is really allowed to shine. The grind emphasize its good qualities and minimizes the bad. I have no complaints about the steel, and wouldn’t even if the Utilitac II was twice the price.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

For all the character in the blade shape, the Utilitac II’s handle is comparatively quiet. However, ‘quiet’ does not equal ‘bad,’ and while the handle won’t change your life, it’s certainly acceptable. The finger groove is big enough to be comfortable, and it transitions into the finger guard in a gentle way to avoid feeling cramped. If anything, it reminds me of Emerson’s handle designs – which is no bad thing at all.

I find that what material a handle is made of is less important than how well that material is executed. This must be why people hate on the standard Griptilians’ plastic scales but don’t seem as bothered by the Delica’s FRN. The Utilitac II’s plastic scales are done right. The stepped, three layers of texturing are all tactile, and make the handle feel contoured even though they aren’t. I like the visual interest that the faux bolster imparts to the design.

Pardue and OKC also nailed the width on this knife. I don’t think that thinner is always better in pocket knives. Sometimes, a design works better if it’s a little thicker, and that’s certainly the case here. The thickness of the handle functions as a counterbalance to the beefy blade, and gives you some exact and intuitive control over your cuts.

Of course, there is one way in which the thickness is less ideal, and that’s in pocket carry. As someone who doesn’t really carry anything else in my knife pocket, I don’t mind the chunkiness, but some certainly will. On the other hand the pocket clip, also a very Emersonian design, works well. In the tip down configuration (the way the knife comes), it travels just far enough across the knife to keep it stable in carry.

Deployment and Lockup

There really is no excuse at this point for pokey deployment on a knife, no matter the price. Obviously corners will be cut on budget knives, but the Utilitac II is yet another argument in the ongoing case that a good pivot is never something that needs to go. A simple phosphor bronze and Teflon washer setup and a punchy detent combine to give the Utilitac II a glass-smooth, lightning quick, and immensely satisfying deployment.

You kick off this satisfying deployment via ambidexterous thumbstuds. Another small thing that the Utilitac II absolutely nails is thumbstud placement. Holding the knife naturally, your thumb is exactly where it needs to be to flick the blade open. And once you deploy the knife, your thumb comes to rest exactly where it needs to be the use the knife. It sounds like a small detail, and it is, but anytime a knife can break down a time tax between you needing to cut something and getting that something cut, it should be pointed out and lauded.

This big and beefy knife uses a fairly thin liner lock, but one that has been utterly reliable in the four months I’ve owned and carried this blade. There was no play the day I got it. A little horizontal play, easily fixed by tightening the pivot, is all there is to report as I write this review. The liner travels over a fair distance, locking up at about 60%. I know that it isn’t a universally-held belief that early lock up is better, and that some makers favor late lockup on liner locks. I wonder if the late lockup here has something to do with its stability.

A generous cutout on the show side scale makes accessing the liner easy. One issue I have with the lock, however, is the jimping on the locking leaf. It’s pretty sharp and can start to irritate your finger if you’re opening and closing the knife a lot. The cutout is so effective on its own that this toothy jimping is redundant anyway, so if they ever updated this knife I’d like to see it go.

Ontario Knife Company Utilitac II Review – Final Thoughts

Judging by YouTube reviews and dusty old forum posts, the Utilitac II seems to have enjoyed a brief time in the spotlight before the knife community moved on to other knives. This is a shame because I would hazard to guess that this knife is outright better than just about any budget offering released this year (besides the Pro-Lite).

It’s likely better than any budget knife that came out last year, too. And I’ve never used a RAT 1 but I can’t imagine it being a substantial improvement over the Utilitac II. When it comes to visuals I think Joe Pardue’s design has the RAT 1 beat easily. The number of meaningful variations it’s offered in is also pretty impressive, even years later.

If you haven’t tried one, and if you can work with the mid-size EDC philosophy, I encourage you to give the Utilitac II a try. It’s actually a thoughtfully designed knife, and thoughtful design is refreshing at any price point. I don’t think that it’s been officially discontinued as of yet. Either way, it is still widely available, and well worth your time for any price under $40.

Ontario Knife Joe Pardue Utilitac II

Crafted from the highest quality materials
Built for performance and durability
Made in Taiwan
3.5 inch plain edge blade
Knife Closed Length: 4.5-Inch

Editor: I recommend purchasing the Ontario Utilitac II at Amazon or BladeHQ. Thanks for checking out the review.

Freeman Outdoor Gear 451 Flipper Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 6 Comments

Last Updated: August 5, 2019
Few of us have the money to shell out hundreds of dollars for every knife we think we might like. We have to cull the herd. Maybe we splash out for a promising ‘Maybe’ every once in a while, but 80% of the time we go for the sure thing. Most of the knives I skip I forget about, with nary a second thought given them. But every so often a Maybe knife won’t be forgotten. It lingers in the memory and asks me over and over again, “What if you’re missing out on something special?”

Buy Freeman Outdoor Gear at BladeHQ

Such was the case with the Freeman Outdoor Gear 451 Flipper. I heard good things, and admired the flipping action, unique aesthetic, and button lock mechanism from afar. My cursor would hover over the “Add to Cart” button on the Freeman website, but I never could quite commit. Thankfully, a friend and fellow gear geek offered to send his 451 my way to try out.

After wondering for years what this knife is like, I’ve had a chance to try it out, and the news is mostly very good. The Freeman 451 flipper manages to bring a unique set of features to a section of the market that is saturated with a lot of sameness. It goes deeper than a straightforward recommendation, but there’s a lot of interesting things to cover.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The 451 has a blade length of 3 5/8”, a handle length of 5 1/8”, an overall length of 8 13/16”, and is made in the USA. There are bigger blades than the 451, but this pushes up right against the limit of what I would consider reasonable proportions for something that folds and is meant to be carried the pocket. That is strictly a function of the 451’s overall shape, however: at 5.5 oz. it’s actually quite light for its size.

The market is so rife with drop points that you think I’d be sick of looking at them. However, the proportions and grind make the 451’s blade shape memorable and useful. This feels like a blade that can take a beating , with thick blade stock and a lot of material brought right up behind the edge, but the grind is masterful: a mirror-polished secondary bevel that is nice and wide without being thin or brittle. The result is a combination of toughness and slicing ability that is rare in big blades. This is probably as good a balance as you’re likely to see on a knife this size.

The striations on the blade are bound to polarizing. I actually think they’re look pretty good, and they make cutting through choky material like cardboard easier. The knife almost ‘revs up:’ the longer the pull through material, the easier it gets. They might cause issues with long-term sharpening, but other than that I can’t complain.

Steel here is D2. This is a venerable tool steel that I have had very little experience with before now. The edge was very clean and very sharp. I think the thick stock and wide-but-not-narrow edge bevel really accentuate D2’s edge holding ability while minimizing its reported tendency to chip. In another smart move Jeff Freeman chose to Cerakote the blade. As a semi-stainless tool steel, rust is a concern with D2. In an uncoated blade the grooves would give me pause; I can see moisture creeping into them and wreaking havoc. Thankfully, between the coating and the mirror polish on the bare edge, I’d say you’re pretty much protected set barring grossly neglectful behavior.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

The handle on the 451 looks like your average one finger groove affair, but that isn’t quite how it feels when you’re holding it. That finger groove is huge. It can accommodate two fingers, actually, but it works best with one finger in it. Holding the knife naturally, the pointer finger rests at the very bottom of the groove. This gives your knuckle some clearance so it isn’t butting up against the flipper tab – something that so many flipper knives neglect to do.

In terms of control, it’s good. Your hand is situated pretty far back. You undoubtedly lose fine control, but fine cutting tasks aren’t the 451’s calling. I used to think that all big knives that couldn’t also do fine cutting were needlessly sacrificing something, but that’s not true. Just because the PM2 can function as an EDC doesn’t mean that all larger knives have to, and really the PM2 is just barely a big a knife anyway. The 451 is much more clearly meant for specific kinds of tasks, and in those tasks the ergonomics are great. There’s a sort of finger choil on the blade itself as well, but I found it a little too close to the edge for my comfort.

The 451 carries quite well for a big knife. You could EDC it if you wanted and not be totally displeased with the in-pocket feel. But where I think the 451 excels is in its lightness and narrow frame relative to other hard-use big blades. You aren’t going to feel like you have a paperback strapped to your thigh carrying the 451 on a hike. The aluminum frame is gentle on your pockets and the titanium clip is adequately-tensioned and beefy as hell.

Deployment and Lockup

I don’t think flippers are, in any way, an improvement over thumb studs or opening holes. I tend to think that they are in fact actively worse. They often muck up the ergonomics of a knife, and they always make it a worse carry. The 451 makes its flipper as agreeable as possible.

It deploys surely and swiftly every time. The weight of the blade and the strength of the detent make the 451 a snappy and sure flipper. You have to try to mess up the flipping in order to get the 451 to not lock up. It’s hard to do.

The button lock is still something of a novelty in the knife world, isn’t it? Hogue has been using it with success, but other than that the only non-automatic production maker using button locks regularly is Gerber. Maybe this is a vestige of Freeman’s influence on the company (he was head designer there for many years), who knows.

Either way, the Freeman clearly believes in the button lock, and it’s easy to see why. On the 451 it is strong, secure, and easy to engage/disengage. Your fingers don’t have to be in the blade channel to disengage it – a major positive given the free-swinging blade. There is variability in the amount of play I get when I lock the 451 up, but it’s never enough play that I care. The button lock also sticks to greater or lesser degrees depending on how hard you flick it. I think these are characteristics of the lock design, and not indicative of poor fit and finish or tolerancing.

In many ways this button lock reminds me of the Axis Lock. It’s probably slightly worse than the Axis, if only because it isn’t ambidextrous, but I never doubted its strength or security, and I am happy to see something in this price range without a frame lock.

Freeman 451 Flipper Review – Final Thoughts

I’m glad I got to try out the 451 flipper. It answers a question I’ve been asking for a long time: Is it a good knife? The answer is a definite yes. Would I buy one for myself? That’s a tougher call. When the 451 first came out, it was a little cheaper ($200 instead of $225), and the market was way less competitive. If you’re looking for a big high-end knife there are a lot of choices out there at or under the same cost, some with better features like S35VN steel – which you can get on the 451, but for a significant premium that puts the knife well outside of reasonable.

If I had bought and reviewed the 451 when I first learned about it, it would have my unreserved recommendation. What a difference a couple years and $25 can make! The 451 is still a competitive knife in a lot of respects. The materials are simple but very well-executed. It’s nice and light for its size without sacrificing any sort of durability. And personally, I think it’s a really cool-looking knife. I can’t say that the 451 is a must-buy, but definitely don’t ignore this knife when you’re looking for something big and bold.

I recommend purchasing the Freeman Outdoor Gear 451 Flipper at Amazon, KnifeArt, BladeHQ, or you can buy it direct from Freeman Outdoor Gear. Thanks for checking out the review.

Spyderco Mantra 1 Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 23 Comments

Last Updated: August 30, 2019
Admittedly, the Mantra 1 had a hill of biases to climb from the start with me. It is a titanium frame lock flipper, a style of knife that I’ve never warmed up to. I find the flipper to be an inferior deployment method for knives, and while I’ve had positive experiences recently with the frame lock, unless it is done exceptionally well it’s temperamental nature make it a sub-optimal lock for daily use.

Buy the Spyderco Mantra 1 at BladeHQ

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There was also the Mantra’s heritage to consider: it is more or less a retooled Delica 4. I like the Delica as it exists in knife community mythology: an affordable, ideal EDC blade, a true classic that anyone can afford. I enjoy the reality of the Delica much less: strange ergonomics, underwhelming VG-10 steel, and a just-slightly-too-high price point have made it hard for me to connect with this venerable blade.

So I picked up the Mantra 1 to see if it could prove itself worthy, both as a titanium framelock flipper, and as a reimagining of the Delica chassis.

And there are many ways in which the Mantra is a fine tool. But it has completely bounced off me. The Mantra is a safe design. Too safe. Not every knife needs to be a history-making masterpiece, but nothing about the Mantra’s design excites me. It is purely perfunctory, a competent knife, but a complacent design. Worse, there are things about it that drove me crazy from day one. The longer I carried the Mantra, the more I noticed major problems with its form, its function, and its purpose. Carrying it was never a chore, but it never distinguished itself in use, and now that it’s out of my pocket I can’t imagine why I’d ever carry it again.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Mantra has a handle length of 4”, a blade length of 3 1/8”, and an overall length of 7 ¼” and is made in Taiwan. It weighs 3 oz. As a modified Delica 4, it is a little bigger, and a little heavier.

The leaf shape blade is a workhorse. The additional cutting edge length and blade width over a Delica makes a difference when it comes to slicing. The Mantra’s blade is precise and efficient without being overlarge or cumbersome. The ergonomics mess with the cutting control somewhat, but the blade shape itself is pure gold.

The steel is my first big issue with the Mantra. I will never disparage CPM-M4’s sheer cutting ability. This is a knife that takes a sharp edge, holds it forever, and is tough, tough, tough. I liked its performance on my Air and I like it here on the Mantra – but when I’m not cutting with M4, I hate it.

M4 is not a stainless steel. It discolors, tarnishes, and stains with little provocation, and quite quickly. The minute I got my Mantra I wiped it down with oil, and even so every time I touched the blade my fingers left a mark. I left the Mantra out overnight on my desk in an air-conditioned apartment, and there was discoloration all over the next morning. If the Mantra was designed to be a true everyday user, M4 was a bad choice. I don’t want to have to baby and fret over my EDC knife; it should work well and virtually maintain itself.

I feel like Spyderco knows that M4 has a corrosion problem, because the Mantra’s flipper tab, ostensibly the place that will be receiving the most contact from your finger, is differently finished, almost polished, as if to counteract that additional contact – and it still discolors. If Spyderco wanted to go with M4 here, they should have coated or clad it. The sprint run HAP40 Delicas have a laminated blade to fight corrosion, and HAP40 actually has more chromium than M4, so I don’t know why they didn’t work to combat M4’s weaknesses on this more expensive knife.

M4 is a great steel for specialized applications, but its quirks preclude it from being an all-purpose folding knife steel. If it was the only steel in the world with great edge retention and toughness, that would be one thing, but we are literally spoiled for choice when it comes to super steels available on $150-200 knives. S35VN is not a ridiculous thing to ask for at $160, and it would have been perfect here. My suspicion is that we are seeing M4 on the Mantra for the same reason that we are still seeing a lot of Spyderco knives with S30V: they have a lot of the stuff lying around and need to get rid of it. But whether it was a matter of convenience or Spyderco really believes in this stuff, it just doesn’t work here.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

I may not love the Delica 4, but I readily acknowledge that the design has been gone over so much that nothing feels like an accident. Even the handle, which I find too prescriptive, is more refined and considered than most knives’. If there was one thing the Mantra seemed to carry over unmodified from the Delica 4, it was its handle design.

But here’s where the flipper starts to make life difficult. The Delica 4 handle may not be my favorite, but it does work. However, it needs every last centimeter of its handle length to do so. The Mantra retains the Delica 4 handle’s overall length, but doesn’t change the size to accommodate the flipper tab, which of course works as a forward guard, perpendicular to the handle, when the knife is open. What this means is that you actually lose usable handle length over the Delica.

Thus, in hand, I found the Mantra a Delica-but-less, and thus uncomfortable. The scalloping makes your pointer finger run right up against the flipper tab. You also have to stretch your thumb a bit to actually make use of the jimped thumb ramp. Holding the knife like you’re supposed to, your hand is canted at a weird angle, and strangely distant from the start of the cutting edge. You lose a lot of control.

The titanium handle scales themselves are quite nice, well-machined and chamfered, with an attractive large grain stone wash. They’re mildly textured, but positive enough grip-wise, aided by the jimping on the thumb ramp and the lockbar insert. All details that Spyderco and its Taichung facility generally get right, but the flawed fundamentals make the execution more or less moot.

The Mantra works well in the pocket. The deep carry wire clip keeps it buried and out of the way until you need it, and the scales won’t shred your pants. I have been a longtime disparager of the Spyderco wire clip, finding it a little fragile. If there’s a positive takeaway from my time with the Mantra, it’s that I was wrong about this clip. It survived weeks of carry with no problem, and actually looks handsome in its way, so I’m a semi-convert on the wire clip.

Deployment and Lockup

Judging by any standard, the Mantra’s flipper is mediocre. Despite utilizing a ball bearing pivot, it’s laggardly. It isn’t thoughtless: you have to be deliberate with your deployment motion. It misfires every once and a while. It even fails at the more frivolous things: it isn’t particularly smooth, particularly effortless, or particularly satisfying to fidget with. Ironically, the Spyder Hole works really well here, and this is a satisfying knife to flick open in the ‘traditional’ way: fast and sure.

The frame lock is good. No play, and disengagement is easy. A very scrawny-looking lock bar, but it manages to inspire confidence with its fuss-free performance.

Spyderco Mantra Review – Final Thoughts

I don’t like the Mantra. The steel choice isn’t right, the ergonomics are actually bad, and the main selling point, the flipper, is undercooked. It’s hard to make an unusable knife at the $160 price point, and Mantra does work, but its profound lack of spark, along with its flawed fundamental execution, scuttles what could be good here.

Spyderco is famous for thinking their knives through, but the Mantra feels like it’s one or two design revisions away from where it should be. There are better blades at pretty much every price point.

Spyderco Mantra Titanium Plain Edge Knife

material type: Synthetic
Mantra Framelock

If you are thinking of buying a Spyderco Mantra, please consider purchasing it at Amazon or BladeHQ. Thanks for reading.

Cold Steel Pro-Lite Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 10 Comments

I was excited when Cold Steel announced the Pro-Lite. I like good knives, and I like cheap knives, and the Pro-Lite looked like it might check both boxes. And while there’s definitely a lot to say about Cold Steel’s behavior in the last few years, it’s nice to see a genuinely interesting budget knife from a company other than Kershaw.

Buy the Cold Steel Pro Lite at BladeHQ

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People talk about the Hinderer/KAI collaborations a lot but, really, the partnership between Cold Steel and Demko is where it’s at. Cold Steel’s affordability, competent machining, and quality materials complement the utility-driven Demko style perfectly. This harmonious pairing has allowed Cold Steel to first reinvent itself as a maker of reliable tools and not just oversized Mall Ninja props, and to move upmarket with compelling offerings in the mid-priced knife bracket.

That move meant there wasn’t really an entry-level Cold Steel knife anymore. Sure, there were a few cheap knives in the lineup, but they were all a little too corner case or niche to be representative of the brand. With the Pro-Lite, Cold Steel brings out a true modern CS design, at a low price. This is the Cold Steel budget flagship we were waiting for.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Pro-Lite has a blade length of 3 5/16”, a handle length of 4 ½”, and an overall length of almost exactly 8”. It is very light for its size, weighing only 3.2 oz, and is made in Taiwan.

Andrew Demko’s style is particularly adaptable to production knives. I think this is because his design philosophy is so practical. His blades are stylish, but that style derives from a commitment to utility. Every custom maker I’ve ever spoken to says they want their knives to be used, but few make this as obvious as Demko does. It also helps that his signature design element, the Tri-Ad Lock, is easy to implement in production knives.

Generally, I prefer smaller knives. I’ve been trying to carry more larger knives to get a feel for the advantages they offer. For what it’s worth, I think the Pro-Lite’s size is part of its charm. This wouldn’t work as a smaller knife. The incredible ergonomics would be compromised, and the very nice blade shape would be altered, likely for the worse.

My Pro-Lite has a clip point blade, long and low-slung, similar to the Buck 110’s blade. I think I’m still a drop point boy at heart, but the clip point is growing on me. The Pro-Lite’s tip is just south of the pivot, and the blade is ground thin enough that you get a lot of a control. The hollow grind starts fairly low, but given the thinnish initial stock you have a good combination of sliciness and stability. This is a burly blade I can get behind.

Steel is interesting. As much as I would have loved to see Cold Steel’s erstwhile standby, AUS-8A, on the Pro-Lite, what we have instead is Krupps 4116. A less common steel, seen on a few of Cold Steel’s previous super-budget options like the Pocket Bushman. I’ve never had a knife with 4116 before, and my experience with it on the Pro-Lite has left me ambivalent. Edge retention seems to be below AUS-8A, and while it is rust-resistant, it has a splotchy finish that just looks weird. Even in the glamour pics on retail sites it looks bad. In the end though 4116 is serviceable and easy to sharpen, which is tantamount in an ‘everyman’ blade, as the Pro-Lite is designed to be.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

Word on the street is that Andrew Demko was particularly fond of the Pro-Lite’s handle, and he has every reason to be. The ergos here are excellent. The bi-level sculpting puts your fore- and middle finger at a lower level than your ring finger and pinky, letting you pinch around the pivot for superlative control. The guard is pronounced enough to keep your hand from going forward, but shallow enough not to interfere with cutting. The beak at the back keeps your rear two fingers situated. This is one of the nimblest-feeling medium-sized blades I’ve ever handled.

Other nice things: there is a slight contour to the scales. The orange peel finish is positive-feeling, but not Cold Steel Classic abrasive. The extra-large jimping on the spine of the knife is great for indexing. Overall proportions for a medium-sized knife are spot on. The Pro-Lite feels hardy and dependable without feeling comically overbuilt, and it has a rugged, Jean Claude Van Dammian swagger that some of the more cerebral heavy-duty knives lack.

The Pro-Lite is a little wide in the pocket, but it’s nothing catastrophic. At its widest point it’s still narrower than a PM2, and it’s nice and thin compared to something like a Voyager. I also heartily approve of the clip. Angled clips are one of my pet peeves, and I’m hoping that Cold Steel is moving towards straight, unadorned clips like this one in the future. Tension is perfect, length is just right, and it seems durable. I have no complaints here. It may not be a revelation in the pocket as it was in the hand, but the Pro-Lite still carries damn good.

Deployment and Lockup

Cold Steel cheaped out big time on the washers: big plastic affairs. The pivot feels cottony, and deployment is very slow. A lockback isn’t ever going to be the fastest opener in the world, but these cheap washers really gunk it up. Once the knife is broken in they’re serviceable, and I can just about flick it open now, but really, phosphor bronze washers would be perfect here, and even at $30 that isn’t asking for the moon.

The Tri-Ad lock is here, and completely serviceable. I get the slightest amount of vertical play if I really wrench on the Pro-Lite, but it’s nothing to get upset about. For a working knife, the Tri-Ad lock is such a good choice. It’s dead simple to operate, requires no real maintenance, and is as unfinicky as they come. Worth noting, however, is that there are degrees of quality in Tri-Ad locks. This is a workmanlike variation, less tuned than the one on my Large Espada. If I flick open the Pro-Lite really hard the lockbar travels deeper into the notch on the tang and it takes some doing to unstick it. It doesn’t feel as dialed in as on a higher-end offering, but I don’t think it affects performance in the least.

Cold Steel Pro-Lite Review – Final Thoughts

The Pro-Lite makes a lot of sense for Cold Steel 2016: when most of their line was in the $40-60 range, they would undercut themselves with something like this. Now that they’ve moved upmarket, they can introduce a blade for somebody interested in their design ethos and the Tri-Ad lock, but without the money to spend on higher-end options. And, in the budget knife world, I think the Pro-Lite can compete with the all-time greats in the price bracket: the Drifter, the Tenacious, the Cryo.

If they made a Pro-Lite with contoured G-10 scales, CTS-XHP steel, and tighter fit and finish, I would gladly pay $120 for it. And you can’t always say that you’d be interested in higher-end versions of budget knives. A Drifter wouldn’t be all that interesting against more the diverse competition in the high-end market. It’s too generic. The Tenacious fails to impress next to the Native 5, or even the Delica. But I like the Pro-Lite design better than the Voyager or the Recon 1.

There is no dearth of cheap knives in the world, but there are precious few that we will remember in five years. There are budget knives that are good budget knives, and budget knives that are good knives. The Pro-Lite falls into this second, much smaller category. This is a great design, full stop. It is quite an accomplishment, and even amongst the string of great knives Cold Steel has been releasing, it stands out. Its own flaws can’t stop the design from shining through either. For $30 this is an easy, easy recommendation.

Cold Steel Pro Lite 3.5" 4116SS Clip Point Razor-Sharp Blade 4.5" GFN Handle Everyday Carry Pocket Folding Knife w/Tri-Ad Lock

PRO LITE CLIP POINT FOLDER - The Cold Steel Pro Lite heavy-duty folding knife aims to deliver superior strength and durability; Sporting a clip-point blade shape, the Pro Lite offers a thin, sharp tip, enhancing its piercing capabilities and precision
4116 STEEL BLADE - This Pro Lite folder features a resilient 3.5-inch blade crafted from 4116 stainless steel; Renowned for its toughness and ease of sharpening, 4116 steel ensures reliable cutting performance in various everyday scenarios
GFN HANDLE - The Pro Lite folders feature handles made from Glass-Filled Nylon (GFN), a durable and high-quality material that provides a secure grip and comfortable handling; GFN offers reliable performance, enhancing handling and control
TRI-AD LOCK - Equipped with Cold Steel's renowned Tri-Ad locking mechanism, the Pro Lite folding knife offers unparalleled strength and shock resistance; This locking mechanism enhances the knife's reliability and safety during heavy-duty tasks
SPECS - Weight: 3.3 oz (93.6 g); Blade Thickness: 3 mm; Blade Length: 3.5"; Blade Steel: 4116 Stainless Steel; Handle Length/Material: 4.5" GFN; Overall Length: 8"; Knife Type: Folder; Blade Shape: Clip Point; Locking Mechanism: Tri-Ad Locking Mechanism

Editor’s Note: I recommend purchasing the Cold Steel Pro Lite at Amazon or BladeHQ. Please consider that by purchasing things through any of the links on this website you support BladeReviews.com, keep the website free of annoying banner ads, and help produce future reviews. Thank you very much.