EDC Knives

Gerber Flatiron Review

What’s with the rise in popularity with cleaver knives? It just seemed like one day they were everywhere. We had options from Spyderco, Boker, Kershaw, CRKT, and of course the Gerber FlatIron. The FlatIron made a big showing at SHOT, and it makes sense why. Gerber is a massive company, the FlatIron looked cool as hell, and Gerber promised a low price tag. Once the FlatIron hit the streets, they were tough to find, and in December I got my hands on one. For 31 bucks I didn’t have massive expectations, but I have plenty of budget knives that perform beyond their price tag.

Buy the Gerber FlatIron at BladeHQ

The Gerber FlatIron comes in two different grip styles, a hunter green aluminum grips and FDE colored G10 grips. The knife is a folder and pushes full size to its limits. Gerber makes lots of knives at lots of different price points, some hit, some miss, but how does the FlatIron come out?

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Gerber FlatIron gains its unique name from the flat, cleaver blade it has. The blade is 3.8 inches, with an overall length of 8.5 inches. It’s a big knife and weighs 5.6 ounces. That’s a bit heavy for a folding knife. As a cleaver the blade is quite broad, it sits at 1.125 inches wide and is .15 inches thick. It’s a big knife, and a cleaver has to be.

Cleaver knives have become quite popular these days due to their robust blade design and just how thick they are. The cleaver blade is designed for cutting, slicing and chopping and the Gerber FlatIron has a very sturdy blade. The lack of a point is a downside to some and limits the knife’s versatility. The benefit is the knife less aggressive looking and lower profile in case that is a concern. In some situations, you may not want a point. I know a few first responders who carry Sheepshead blades to cut and slice near people while reducing the chance of stabbing someone if the knife slips.

The blade is made from the always fun to type 7Cr17MoV steel. This is cheap steel, and the FlatIron is an affordable, Chinese produced, knife. It dulls relatively fast but sharpens easily. This is good because Gerber has dull blades when purchased. I’ve put it through my Smith’s Pocket Pal a time or two, and it edges right up. From what I’ve read this steel is pretty tough and resists corrosion well.

Once sharpened it cuts well. My use for a cleaver has always been the kitchen, and the FlatIron separated meat from bone pretty easily. It cuts smooth and deep through meat and might make an excellent field kitchen knife. Additionally, as a cutting blade, it does excel when sharpened for cutting through tougher materials like thick cardboard, and plastic straps. The FlatIron was my go-to for opening Christmas present boxes for the kids this year.

The blade has a worn, stonewashed finish that’s plenty attractive from a purely aesthetic standpoint. The whole knife looks cool, and that’s likely one of its most significant selling points. It’s like a straight razor that locks.

The knife has a hollow grind, which isn’t a problem itself. However, the grind is very uneven. Looking down the tip of the blade shows a highly irregular and crude grind.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The FlatIron sports an odd, but comfortable handle. One side features a grip panel, either aluminum or G10, and the other side is stonewashed aluminum that incorporates the frame lock and pocket clip. It’s a big handle that fills the hand which I do enjoy. The G10 grips provide more of a gripping surface, and the aluminum grips are smoother and better looking.

The blade has a large choil that allows you to choke up on the knife for increased control and leverage for tougher cuts. It’s certainly deep enough to keep your finger from slipping out. The handle is also completely open. This makes it easy oil and clean. It is a small, but a nice feature I appreciate it living around sand and salt water. The rear of the blade has zero jimping which is odd.

The pocket clip has a lot of good to it, but a bit of bad to go with it. First off, I like the short, but thick design. It’s low profile and also subtle. Best of all it doesn’t get in the way of your grip on the knife. It looks good too. It’s pretty tight though, and it’s difficult to get onto my jeans. Also, its right side, tip up only. You can’t reverse it in any way due to handle’s design. A bit of a downside in my book.

Lock and Deployment

The frame lock is simple, and in my experience, these locks are robust and handy. When you squeeze the grip, the lock is reinforced which means its a safe knife for hard work. Once opened the blade is locked in solid. There is no play left to right or back and forth. The frame lock is robust and does its job well with the big blade. The lock has a full inch of texturing where the thumb naturally falls, and this makes it easy to defeat the tight lock and fold the blade.

The blade opens via a thumb hole. This design isn’t bad, but the blade is a bit tight when new. A little blade oil helped as did some use and now I can flick it open with ease. The blade will open smoothly, even when stiff. There is no grit or stop and go feeling as the knife opens. The thick blade makes the thumb hole easy to use. It’s a deep hole, so your thumb isn’t likely to slip out.

The Gerber FlatIron Review – Final Thoughts

The Gerber FlatIron’s greatest strength is its looks. It’s not particularly special outside of looking nice. You can’t demand much from a 30 dollar knife, but I’d expect at least an even hollow grind. I do see one solid purpose for this knife, and that would be for a younger, new knife owner.

Follow my logic here:

The blade lacks a point which reduces the risk for young and new knife users.
The 7Cr17MoV steel is sturdy and corrosion resistant, so it can take the abuse, and since it dulls fast they’ll be learning to sharpen it, and it sharpens easily enough.
The frame lock is very safe for heavy or clumsy work.
While the knife can be flicked open it’s still slower than a Kershaw with speed assist or anything crazy. It’ll never be accidentally opened.
The FlatIron is tough and robust so it will resist abuse.
It’s easy to clean.
It’s affordable in case it is lost or broken.

For people who are used to nice, high-end knives, the FlatIron might be a disappointment. I like the knife personally, but that’s because of my inner mall ninja. It doesn’t do one any one task well, but it is affordable, safe and tough.

Gerber Flatiron - Folding Cleaver Pocket Knife - Desert Tan G-10 Handle [30-001495]

List Price: $33.97

Price: $33.96

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Editor: I recommend purchasing the Gerber Flatiron at Gerber Flatiron or BladeHQ. Please consider that buying 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.

Review of the Spyderco Ouroboros (and a review of reviews)

by A Sharp Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Spyderco released Paul Alexander’s Ouroboros in 2016, and they discontinued the model last year. I waited until now to review it because I’ve carried and used the knife as my primary every day carry for several months—the only worthwhile review comes from someone who has actually cut something with the knife. Knife unboxings are fun to watch but they aren’t valuable reviews. And although the claim seems counterintuitive, I’m also reviewing the Ouroboros now because Spyderco discontinued it. Many reviews are nothing more than unwanted advertisements disguised as friendly advice. The Ouroboros provides an excellent option for a small EDC blade, and the reason you can be certain is that you can’t buy it from a retailer anymore.

An EDC blade should have a good steel in a versatile blade shape, and the Ouroboros has both. Even though VG-10 no longer excites steel junkies, its balance of toughness, corrosion resistance, edge retention, and ease of sharpening make it a solid all-round steel. There are better steels on the market, for sure, but VG-10 takes a mirror edge and holds it fairly well. Under light use such as slicing paper and cutting packing tape, VG-10 can hold an edge of 15 degrees per side, but the 20-degree factory bevel on my Ouroboros gives it the extra strength needed to push through cardboard and carrots. I wouldn’t try to baton through kindling with it but the blade has been tough enough for everyday use, and I haven’t seen a spot of rust.

Sharpening VG-10 with machine-guided stones followed by hand stropping has been about as easy as 440C, and much easier than notoriously hard steels such as ZDP-189 or S90V. The blade’s leaf shape and deep finger choil allow for a number of secure grips: you can rest your thumb on top of the blade with your forefinger behind the choil, pinch the thin tang near the Spyder-hole for kitchen tasks, or pinch-grip the handle just behind the tang to use the whole blade (just under 3 inches). The blade design also aids sharpening by avoiding Spyderco’s dreaded plunge grind where the edge bevel gets close to the ricasso, making it difficult to sharpen the blade along the entire edge.

The Ouroboros uses Spyderco’s patented compression lock, one of the most secure locking mechanisms on the market. We expect a folding knife’s lock not to fail, but the compression lock offers something that others don’t: it’s just plain fun to use! I Spyder-flick the blade with my middle finger and then press the liner tab to let the blade drop freely back into the handle. I hold the tab down and wrist-flick the blade back out. I shoot the blade back out with my thumb… It’s addictive.

The lock’s tab is the only visible part of the nested liners. The handle scales are grippy, but they aren’t the pattern of G-10 that shreds denim as you pull the knife out of your pocket. The Ouroboros fits snugly into the watch pocket of jeans because its handle is under a half-inch wide and it is just over 4 inches long. Once it’s clipped into the pocket, the lanyard hole and the paperclip-style pocket clip (the same size as the Dragonfly 2’s) are all that’s visible.

The knife’s specs and features make it a solid EDC choice, but it’s the subtle aesthetic details that make it not just my favorite knife to carry but also my favorite to admire. When it’s closed, the Ouroboros looks like it was designed to stay closed. Resting upright on a table, the knife balances on a few millimeters of G-10 behind the lock’s tab. Blade and handle look like an elongated oval, with the base of the blade’s spine emerging smoothly from the top of the handle, and the blade’s ample tip concealed within the narrow swirl at the handle’s base. The G-10 dips at the center of the handle, and a grind line—the transition from the thicker spine to the blade’s flat grind—cuts through the opening hole and across the blade at an angle that matches the handle’s sinuous line.

When the knife is open, it’s hard to believe that the tall blade came out of the narrow handle. The knife uniformly curves from tip to handle base, as if it were a few degrees taken from a large circle. In the hand, the spine’s curve rests comfortably along your palm. The balance point sits just below the lock’s tab, about where your middle finger rests in a standard grip. The curve and the balance point make an already light knife (just over 2.5 ounces) seem to be a weightless extension of your hand.

The Ouroboros is, for me, a perfect EDC. No two users will completely agree, but the foregoing review was my honest opinion, taken from months of enjoyment. Reviewers during the initial marketing push following the knife’s release had some fair criticisms: the knife was priced too high ($289.95 MSRP) for a small knife with a VG-10 blade, and Spyderco skimped when they used Teflon rather than phosphor-bronze
washers. In my experience, the washers have felt smooth and have been durable. The price kept me from buying the knife initially; I waited until the street price was well under 50% of MSRP before I bought one. With that said I’d pay full MSRP to replace it, if I had to.

New reviews all but disappeared shortly after the marketing phase, as they usually do. Some people reviewed the Ouroboros because they enjoy collecting or using knives and they wanted others to experience the same. They also might have done it because they hoped that attracting subscribers to their social media accounts would eventually allow them to quit their 9-5 grinds. Both are noble causes. But it has become more difficult to sort honest knife reviews from disguised advertisements.

I found myself confused during the time that I was reading and watching reviews, trying to decide whether to spend my hard-earned money on an Ouroboros. I struggled to answer simple questions: Is this a good knife, or have I just read an “advertorial”? A portmanteau of advertisement and editorial, an advertorial is a way for marketers to deliver ads that appear to be friendly advice. Search for a review online and you’ll encounter advertorials that conveniently offer a link to purchase the knife. Watch video reviews and the reviewers might mention that a manufacturer or a retailer provided the samples, or they might not. The most valuable PR is a consumer’s endorsement of a
product on social media, which appears to be unsolicited but is often just the opposite.

Knife addicts, steel junkies, edge snobs… all of us are susceptible to nefarious marketing schemes when we’re researching a potential purchase. One way to make a clearer decision is to avoid reviews of knives still available for purchase, or at least to maintain a healthy skepticism. Consider the reviewer’s or the website’s ethics. Does the reviewer pull the knife out of a box and tell you how great it is, with a few detractors added for credibility, or has the reviewer already carried and used the knife? Does the reviewer disclose who provided the knife and how that might influence the review? Does the website explain why there are links to purchase the knife within an article, or just following it? If you can’t answer those questions, then you should move on to another review.

My review of the Ouroboros arose from a deep enjoyment of the knife, and I wanted to share that with like-minded people. If you’d like to purchase any of the Ouroboroses that I’ve stockpiled since it has been DISCONTINUED, click on the link below to check out my online auctions…

Author: Christian Zawojski

Note from the Editor: Christian wanted to submit this as a guest review for publication, so I thought “why not?” It’s interesting knife and commentary on knife reviewers. Thank you, Christian for the entertaining and thought provoking article!

Reate Kirby Lambert Crossroads Review

by Dan Jackson Leave a Comment

I saw this knife on the cover of Blade Magazine and had to have it. That’s the short version at least, but the story goes back way further than that.

Buy the Reate Crossroads at BladeHQ

I’ve been a fan of Kirby Lambert’s work for years. He was one of those makers that captivated me with his crisp lines and clean work. The knives seemed to belie human intervention. I also remember when Andrew got a Kirby Lambert Wharn. It was late 2012 I think. It actually inspired me to get on Kirby’s books to try and order a Snap. I was on his books, but must have fallen out of line as I never got the follow up email when it was my turn. But that’s OK, a custom Kirby Lambert knife is an object I enjoy lusting over more than actually owning.

But when I saw the Reate Crossroads on the cover of that magazine, and realized it was a collaboration with Reate that could be had at production level prices. Well, its like I said… I had to have it.

And Reate making a knife I “had to have” is kind of interesting. Reate hasn’t gotten much love here. Beyond the Todd Begg Steelcraft Bodega, we haven’t featured a single Reate knife. That isn’t for lack of wanting. It’s more a lack of direction. Their stuff looks great, but their product line seems so deep and expensive that it’s hard to figure out where to begin. If you had to buy one Reate knife, which knife would be “the” Reate to buy? There is no easy decision, but feel free to make a suggestion in the comments. I think it’s the paradox of choice.

In contrast, the Crossroads was a no brainer. That makes it a smart move for Reate. If they can impress the consumer with their collaborations, people will be more likely to try out their OEMs.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Crossroads has an overall length of 8.375″, a 3.625″ blade, weighs 5.31 ounces, and is made in China. This is a hefty knife, with a lot of the weight focused around the pivot, so I can’t sit here and say this knife has been a strong daily carry for me. It’s more of a collectible. The knife looks like a pristine custom piece with its two tone blade, custom hardware, and marble carbon fiber hand scales. I’m having time using it hard. But for some this will make a great EDC piece. Others I suspect will baby the knife and keep it more as a collectible. I fall into the latter category.

Here is a size comparison with a workhorse from my collection, the Spyderco Paramilitary 2:

The blade is either a drop point, or a reverse tanto. Hard for me to tell. Or care, if I’m being completely honest. At any rate, there is a blade, and it’s a beautiful blade with a two tone satin finish. The blade has been given a deep hollow grind, and there is a long angled swedge riding most of the blade length. The end result is a functional blade shape with sloping belly, and needle fine tip. But it’s also a unique and somewhat unusual blade shape with what appears to be a broad sweeping shoulder, or a bull neck of steel that meets the top of the bolster.

One odd complaint is that although there is a large sharpening choil, the blade is not sharp all the way down at the heel. There is maybe a quarter inch of unsharpened blade. Hopefully my knife is an exception, but this is an odd omission on a knife that appears to have otherwise been lavished with attention.

Reate chose M390 stainless steel for the blade material. Readers of my various reviews of high end knives will know and love M390 for it’s ability to hold a keen edge, to be relatively easy to sharpen, and resist rust and corrosion. It also takes a nice finish as shown by this beautiful blade.

Despite the heel of my blade being unsharpened, the Crossroads otherwise came exceptionally sharp out of the pouch. Blade stock is relatively thick, but the knife still slices cleanly thanks to that deep dish grind. Can’t say I’ve run this knife hard, but my light duty has shown that the Crossroads is a capable cutter.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The Crossroads is a bolstered knife, with your choice of handle scale material over titanium. The bolstered look is a Kirby Lambert signature, and it has been executed beautifully on this knife. You can barely feel the seam as you run your finger over the transition between the handle scale and titanium bolster, at least with this marble carbon fibered version. The hardware is all anodized titanium. The pivot in particular is a striking dual anodized affair. A floating titanium backspacer and lanyard pin rounds things out.

All said this is a beautifully rendered handle and it captures the essence of what makes Kirby’s work so special: his unique aesthetic coupled with an eerie level of fit and finish. There are superb details on this knife and the materials are all top notch. Check out that marble carbon fiber. You can get lost in this stuff:

By and large the Crossroads is a comfortable knife. First of all, the handle is generous and will accommodate most people. The finger choils are large and allow for plenty of room. Sometimes finger choils can constrict the user, but I didn’t find that to be an issue here. There is no jimping, yet the broad spine of the blade provides plenty of room for the thumb.

But I also found that my thumb caught on the tang of the blade. I’m talking about where the spine of the knife meets the stop pin. It’s shaped like a hook, and I wonder if something could have been done to ease that edge. One commandment of knife design is that the only sharp edge should be found on the blade, and in a way this knife violates that cardinal rule.

The Crossroads utilizes a titanium sculpted pocket clip. Some people won’t like this, but I think the titanium clip works great, and compliments the aesthetics of this knife perfectly. The clip has good spring action, and it does a decent job of holding the knife in your pocket. The smooth titanium and smooth marble carbon fiber won’t give you the pocket shredding traction of a Cold Steel or Emerson folder, but I suspect it will get the job done for most people, especially given the dressy nature of the knife.

The Crossroads is a big and bulky knife. There is no way around that, and you will feel the Crossroads in your pocket> Plus, the nature of the the bolstered design puts a lot of weight towards the pivot, so you will get some “pendulum” action if you aren’t careful. Not the best knife for daily carry, but if every knife was as practical as my Native 5 lightweight I wouldn’t have a whole lot to write about.

Deployment and Lockup

The Crossroads is a flipper with a multi-row ceramic bearing system. This is my first multi-row bearing system (MRBS) knife, and part of me is tempted to take it apart to see what that looks like (and show you). The other part of me doesn’t want to dick up the anodized titanium hardware. Been there, done that with my Fantoni CUT Flipper. I still regret the day I tried to take that knife apart and stripped the screws.

Here is a shot of the Crossroads next to my Olamic Wayfarer 247:

I searched online for a picture of the internals of the Crossroads and couldn’t find anything. For now we will all have to use our imaginations and figure that inside there is some sort of MRBS. It appears to be a caged bearing system as I peek into the knife. And I’d believe it given the glassy smoothness to this knife. The blade falls shut easily.

The detent is also ceramic with a crisp and punchy action. There is a detent ramp that adds to the fluidity of the action like the Wayfarer 247, but it still feels different from the 247. The action of the Reate is still sharper and hydraulic. The jimped flipper tab is also sharper, easily grabbing the pad of your index finger. I’d rate the action as a strong “9” on a 0-10 scale. It’s good. Damn good.

For lockup we have a bolster lock. Really, it’s a titanium framelock, but the marble carbon fiber overlay distinguishes this knife slightly from your typical full titanium framelock. Something different.

Lockup is bank vault tight. No play in any direction. The lock is easy to disengage thanks to a small chamfer on the inside of the lock bar. One thing I will note is that the edge of the carbon fiber, where it meets the lock, comes to a sharp point at the peak of the finger choil. I don’t think there is much they could have done beyond changing the design of the knife, but it’s there.

Blade centering is perfect on my piece. As I would expect on a knife like this.

Reate Crossroads Review – Final Thoughts

The Reate Crossroads is a beautiful piece. As someone who has pined for a Kirby Lambert custom for the better part of a decade, the Crossroads had the potential to let me down given the hype and anticipation of owning a Lambert for so long. But I’m pleased to say the knife doesn’t disappoint. It’s a beautiful piece featuring top shelf materials, next level fit and finish, and a dynamic design from Kirby.

But it’s not perfect. In some ways it is finished so crisply it’s uncomfortable. There are a couple sharp edges, namely on the back of the blade where the tang meets the stop pin, and where the carbon fiber bolster meets the lock bar. The knife doesn’t carry that well thanks to all the weight at the pivot. Also the heel of the edge is unsharpened. That may just be an issue with my particular knife.

In a perfect world I’d like to see those issues addressed somehow, but I still see these as relatively minor complaints given the overall splendor of the Crossroads. More of a collectable than an a user, but it’s as close as I’ll probably ever come to owning a custom Kirby Lambert.

Reate Crossroads – From $355.00
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the Reate Crossroads at BladeHQ or GPKnives. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website (including Amazon) helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Spyderco Native 5 Lightweight Review

by Dan Jackson 26 Comments

Last updated: January 24, 2019
The Native has been a staple in Spyderco‘s catalog since 1997. Back when I first got into pocket knives it struck me as a potentially excellent knife. It has great specs on paper. Lightweight, high quality blade steel (at a time when that wasn’t a given), a good useful size to get things done, and a surprisingly affordable price point. This knife sold for close to $50. But the previous generation Native also had a saber grind, toothy jimping, and pinned construction. A number of flaws that kept me from giving the knife my full endorsement.

Buy the Spyderco Native at BladeHQ

Of course Spyderco being Spyderco, they haven’t rested on their laurels. Their most classic designs get updated and tweaked over the years, and the Native was no exception. The Native 5 is their latest in the series. Introduced in 2012, this 5th generation in the series benefits from a number of upgrades. They have also rolled the Native pattern out in a number of variations, including the covetable carbon fiber version Aaron reviewed.

This plastic handled version, dubbed the “lightweight”, is their simplest Native. But I happen to think it may be their best version of the Native yet. Let’s dive in to see what this Native 5 Lightweight is all about.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Spyderco Native has an overall length of 6.875″, a 3″ blade, a weight of 2.45 ounces, and is made in the USA. I happen to think this is a great knife for suburban daily carry. It’s a full size knife, but at less than 2.5 ounces you hardly notice it in the pocket. While the Dragonfly II gets the job done, the Native 5 gives you more options.

Speaking of the Dragonfly II, here is a size comparison:

These days the Native comes in a fully flat ground leaf shaped blade. The old deep hollow grind and swedge has been updated with something a little more modern and clean looking. It’s the kind of simple and elegant blade shape that works well for everything from carving up a block of cheese to breaking down boxes to preparing wood shavings for a bonfire.

Spyderco has released this knife in many different blade steels over the years. Mine happens to come in S35VN, which I believe is a fairly common offering for the Native 5. They offer these in everything from S30V to exotic steels including S110V and even Maxamet.

I like the S35VN version of the knife, as S35VN is so easy to maintain. It takes a nice edge and is easy to sharpen, while also exhibiting decent toughness and corrosion resistance. No steel is perfect, but S35VN is pretty damn good by most metrics.

In practice my knife has done everything I’ve asked it to. It is an excellent slicer. It can thinly slice fruit, zip through cardboard, and handles heavier duty chores as well. I’ve been maintaining the edge on my Spyderco Goldenstone, and the knife stays razor sharp that way. This is a great “do everything” blade that will handle all the stuff you would expect a good EDC knife to handle. I have carried and used this knife extensively. It just works.

Handle, Ergonomics and Pocket Clip

The handle of the native is comprised of two injection molded linerless Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon (FRN) handle pieces mated to a steel lock back and FRN backspacer. Everything is finished well and is secure. The old version of the Native had pinned construction, but this Native 5 comes with screw together construction. So you can take the knife apart if you would like to clean it. All said this handle is simple and utilitarian.

The handle of the Native 5 is big and boxy, providing you with a comfortable handle that fills the hand. There is a nice forward finger choil that is welcome on a good Spyderco. There is no lack of grip either. Between the bidirectional texturing, and the heavily jimped thumb ramp you are going to be hard pressed to find fault with the traction on this knife.

But personally I’ve never been that obsessive about traction. What I enjoy most about the ergonomics of the Native 5 is that none of the ergonomic features get in the way. Instead, everything has been applied with a deft hand. Subtly is the name of the game here, and the whole is the greater than the sum of its parts.

Once again, it’s kind of hard to explain what makes this handle so good, but at the end of the day it just works. This is a knife you will want to hold and use.

Lets turn to the pocket clip. This too has been worked over the years. What Spyderco has done is provided a secure spoon style clip with a unique 3 screw configuration. The base of the pocket clip straddles either the lanyard hole or the pivot, depending on whether you have the pocket clip placed for tip up or tip down carry. This is a “4 corners” clip, so you can configure the knife to carry tip up or down for left or right handed carry.

In practice this knife carries phenomenally. It’s a sub 2.5 ounce folder. You forget it’s there. While the pocket clip is not a deep carry clip, it’s still discreet, burying the majority of the handle. It also a secure clip with excellent spring retention. Not once has this knife fallen out of my pocket.

Lock and Deployment

For deployment we have the Spyderco thumb hole. No surprises there. What’s potentially surprising is this knife has no bearings or washers inside it. It’s all FRN. That would be a turn off for me, but honestly I didn’t know the knife didn’t have washers until I took it apart. It was smooth and I figured it had phosphor bronze washers or something in there. It doesn’t, but that’s OK because it doesn’t need them.

Here is a shot of the disassembled knife so you can see what I’m talking about:

The Native 5 comes with an adjustable pivot, a big upgrade over the old version of the knife that was pinned together. This is a bushing pivot. It works great, and the blade is perfectly centered.

Here is a size comparison with the Sage 1:

For lockup we have a lock back. It’s got a crisp snappy action that is satisfying to use. And there is no blade play in this knife. That is surprising when you consider it’s a plastic handle with no liners at all. Yet it’s a robust knife. Would I baton with it? No. Would I jab it into a tree and use it as a step ladder? No. But it has held up great after normal extended use.

Here is a parting shot with the Native 5 next to my Paramilitary 2:

Spyderco Native 5 Lightweight Review – Final Thoughts

The Native 5 is one of my favorite EDC knives. I even like it more than the Sage 1. Here’s why: it’s lighter than the Sage, has better pocket clip retention, I prefer the S35VN blade, and I think it’s a little more comfortable with the big plastic handles. The Native 5 has found it’s way into my permanent EDC rotation. It’s just an excellent knife and you don’t need to think very hard about carrying it. The blade is versatile and cuts well. The handle is comfortable. The pocket clip is great and the knife is so light you forget you are carrying it.

Spyderco offers this knife in a G-10 version with liners. Why you would pick that knife over this lightweight FRN version is beyond me. The G-10 version weighs over an ounce more. I’m sure it’s a great knife, but I don’t need to look any further than the FRN version. Maybe you have some harder use in mind for your pocket knife. But for most people I think they will find the Lightweight version to be plenty stout and rugged. This is a workhorse of a knife, and it’s great choice if you primarily use your knife to cut things.

The Native 5 Lightweight has my highest endorsement. This is an exceptional EDC knife. Buy it and enjoy it.

Spyderco C41PBK5 Native5 Lightweight Black Plain Edge FRN Handle Knife

List Price: $139.95

Price: $94.20

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Price Disclaimer

If you are thinking of buying Spyderco Native, please consider purchasing it at Amazon or BladeHQ. 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.

Steel Will Cutjack Mini Review

by Dan Jackson 4 Comments

When you look over the the stuff I reviewed last year, it’s a lot of high end pieces. With all that titanium and carbon fiber, you would think I’ve lost touch with the budget knives. In fact, when Travis wrote in his review of the Hogue OTF that the knife was expensive, a commenter said that it’s “Weird BladeReviews would call a $229 knife expensive!”

Buy the Steel Will Cutjack at BladeHQ

In a way that comment warms my heart, because this is a true enthusiast’s site and we have dived deep into all sorts of high end knives here. I’ve personally purchased and reviewed so many expensive knives that a $229 knife amounts to a rounding error. I probably have $229 in knives lost in my couch cushions. One time I wiped my ass with a $229 knife. Not really, but you get the point. I have a problem. That’s part of the reason why I use a penknife name.

But in another way, it shows I may have been focusing a little too much on the higher end of the hobby. $229 is an expensive knife for a lot of people, including myself, and the hobby isn’t only about buying expensive knives. At the end of the day I use a lot of my knives, and the knives I tend to keep are users. The pocket frosting is what typically gets sold off.

I’m still interested in budget pieces, but I pick them carefully. Rather than review every single Chinese made Kershaw that comes out, I’d rather review stuff that interests me. Not all the budget stuff interests me.

But sometimes you can find cool knives for not a lot of money. The Steel Will Cutjack is one such candidate. When Steel Will came onto the scene a few years ago I wasn’t that interested. Most of their knives were plastic handled fixed blades, and I wasn’t that excited.

I believe their first folder was the Gekko. A sleek Italian made piece retailing for around $150. Nice knife, but I wasn’t ready to pay $150 for it.

I sort of lost sight of the brand at that point, but Steel Will continued to blaze forward with new designs and at different price points. Their stuff earned a following and the Cutjack kept popping up again and again. It slowly crystalized in my subconscious until it eventually found itself at my door step. Ok, maybe an Amazon shopping list and credit card were involved, but for $40 I didn’t think too hard about it. This is BladeReviews after all.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Cutjack has an overall length of 7″, a 3″ blade, and weighs 3.01 ounces. The knife is made in China, although it’s interesting to note I don’t see “China” anywhere on this knife or in the packaging. The Cutjack is firmly marketed as an EDC knife and is part of Steel Will’s “Urban” series. Originally when I wrote this review I though I had the regular Cutjack, but turns out this is the mini version. It’s a good size for EDC. Lightweight and easy to pocket. If you want something bigger, Steel Will offers a full size Cutjack with a 3.5″ blade and overall length of 8″.

The Cutjack’s blade is a riff on the modern drop point. The swooping belly compliments the curvy backside of the handle. There is a long lean swedge that runs the entire length of the blade. A high flat grind and satin finish lend a smart look to the knife. One thing to note is the edge on my knife is almost perfectly even. For a $40 folder I’m impressed, as it’s tough to find a perfectly even edge on any production knife.

Steel Will selected D2 steel for the blade. An interesting choice, as D2 has a reputation for being semi-stainless and a bit of a bear to maintain, unless you by a knife made by Bob Dozier. But this isn’t a Bob Dozier knife. When I think “D2” I think of the Benchmade 710. Great knife, but a bitch to sharpen. For this reason I wasn’t sure about a budget knife in D2 steel. At least it would give me something new to write about. Writing countless reviews of knives in Aus8 and 8Cr13MoV has worn a permanent groove in my brain. But D2 in a budget blade. That’s something different.

Here is a size comparison with the Benchmade Bugout. Buying lots of blue knives lately…

So I put the Cutjack through its paces. I’m writing this review after the holidays, so this knife has gone through an impressive quantity of cardboard. I’ve used it quite a bit in the kitchen as well. Cutting fruit and cheeses in place of a paring knife. I’ve had a chance to sharpen it on my Spyderco Goldenstone a few times to maintain the edge. The D2 blade has held up great. No staining at all, easy to sharpen, and it has held a good edge. Hard to believe it’s actually D2 with performance like that, but I’m not complaining.

Handle, Ergonomics and Pocket Clip

The Cutjack’s handle is FRN scales over stainless steel liners with a high density plastic backspacer. This is similar to what you would find on a Delica. In practice the FRN plastic handle scale isn’t quite as heavy as what you find on a Japanese Spyderco, but it’s pretty nice. In fact the handle is surprisingly nice and well constructed. All the parts line up, the steel liners have been skeletonized, and there is custom hardware for the body screws and pivot. For $40 this is great.

I will say that the inside edges of the handle are all a little sharp. Some ultra fine sandpaper would take care of that. Beyond those sharp edges, there is little to grouse about when it comes to the Cutjack’s handle construction.

How does it feel in hand? Well, some of the inside edges are a little sharp as I’ve mentioned, but on the all the handle is comfortable. Plenty of room for a 4 finger grip, whether you are choking up on the forward finger choil, or laying back in the cut. As far as traction is concerned, there is no lack of texture on this knife. The thumb ramp is finely jimped, the backspacer is a big toothy geared affair, and the handle scales themselves have a pleasant woven texture to them. Not as grippy as Spyderco’s bi-directional texturing, but it gets the job done.

In practice the Cutjack feels good in hand and I’ve had no issues breaking down boxes, slicing fruit, and doing some light carving to get a campfire going in my back yard.

The pocket clip is a silver spoon style clip. It buries the knife deeply, but isn’t a low rider clip. All in all I think it’s a good clip. It has good retention, keeps the knife tucked away, and the handle is drilled and tapped for ambidextrous tip up carry.

The Cutjack carries well. It’s neither ultra thin nor ultra light, but it is passably thin and passably light. It’s the kind of knife that I quickly forget I’m carrying until the anointed time arrives and I need to produce a pocket knife. The Cutjack earns strong marks for its practical carry clip and easy pocktability.

Deployment and Lockup

When I look at my list of best budget EDC knives, I notice only the Kershaw Skyline is a flipper. And the Skyline isn’t a great flipper when we think about modern flipping knives. It was designed before the renaissance in flipper folders.

The only knife that comes to mind as a great sub $40 flipper is the excellent CRKT Swindle. Could the Cutjack join the ranks? I think it’s possible. However, the flipping action of the Cutjack isn’t as good as the Swindle. The Cutjack uses phosphor bronze washers rather than bearings, and the detent isn’t as crisp on the Cutjack. But it’s still pretty good. I’d put the action around a “5” on the 0-10 scale. It’s not bad, but it’s not going to come close to the feel of a Zero Tolerance flipper or even the Swindle.

For lockup we have a stainless steel liner lock. Lockup is pretty good. I have a little side to side wiggle. Nothing crazy, but it’s there. I tried tightening the pivot, which removed the blade play but made the blade impossible to flip open. No up and down play at least. Lockup is fully engaged but is still early. The lockbar is jimped and easy to get at when it’s time to close the knife.

Blade centering is perfect on my knife. That is always nice to see. Here is a parting shot with the Cutjack next to the ESEE Zancudo:

Steel Will Cutjack Review – Final Thoughts

The Cutjack is pretty damn good for the money. It’s not perfect, but what do you expect for $40? I’d say its about 90% there. You get a lot of knife for the money. The overall design is excellent. The blade feels good in hand and cuts well. The knife carries nicely. The D2 steel is better than I expected. Little touches like the custom hardware show you that this knife was carefully considered.

It’s not a perfect piece. The inside edges of the handle are a little sharp. The deployment is on the sluggish side, and there is some side to side blade play. But this is a $40 knife, which means there will always be compromises in the execution of the knife. I think Steel Will has done a lot here, and that they allocated the money to the right places. I can’t think of much else that comes close to it if you want a flipper. What would you rather have for $40? The Skyline and Swindle are still excellent options, but they are lighter duty knives. The Cutjack is the kind of grab and go piece that finds itself making its way into my pocket over and over. It’s a great no-nonsense tool.

For these reasons I’m adding the Cutjack to my list of Best EDC Knives. I can easily recommend it if you are looking for a $40 EDC knife, and especially if you want a flipper. I still think the Zancudo represents an excellent value, and I think it’s slightly better made than the Cutjack, but the Cutjack is an excellent knife.

This knife will remain in my collection for the long term, and I’ll update the review as I continue to carry and use it.

Steel Will Cutjack C22M-1BL Linerlock

List Price: $38.99

Price: $38.99

Price Disclaimer

I recommend purchasing the Steel Will Cutjack at Amazon or BladeHQ. Please consider that buying 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.

Spyderco Hundred Pacer Review

by A Sharp Guest Contributor 7 Comments

At first, nothing about the Spyderco Hundred Pacer appealed to me. For someone intent on wringing maximum utility from every inch, every ounce, and every dollar’s worth of blade, the Hundred Pacer seems absurd: too big, too heavy, and too expensive. It’s also… weird. Impressively weird, even for Spyderco, whose catalog is persistently peppered with odd and ugly ducklings.

Buy the Spyderco Hundred Pacer at BladeHQ

I guess it’s a good thing I had a chance to handle this odd and imposing design in person before buying one, otherwise I would have almost certainly missed out on one of the most useful and interesting knives I’ve carried this year.

General Dimensions & Blade Details

The Hundred Pacer is named after a venomous snake, a Taiwanese viper supposedly so deadly that – according to local folklore – whoever suffers its venomous bite will stagger just one hundred paces away before dropping dead. The name isn’t the only thing designer Jonny Liao borrowed from the snake; the knife’s blade shape is inspired by its characteristically upturned snout, and the two-toned texture in the G-10 handle is inspired by the rhomboid pattern of brown and tan scales running down its back.

The Hundred Pacer is such an oddly proportioned design that it’s hard to get a sense of this knife’s scale from pictures alone. Comparisons can help – here it is against the Spyderco Military family:

While it may be shorter overall than the full-sized Military, the Hundred Pacer manages to fit in a bit more edge thanks to an efficient use of handle space. The knife feels substantial, weighing in at just over five ounces, but given its sheer bulk it doesn’t feel disproportionate.

It’s hard to overstate just how broad the blade of the Hundred Pacer actually is. For a folding knife, it’s downright gratuitous: at its widest point, the blade of the Hundred Pacer is just a few millimeters shy of my classic Victorinox 8 inch chef’s knife. In use, however, it feels purposeful; intuitive, even. The edge begins below the handle, affording it near full-length contact against a cutting board. It slopes steadily from heel to point in a single uninterrupted arc, slicing aggressively but predictably, without abrupt changes in geometry that can cause cuts to push or pull away. The tip sits just above the centerline of the knife and feels precise and easy to control. And the extra-wide flat ground blade, coupled with an acute distal taper, makes for startlingly good cutting performance.

I have observed that a knife with good blade geometry will continue to cut comfortably through all but the most delicate materials even after the edge has dulled. Long after the Hundred Pacer had lost its hair-shaving sharpness from cutting in the kitchen, at the fireplace, and in front of the recycling bin, it continued to perform well.

No doubt Spyderco’s choice of blade steel, CTS-XHP, played a significant role here, too. It is said to be an advanced, stainless version of D2. I can’t speak to the science behind the alloy, but after more than a year of use I can say it has become a personal favorite for its well-balanced combination of good corrosion resistance, excellent edge retention, and ease of sharpening. It plays nicely with my cheap sharpening stones, polishes well, and seems to take a fine edge easier and hold it noticeably longer than comparable industry favorites S30V and S35VN.

Handle, Ergonomics, & Pocket Clip

In hand, the Hundred Pacer feels practically paleolithic, a fistful of G10 fit for a neanderthal’s fist. There’s plenty of room on the handle to accommodate different grips, but the hump above the pivot tends to push the hand away, either back on the handle for a natural grip:

or forward, with the thumb nestling down onto the sloped spine of the blade to apply pressure directly into a cut:

Both grips are useful and comfortable, but more often than not (and especially when working on a cutting board) I find myself using the knife in a pinch grip.

The snakeskin pattern milled into the G10 is attractive and substantially grippy, even when wet. Compared to the typical peel-ply stuff, it has a variegated, organic feel. And mercifully, Spyderco have opted to leave a patch of the handle smooth under the clip so the texture doesn’t gnaw away at your pockets.

When you need to apply some force, it’s nice to have a handle that your hand can stretch out on. However, there are some ergonomic drawbacks to such a broad, flat handle. Tasks that require deft rotation of the knife in the hand (e.g. peeling small fruit) are a little awkward, and the bulbous rear end of the knife can feel oversized in some grips.

Perhaps the biggest drawback of all is how the knife carries. Despite being equipped with Spyderco’s deep carry wire clip – a minimal, functional design that on any other knife I might call discreet – the Hundred Pacer carries… conspicuously. It dominates pocket space like a limo dominates curbside parking. The knife starts wide at the clip and gets even wider around the pivot, so the experience of reaching past it for something else in your pocket ranges from awkward to impossible. Thankfully, the clip is always cooperative. Once you cede control of your pocket over to the Hundred Pacer, getting the knife into and out of it is thoughtless; a real testament to the utility of Spyderco’s wire clip design.

Deployment & Lockup

Because most of the mass in the Hundred Pacer’s blade is centered around the pivot, flicking it open doesn’t have the weighty, wrist-snapping feel you might expect from such a big blade. Its unusual kinetics take a little getting used to, but thanks to generous access to the thumb hole and a firm – but not hard – detent, one-handed deployment is reliable whether you want to open it slow and sure, flick it out with your thumb, or “spydieflick” it with your middle finger. The pivot turns fluidly on robustly thick phosphor bronze washers.

The nested liner lock has been drama-free since day one, providing secure engagement with the blade at exactly the same spot today as it did when I first opened the knife. Unlocking it is simple, and more importantly, safe: unless you deliberately move your thumb away from the lockbar release cutout, there’s no way for the blade to cut your finger while closing.

Spyderco Hundred Pacer Review – Final Thoughts

It almost goes without saying, but the Hundred Pacer won’t be for everyone. Even for those it does appeal to, I suspect that its price ($234 on BladeHQ as of December 2018) makes it easy to choose something else. If this knife was under $200, I think it would be a much more compelling buy.

That said, if I lost my Hundred Pacer tomorrow I would not hesitate to replace it. There are knives that carry more discreetly (most of them), but in use, the Hundred Pacer might be the best all-rounder I’ve ever owned. It’s a superlative slicer, but it still has enough rigidity at the tip and strength behind the edge to handle forceful stabs and torquey cuts. The ergonomics on a cutting board are a huge practical advantage – when I expect to be cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen, I bring the Hundred Pacer.

It’s perfect for long trips away from home – or just long days – when it can flex fluently from pocket knife, to work knife, to kitchen knife. Just don’t forget to clean it in-between.

Spyderco C225GP Hunderd Pacer G-10 CTS-XHP Plain Edge

List Price: $234.00

Price: $234.00

Price Disclaimer

Editor: I recommend purchasing the Spyderco Spydiechef at Amazon or BladeHQ. Please consider that buying 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.

About the Author: Seth Vietti is a writer, musician, and web developer. An avid knife enthusiast since childhood, you may already know him from his writing on knifenews.com, which he co-founded in 2015. These days, in addition to contributing to BladeReviews.com, he runs knifelaws.com – the world’s largest directory of knife laws. Follow him on Instagram for his latest work.