S35VN

Spartan Blade Works Pallas Review

Most of us who have been following Spartan Blades know the company started with high end fixed blade knives. A few years ago they launched the Akribis, a carbon fiber clad titanium framelock folder. I always appreciated the lines of the Akribis, but never got around to acquiring one. Although some of their old stock is still for sale on select retailers, Spartan Blades has since moved on from the Akribis and ventured into a number of different folder offerings.

Perhaps their most notable new folder is the Pallas. This strikes me as their every man’s model: a sub 4″ blade, anodized aluminum handles, sturdy button lock, and your choice of flipper or thumb studs to get the blade open.

This is a less exotic folder designed for daily carry and use, and could be considered their version of a Griptilian or Para 2. I have always had a soft spot for utility knives in this size range, and have many in my permanent collection. How does the Pallas stack up against everything that has come before it? Lets find out.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Pallas has an overall length of 8.75″, a 3.75″ blade, weighs 4.9 ounces, and is made in the U.S.A. With an almost 4″ blade, my guess is that Spartan Blades wanted the Pallas to flex both into utility and folding combat knife roles. It is about as big a folder as I can realistically carry. Any bigger, and it would be more of a novelty for me, but a 8.75″ inches I can comfortably carry it and use it as a weekend warrior EDC here in Southwest Florida. I’ve used it extensively in that role. It has accompanied me on trips to fix up my rental house, and plenty of forays into the yard trimming back our “jungle”.

The blade of the Pallas is a modified drop point. This is a simple and functional design, but Spartan Blades has added their signature harpoon tip to give it a twist. At just under 4mm thick, the blade stock is substantial, but the knife is ground thinly behind the edge with a high hollow grind. When you add a fine tip and plenty of belly, you are left with a versatile and functional blade. Spartan Blades also took the extra steps of adding a long swedge across the harpoon tip, chamfering the spine of the blade, applying a nice stonewashed finish, and installing custom thumb studs.

Spartan selected S35VN blade steel for the Pallas. As I have mentioned in countless other reviews featuring S35VN, this is a great choice for a high end folder due to it’s ease of sharpening, corrosion resistance, toughness, and edge retention. It’s a great all round steel. It won’t hold an edge indefinitely, but it’s easier to sharpen then its older brother S30V. It’s no wonder companies like Chris Reeve Knives choose S35VN almost exclusively as their blade material.

The only downside I see to S35VN is that it forces knife reviewers to the very fringes of their creative writing capabilities as they tackle their XXth review featuring this now common blade material. As always you can find a deeper dive into blade steel in our blade steel section

In practice I found that the Pallas is a solid cutter. Thanks to a generous handle, you are able to make full use of the substantial blade. It came razor sharp out of the box, and I have spent a good amount of time breaking down boxes, carving, and even performing some mild food prep with this knife. This knife cuts for days, and the performance is impressive. While it’s not the most unique or beautiful blade I have worked with, you can’t argue with the results. The Pallas performs.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The Pallas comes with a hard anodized aluminum handle, held together by 3 custom standoffs and the pivot. The handle is mostly flat. It has been chamfered around the edges, features 2 grooves for your index finger, and a series of diagonal cuts towards the butt for traction, but there is no 3-D milling. Overall, handle construction is neat and solid. Even the lanyard hole has been given extra attention.

That said, this handle loses style points in a few areas for me. First, I don’t care for how the logo and “U.S.A.” have been applied to the handle. I realize that this branding and source of manufacture information needed to be placed somewhere, and there is only a limited amount of real estate on the knife. I also know some have criticized companies like Zero Tolerance for putting too much text on their blades, distracting the eye and complicating the design. Still, I think the placement of the logo and “USA” on the handle looks a little random.

Also, I think a more generous decorative pivot would have looked nicer here then just a body screw. This choice was likely made so the end user doesn’t confuse the button lock with the pivot in the heat of the moment. Plus a decorative pivot does nothing for the performance. But many knives these days feature a decorative pivot. Finally, when you peer into the internals of the knife the pocket screws are a millimeter or proud of the handles. Screws poking out from inside the handle/liners are a pet peeve of mine, and I would love to see the screw length adjusted slightly so they don’t poke out like that.

Aesthetic quibbles aside, the simple handle designs provides ample room for your hand and fingers while the hard anodized aluminum provides you with that familiar fine texture. There is light jimping on the spine of the blade, and more aggressive jimping towards the butt of the handle. The end result is a knife that functions naturally in the hand. While hard anodized aluminum isn’t as grippy as peel ply G-10, I find there is plenty of traction here for all the tasks I put the Pallas up to.

The Pallas benefits from a simple pocket clip that has been thoughtfully executed. This is a humble spring clip, but it has been elevated with Spartan’s arrow motif cut into the clip. I vastly prefer this kind of branding over a “billboard” style pocket clip. The clip has been sunk into the handle and secured with 2 screws. It’s not likely to go anywhere. However, the handle is configured for right side tip up carry only. This happens to be my preferred placement for carry, but it may pose an issue for some.

In practice the Pallas carries nicely. It’s a bigger knife, but is relatively thin and light. I don’t notice it much in the pocket. It stays out of the way, but doesn’t carry super deep. When I’m ready for the knife the combination of handle and clip make for an easy retrieval. What else can you ask for?

Deployment and Lockup

The Pallas comes with a combination of flipper and thumb studs to get the blade open.

Lets start with the flipper. Because this is a button lock, there is no detent. Instead, the button lock is engineered to offer some resistance, and that friction in the lock allows you to pop the knife open. In practice the flipper works most of the time, especially if you are careful to pre-load it. Still, this knife will not flip open like a well tuned framelock or liner lock flipper. I would assign it a “4” on my arbitrary 1-10 scale of flipper performance, placing it slightly below my Spyderco Domino. It usually gets the job done, but nothing to write home about.

The thumb studs are ample, custom made, easy to access, and placed for ambidextrous access. These thumb studs are what you would want to rely on in a stressful situation. I’m glad Spartan Blades included them. They compliment the workman like nature of this knife.

Either way you choose to open the Pallas, the blade rides on caged bearings. The action is smooth and fluid.

Spartan Blades selected a button lock for the Pallas. The button looks similar to what you would find on a Hogue, and I can’t help but place the knife next to my EX-04 (shown above).

Button locks have the potential to be sticky, but the lock on the Palls is extremely smooth. I have yet to have the lock stick or bind up. I have owned this knife for several months now and it’s just as easy to operate as the day I got it. A nice benefit to a button lock is that it is a strong lock. Although every folding knife has its breaking point, I do not hesitate to use my Pallas for tough jobs. There is no blade play or wiggle in my knife. Also, I should note there is no secondary lock like you find on the Hogue series.

Blade centering is perfect on my knife.

Spartan Blades Pallas – Final Thoughts

The Pallas is a no-nonsense tool in the same vein of many of my favorite utility knives. This includes fan favorites like the Para 2 and Griptilian, but also some of the unsung heros in my collection like the American Lawman, Buck Marksman, and Hogue EX-04. I don’t hesitate to carry and use the Pallas just like those other knives. The practical design, excellent tolerances, and quality materials, mean that the knife works, and it works well. If I’m in a rush I can grab the Pallas knife knowing it will do everything I need it to do – no questions asked.

Where the Pallas falls a short for me is with some of the aesthetic details like the placement of the logo on the handle. The flipping action also leaves something to be desired. For a knife you are going to use hard I can look past these issues, but would not be so forgiving if I was buying a collectible.

Also, at nearly $300 the Pallas isn’t cheap. It’s a serviceable design, nicely made, and performs beautifully, but it doesn’t have any mind blowing properties to it, and the materials are not particularly exotic. I realize that Spartan Blades is a boutique company that is offering a USA made product, and they likely lack the economies of scale that the bigger manufacturers can tap. Still, the Pallas is an expensive knife, and the price will prevent it from obtaining the mass appeal of a Paramilitary 2 or Griptilian.

In closing, I like this knife, but think the Pallas is for a narrower market. I recommend it if you are a fan of Spartan Blades, a fan of the design, or are looking for a high end and high performance tactical knife that is made in the USA.

Spartan Blades Blacked Out Pallas Folding Flipper Knife Button Lock Black SF3

List Price: $290.00

Current Price: $290.00

Price Disclaimer

I recommend buying the Spartan Blades Pallas at Amazon, BladeHQ or KnifeArt. 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.

Spartan Blades Metis Review

by Grayson Parker 1 Comment

Few companies have the pedigree that Spartan Blades does. I rarely hear them pop up in conversation among gear geeks, but that hasn’t stopped them from accumulating a small hoard of Blade Show awards. Between the aforementioned awards and the extensive Special Forces resumes of the two founders, I’m surprised they don’t get more chatter. Maybe they do, just not among folks I know.

As Dan covered in his review of the Horkos, Spartan’s reputation is firmly grounded in its fixed blades and (though I hate the overuse of the term) “tactical” folders. This reputation was so entrenched that when I was offered a Metis in trade, I had to triple check the dimensions. There was no way Spartan made a sub-3” blade…right? Curiosity piqued, I went ahead with the trade. How would an everyday carry knife designed by former Special Forces handle mundane tasks? The short answer: better than I expected, given recent trends among overbuilt folders.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Spartan Blades Metis is close to my ideal size for a pocket folder. It features a 2.7” blade housed in a 4” handle, and the entire package (sans clip) weighs in at 2.79 ounces. Those numbers look pretty good, especially when you consider the all metal construction. A knife this size is well suited to a range of everyday tasks, from opening packages to light food preparation. It’s also legal to carry in a wide range of jurisdictions, as it falls under the common 3” blade limit.

If there is one aspect of the Metis that grabs my attention, it’s the blade shape. Most folks would probably call it a drop point, but the dip along the spine gives it something akin to a harpoon’s profile. Whatever the nomenclature, it’s fantastic. There’s enough belly for slicing cuts, but not so much that the edge slides out of the cutting medium during push cuts. The harpoon-ish profile – in addition to reinforcing the tip of the blade – leaves a dip in the rounded spine that’s a perfect resting place for a thumb.

For enthusiasts, Crucible’s S35VN is no longer news. In fact it pretty much serves as a benchmark against which we compare other steels. It has a proven track record as a “do-everything” steel: it chips less and is easier to sharpen than its predecessor S30V, with comparable or better edge retention and rust resistance. I didn’t strenuously test the steel in this case, but I was mostly using it as a gentleman’s folder, and it hasn’t needed any maintenance in the few months that I’ve had it.

When I did use the Metis, it outperformed my expectations. No, it didn’t pass the apple test, but it did well enough that my insensate pinky never started twitching nervously. It behaved similarly while breaking down cardboard boxes: not the best, but good enough to flex into the role. The old saying “jack of all trades, master of none” is appropriate here.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

There’s not much that can be said about the handle of the Metis. Like so many of its competitors, it’s another slab-handled, titanium-on-titanium knife. So what makes the Metis stand out in a crowd? That’s difficult to answer. The show side of the Metis is beautifully simple; between the milled backspacer and the singular visible screw, it seems almost hewn from titanium. The lock side couldn’t be more different. Every screw that was hidden on the show side is plainly visible, and the milling for the lock bar in conjunction with the overtravel stop give it an aesthetic not far off from a circuit board. With that in mind, it’s arguable that Janus is as fitting a namesake as Metis.

Ergonomically, the Metis ranges from unoffensive to pleasant, depending on the task. It never stood out as being great, but neither did it stand out as being horrible – which surprised me given the odd placement of hard angles. If the knife is resting in your fingers, chances are you’re not gripping it so tightly that the angles will have an impact on the ergonomics. By contrast, if you’re gripping it so tightly that the angles would matter, you’re probably holding it farther back in your palm where the angles won’t cause any hot spots. At least, that was my experience. The generous chamfering and subtle curve of the handle are certainly factors here.

The best I can say about the pocket clip on the Metis is that I understand some of the design impulses behind it. It’s attractive and fits the overall aesthetic. The screws for the pocket clip are hidden (meaning they screw in from the interior), which is a nice touch, though it makes removal inconvenient. In slacks, dress pants, or particularly thin jeans, this pocket clip works fine. Beyond that, the news isn’t as nice. The clip doesn’t have much spring to it, so to compensate it doesn’t make contact with the handle scale. Ultimately, this restricts the number of ways to comfortably carry the Metis.

Problems with the clip aside, the Metis is a pretty quiet pocket companion. Most of the time I carried it in the leather slip I use for traditional knives, and while it was a bit of a tight fit, the slip ensured that the Metis didn’t slide out of my pocket or roll to the bottom and cause discomfort. I’d have preferred to carry this with a clip, but it wasn’t onerous to forego it. My CRK Mnandi has a great pocket clip, but I still carry it in a pocket slip more often than not.

Deployment and Lock-Up

The blade of the Metis is deployed solely by the flipper tab. As the entirety of the blade is housed within the handle, there is no pinch point which would facilitate two-handed opening. Though slightly disappointing – it’s always a feature I like to have on a “dress” knife – I can’t fairly complain, as a wider blade wouldn’t carry as well. This flipper is meant to be pulled (like a light switch) rather than pushed. Deployment is thoughtless, reliable, and doesn’t generate discomfort, even if you’re using the Metis as a fidget toy.

The ease of deployment is in part thanks to the caged bearings the blade rides on. I’m of two minds regarding the use of bearings in folding knives: on one hand, they allow for silky smooth pivots, but on the other they’re far more susceptible to grime and grit than traditional washers. (Addendum: I’ve been informed that I may be wrong on this account. More information is welcome in the comments.) On a knife like the Metis caged bearings are fine. A knife this size is clearly in the “EDC/gentlemen’s” category, and not intended for hard use.

At this point, there’s not much that can be said about a well-executed framelock, and the lock on the Metis certainly qualifies as such. The lock face consistently engages 50% of the blade tang, disengaging the lock is easy, and there’s only a fraction of a hair of wiggle in the lock, which vanishes in use. A steel lock insert could fix that, but the only titanium framelock I’ve ever handled that doesn’t have that slight amount of play is the Mnandi, and that knife certainly isn’t being flipped open like the Metis.

Spartan Blades Metis – Final Thoughts

Currently, it’s difficult to find a Metis in stock anywhere. My understanding is that this design hasn’t been discontinued, Spartan just hasn’t released any batches recently. Hopefully when Spartan comes back to it, they do so with an eye towards improvement, because there are a few changes that I’d like to see. The bones of a truly great knife are here, and it wouldn’t take much to flesh it out.

First, the pocket clip needs to be redesigned. A nondescript spring clip with outside accessible screws would be far more functional. Second, eliminate the overtravel stop by incorporating a steel lock face into the frame lock. This would eliminate the scant play there is and clean up the lock side of the knife. Those two changes would improve the function and form of the Metis, and (designing and retooling costs aside) I can’t imagine it costing more to produce than the current design. By moving away from a sculpted clip, it may actually cost less.

When they were available, the Metis sold for $340. That’s quite a bit of money – especially for a pocketknife – and the competition is stiff. The obvious comparison is the Small Sebenza. I can’t make a direct comparison (I’ve never owned a Sebenza) but I do own an Mnandi. The best way I can describe it is that if the Metis is practically flawless, the Mnandi is flawless. Of course, no Chris Reeve knife has a flipper, so Spartan is ahead of the game in that department.

Is the Metis still worth buying in the meantime? If you can find one, and if the design speaks to you, I’d say yes. It’s well made, attractive in its own right, and can flex into a number of different roles. If my complaints dissuade you, I’d recommend keeping an eye on Spartan Blades in the meantime.

Spartan Blades Metis Folding Flipper Knife Titanium SF4SWXX

List Price: $340.00

Current Price: $340.00

Price Disclaimer

I recommend purchasing the Spartan Blades Metis at BladeHQ, KnifeArt, and 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.

Kizer Cutlery Guru Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 6 Comments

It’s been interesting to watch Kizer’s evolution over the years. They had an ambitious, albeit amorphous, beginning, with somewhat forgettable designs rendered in high-quality materials at head-turning prices; I still get a little jolt when I see the Sliver going for $70 with S35VN steel.

Then Kizer knives had the brilliant idea of bringing in talented knife designers to take full advantage of their manufacturing capabilities and great prices. It wasn’t their first collaboration knife, but the Ray Laconico-designed Gemini was the a big hit for Kizer, and the amount of collaborations rolling out of their doors hasn’t slowed down since. The company realizes a stunning amount of models, from makers at all stages of their career: well-known names like Ray Laconico and Matt Diskin appear alongside promising up and comers like Justin Lundquist and Elija Isham.

Matt Degnan is a maker whose work has been brought to wider recognition with several Kizer collabs. Degnan is behind the Roach, the Kane, and most recently the Guru. The first two models didn’t move the needle, but the Guru seemed much more my speed.

As with their competitor Zero Tolerance, I haven’t really found “my Kizer” yet. I reviewed the 3404, which was just fine but ultimately forgettable. I had some enthusiasm for the Vanguard Gemini but that has waned some since my review (which in itself wasn’t unqualified in its praise). The Guru stood out in Kizer’s recent offerings as a model that might just be able to go the distance. Let’s take a closer look.

Full Disclosure: Kizer provided me with a Guru free of charge for the purposes of the review. This in no way affected my reviewing process nor did it alter my opinions or verdict.

Blade Dimensions and General Details

The Guru has a blade length of 2 7/8”, with a cutting edge of 2 11/16”, a handle length of 4 15/16”, and an overall length of 7 15/16”. It weighs 3.96 oz. and is made in China.

The Guru has a “Sheepsfoot Looking Up” kind of blade shape that is attractive and unusual. Functionally, it is all gently-curved belly, and that’s fine. With a whopping .14” thick blade stock and a relatively short sabre grind the Guru isn’t much of a slicer. It’s thicker behind the edge than my Strider PT. But while it isn’t my thing, a hard use grind isn’t immediately grounds for failure. The problem is, the Guru might be less “ground for durability” and more just “poorly ground,” with confusing peaks and valleys in wildly different types of cutting tasks.

I don’t usually cut food with my knives, but I did a little food prep with the Guru and can confirm you’re going to leave behind a David Cronenberg-esque crime scene cutting fruit and other foodstuffs with this thing – it ain’t pretty. In cardboard and wood it can function decently, but only if you “aim” the edge at a specific angle; otherwise it bunches up. Strangely, the one area in which the Guru performs well is wharncliffe/sheepsfoot-style tasks, where the point is in play more than the full edge: cutting tape when opening a box, for instance; surprisingly delicate tasks for such a burly blade to excel in.

S35VN is becoming so prevalent in high-end knives that we reviewers are quickly approaching 8Cr13MoV levels of redundancy when it comes to writing about it. It’s great, Kizer’s iteration is great, you’ll love it. Editor’s note: And as always you can find a deeper dive into knife steel here.

One thing to note: this is the third Kizer I’ve had (the second with S35VN) and while overall fit and finish is great, they don’t get their knives real sharp before boxing them up. In the case of knives with super steels I think it’s fair for the user to expect a good edge out of the box: not everyone has the means or the knowledge to immediately sharpen these more difficult-to-work-with steels. This will be an even bigger problem as they transition into less amenable high-end steels like M390.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The Guru’s handle is so close to being great. A forward finger choil is almost always a guarantor of decent if not mind-blowing ergos, but here it’s more of a stumbling block. Kizer chose to begin the blade right at the end of the choil, with nothing between the end of the choil and the beginning of the sharpened edge. This is a common choice among manufacturers and not peculiar to Kizer, but it does mean you need to be careful when you’re choking up on the Guru: it would be very easy for your finger to slide forward onto the edge.

Back off the choil and the Guru accommodates three fingers in the middle portion of the handle and one on the other side of the beak. This isn’t always a successful setup but here, mainly because the post-beak butt end of the knife is large and flat, it works okay. The problem is, when you’re not using the forward choil you’re more than an inch away from the start of the cutting edge – not really acceptable for a knife of this size, and it squanders the fine control that makes a sheepsfoot blade shine in use.

There may be issues with the ergonomics but the Guru’s pocket clip is great. This is the way a sculpted clip should work. It’s durable, secure, with plenty of spring tension, and looks really nice. The rounded edges eliminate hotspots and even though the Guru is kind of portly it keeps it in place in your pocket. Other than the non-reversability I have no complaints. This is such an improvement over the nightmare clips on early Kizer models.

Deployment and Lockup

In my review of the Spyderco Mantra 1 I noted that the ball bearing pivot seemed to work better with the thumb hole than the flipper, and while I’ll never opt for ball bearings over standard washers I have been curious to further explore how they played with non-flipper deployment methods.

My Guru is the thumb stud variant and the ball bearing deployment is very good. Once the thick blade gets over the stiff detent it flies open. Kizer deserves particular praise for that detent. I’ve handled many Kizers and none of them had those detent issues that we see on other frame locks. You can put all the pressure you want on the Guru’s lock bar and it will still deploy reliably.

Lockup is similarly well-done. The stainless steel insert makes contact against about 30% of the tang. There is no blade play, and disengagement is stick-free and smooth. The only issue I have is that, in closing, the blade wants to fall shut quite quickly – a little dangerous in my opinion. The detent is so aggressive that it functions as a kind of half-stop, catching the knife again as you’re closing it, so that helps a little bit, but it’s still something to be aware of.

Kizer Guru – Final Thoughts

The Guru is well-made as all Kizers are, but I would have liked to see more time spent honing this one for great performance in addition to its mechanical competence. It looks cool, and there’s nothing wrong with picking up a sub-optimal knife because you like the way it looks, but for me, the wedgey edge and incorrect finger choil are a fatal combination and overwhelm any other charms this design has.

Kizer reset the bar for what we could expect for our dollar, but now that the rest of the industry has caught up their designs have to pull their weight in an increasingly crowded market segment, and I can’t think of any objective reason to recommend the Guru. It doesn’t quite manage to bridge the gap between “interesting design” and “great tool.”

Kizer Matt Degnan Guru, Titanium Handles with Holes, 3504A

List Price: $179.00

Current Price: $179.00

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If you are thinking of buying a Kizer Guru, 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.

Spartan Blades Horkos Review

by Dan Leave a Comment

Spartan Blades has a reputation of producing a premium product geared towards military applications. Founded by a duo of retired Special Forces operatives, I always considered Spartan Blades to have a unique position in the market. Their approach is simple: manufacture high end fixed blade combat knives in the USA out of premium materials.

The only other company that shares this approach and readily comes to mind is Chris Reeve, and CRK is best known for their folding knives. Spartan Blades has since branched out into high end folders, but I will always associate Spartan Blades with high end fixed blades.

And the Horkos is arguably Spartan Blade’s flagship fixed blade knife. It may not be the most expensive, but it strikes me as their most approachable model and emblematic of their lineup as a whole. This knife was apparently commissioned by the Combat Weapons Team of the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY and is given to graduates of their elite program. A review of a Spartan Blades knife is long overdue, and given its pedigree the Horkos almost begs for evaluation.

This knife was provided to me for review by Spartan Blades.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Horkos has an overall length of 10-7/8″, a 5-11/16″ blade, and weighs 9 ounces. Like all Spartan Blades the Horkos is made in the USA. This is a combat / utility knife. Versatility is the name of the game with a combat knife. Obviously it needs to be capable in a defensive role, but most of the time the knife will be used for utility work. So it needs to be a practical knife, but still capable in a defensive role. I consider the Horkos to be an evolved Ka-Bar USMC knife.

Of course I’m a mild mannered suburbanite, so my experience with the Horkos has been purely as a utility knife. And thankfully the Horkos is a practical enough tool that I could effectively test it.

The Horkos sports a modified drop point blade with a dramatic harpoon tip. Spartan Blades has incorporated the harpoon tip on a number of their designs. It’s a nice aesthetic touch and lends a nod to the Spartan warriors that the company was named after. Beyond the harpoon tip you have a fairly typical partial flat grind and swedge. There is a little bit of belly, a nice strong tip, and plenty of cutting edge. The grinds on this knife are beautiful. In fact, all the machining is top notch. My favorite feature of the knife is that all the edges have been chamferred. This detail provides a premium feel and distinguishes the Horkos from all the other knives in my collection.

The Horkos is made from a single piece of S35VN steel. Although I have tested dozens of folders with S35VN blades before, this was my first experience with a fixed blade in S35VN. At 3/16″ (~4.75mm) thick, this is a substantial knife. I have come to appreciate S35VN in folding knives, but was unsure how it would hold up in a knife like the Horkos. After all, a blade of this size will need to hold up to the rigors of chopping, prying, and perhaps even batoning.

Spartan Blades offers the Horkos in a black DLC coating or a tan Zirconium Nitride (ZrN) coating shown here. Although the ZrN coating is described by Spartan as a “flat dark earth” color it seems to me more like a metallic brown gold. It has an almost etheral sheen to it. It’s subtle, but also totally different from something like a flat brown powder coat.

I was curious to see how this ZrN coating and the S35VN blade would hold up under use. I first used the knife on some cardboard. This is a thicker grind, and thick stock, but the keen edge cleaved through cardboard as you would expect it to. You will never mistake the Horkos for a kitchen knife, but it cuts cleanly and gets the job done. The coating and edge both held up fine.

I then worked with the Horkos on some seasoned oak logs that I keep for camp fires and grilling. The grind on this knife is pretty stout, but it handled the oak capably, shaving away the bark and and then peeling off thick curls of wood. I chopped quite a bit, performed some light batoning, and then moved to a large stump of grapefruit wood. Grapefruit is much softer than oak, but it allowed me to drive the tip of the Horkos deeply into the stump and test the tip strength. There was no edge deformation and the tip held up perfectly.

I have since used the Horkos on several other occasions. Mostly breaking down boxes and prepping wood for fires. It continues to be a capable tool.

The ZrN coating also held up well. There is some light surface scratching (perhaps from rubbing up against bits of sand on some of the wood), but the coating remained largely intact. It didn’t peel off like a teflon coating or flatten out like a powder coating. ZrN is a premium coating and I’d say it performs close to DLC. I also like how this coating does not bind up or effect the cutting ability of the knife.

I am keeping this knife for long term testing and will update the review as I gain more experience with this knife.

Handle and Ergonomics

The Horkos is a full tang knife overlayed with textured micarta handle scales. Once again everything has been thoughtfully designed and meticulously executed. I cannot find fault with the material selection or the fit and finish of this knife.

The scales on this knife have a large diamond pattern texture to it. I was concerned that this would make the knife uncomfortable to use. In fact the number of ergonomic features on this knife had me concerned: the beak of the pommel, the finger groove on the handle, and the saw cut jimping on the thumb ramp, and this aggressive diamond texture. I was pleasantly surprised to not develop any hot spots after extended use. While this won’t handle like a purpose built bushcraft knife, it still handles well. All the ergonomic features aided in the grip rather than getting in the way and I walked away from my testing sessions appreciating the Horkos more.

Sheath

The Horkos comes with your choice of a Kydex or Nylon sheath. My particular knife came with a nylon sheath in multi-cam. This is one of the most robust nylon sheathes I have owned. This is high denier nylon, triple stitched, molle capable, and threaded with paracord. The retention strip is adjustable and backed with velcro. This is a high quality sheath and strong departure from the bargain bin cloth sheathes you get with budget knives.

The plastic insert is lined with what appears to be the loop side of velcro. This gives the knife a secure friction fit, even if you don’t use the retention strap. There is a velcro lined belt loop at the top of the sheath, and a thick plastic D-ring at the bottom, so you can carry this knife in a number of different ways.

The kydex sheath is a $30 option and is probably worth the extra money, but I think as far as nylon sheathes go this is about as good as it gets.

Spartan Blades Horkos – Final Thoughts

The Horkos is an impressive combat knife. At over $300, this is a high-end product. The materials are top notch, every detail has been considered, and the knife performs. I think this is an instance where you get what you pay for. It’s overkill for a backyard bushwacker like myself, but if I needed to carry a combat knife on a daily basis I think the expense is easily justified. You certainly get something more for your money over a $100 knife.

I have enjoyed experimenting with a 10″ S35VN fixed blade. I continue to be impressed by the qualities of this steel. The combination of good edge retention and easy sharpening make it tough to beat. And I was also pleasantly surprised by the mild nature of the handle.

If I had to pick apart the Horkos, I think my approach would be more of a general commentary on combat knives. Combat knives ride that precarious line between utility and defensive use. It’s an exercise in compromise, and compromise by it’s very definition won’t leave everyone 100% happy. If you are looking for a pure utility knife to split wood all day I might suggest an axe or a Fallkniven A1. If you are looking for a straight up fighting knife, then the something like a ROSarms Kisten would probably be a better option.

But the Horkos still does a good job of riding that line between practical and tactical. There is no compromise in the materials, and the design is refined enough to get all manner of jobs done. If you need a tough, do it all utility / combat knife then you will be hard pressed to find a finer tool than the Spartan Blades Horkos.

Spartan Horkos Fixed Blade w/ Nylon MOLLE Sheath

Price Disclaimer

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

Zero Tolerance ZT 0450 Review

by Benjamin Schwartz 3 Comments

Despite positioning itself as a maker of hard use tools for hardcore individuals, Zero Tolerance has always had more universal appeal than its marketing would suggest – and I don’t think the company’s appeal has ever been wider than it is today.

Unlike sister brand Kershaw, there isn’t any internal division between ZT products: there aren’t ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’ ZTs in the sense that there are cheap and expensive Kershaws; everything they make falls within the same general bracket of impressive machining and high-end materials; the price differences just indicate which high materials you’re getting and how much impressive machining you see.

And while ZTs may have been considered pretty pricey back in the day, as the market has shifted upwards their prices have remained relatively consistent, so that they seem more reasonable now than they did five years ago. So as the knife world has shifted into its current strata of price brackets, Zero Tolerance has found itself in a sweet spot between accessibility and quality.

All of this combines to put ZT pretty much at the center of current knife enthusiast culture. I’m sure there are soldiers, cops, and first responders who carry and use Zero Tolerence knives, but I would bet there are a lot more ZTs in the pockets of enthusiasts and on the shelves of collectors. That being said there has never been a ZT knife that really spoke to me.

I couldn’t find one that was ‘just right;’ this knife had a great design but is assisted, that one was the right size but inordinately heavy. It is this way for me with every knife ZT releases. Eventually, waiting for the Perfect Zero Tolerance became a kind of mania. Perfect design, perfect size, perfect price: I figured if I waited long enough such a ZT would come out.

But it never did, and eventually I got tired of waiting and picked up the knife that came closest to that ephemeral, unrealized Perfect ZT I have in my mind: the Dmitry Sinkevich-designed ZT 0450. It can’t possibly be perfect, but is it any good? Let’s take a look.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The 0450 has a blade length of 3 3/16”, a handle length of 4 1/8”, and an overall length of 7 3/8”. It weighs 3.04 oz. and is made in the USA. I want to mention here that this is a damn good looking knife. It comes up later and I don’t want to keep repeating myself in the interim, so just keep in mind that almost every inch of this knife is nice to look at.

The ZT 0450’s racy drop point is a good EDC cutter. It has much more straight edge than belly, which I don’t necessarily mind, and a very sharp tip. A chunky grind means two things: 1) both the tip and cutting edge are hardy enough to beat on, however 2) it isn’t as good of a slicer as you would hope for. Given the fast, futuristic, aggressive styling I was hoping for equally aggressive cutting performance but that isn’t what you get here.

However, trading some sliciness for durability isn’t exactly Faustian as long as cutting performance is still the favored attribute to some degree, and the 0450 meets this criterion. It’s best-suited for medium-duty tasks like cutting through cardboard or plastic, but you aren’t going to hate slicing food with it either. It works.

When Zero Tolerance began using Elmax a few years ago accusations of improper heat treating and burnt edges were leveled at them from the enthusiast quarter. The 0450 is made from S35VN, not Elmax, but there is a small portion near the tip of my 0450’s blade that looks burned:

From what I understand, this occurs during the edge grinding portion of manufacturing, and is localized to the burned area – in other words, if it is burned, it shouldn’t affect the performance of the edge in general – and my experience bears this out.

S35VN is great. I would almost say it’s boring, because it doesn’t have the epic abilities and tragic flaws of a steel like M4, but for the average user (and most enthusiasts are average users AT BEST) that is a good thing. I’m convinced that you could sharpen S35VN with even a rudimentary setup and some patience. The S35VN here performed just as well as I expected it to, and if there were any problems in the burned portion I didn’t notice.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

One of my biggest ergonomic pet peeves is when a knife has a beak or a scoop at the butt end of its handle that either doesn’t accommodate all four fingers ahead of it, or that makes my fingers feel crammed because it ushers them too close together. I really want this issue to become the Too Many Finger Grooves of 2017, because it nearly ruined the Para 3 for me and designers need to stop doing it.

By all accounts it looked like the 0450 would have this problem, and even now I’m not sure that it doesn’t. I can get all my fingers between the finger groove and the beginning of the beak, but not easily, comfortably, or without premeditation; my fingers would never fall across the handle this way naturally.

But the way I think you’re supposed to hold the knife is how I ended up holding the Para 3: with my index finger in the groove, my middle and ring in the “valley,” and my pinky landing on the far side of the beak. This feels natural, but, again, it isn’t the natural way my hand wants to hold the knife.

If I just grab the knife without thinking, my pinky lands right on the tip of the beak. This doesn’t sound like it would be comfortable, but thanks to the big chamfer around the scales, the tip of the beak isn’t too pointy and it works. And even during hard cuts this wasn’t that uncomfortable because most of the pressure is focused on the portion of the knife between your thumb and forefinger.

So I don’t know where I come down on this. The way it appears the knife is designed to be held isn’t natural, and the way it seems natural to hold it doesn’t feel right, even if it isn’t intolerable. At the end of the day I guess I’m okay with this handle, because it allows for a very slim and stylish profile, and going into it you know the 0450 isn’t going to be an ergonomic masterpiece.

The 0450 itself is so very narrow that it would be a pretty decent carry regardless of what kind of clip it had. This is one of very few flipper knives whose flipper tab doesn’t annoy me in the pocket, and I think that’s a function of the knife’s extreme narrowness. The 0450 would be a great carry even with a bad pocket clip, but hey: the clip here is anguish free. The same clip seen on the Kershaw Dividend, and in that review I expressed a little anxiety about its stability over time, but I’ve had no issues here.

Deployment and Lockup

I’m going to grouse a lot in this section so I’ll say this up front: The ZT 0450’s action is fast, sure, very snappy, addicting, and fun. The flipper tab is well designed. It is a great example of why flippers are so hot right now. Okay, grousing starts now.

I was prepared for the lock bar issue, and it is definitely present: if your fingers are on anywhere on the lock bar, the detent is such that the knife will not open – it feels almost like you have a secondary safety feature engaged. When I first got the knife I had a couple attempted deployments where the blade refused to budge.

However, if you align your fingers with the clip it keeps them off the bar; now that’s where my fingers naturally goes when I flip open this knife. Still, not cool, and from what I’ve seen it’s present on newer models as well. I’d like to see ZT put this issue to bed.

I think ball bearing pivots are bad. I hope the recent issues with the Advocate will precipate a move back to traditional washers, which are more durable, have no moving parts, are easier to maintain, and don’t cause as much unnecessary wear. Ball bearings against naked titanium (as we have on the 0450) is probably asking for trouble in the long term – albeit in the long, long term that most of us won’t see, as we trade and swap knives and carry different ones on different days. But still.

I also think that the ZT 0450’s fall shut action is dangerous and not to be desired. I’ve cut myself more times on the ZT 0450 than any other knife I’ve owned, either because it rolled shut so fast I didn’t have time to get my knuckles out of the way, or I pushed it a little bit and it gained enough momentum to keep rolling when I didn’t want or expect it to. Not necessary.

Lockup via titanium frame lock with a steel insert, is good however. If you look at the knife from the side, it doesn’t seem that a lot of the blade tang actually makes contact with the lock face, and disengagement has no feedback or friction whatsoever, but there is no blade play and the lock has never been other than stable and reliable. The double over-travel stop provided by the insert and by the clip is a nice touch as well.

Zero Tolerance 0450 Review – Final Thoughts

There is no meaningful area in which the Zero Tolerance 0450 excels other than carry. It isn’t a great cutter. Ergonomically, it’s kind of a mess. The deployment is problematic. But I still like it.

As much as I hate to say it it comes down to the look. Sinkevich has one of the strongest aesthetics around and the 0450 benefits greatly from that. It isn’t my style necessarily, but we don’t see a lot of knives that are this visually confident, and I think I responded to that. If you showed me a less interesting design that had all of these quirks and problems, I would never even think of buying it.

Not exactly the resounding praise, but praise nonetheless. I can’t not like this knife, even if there are so many things about it that I don’t like. It stops just short of brilliance but looks stunning doing it.

Zero Tolerance Sinkevich Titanium Folding Knife, Small

List Price: $157.95

Current Price: $157.95

Price Disclaimer

I recommend purchasing the Zero Tolerance 0450 at Amazon and BladeHQ. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Kizer Alter Ego Review

by Grayson Parker 1 Comment

Kizer’s 2017 catalog wasn’t released to the same fanfare as Spyderco’s or KAI’s. That may be partially due to the fact that it’s massive. Most of their old designs are still on there, so don’t worry, there’s no need for panic purchases a la Spyderco’s discontinued list. At the same time, Kizer has collaborated with a host of new makers so up and coming your plaid-bedecked neighbor who won’t shut up about vinyl records hasn’t even heard of them.

In the interests of full disclosure, you should know that this review sample was provided by Kizer. While that won’t have an impact on my impartiality, there is the risk that the product I was sent was double or triple checked for quality, and that my sample is the best of the brood. That risk is counterweighted by Kizer’s deserved reputation for high manufacturing tolerances. In other words, I don’t think you need to worry about it.

The Alter Ego falls into their “Bladesmith” line, which is seemingly reserved for collaborations with custom makers. I was surprised to learn this, as the Alter Ego seems aesthetically similar to many of Kizer’s in-house designs. Searching for “Kim Ning” and “Kim Ning Knives” yielded no results outside of Kizer products. It may be that he is better known internationally, or that he doesn’t have an English website, but I suspect that (much like Jim McNair of KAI) he’s a full time designer for Kizer.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Kizer Alter Ego has a 3.55” blade housed in a 4.625” handle. Overall, it’s 8.125” long and weighs 4.91 oz, with a blade thickness of .1375”. For some this isn’t terribly large, but it’s definitely more knife than I’m accustomed to. To their credit Kizer kept the weight pretty low. As a point of comparison, it weighs only .6 ounces more than the Zero Tolerance 0900, but has a .85” longer blade. Those numbers might not look impressive on paper, but trust me when I say that the difference is significant in person.

The blade itself is made of S35VN, a powder metallurgy steel developed by Crucible as the successor to S30V. Prior to the revolution of high-end Chinese manufacturers, a steel like this would have been unheard of on a Chinese knife. Times have changed, and now it’s sound business sense for companies like Kizer to import high performance steels. S35VN is a particular favorite of mine. It retains S30V’s wear and rust resistance, but doesn’t chip as frequently. I’ve used the Alter Ego frequently (if not rigorously) over the past month, and the experience matched my expectations.

As nice as the S35VN is, I wish it had been paired with a plainer utilitarian blade. The Alter Ego sports a drop point blade with a profile that echoes the Viper Dan 2 or the ZT0770 (both blade shapes that I love), but which is drawn up into a recurve closer to the base of the blade. While by no means a dramatic recurve, it exaggerates the belly enough to make certain tasks – press cutting in food preparation, for example – less predictable than a continuous curve or a straight edge. If I found myself cutting rope on a regular basis the recurve would have more appeal, but my needs are fairly pedestrian.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

Much like the blade, the handle is comprised of organic, muscular lines. In some respects it’s comparable to the Hinderer design aesthetic, but where Hinderer relies on hard angles and a very industrial appearance, Kizer turns to curves that are almost anatomical. In keeping with this, ornamentation is kept to a minimum. I’m not normally a fan of decorative pivots, but Kizer’s rendition is eye-catching, subtle, and most importantly is torx compatible.

The ergonomics on the Alter Ego are good, if narrow in application. It’s difficult to tell from the photos and product literature, but the handle coerces your fingers into something akin to a pistol grip. That’s not necessarily a downside, especially if you’re in the market for a tactical folder. This knife won’t leave your hand unless you want it to. However, it’s less than ideal for everyday tasks, such as preparing a picnic lunch or opening a clamshell package.

While the design is ergonomically sound, if not to my taste, there is one flaw in the execution: the pocket clip. It’s not offensively bad (like this little guy), but it does generate enough of a hot spot to cause some discomfort. Gloves and careful finger placement mitigate this problem. The clip aside, Kizer put a lot of work into making this knife comfortable. All the edges are buffed and all the corners are softened. Kizer clearly knows how to make a knife comfortable,

The Alter Ego is pretty quiet in the pocket. No one could call it svelte – it is fairly wide, and nearly an inch of the handle sticks out past the edge of the pocket – but for a knife this size, it’s better than I expected. The aforementioned contouring keeps it from feeling like a brick in your pants, and though the clip detracts from the blade’s ergonomics, it also ensures that an errant seat belt can’t make off with your rather expensive pocketknife.

Deployment and Lock-Up

As with most of Kizer knives, the Alter Ego’s blade is deployed via flipper tab. Sadly, Kizer committed something of a cardinal sin in the design stages of the Alter Ego: they put aggressive jimping right under the flipper tab. For the first two or three days I carried it, my index finger would slam right into the aforementioned jimping every time I flipped it open, leaving my finger raw and smarting. Eventually my technique improved and the problem went away, but it was a literal pain to deal with. It’s a shame that such a flaw wasn’t caught earlier, because otherwise deployment on the Alter Ego is perfect. The detent is crisp and firm, and there’s not a hint of grit in the bearing pivot. It’s not as snappy as the action on my ZT0900 – there’s more of a hydraulic feel to it – but that’s a matter of taste, not quality. Deployment on both knives is as smooth as glass.

Commensurate with Kizer’s reputation, the frame lock on the Alter Ego is perfectly executed. There is zero wiggle in the lock while deployed, and because of the steel insert there’s no break in period or risk of the lock face galling inappropriately over time. Since arrival, the lock has consistently engaged the blade tang at about 50%, though it should be noted that 100% of the steel insert engages the tang. Said insert also functions as an overtravel stop. To round things out, Kizer also milled a slight cut out in the handle to make the lock more accessible.

Kizer Alter Ego Final Thoughts

At a price point that hovers between 160USD and 180USD, the Alter Ego is competing with the premier lines of most brands; within the genre – titanium framelock flippers – it’s directly competing with most of Zero Tolerance’s catalog. While I’m not going to wade into the waters of which brand I prefer (the gaming industry has console wars covered), I can say that the Alter Ego is as well made as any normal run ZT. That’s pretty high praise, all things considered.

End of the day, this knife isn’t for me. It’s too big for my purposes and definitely has a different end user in mind. That said, everything else about the knife – the manufacturing tolerances, materials, attention to detail – is fantastic, and clues me into just how much I’ve been missing out on by not trying a Kizer sooner. If the design of this knife appeals to you, I’d wholeheartedly recommend it. If the quality of the Alter Ego is representative of their entire catalog (and the community’s response indicates that such is true) then I wouldn’t hesitate to buy any Kizer knife if the design appealed to me.

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

Main navigation

S35VN

General Dimensions and Blade Details

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

Deployment and Lockup

Spartan Blades Pallas – Final Thoughts

General Dimensions and Blade Details

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

Deployment and Lock-Up

Spartan Blades Metis – Final Thoughts

Blade Dimensions and General Details

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

Deployment and Lockup

Kizer Guru – Final Thoughts

General Dimensions and Blade Details

Handle and Ergonomics

Sheath

Spartan Blades Horkos – Final Thoughts

General Dimensions and Blade Details

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

Deployment and Lockup

Zero Tolerance 0450 Review – Final Thoughts

General Dimensions and Blade Details

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

Deployment and Lock-Up

Kizer Alter Ego Final Thoughts