Automated Transcript
Summer Weight Folders - The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 327)

Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast.
The place for blade lovers to learn about knives and hear from the makers, manufacturers and reviewers that make the knife world go round.
I'm Bob DeMarco and coming up I finally get my hands on a CKF evo, not mine.
The we synergy has a new blade shape, the best looking one if you ask me and summer weight folding knives.
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast.
Your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting.
Here's your host Bob the knife Junkie de Marco.

00:42
Welcome back, my favorite comment from last week was from JN and he commented on my Black Mamba version 2 video and he said I've been asking since my very first frame lock, why no texturing, patterning or milling on the lock side?
Glad to see other makers are coming around and I thought that was pretty interesting because we've been seeing we've been seeing all sorts of milling on our favorite kind of knives for a long time.
And, uh, some sort of primary pattern on the front side and then just a flat titanium lockside, and I never quite understood that either.
I had the old 0 tolerance 0562 CF or no.
No, it was just the 0562 and that was a hinderer design.
The first one that ZT ever did, and they put texturing on both sides.
They mailed it out on both sides.

01:33
Now why they stopped doing that?
Why other companies stop doing that?
I don't know, but.
I'm with JN.
I'm glad to see companies are starting to come around like off grid knives.
Who does their golf ball dimpling on that very knife?
The Black Mama 2 on both sides and to great effect if you ask me.

01:53
OK, so let's do a pocket check.
Let's find out what I was carrying today.
I know that's the burning question.
What exactly?
What exactly I had in my pocket here.
So today I had an interesting Kerry.
It's not anything new.

02:10
You'll recognize that I've been carrying this a lot, but this is the Mekong Delta combat folder from resco instruments.
They're they're knife wing I think.
Is called goose works.
Goose Works Goose Works knife company or something like that.
I don't know.
It's kind of a mysterious outfit.
I've gone into depth about trying to find out about this knife and I did find out it's made by bestech and that must be.

02:38
Why I love it so much.
Man, it really does well.
Once I found out that it wasn't made in the United States, I was at least relieved to find out it was made by best tech.
One of my favorite, probably my favorite OEM all around.
That's not, say, I don't respect Riot and think their stuff is outstanding, but I just think best tech man.
They knock it out of the park in so many different strata of the knife world that can make a cheap knife, awesome.
And they can make a very expensive knife and complex design really, really well.

03:09
So Mekong Delta combat folder it's been getting tons of carry.
I predicted correctly a couple weeks back on the supplemental when I said I haven't had it long enough to really tell if it was a legit grab and go knife, but indeed it is.
I do grab and go with that thing all the time.
I do love it.
OK, Next up is.
My Fred Perrin clip point neck knife I was carrying this today.
And it is so light it's starting to get warm here.

03:42
In Virginia, though, this past the past couple of days, it's been nice, but this is a great light carry.
I mean this this is actually if I were doing summer weight fixed blade knives, this would definitely be in it.
This is a mid tech, the knife.
The blade itself is made by.
Max Knives and Mr Fred Perrin takes it and does his final touches on.
I think he puts the G10 on and does does some of the some of the final sharpening and stuff.
I'm not exactly sure what he does but I know he designed it and I know that this is one of his mid tax which means his hands were on it somehow.

04:26
Except I mean besides when he sold it to me, this thing is wickedly sharp, very thin.
It's got a great profile.
Feels great in the hand and and has illustrated to me why he doesn't do a perfectly half rounded sharpening notch.
If you notice I'm not sharpening notch thumb choil, finger choil.
Geez, you know what I mean.
Finger choil so that acts not only as the guard so that you're not slipping up a slipping up onto the blade in a thrust, but also back here.
This flat portion is where your finger is naturally going to rest and that tilts or angles the blade for.

05:04
And puts it at an optimal angle for slashing and accelerating a slashing cut.
And I have no doubt that that was a. That's something I only realized on this knife, though.
I I carried the street Bowie a lot.
Love that knife and it has this a similar shape finger cut out but only on this knife did it really occurred to me the the utility of that.
And I don't know if it's intentional, but it works great, so I had that on me.
And then lastly, a knife that I've had on me since I got it.
The Jack Wolf knives.

05:39
Little bro now.
Unfortunately, I'm sure you've heard the news about the little bro.
The little bro the besides those of us who already have it, the little bro is being returned to the manufacturer for tweaked slash remake age because this version had Blade Wrap has Blade wrap which means that.
If you look down in there, you can see a couple of spots where the.
We're looking down into the well of the knife and you can see a couple of raised spots there.
That's where pins go perpendicular to the scales into the liners to hold that back spring in well, that's a raised space, and when this comes slamming down because it's got such great action, the blade itself was making contact with that elevated surface.
It happened on mine.

06:33
At first I thought maybe it was because I was actually using it and.
Not storing it like a museum piece and I thought maybe I had gone through.
I've only used it on cardboard really and I thought maybe I went through cardboard that was.
A little rough, but then I looked at where the little tiny glinting was on my blade edge, and indeed it was right above where it would make contact with that elevated surface that accommodates the pin.
So this this was one of the knives they didn't all have blade wrap, and Ben came on, made a a video and Instagram video, and also sent out a letter to those of us who have these knives just to let people know about the situation.
That he is rectifying it, and that he's pained because he loves this knife so much.
And you know, it it is what happens.

07:18
You know he he tested each one open and shut each one, but you know, that doesn't mean that it's going to immediately have blade wrap.
I've had blade wrap on a bunch of knives.
This one just takes.
This will take one.
One solid sharpening and it'll get rid of it.
Let's see if you might be able to see the little.
Yeah, there's a little Ding right in the edge right near my thumb.

07:43
But that that is now.
It makes it even feel more special.
It's like, uh, I took this knife in even with its blade wrap.
What a good guy I am, so that's what I carried today.
What did you carry today?
Let me know in the comments below or call the listener line 724-466-4487 and leave us a message and let us know what it is you carry.
It helps me.

08:06
Well.
First of all, it's like I'll be totally honest.
It's a little bit of vicarious enjoyment.
I get out of hearing what you classy gentlemen and ladies carry on the regular.
But also sometimes it gives me ideas about what I might want and get OK, so Speaking of wanting and getting.
This past weekend was Father's Day and my ladies had a well.
My wife and of course the girls came along, but my wife had a really cool plan.

08:36
She is the type who she is, a planner and so that always puts the pressure on me around her birthday and Mother's Day is like I gotta plan something because.
Anyway, she planned something cool.
We went out into the country and went to an old fashioned air show.
It was so cool where?
There's a bunch of biplanes, and those are those were models that were used as trainers for World War Two.
For guys who who were learning how to fly during World War Two, they started in these biplanes and after the show you know my wife bought me a a ride up in a biplane and it was the coolest thing I was in the front seat.
And yeah, I had the had the headsets on and the whole thing and and just got a chance to look at Virginia from 2000 feet and it was beautiful.

09:22
It was so cool.
Uh, and he did some light maneuvering that was pretty awesome, but uh, when we went.
This is the kind of nerd you're listening to right now.
Before we went, I was like what kind of knife do you bring to an old school air show?
And I was like it's got.
I think it's got to have my card on it because I know old school airplanes.
Sometimes the propellers were made of my Carta, sometimes the and the bodies themselves are micarta like and that they are cloth stretched over some sort of armature and then doused and impregnated with some sort of material epoxy.

09:55
Thing, but you can tell.
So anyway, I went with something my card and I I I went with the Preta too.
I went with the micarta Preta 2. And I thought that the shape of the handle and those three lines were kind of dashing like the design from the 30s and 40s, and something about this knife.
I was like this is the one.
So I brought this with me and this one up in the in the biplane with me.
And and I like that I didn't bring the titanium version because it's heavier and you know Oz make pounds and pounds make pain even when you're in an airplane or especially when you're in an airplane.
I actually saw one guy say I can't take you up right now, Sir, because I just filled up.

10:36
Gas and you're you're a man of ample carriage you know so I'm gonna have to wait till I get rid of some of this gas.
And then we'll be able to get off the ground.
So yeah, every Oz counts.
So it was the responsible thing.
It was the right thing and it was the aesthetically.
What's the word consistent thing to bring?
This knife almost looks like an airplane or a shark or a race car or lots of other things.

11:00
But this is the knife I took flying.
Let's fly away you know you know the Frank Sinatra song.
You can go listen to it yourself.
All right everybody coming up here on the Knife Junkie podcast.
We're gonna take a look at a couple of new knives on the market.
Have one sweet loaner in the state of the collection that just has had me gobsmacked and since I've had it.
And then we are going to take a look at some of the summer weight knives in my collection.

11:27
And of course we know that that's knife chunky style.
I do like the heavier knives, so I hope these pass your muster.
But before we get to any of that, if you think what we do here is valuable, check us out on Patreon.
You can get interview extras, that's my favorite off the record stuff from the people we interview here and also you get entered into a knife giveaway and there's other stuff too.
Quickest thing you can do is.
Either scan this QR code or just go to the knife junkie.com/patreon and check it out again.
That's the knife junkie.com/patreon.

12:01
You're listening to the Knife Junkie podcast.
And now.
Here's the knife junkie with the knife life news.
So last two years ago we came out with the synergy and the synergy.
If you're an old guy like me, you've been around long enough.
Is a knife that came out in 1999. I remember it being advertised on the backs of Tactical Knife magazine and and the whatever the knife magazines I was gawking over back in that day.
And there were these very colorful and customizable knives designed by a guy Jim O young and he had them produced in.

12:38
Integral aluminum handles button locks and just a a A really unique shaped frame and handle well.
We knife resurrected that design, which I thought was a great idea in an upswept kind of personally blade or an A sort of upswept tanto blade.
A beautiful knife had a chance to check that out, a blade show, and now they have a new blade shape which to me is by far the best looking.
And of course we know that's what's important.
But also I have a feeling it's probably the most useful, uh?
We all love a tanto blade, at least I love a tanto blade and there are there is a lot of utility to be found in that, but those of us who don't like the tanto blade really don't like it.
And then there's that upswept kind of Persian version.

13:27
They had also a fetching design, but if you don't like the tip orientation you don't like the tip orientation.
This drop point that they have coming out though is looks like it solves all the problems.
It takes.
That point puts it center line.
Look at that and it's a gorgeous swedge.
I can't tell.
If it's hollow ground, it doesn't mention in the.

13:49
Article here, but man, I hope it is because we know that sevi the the we budget brand does incredible hollow grinds.
So this this looks like a knife deserving of it.
You can see some nice micro milling around the periphery of that handle that looks kind of like pinstriping until it turns into those concentric circles going around that very classy pivot.
I love branded pivots.
That's my thing now.
Branded pivot.
And don't write on the blade, damn it.

14:21
And then that really cool looking inlay.
There they have with carbon fiber.
This thing looks beautiful.
That's 20 CV steel and they're calling this the synergy 2V2 because it's the Synergy 2 and this is the second version of it I think for my money that is the that is the synergy.
I would get my hands on if I were to go for it.
So there you have it.
Something brand new but also brand old.

14:48
From we knives.
OK Next up I just wanted to mention this and show this off because I love my version of it.
Jason Knight, you know Jason Knight.
He's a world class well known master Bladesmith.
He was a guest judge on forged in fire for a while and has this signature style of kukri.
Kind of kukri meets Bowie almost that he makes and he teamed up with Doug Marcaida and Fox Knives.
Four or five years ago to create this folder that called the MK Ultra and then.

15:25
And at that time it was only an exclusive through a company called Tactical Essentials or something.
What are they called now?
I can't remember what they're called, but that went quickly and then they rereleased it.
And that's when I got my hands on it.
And now this is the second full.
I mean, it's been.
It's come out and gone away and come out and gone away and now it's coming out.

15:49
In an exclusive with knives, knives ship free, so if you love this design, which I do, and I can highly recommend it, I would say jump all over it because they made a couple of changes to this version that I would have loved to have seen on my version, namely, and most importantly access to the lock
bar I I can on mine really only end up unlocking it by sticking my forefinger in there and you know how you know that that set up.
It can be done and it's fine, but I just, you know I I want to be able to do it with my thumb too and it's always been a hassle.
A beautiful 4 inch blade, but they've made it so that it comes out and and that it folds much easier now.
The blade steel is still in 690 Co, which is fine.
I mean mine is razor sharp and just awesome and I use it for very little so.
Yeah, it's probably a fine blade steel, but.

16:48
You know there's that thing where when you're paying handsome bucks you you kind of wanna feel like not only you're paying for the design, but you also want to know that you're paying for the materials, design and build is great and the name Jason Knight.
I love putting whatever kind of money I can put in Jason's night night's pocket.
Unfortunately, I cannot afford his customs.
But at the same at the same time, you know.
It feels like maybe the blade steel should have been upped a little bit, just a little bit, especially if it's an exclusive for knives ship free.
Why not make it like super cherry?
OK, so that's it for knife life news.

17:28
Always keep in my eye on knife news, a great great resource you got to check it out.
Ben Schwartz, the the head writer and editor.
Over there is a fantastic writer and he comes up with new ways to make.
Titanium frame lock folder sound new and exciting every time.
He's a good writer so check it out.
Alright still to come on.
The Knife Junkie podcast.

17:50
We're gonna take a look at this outstanding incredible cool knife loaned to me by Lefty EDC.
The the extremely generous Kevin.
I appreciate it, Kev.
So much that man, this knife anyway, so we're going to take a look at that and then summer weight folders.
What are the best lightweight folders in my collection and how can we extrapolate from there?
All of this and much much more.
Well, not too much more actually coming up on the Knife Junkie podcast.

18:21
And now that we're caught up with knife life news, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast.
I had forgotten about this late night, at least it was late night for me.
I am not immediately on my DM.
Some of you might might know this about me.
I have resented the short leash of the cell phone for years and years, and only in the past a couple have I become more and more attentive.
But sometimes I don't jump on on my DMS.
This was a late night DM for me and I forgot all about it until this arrived two days ago and I was like, Oh my God.

18:59
Wow, so this is the custom knife.
Factory Evo by rotten designs designed by rotten designs and made by Custom Knife factory out of Russia and.
I let's just start with.
I think it is a spectacularly beautiful and cool looking knife.
Now that's the looks I have not used this yet.
Kev has basically made it a dare.
He's like no one else I've given this to.

19:30
Will carry it or use it.
Maybe you will, maybe it won't, but he was basically like do it so I'm gonna do it.
In the hopes that I well not in the hopes of I will never pull it out over concrete, that is something I won't do.
I will only I will never I will not let anyone else touch it or think of it or even look at it.
But I am going to carry this thing so M 390 this is number 147. Presumably that's the number of the production, but let's let's take a quick look at this.
So this blade, you might not realize from.
What you're seeing, but this is a very thinly there we go.

20:11
You can see it now.
Very thin hollow grind, very thin and it's a good portion of that pretty wide blade.
Now if you notice a. A blinding shine across the edge of this blade, that is because Jared Nieve put one of his exquisite edges mirror polished edges on this knife taking a very thin behind the edge hollow ground masterpiece of a blade and just finishing it.
I mean really with that that is the ultimate cherry on top.
This thing is just, you know, it's crazy.
It's really, really crazy.
Alright, I I will at some point show how crazy sharp this is, but I'll do that in my close up video.

20:56
I'll have a paper prepared, but I've been cutting waves through it through paper like it's nothing.
I mean it this thing is just really something else.
And and I I do recall when I first saw this I said oh that's cool, but it looks a lot like a Strider.
And now that I've had a chance to break it down and look at it, it, it's vaguely Strider.
Risk I will give it like that.
That's about the most I can say about about it.
I was pretty strident when I first saw it.

21:26
Like that's a Strider rip off.
I may have said something like that.
But I was I was mistaken.
I really was.
When you look at them side by side you know it's about as much of a rip off as any other knife with a blade you know it and a lot lozenge shaped opening hole.
I mean, that's that was really what it was.
Superb ergonomics on this knife.

21:50
So in this grip and then you can come up into that choil and engage this really luscious large jumping.
I love large jumping of this sort.
You've got a gear backspacer or just jumped and proud backspacer.
And you have this beautiful, marbled carbon fiber scale on the on the top.
That is not only linear lists, but there is weight reduction that there is.
There are weight reduction pockets milled in there, which is just crazy because carbon fiber is, you know, it's already pretty light, but.
No, they took it the extra step and then they also milled out spaces or milled out pockets in the lock side, making the titanium which is already a light metal.

22:40
Even lighter action on this is disgustingly smooth.
Just ridiculous sly smooth.
It feels nice and light feels luxurious and just smooth.
This this has a feel that is a kind of a cross between drop shutty captured bearings and the oiled glassy feeling of like a sebenza.
It drops unlike a sebenza but it has a feel.
I don't know it.
It has a really nice feel to it.

23:16
If you can get one, I highly if you have the means, I highly recommend you acquire one.
This this is one that would be a prize.
This would this is a prized knife.
I mean this would be would have a a a place of of.
Prominence in my collection.
I really love it.
I'm going to stop going off on it for now and I'm going to post a close up video, but let's look at the lock side real quick.

23:42
I got to get some confirmation as to what this is.
Is that Mutai on this really cool beautiful clip?
Is that moku Thai on this somewhat large but very comfortable clip?
And?
And what about that bark texture?
Look at the bark texturing on this contoured clips.
Eric contoured.

24:02
Yeah, flipside of lockside of this handle God it is just beautiful.
Alright, well, OK, so that's this is a. This is a knife that fills me with different feelings like like wow this is one that that this is definitely one worth pursuing.
Now am I going to pursue it?
Probably not, I'm not.
I'm not in right now.
I'm not up for a the the chase or B the expense but man.
I really, really, really like this knife, and if there is anyone out there listening who has one who who wants to sell it to me for a screaming deal, do let me know.

24:43
Alright, I love this thing.
OK thanks, I'm gonna put this away and try not to look at it.
OK. So I was talking about summer weight folders.
That's what I want to talk about here because, well, summer's back.
I'm coming home from work.
I'm going over to the community pool sometimes.
My my wife and daughters are all already over there and I got to throw a knife in the bathing suit.

25:07
I am not going knifeless but also it's got to be something I don't care if I accidentally jump in, which has happened in the past.
I can't care about that and and also can't be too scary because I am a lot around a lot of kids.
And you know a sheep will type over there and lightweight materials all summer long.
My favorite shorts.
Hope this isn't too much information, but my favorite shorts are like light.
Yeah, they're they're made by Quicksilver like I'm a surfer.
They're really light and I don't need a big heavy knife deforming the pockets and pulling it, pulling those nice lightweight shorts down.

25:47
So this is this is what I like to carry now.
All of that is to say that I don't care.
About carrying a 7 ounce knife like I don't mind, as long as it's a sweet knife, so.
What I consider like you might not consider light, but some of these are are are incontrovertibly light so.
But that's not the right word.
But anyway, I'm going to show I'm gonna actually use the scale.
I'm not a scale guy often.

26:12
But since I don't really know what these way, I figured I could for accuracy have a scale.
OK, as you can see it is zeroed out all right.
The first one is the TRM atom.
You may have known.
Sorry.
My left hand is just.
Terrible at opening knives tonight.

26:29
You may have known that I was gonna say this because I love this knife and it really is truly is a light light but capable carry.
You've got a 3.6 inch blade of 20 CV steel.
This is a coated diamond like coating and a really thin edge.
I mean it's just a cutting machine but also has a great point.
No one ever talks about that but it has a great great point.
And then the handle is nice and slim, nice and light, and I guess you know this is that DL Hanson and sons Micarta or G Carta.
And that's a pretty light material.

27:09
I know some people have titanium scales on theirs.
It's going to make that heavier, but for your standard G10 or micarta scales the TRM atom.
Comes in at 2 ounces.
Two and three quarter Oz.
That's pretty awesome.
Two and three quarter ounces.
Uh, so very light and very capable.

27:32
So yeah, I love this TRM, atom.
And put that over there for now, here's one that actually I took to the pool.
I've been talking about this knife a lot since since I made this trade for it, and.
Here it is.
It's the CJR B scoria and and what gave me pause for a moment is that Nick Shabazz just did a a scorching video on the scoria, a really critical.
He's not a not a fan not a fan and he had the this version of it with the maroon micarta and the a RPM 9 steel but his was very different.
His felt cloth like kind of like the the.

28:19
G. Carter does and felt unfinished on the edges and just totally different production and different feel than this one.
This one has my card, but it's very smooth, smoothed out my card.
It doesn't feel like now I was not the first owner of this.
But I know what he's talking about.
I know that feel for my card and this does not feel like it ever had that.
Anyway, this one is a very light coming in at let's see.
Three and 3/8 oz.

28:49
Do you think that's right I do?
I mean this?
This was in my bathing suit pocket and I nearly jumped in the water because I forgot about it.
But this night the other day.
I may have mentioned on last week's show that you know my wife who's.
More outgoing in a lot of ways.
Met some people at the pool while I was home.

29:10
Actually probably doing this podcast and she texted me.
Ohh, I'd met a nice guy and I was like great so this guy, he's really nice.
He lives in my neighborhood and he has a love of knives but not modern folders.
I'm not exactly sure I haven't zeroed in on what he likes, but he needed a knife and he's like.
I know I can come to you now.
Can I borrow a knife?
And I was like what why don't you have one?

29:34
You know, just give him a little ribbing and he's like, oh, I know, I know.
And he borrowed this and he loved it.
He loved it.
He was like it's so thin and sharp and you know he he used it for fruit and I was watching, you know, kind of out of the corner of my he wasn't at my table and I was like oh man he's getting so much fruit juice and stuff up into that pivot.
This thing's going to be all gummed up.
It'll be a good excuse for me to take it apart and clean it up, but I didn't have to.
He he took great care of it, returned it to me.

30:05
And when he did, here he, he he had it on a napkin, and he went like this.
He had it half half open.
Kind of like this, and he was like here, you go, he's a man from another culture.
So the way he handed the knife back to me felt very.
I don't know.
He had a real respect for it and wanted to show me and I appreciated that this knife is I. I've been loving this thing.
This is one of my go to pajama knives.

30:29
This is one of my go to like workout.
I have a little thing that I've been doing outside on hot days and I have very light shorts.
This goes in there perfectly.
Plus I like how my car to get stained when you sweat into it.
I know, I know, but at least I admit it.
Right and this OK. So this is done all of that.
This has been a great user for me so far.

30:57
I haven't added that long.
Chris McNair and I made a trade.
He got my rifle and I've honestly I wanted the rifle for so long and really loved that knife.
But I've used this so much more.
I I must admit though, I like the rifle a lot and dig the design.
This design is just kind of more up my alley and I thought it was funny because Nick Shabazz said thought the design was totally.
Totally.

31:23
Just me like it's just a knife, but to me I think it's a I think it's a beautiful design.
Am I blind?
I know I'm not.
Uh, but.
I don't know.
I think it's a really I. I remember when it came out I thought it was kind of a special knife in a in a in a field of kind of unspecial, but very well made knives.
I thought that CJR B scoria like fit the bill.

31:48
All right something that's new that I got from the company Vasd knives.
I love this thing so you may remember I had the vast did Morgan their 8 inch chef's knife that they sent me that I gave a very positive review.
Because it was an awesome knife and still is kind of become our favorite in the kitchen.
Very, very sharp.
It's a 99 CR.
I believe it's a 9 CR MOV and it's a 9C R. What is it?
Sanmi sorry it's clad with a softer steel anyway, it's a great great great knife.

32:25
I did a very positive review.
They loved the review and then one they said that I said well, how about you send me the bail me I'd love to check that out right just said send me a folding knife and they sent me the Bellamy and this thing.
This is a great knife for many reasons.
Let's talk about let's talk about.
We'll talk about the obvious second.
The obvious is that it's beautiful to look at and works as well as it looks, but.
The the thing about this knife is that it that's a carbon fiber handle handle.

32:58
That's like an end cut carbon fiber handle.
That's got a great feel that beautiful and hollow ground clip Point blade is M390 blade steel.
We all know that is a premium blade steel and this whole knife is 130 bucks.
It is crazy this thing has so so in in terms of the deal it is a deal.
This is well worth.
That money just on the materials and build alone.
But then you look at the design and it's stunning.

33:30
I mean, I think it's a beautiful knife.
Now I am partial to clip points.
I do love a good clip point and this is a beautifully designed clip point, something I've been liking a lot recently.
You saw this with the.
The Printer 2 is that the fuller.
And then how it intersects with the swedge?
That's just a looks thing.

33:53
I really I really like it, but I really like the fuller because it allows a. I'm just going to use my right hand.
It allows a right a middle finger flick Spidey flick, so to speak.
Very easy with that Fuller.
This one also has.
Other deployment methods.
This has a regular flipper and I love the flipper itself.
It's so low profile.

34:20
But it works great.
And that works great.
The middle finger flick and then it has a front flipper which is to me the one that works least great.
It is fine and as this knife has broken in, it's gotten better.
Can't do it with my left so well, but it's just like it kind of.
Seems like if you're going to have three ways of opening it or more, you're going to have detent issues.
And what I mean by that is you cannot tune.

34:55
The detent to be perfect for all three of those different very different methods of opening and the one that suffered in this case, in my opinion and and I haven't heard this from others, is the front flipper.
Now I think if the front flipper, which is very nicely gimped, which is kind of a a prerequisite for a good front flipper.
But to me if if it.
Extended a little bit further out.
Instead of being rounded right here, if it kind of came out a little bit straighter right here and gave you something to grab onto and then lever back as it is, it kind of forces you to follow that handle around, and it's just doesn't feel as comfortable to me as the other methods of deployment, but
that's just opening and closing, which is by the way, drop shut and super smooth.
No, no play.

35:45
I mean, it goes without saying no play on all of these.
I never mentioned it, but it seems like I haven't had a knife.
Play since the last bench made I got but.
This is just really really, really nice and light.
Let's see how much this thing weighs.
Yeah, right?
2 7/8 ounces so almost 3 ounces.

36:13
That's light, that's light, that's light people, and and the way this thing feels.
I've mentioned this before this end cut.
I think it's called end cut carbon fiber.
Feels a little bit like charcoal, like drawing charcoal without without dust without leaving the powder or dust.
I just I love the way this thing I I just really like this knife all around and I think the handle looks a little bit like the big.
Alright, I'm going to put this down here.
And move on.

36:44
OK, the next one's a bit.
Hard to get.
I don't know if it's even gettable at this point, but I got this from Lavon from Levon from Russia with Levon.
That's a levan of the Knife Nuts podcast that's his import country company, and he's been bringing in these super cool Russian designed and Russian made knives over the past couple of years and this one.
This was last summer.
He had this.
I remember clearly it was a Saturday morning.

37:16
It's that that's the one day of the week I get to sleep in.
And I remember it was a Saturday morning and I was laying in bed and I woke up and I just was like I never do this.
But I was like I better check and see if there's like something I'm missing out on knife wise and I went on to Instagram and there he was.
He had this advertised and I absolutely loved.
I fell in love with that giant Fuller in the blade.
Someone has told me and and now I need to do the research.
Find this again.

37:46
And if you can think of it, please leave it in the comments below.
But someone mentioned once that this is that blade is a modern day interpretation of of some sort of traditional Russian blade type with this big scooped out section here.
Now what that's big scooped out section essentially does, is it?
It removes resistance when you're cutting through materials, because a it's it's got a sort of micro neural or or or blasted texture and and dips way in so the material is not going to be touching that when you're cutting through, it's going to touch this very very thin surface and edge and then
skip that and then come back over this fully flat ground portion.
At the top, so this thing is a an outstanding cutter.
Super Sharp and then jumped in all the right places like the the the milling that comes down the handle in a sort of stripe is micro milled north to South and it really it's like like little areas of gimping that works so great to hold this.

38:58
Slender knife in hand.
I mean this is slender and titanium and could potentially be a nightmare to hold on to, but all of the micro milling jumping around it is just and it's awesome.
The jumping up here on the thumb ramp is a bit ceremonial and doesn't really do the trick, but another great knife with multiple opening options you can, Spidey flick it, thumb, flick it or use the use the old flipper.
Just a great full titanium light knife.
Let's see what this is.
This weighs 3 1/4 ounces.
3 1/4 ounces is the Ivan Bragg Anetz designed.

39:40
Uh.
What the hell is this?
Sorry the crystal Aurora.
I get it mixed up with his other design that I own alright.
Putting that down here.
Plus it's a full size knife.
Not all of these like the next one which is nice and light, but it's not full size and it required and it needs its size to remain light.

40:01
OK NEXT is the Rockwall from our good friends over there at Tactile Knife Company.
This made 100% in Texas.
100% by the Tactile Knife Company.
Except for their stop pins, at least that was the case when this one was made.
This is a prototype or a review sample.
Once the once the prototype was settled on.
They have only gotten better from here, but what I have is a nice and light full titanium, beautifully milled all over a detail oriented.

40:38
Titanium liner lock and a lot of us have been talking about how awesome titanium liner locks are, I mean.
We've all done.
We've all paid our adequate, you know, respect.
We've made our sacrifices to the gods of the of the frame lock, but the titanium.
Liner lock should not be forgotten and I think a lot of companies are starting to make them again because they just not.
Again like they went away, but it's just so nice not to deal with your the pressure you exert on the lock bar when opening a flipper.
With a frame lock, I just I've just been digging these lately, like my Monterey Bay Knives turbo.

41:23
Alright, if you look in here you'll see a milled out pockets this one again to be light is relying on its size though there are a few extra parts.
I think in this knife compared to other knives of course they came from the pen making game to make knives and so.
You know they were approaching it with a less traditional knife making approach.
Alright, love this knife.
Very sharp love that long tip and swedge great.
It fits in the was designed to fit in the footprint of a wrigleys Spearmint 5 strip gum pack.
Maybe some of you don't know what that is, but double your pleasure.

42:10
Double your fun.
So how much does this tactile Rockwall named after Rockwall County, like all of the?
Tactile knives are named after counties.
And it's not Bexar.
It's bare.
I found that out the hard way.
This thing is 2 1/2 ounces, 2 1/2 ounces.

42:27
It's nothing, it's it's very little in terms of weight, but a nice size and packs a punch in terms of cutting.
That's a 3 inch blade.
By the way.
Is that three or three?
And it's about 3 1/4.
OK, Next up a. Kind of an instant classic, now it's being made in in different exclusives and different steels and such, but this is the Demco 8020.5 and I got this last summer.
I got this last August.

43:03
I remember it came in right before my birthday.
This is this was the pocket knife I was carrying on my 50th birthday.
I remember I remember sharpening tiki torch bottoms with this.
I say I remember because that that that day I drank and I hadn't had anything to drink for a long time before that and you know?
Well, I remember much of it, but this knife played heavily in the day because it cut a lot of stuff.
It was new and I was in my honeymoon period with it and still like trying trying like mad to love the shape of that knife and I did.
I did really love how it cut.

43:41
I did do really love how it cuts and how it works.
I just kind of wish it was better looking but you know sheepsfoot have never been my thing so why should I think a sharks foot would be my thing?
But I did buy this one in particular.
John from Demco Knives sent this to me and.
You know, just I don't know.
This was when they were hard to find and so he you know I paid standard for it, but he they were hard to find.
He had both blade shapes to offer so I went for this because it's it's different and I have the 8020 already I had that and that is a clip point so.

44:23
How much is this so this is just grivory on a frame.
Now the frame is lined with steel and the.
You know the the this stuff up here?
Maybe this isn't such a light knife, but it it feels light.
It carries light, let's see.
3 5/8 So yeah, still pretty light in my book.
That's my book.

44:50
But yeah, so 3 5/8 pretty light knife.
What do you think is light like for instance, here's my Mekong Delta Combat folder, which I carried today.
Feels substantially more than all these, even though it's all of that full titanium is very, very.
Thoroughly pocketed out for to make it lighter.
How much does this thing?
Only 6 ounces, 66 total.
Like exactly 6 ounces.

45:22
It feels more.
Maybe it feels less.
I don't know, but to me it's not.
It's nothing carrying this actually, it's nothing carrying this even in a pair of khaki shorts, they have a little bit more structural integrity around the pocket, and this does not so so lateness is relative.
OK, oh, since we're measuring weighing things, let's see what this evo weighs, what the what, the carbon fiber.
Now I'm going to weighing kick four and a quarter.
OK so yeah alright alright, so we're we're in a good we're in good territory here.

45:55
Next up is a full size but but light and small in most directions knife this is the cimmeron by Finch knives talk about this one a lot.
I really like it.
It's understated, but very classy.
I like the way the blade fits completely in the handle.
And it's got that nice sculpted titanium pocket clip, a really beautiful dual color theme going on here and there are four different models of this.
You can get red and black, Kelly green and blue this and then olive drab and safety orange.
And when designing these Steven, Steven and Spencer from Finch knives were thinking about their outdoor gear and some of the really nice color combinations on their.

46:43
Jackets and on their cold weather gear and on their sleeping bags and stuff and that's how they came up with these really nice color combos.
This one like I mentioned is full size because it's one two 3 1/2 inches in blade length.
Very nice blade.
By the way this is a 154 CM like most of their knives steel I love, easy to maintain, stays sharp reasonably long, get takes a razor sharp edge.
Yeah, love this knife.
This is one of those.
This is a large length knife at three and a half inch blade, but it's so slender that this rides in the back pocket very well.

47:23
This rides next to the wallet well or I don't carry this in my back, right?
I carry this sometimes in my back left my bandana pocket basically and it just hangs out over by the by the edge and I can sit and I don't feel it and but it's a great knife and you've got a a a nice capable blade there at the ready Now this knife.
Was designed to be light.
It was designed for backpacking.
That's what Stephen and Spencer of the Finch Knife Company loved to do, fishing, outdoorsy stuff and so this was this was designed specifically for backpacking.
Let's see what it weighs in at.
Three right on the money three.

48:04
So this is exactly half the weight of this.
Huh, alright so 3 ounces that's not bad for a 3 1/2 inch you know you hear ratios I've heard.
An ounce per inch of blade length is a good thing to go by.
Maybe depends on the on the knife type, but that those are.
Those are stipulations that people put.
I think that may have been Nick Shabazz.
Put that on there that he noticed that if it's an ounce per blade, per inch of blade, it's going to be a nicely weighted knife.

48:42
I don't know.
OK Next up this one.
I've been really digging.
I got this as soon as I saw it.
Something about the design just spoke to me and I've wanted to check out a send cut knife for a while, so this is the Bronte you saw when I got this.
I was showing it off a little bit I I just love.
The look of this thing I love the totally neutral.

49:05
Handle you gotta.
Apparently you gotta line on top.
You gotta another line on the bottom that's parallel and that's your handle.
And then you have a blade that's sort of.
Continues the top line from the spine of the handle.
Into the spine of the blade, and then you get that beautiful downward cutting angle and that very acute and pointy tip that nestles in there nice and light.
This one was one that actually I had to break in considerably.

49:34
This was stiff as a board when I got it from Sun cut.
Now it's starting to you know now I can shake it in.
It doesn't just drop on its own but.
You know, if that's from some knives, that's something we've come to expect.
Maybe even has become a hallmark of quality, like if it's not there, there's something wrong with the knife and then initially that's kind of the attitude I took.
Like I'm, I'm used to the immediate, you know, high performance and when this one didn't have it and it took a minute to break in, I thought I bought a lemon and it's too cheap for me to return.
I'll just live with it, so I just kept the you know, opening and closing it and and this blade, though it's like very heavily stonewashed.

50:18
It almost feels a little blasted.
But it's not the smoothest surface, so I I imagine the ball bearings are are creating a race around the pivot on the blade and it will be ever smoother.
You know, it will just keep getting smoother.
This is another knife that makes great use of a fuller.
I love a fuller on a folding knife now.
So great way to open that knife.
Also it's got the front flipper.

50:43
This front flipper works great.
It feels really intuitive and natural to me and I can do it with that, you know.
Hiding your knife on.
I don't have a knife.
And then there you go.
It's just kind of shoots out.
You use your forefinger.

50:58
The one thing I almost did here that I have done on my hand when I've done that.
That technique that opening it up with your with your.
Forefinger pretending you don't have a knife in your hand is that sometimes it backfires and I actually stab myself in the palm, and this one I have done that with.
It is a very acute.
It's a. It's a flat ground knife, but it's very thin and very thin behind the edge.
And then it's got this extremely.
Acute tip, so it's it easily penetrates the fatty flesh of my palm if I. If I make a mistake.

51:35
Alright, uh, penultimate knife in this is is one of the classiest.
This is made by hand by gentleman who's been on this show and well, he goes by the name of American Blade Works.
I love this knife.
This is the Model 1 and this is the mark five he he went all the way up to six sort of iterations and reiterations of this design.
And then.
And this was the 2nd to last.
So now he's been.

52:06
He's been making the version six for over a year.
I had a chance to see them last year at Blade Show when version six first became a thing and and then this year the titanium frame lock version six is man.
Beautiful work.
Michael Miller of of American Blade Works.
He does great great stuff and I just love his spirit of constant improvement.
That's why he went through 6 iterations of this design.
To arrive at the at the 6th.

52:37
Now I had a chance to sample #3. I have #5 I had like #2 and #4. I don't know I I got a chance.
He sent me a number of them.
One of them was an aluminum.
They were all awesome in different ways but I see where he was going with the improvements and mine is one that I've rebonded with recently and have been carrying quite a bit and and quite a bit for me.
You know I have such a rotation.
Knives if I pull something out of obscurity.
Michael Martin.

53:09
I'm sorry.
I called him Michael Miller.
It's Michael Martin of American Blade works.
So with.
With this knife, it it it took me a minute.
Like I said to to fall back in love with it.
I when I first got it I loved it and then it went by the wayside because I had so many other knives coming through and I thought, oh, this action should be smoother and I'm going to break it in and I never did.

53:34
And then now that's what I've been doing and it's gotten to such a point like I was talking to to Michael at Blade this year and he was like, yeah, they they used to have to break in and and he seems to have solved.
Uh, the break in problem and and I told him I don't mind breaking in knives.
I actually don't I I sort of inured myself to it with the Emersons.
They all have required a break in and they all require you to whether this sort of adolescence.
And then they all blossom into beautiful knives.
Hopefully that's how it works with kids.
I don't know.

54:11
I'm still working on mine but.
He said he wanted that.
Michael said that he wanted to.
Get rid of that break in period with this and I think he's achieved that on the version 6. Alright, the scale has turned off.
Let's turn that sucker back on and let's see what this weighs.
I have a feeling this one is more of a perceived lightweight, but let's see.
Nope, 3 1/2 ounces man this guy this guy killed it with this knife.

54:45
You should check out American Blade works.
Again here, there's his logo again, the branding just on the on the what do you call it?
The pivot and I love that.
I think that's a really cool move.
Yeah, check out American Blade works.
Check out the the Model 1 version six that he has for sale.
Now it's a more expensive when you get the full titanium obviously, but he's got a G10 and my Carta that'll knock your socks off and they're reasonably priced for knives that are made in this guy's garage.

55:15
He's not, he's not.
He didn't come up with the design and and have anyone else he's been building these things at his home and they're awesome and he's had the responsiveness to change the design to what people want and require.
That a large company just hasn't you know.
Is not able to accommodate alright the last one, hopefully.
You haven't guessed it, but it's an easy one to guess and I know there are other knives, but it is the bug out the Benchmade bug out and you heard me crack wise about bench made before.
I have mixed feelings about Benchmade.
They mostly just bore me and that sounds very.

55:55
I don't know snobby or whatever it is, but they're they just, but they have individual designs that I just think are awesome and I forget about them when I'm talking about Benchmade in general, but.
This knife has always been just an amazing knife.
I got the original one with the blue and with the blue handle and this is the S30V.
I think they might be doing 20 CV now.
As 30 VI got rid of the blue handle in.
Deference to this.
Who did this?

56:28
This is a canvas micarta handle skill set that I got.
Ohh, Alan Putnam.
These are Alan Putnam scales.
I got them through.
Blade HQ back when when this when the bug out was blue and it was very hard to get any other alternative.
You know that that whole cottage market around making skills for this knife had not popped up yet and this is some of the early earliest stuff I could get.
This has been perfect and then I put one of the snaggletooth MF's on this.

57:03
Because for a while this was my inside the winter coat pocket and I wanted it to be able to deploy if I needed to whip it out for whatever reason and I've just left it on there.
I like it.
This thing is so super light like the simeron it was developed for backpacking and it's got that name bug out.
And really, when you're backpacking, like I said before, you need to watch every ounce.
All that stuff adds up, you know.
And if I were a backpacking, you'd be like.
Well, I'm taking 12 knives, so we'll have to sacrifice water.

57:39
What do I might get?
There'll be water when I get there.
Look, there's streams like I'm not going to carry all that weight, but I better bring these 12 knives.
Any case they they design this knife for people who are counting their oz and man.
They did an awesome job.
No understand these are not the original FRN scales that were very cheap and light feeling and I have added on.
That snaggle tooth MF so this won't be the exact weight of what this knife was when I first got it, but this knife now has so many iterations I can't imagine that they all share the same weight because a lot of them have different milling and titanium and this and that all right?

58:17
So let's wave this wave.
This semi standard bug out.
Look at that.
Can you see that one and three quarter ounces?
One and three quarter Oz.
This is still why this knife, even though.
I have a lot of other knives that are a lot cooler with a lot better blade, steel and action in this and that and that and that.

58:41
That's why this knife still gets man.
It gets a lot of use this time of year.
It's just thrown in the pocket and taken.
Oftentimes the back pocket because I'll use this as a secondary.
That's another reason why I have that snaggle tooth MF.
Alright, let's take a look at what I got here.
I got the TRM, Adam got the CJR B. Scoria the Bellamy by Bosted I've got the.

59:04
The Aurora, the Rockwall, the 8020.5 I got the simeron from Finch Knife Company the send cut Bronte, the American Blade Works Model 1 version five and of course the Benchmade bug out this list would be incomplete without that.
Thank you guys.
Thank you so much for tuning in and checking out my summer weight folding favorites.
We'll see if I get any others this this summer, but until until that happens this is the list.
Be sure to check in with us on Sunday for a great interview show.
And of course tomorrow night.
Thursday Night Knives live right here on YouTube, Facebook and switch Twitch.

59:44
And then of course you can also download and listen to us right here on all these podcast apps.
All right for Jim working his magic behind the Switcher.
I'm Bob DeMarco, saying until next time.
Don't take dull for an answer.
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01:00:07
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