Only One!

 I inadvertently rubbed that strange brass lamp, and the Genie promised me only one wish, not three.  I guess inflation gets everyone.  But there is a catch; magic has a price.  "The price," the Genie solemnly announced, "is you can only have one automatic knife for the rest of your life."

I can work with that.  Here's my choices.

A.O.S.  by Les Adams

Les Adams makes an A.O.S.(Always-On-Safety) automatic knife.  He makes the carbon fiber handles himself, and since the knives are actually made for LEO and military use, each one has a unique serial number.  It's a well-made knife with a 154CM stainless steel blade with 59-60 Rockwell hardness, C scale.  He claims the stainless coil spring has twice the spring force of any auto knife.  I believe it.  The knife opens with a jump, and the blade locks open with a resounding 'clack.'  But you must pull the safety back and hold it in the unlock position while pressing the opening stud.  Same for closing.  It's cumbersome.

Benchmade Mini-Reflex

The Benchmade Mini-Reflex has a lot going for itself.  The one I have is a pre-production model from 1998.  It hasn't changed much since then.  The small 3.25-inch flat grind blade is held in an aluminum handle.  I was told this one is epoxy-coated, which is something Benchmade stopped very early in production.  The knife has a safety on the spine and a recessed area for the release button.  The button does extend above the handle.  The spring in mine isn't as strong as the A.O.S..  If the blade is stopped after an arc of 90 degrees, the spring doesn't have enough stored energy to open and lock.  A flip of the wrist solves that.

Puma Medici Switchblade

I also have a classic Italian stiletto switchblade made for the German market in the 1970s-1980s.  Made by Puma Medici, it has some interesting features.  The blade features a classic stiletto shape with a single factory-sharpened edge.  It has a nail nick, which may reflect an expectation of a weak spring in the future.  Or perhaps it simply means these blades were available from another project and used.  The blade is stamped rostfrei and is most likely 440C steel.  The spring is a double, side-by-side leaf spring and doesn't appear to be easy to replace.  I typically store this knife open to prevent spring fatigue.

Pro-Tech SBR

My Pro-Tech is more of an art knife than a user.  It's their SBR pattern with a "…unique micarta top, variety of colors, blade treatments, and inlay buttons." SBR stands for Short Bladed Rockeye, and the designer is Les George.  The release button is inlaid with mother-of-pearl.  There's no safety, but the button sits in an indent, so the top of the button is flush with the handle. 

Microtech's 2021 Blade Show knife

I have a Microtech from the 2021 Blade Show.  It's an OTF with a double-edged dagger blade.  The 3.3-inch blade is ground from M390.  M390 is another great stainless steel, enriched with chromium, vanadium, and a touch of tungsten.  Double-edge knives have the advantage of having two edges that can be sharpened.  That is also a significant drawback in a working knife.  You can't use your other hand to apply additional pressure to the back of the knife.  At least not more than once.  The other flaw is OTFs are famous for pulling stuff back into the mechanism, creating problems.  It's not hard to disassemble the knife, clean it, and carefully lubricate it before reassembling.  The lubrication tends to hold on to the crud the blade pulls in.  Again, not a major problem, except that you need a small, special socket with a triangular opening to disassemble this Microtech.

Spyderco's Autonomy 2

Last on my list of possibilities is Spyderco's Autonomy 2.  It's an auto knife made at the request of the US Navy for their rescue swimmers.  Its wide, leaf-shaped blade is made from LC200N.  This is an extremely rust-resistant steel.  It has good toughness and edge retention.  The release button is a large ring for gloved users.  The safety is just beneath the release and has well-defined edges to grab gloves.  I like the arrangement of safety and release.  My thumb can operate the safety and release without having to change my grip.  It's a nice knife, and at one time, only the overruns to military contracts were available to the public.  Sal has well-defined ideas about how and who should use his knives.

So, which knife did I tell the Genie to bind me to?

Behind the metal cap is Autonomy's spring.  Easy to get to.  Easy to oil. Easy to clean.

The Spyderco Autonomy 2, of course.  It's a well-made knife, and more importantly, if you turn it over, you'll find a metal cap with four holes in it.  Under that cap is the knife's coil spring.  Water drains from that spring cavity; you can oil the spring from there, and you simply unscrew the cap to replace the spring if needed.

 

Now, if the Genie's binding was different, that I could only have one knife, I'd…

However, that's a story for another day.

Plethiros by Civivi

I just got my hands on a Civivi Plethiros.  It is a very cool folding knife that has been discontinued, but I was lucky enough to find one.

Civivi Plethiros

Perhaps you have never heard of Civivi.  Let's unpack that now.

Civivi is a division of WE Knife company.  WE Knife was founded by a middle school English teacher who had a passion for knives.  Joe Cheung founded WE Knife Co., Ltd. in 2000 as an OEM manufacturer.  The company quickly became one of the largest Chinese manufacturers of quality knives and tools.  The key word is quality.  WE Knife earned a reputation for always delivering innovative designs made with consistently high quality.  They have grown to be the largest Chinese manufacturer of high-end cutlery.

By 2018, WE saw the knife market expand.  The need for a line of functional, utilitarian, EDC product lines at affordable prices became obvious.  This brought about the formation of CIVIVI Knife.

Civivi contracts knife designers from around the world and produces some amazing knives.  The name Civivi is a combination of the Chinese characters for happiness and joy. 

I've been a fan of these companies since I first saw them at the Blade Show.  They were new, bright, and not afraid to step out into the market with new designs, colors, and materials at affordable prices.

Now back to my Plethiros….

The first thing I noticed was the shape.  I don't think there is a right angle in the entire knife.  The Plethiros was designed by Elijah Isham.  "I always try," Elijah said, "to focus on geometric ratios, proportion, and how raw shape will relate to itself within a design.  I like to utilize hyperbolic and elliptical non-Euclidean geometry most of the time."

Civivi Plethiros  I like the clean lines the deep inset finger guard behind the blade

Unfortunately, Elijah was shot by police officers on I-75 south of Dayton, Ohio, in May 2022.  It seems that he was involved in a car accident and flipped his car.  He made the tactical mistake of pointing a handgun at responding officers.

Moraine Police Chief Craig Richardson testified, "Officers attempted to engage the suspect for approximately 5 minutes.  They gave him, we counted 41 commands over that 5 minutes to put the gun down, which he ignored.”

At some point, Elijah cocked the gun and was shot nine times.

Elijah Isham's maker mark

I'm sorry to find this out on several levels.  I know it will continue to haunt the police officers, I'm sure there are people who loved and miss Elijah, and the world lost an interesting knife designer.  As it's been pointed out, nobody wins a gunfight.

Let me transition back to the knife.

The aggressive blade  and flat grind makes for easy use

The handle is composed of green G-10 with an encapsulated carbon fiber overlay.  The handle sits on two stainless steel, full-length liners.  One side is utilized as a liner lock.  The blade, 4.45 inches of D2 steel, is a true full flat grind with Rockwell hardness of 59-61.  I think that is a sweet spot for D2 steel.  It holds an edge well but isn't brittle.  I can resharpen it easily with my Spyderco Sharpmaker.

For me, the real knife test is how it handles everyday things

The blade rides on caged ceramic ball bearings.  These ball bearings run smoothly with little to no oil, and they are resistant to damage with regular use.  The blade, D2, is almost a stainless steel, just shy by a percent of chromium from what many people consider an arbitrary cutoff.  The real question about stainless steels is how much chromium is bound to carbides and how much is available to form a passive, transparent film of chromium oxide.  This film protects the steel from rust.  D2 contains a smidge of both molybdenum and vanadium.  Both form amazing carbides, leaving more chromium available for rust resistance.

My chief performance test is making firsticks and shavings to build a fire.  I work over my hat to catch all the shavings.  The Plethiros worked fine.

The Plethiros' blade measures 4.45 inches in length and 0.12 inch in thickness.  The high grind gives it tremendous cutting power.  Many people want the closed blade to sit symmetrically between the sides of the knife handle.  They see that as a sign of quality.  I was at one knife designer's shop where the staff hand-fitted the washers to get the blade symmetric.  That's a low priority for me, especially in an everyday carry knife.

The blade sits very even between the handles

The knife has what might appear to be a thumb hole, but it is actually more of a decorative feature.  The Plethiros can be opened like any ordinary folder: grab the blade and pull it away from the handle.  That's the polite, public way of opening any knife.  

The position of the flipping stud lets the knife sit nicely in your pocket since it is in line with the long axis of the knife.  

A small protruding finger of steel extends out from the handle's spine.  It is gimped for friction, and your index finger can catch it and propel the blade open.

The handle is shaped so your hand does not slide forward onto the blade.  The opening flipper is entirely contained by the handle.  That’s a nice touch.  It gives the knife a finished look.

Lastly, the black skeletonized clip can be moved for either right or left side carry, but regardless of the side, the knife is orientated tip up.  That's my preferred method of carry.

When open the opening flipper is completely hid by the handle. 

The name?  Did you think I wasn't going to tell you about it?  Well, in the absence of a ouija board, the best I can find is that plethiros is Welsh for flourish.  I think that's an excellent name for this knife.

 

 

 

Spyderco - Part four

How are products driven to success?  What makes products evolve?

Remember Big Auto?  Think back to the day when everyone hated those cheap Japanese automobiles.  Detroit told the American public, “Don't worry about those small clever Japanese cars.  We're Big Auto, and we know what you want.”

That wasn’t the case.  Detroit was wrong.  More than one classic American auto company has disappeared since the 60’s.

The environment changed, and some knife companies didn't.  All that's left of them is their name, now owned by someone else.  Spyderco and others have managed to evolve and help change the knife environment.

Let's visit the Native.

C41PBK5 – Native 5

Native 5 

The Native has evolved over the years, reaching its current state of the art in 2012 with the release of the Native 5.  Spyderco makes the current Native 5 in Golden, Colorado.  It features a spear point blade made from a variety of high-end steels like  Cru-Wear, CPM S30V, S110V, as well as Spyderco's proprietary steel, SPY27.  Spyderco describes the 3-inch blade as a full-flat grind, distal taper, with a textured index-finger choil and thumb ramp.  The Boye Dent is gone.  My walk through Spyderco catalogs indicates the Dent disappeared in 2014.  So is the deep false edge that characterized the original Native.  My Native 5 has a very shallow false edge which ends slightly before the blade's point, putting a little more metal behind the point.

Native 5 with hour glass clip

The opening hole is 13 mm wide and slightly closer to the knife's spine than my older 2002 native.  That makes it a little easier to open.

FRN Native 5 lightweight features Spyderco’s bi-directional handle pattern and has four positions with threaded stainless steel inserts, allowing you to move the clip where you want it.

Native Classic and Native 5.  I like the classic form!

As much as I like the Native 5, it is missing that original, iconic blade.  Fortunately, that Native is still available.

 

C217GP – Caribbean

This is a colorful addition to Spyderco's growing Salt Series.  The Caribbean is unique in several ways.  It's a full-flat-ground, leaf-shaped blade machined from LC200N.  Let's talk chemistry.

Caribbean  with LC200N steel

First, the formulation:

0.3%  Carbon, 15% Chromium,  1% Manganese,  0.95% Molybdenum,  0.5% Nickel, and 0.5% Nitrogen.

The first thing I noticed in the formulation is the relatively low carbon content.  In my limited experience, carbon in steel does two things, it forms iron carbides and chromium carbides (if present) to increase the strength of the steel.  The second thing it does is determine the cooled steel's final stage: ferrite, austenite, or martensite.

Caribbean with top compression lock

However, nitrogen could function as a substitute for carbon in forming hard martensite.  Nitrogen doesn't form chromium nitride to the same degree as chromium, so more chromium is available for corrosion resistance.

The problem is nitrogen gas isn’t very soluble in molten steel.  This problem was eventually solved using high, very high-pressure crucibles.  The original steel, called Cronidur 30, was developed for ball bearings.

The high salt /corrosion resistance sounds great for a saltwater environment.  While nothing is perfect, LC200N has a great many of the qualities we look for in steel.

The leaf-shaped blade is housed in a bright yellow and black handle, which reminds me of a hornet.  The G-10 handle is reinforced with steel liners and carefully machined to create alternating bands of black and yellow radiating out from a center black oval.  The yellow bands are caused by a wide groove cut through the alternation layers of the G-10.  They are wide enough to provide a friction surface.  A little jimping behind the ‘hump ‘formed by the Spyderco hole also adds to the friction surfaces needed to control the knife.

Caribbean tang stamp

The Caribbean has a top compression lock, which I like.  Unfortunately, the clip is only left-right reversible.  The clip is Spyderco’s hourglass shape in titanium.  They describe it as black.  I see it as gray.

I don't know when I bought it.  The box doesn’t have the date on it as some do, and I neglected to record the date myself. 

It's an interesting knife.  The friction surfaces work nicely with pull or push, but my thumb tends to slide sideways, following the circular path.

Personally, I like the bright colors, a pleasant departure from black, but my experience tells me tactical black sells.

It’s still in production.  If you want one, they’re available.

 

C64JPBK – Meerkat

The Meerkat was introduced in 2001 and had what Spyderco called the Phantom Lock.  Many of us called it "Bet you a beer you can't close this knife."  Word of advice.  Make sure you spring for a beer after you win a couple.  The Internet claims that the Meerkat is a direct descendant of the C61 Pegasus/C62 Navigator.  These claims always bother me as they suggest companies don't have enough creativity to develop something new and not, ‘let’s make one like this, but different.”

Meerkat

The Meerkat was made from 2001 to 2003 and released as limited sprint runs.  Mine is from 2002 and has the AUS6 drop point blade.  The reverse  'S' blade is, in my opinion, icey cool and much more desirable to a collector or user.  The reverse blade gives you more cutting power, an essential feature in a small, sub-2-inch blade. 

Because of the opening mechanism, the Meerkat clip could only be located over the blade pivot.  It can be changed to right or left carry.  This positions the knife tip down in your pocket.  Perhaps not the optimal carry position, but the knife has limited tactical applications.

Meerkat secret exposed

For many, the Phantom Lock made the Meerkat so interesting.

To unlock: The right bolster can be pushed sideways using the depression in the butt end of the knife.  The Meerkat operation is well explained with both the product insert that comes with the knife and the Internet.  I’m not rehashing it here.

 

C119 – Citadel

Sal has always felt that Spyderco knives should be used for good, not evil purposes.  It sounds old-fashioned, but over the years of visiting their booths at both the SHOT Show and Blade, it is clear that Spyderco prefers its knives to be used for good. 

Citadel  

Having said that, Spyderco is a patriotic company, and when the government asked for an automatic knife, Spyderco stepped up.  The Citadel is one such knife.  It was made originally for the military and law enforcement.  When it first came out, not even Spyderco insiders could get one for themselves.

The Citadel has a basic black clip  USA can be seen on back side of tang

There’s not a lot of information on the Citadel.  The Citadel was made from 2008 to 2011.  Spyderco described it as a right-hand automatic blade-opening mechanism, assembled with screws.  The knife was made in two sizes, 92- and 83-mm length blades.  I have the 83mm blade.  Both blades were made from CPM S30V steel.  The blade has jimping behind the trademark Spyderco hole and a slight swedge grind to lighten the blade. 

The clip gives it a relatively deep pocket carry in the tip-up mode.  It's only left-right reversible.  The auto comes with a safety next to the opening button.  I prefer this arrangement; your thumb pulls back to undo the safety and then moves forward to open the knife.  While the Spyderco logo is present, the tang stamp on the left side simply reads USA.

the Citadel comes with warning papers

The interesting thing, and many other companies still follow this practice, if you send your Citadel back to Spyderco for any reason, unless there is a note on a department letterhead, Spyderco isn’t sending it back, nor can you pick it up at the factory in Golden, Co. 

While states are changing their laws to legalize automatic or switchblade knives, Spyderco has taken a hard line on them.  There is a story behind this.  Joyce Laituri told it to me.  As I remember it, there was a time when Spyderco needed to import one small screw for a balisong-type knife.  These knives could only be sold in the USA, provided they were made in the USA.  But the screw was made only overseas.  Everyone up and down the Justice Department said, sure, it’s just one screw, no problem.  That was everyone but one customs inspector who seized the shipment, including other legal but foreign-made knives.  The situation degraded, it took a lot of money, and finally, the Governor and others had to step in before things cooled off.  Company officials could have gone to jail.  Talk about a screw.  Considering the ramifications, I understand why Spyderco toes the line by several inches on the conservative side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Spydercos - Part Three

 

My Spyderco collection started years ago, driven by the need for my activities.  I have always been interested in surviving with a knife, but survival has many definitions, including self-defense.  You must ask yourself, which came first, the blade or the trainer?

C10SBK - Endura

Endura - No Boye Dent

The first Endura was released in 1990 with a thin molded plastic clip.  This went through a variety of changes that culminated with a switchable metal clip in 1998.  This was a milestone.  A bent clip could be removed and straightened or replaced.  The barrel screw holding the clip could be tightened or removed with a coin and it had a lanyard hole in the middle of clip.  I always preferred a dime as the right thickness and curvature.

The plastic clip had a following.  They didn't mar object if you brushed into them. 

Eventually, threaded metal inserts were molded into Enduras and many other lines so the clip could be moved to tip up or down and right or left.  I honestly don't know who was the first to incorporate this design, but in my opinion, it is a major milestone for knife users and a goal for many of the newer knives introduced in the last ten years.

Initially, the Enduras were snapped up by law enforcement and military.  What was not to like?  The GIN-1 blade was 3.75 inches in length.  The open length was 8.5 inches, and the Endura weighed 2.75 ounces. 

I got a plastic clip Endura in 1998 with a full serration.  It maybe one of the last ones made with the plastic clip. I had come to the decision that if I’m going to carry two knives, one should be a full serration.  The cutting power and jagged wound path were the best options for self-defense.

But any examination of knife evolution at Spyderco shows nothing is ever perfect.  Steels evolved, and Spyderco tried different colored handles only to discover tactical black was the winner.  Later, it was supposed that by using some funky inverted, sideways grip, the user could, maybe, unlock the blade and injure themselves.  The solution came in 2002 when the David Boye Dent was placed in the lock bar.  This reduces the chances of accidentally unlocking the knife during use.  Most Spyderco with a spine lock still have the Boye Dent, there are a few exceptions. 

C10TR - The Endura Trainer

Here a Endura trainer, complete with Boye Dent and reversible metal clip

The same year the Dent was introduced, Spyderco released a red handle trainer with an AUS-6 blade.  The blade edge is squared off and ground to give the weight of an actual knife.  The Endura and Delica trainers continues to be available in the 2025 Catalog.   I would suggest, if you are thinking self-defence, a trainer might not be out of line, especially the Endura.  At worse you can use it to spread peanut butter.

So, the answer to the question I asked at the beginning is the live edge comes first, followed by the trainer.

The blade was deeply ground out so the edge would remain thick to minimize injury 

I bought one for the firearms class I was running and for training purposes.  But Spyderco insiders tell me most of their sales went to dealers who used them to show customers how to thumb open a Spyderco without cutting themselves.

C11FPK390 Delica in K390

Spyderco loves steel.  They are very much like smaller shops and can pivot nimbly around changes in the steel environment.  K390 is one of these steels.

Delica in K390 steel.  By now you could move the clip to four positions on the knife.  Note Boye Dent

K390 steel is produced by the Böhler Uddeholm steel company.  This steel is the result of powdered metallurgy, which results in excellent grain size and uniform composition distribution.  The carbides in the K390 mix are fine and uniformly sized and distributed evenly throughout the matrix.  This is an important property of high-performance steels. 

IMO Knife pictures with out a headstamp loss value.  Yeah- I'm talking to you Italian Switchblade posters!

Making steel is somewhat like cooking.  You can’t just add the elements to a furnace and expect a great outcome, especially with all these elements:

Carbon 2.47%,  Chromium 4.2%,  Cobalt 2%,  Manganese 0.4%, Molybdenum 3.8%,  Tungsten 1%, and a kiss of silicon.  The rest is iron.

I suspect most, if not all, the Chromium is tied up with carbon-forming carbides, so this steel isn't stainless.  In fact, Spyderco includes a card warning you not to cut citrus fruit and to protect the blade from moisture and acid skin oils.

K390 has excellent wear resistance and high compressive strength but is difficult to grind, finish, and sharpen.  Once it is sharp, it will stay sharp for a long, long time.

My Delica has a flat grind, which I wasn’t sure about.  Was it just another gimmick?  I’m wrong.  Today’s flat grinds have proven to make cutting much easier than a saber or hollow grind.  I love the blue handle and have been told it's reserved for K390 steel. 

C41PBK – Native

I like the deep false edge and how the thumb hole is submersed in the blade  Note Boye Dent. 

The Native has always been an interesting knife.  First is the unique shaped blade. 

The Native has a broad blade completely incorporating the Spyderco open hole, with no bump as in the Delica or Endura.  It's a drop point a with a deep ground false edge.  The blade has always reminded me of an arrowhead.  I don't why, it just does.  Spyderco designed it with two choils.  The first choil is located where the blade and handle meet.  This allows you to choke up on the blade for more control but puts you closer to the cutting edge.  The second positions the hand farther back on the folder, farther away from the business edge of the knife.

The clip and barrel screw from this Native  Word of advice: Loctite.

My Native is from 2002 and has a Boye Dent and the metal clip with a barrel nut.  It doesn't have the volcano grip but has a set of lines and curves radiating outward, like a spider web from a central logo. 

The steel is 440V, aka: CPMS60V.  The tang stamp on one side says Spyderco 440V.  But the back side is the cool tang stamp.  It reads Golden Colorado USA Earth.  Yeah, that’s way cool.

The cool tang stamp.  Allen abduction?  With this knife they know where to return you.

The Native has undergone many iterations in size, steel, and handle material.  It remains another of Spyderco’s top ten best sellers because it was a great design and has kept the features that made it so interesting.  You can find a nice, if not slightly outdated, discussion of the Native's history in Knife Magazine, Jun 2017.

The biggest problem IMO:  The 12 mm hole is partially obscured when closed.

I have a later Native to show you, but that’s for later.

 

 

Vosteed Corgi

 

Last year at the Blade Show, I noticed the Corgi Trek at Vosteed Knife.  I was struck by the size, shape, and interesting opening mechanism. 

Vosteed Corgi

First, a little about Vosteed Knife.  Vosteed was started in 2021 by Johnny and Yue Dong.  The plant is located in China.  They work with several international designers like Geoff Blauvelt and Ray Laconico, to name a few.  The mission statement declares, “Honesty is a core business value.”  I have always found the best knife companies have simple, understandable statements about fundamental values.

Yue Dong is the in-house designer responsible for the Teck Lock on Corgi knives. 

I like Vosteed Knife.  I spent more than a bit of money at their booth at 2024 Blade. 

This Corgi has a sheepsfoot blade with a high shoulder grind and reverse tanto point.  The complex angles where the tanto meets the spine give the blade an eye-candy look. 

The sub-three-inch blade is made from 14C28N steel hardened to a RHc of 60.  This steel has been a favorite compared to S30V, VG-10, and AEB-L, all quality knife steels.  Let's briefly look at the chemistry.  14C28N steel can vary depending on the manufacturer, but it generally contains:

14% Chromium: Provides corrosion resistance and hardness,

0.6% Carbon: Increases hardness and wear resistance,

0.3% Nitrogen: Improves hardness and corrosion resistance,

0.3% Manganese: Improves hardenability and wear resistance,

and trace amounts of Silicon, Phosphorus, and Sulfur.  The last three improve machinability.

14C28N steel has excellent edge retention and improved hardness due to the nitrogen content.  More than one reviewer thinks it's a great choice for tasks that require a sharp edge, like cutting and slicing.

The levels of chromium provide good resistance to rust resistance and other forms of corrosion.  I have a knife that I accidentally ‘patinaed’ by slicing lemons.  Don’t laugh, it could happen to you.

the reversible clip

The blade is housed in a reinforced frame with a blue-gray micarta handle.  The knife comes with a deep carry clip for right-side, tip-up carry.  The clip is reversible.  You can't help but notice the depression that takes the clips has a metal plug filling it.  It gives the knife a look of completeness.  It's something you don't see on many higher-end knives.

Opening flippers

The knife opener is called “front and back flippers."  The flippers have a bit of gimping for friction, and you open the knife by pressing down on the ear.  The blade glides open on caged ceramic ball bearings.  This is high-tech stuff.

A little pressure on the opening tab and the Corgi flies open

Ceramic ball bearings have high hardness and elastic modulus.  No, that's not techno-babble; it means the bearings resist deformation under load and have increased wear and corrosion resistance.  They can run lubricant-free.  If you must rinse the knife out and can't re-oil it, the bearings have your back.  

There is a downside.  Ceramic bearings are sensitive to thermal shock and have lower load capacities.  These aren't really problems for knives.

Time for a true confession.  I don't sell knives from my blog, and I don't own this Corgi.  I know it feels good in my hand, but I’m not about to use someone else's knife in cutting tests.  On the Vosteed website, I noticed that their current stock was low.  What will the proposed trade tariffs affect?    I don't know.

If you're looking for one, I'd act sooner than later.