Doctor, Doctor!

 

What knife do you carry during the Covid-19 pandemic?

There are a lot of options to choose from.  I’m going with Steel Will’s Plague Doctor!

The Plague Doctor is a tactical level knife from Steel Will

Steel Will offers three levels of pocket knives.  First is their EDC.  Up a notch is their Outdoor line followed by their Tactical line.  I don’t know the difference.  I’m cynical enough to know “Tactical” products are usually black and cost more.

The Plague Doctor is a product of the fertile mind of the mysterious designer Vaeringi.  At least he is mysterious to me.  I was unable to find a first name or any kind of bio. 

The knife is a frame lock, with G-10 scales available in OD green and black.  I went with green G-10.

Who says photos don't lie?  The lighting conditions produced a black blade and not the silver satin steel blade it should be.

The blade is made from D2 steel, a high carbon, high chromium die steel and is the highest carbon alloy tool and die steel in production.  The steel contains 1.5% carbon, 12% chromium, 0.75% molybdenum and 0.9% vanadium and a smattering of other elements.  It is the chromium and vanadium that is of interest.  Both form hard, tiny carbides that pin the grain boundaries, and provide strength and edge retention.  The chromium forms a thin, tough transparent metal oxide that protects the steel from rust.  D2 is right on the edge of being stainless, so it benefits from an occasional wipe with oil.  D2 was popularized by Jimmy Lile and later by Bob Dozier.

The knife blade sports a flipper that rotates to form a deep guard for the index finger.  The top of the blade has a riser with jimping providing a friction surface for your thumb.  A depression in the handle feeds your thumb into the jimping. 

There is no opening stud on the blade.  This knife was designed to open with the flipper.  Not enough of the closed blade is exposed to grasp it and open the knife slowly and politely.  Politeness be damned, it’s a fighting knife.

The clip is reversible, but not interchangeable.  Steel Will gives you a second Clip.  All you need is a T-6 torx and a drop of loctite.

I went with the OD green because it wasn’t black.  There is a fine texture on the G-10 to help with grip but not so much you’ll sand the inside of your pocket.  Steel liners support the scales and one side forms the liner lock.  The lock takes a pretty solid bite out of the back of the blade.  The blade pivots on what appear to be bronze washers.  I’d put tiny drop oil on them too.

Let’s summarize the knife specs:

• Blade Length: 3.43" with a cutting edge that’s 3.54"
• Closed Length: 4.96"
• Overall Length: 8.31"
• Blade Material: D2 Tool Steel
• Blade Thickness: 0.14"
• Blade Style: Drop Point flat grind
• Handle Material: OD Green G10
• Handle Thickness: 0.51"
• Weight: 5.4 oz.

The liner lock engages its full thickness on the back of the blade.  The steel liners make this a solid knife!

You can get you own Steel Will Plague Doctor for just under $80.00 at

https://steelwillknives.com/our-knives/tactical-series/plague-doctor-f16m-02.html

It’s a lot of knife for a reasonable price.

Steel Will is a division of Sports Manufacturing Group (SMG), an American company located in Huntington Valley, PA.  The knife was manufactured in China and despite my feelings about China due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is a quality knife.  I would have no trouble carrying this to a knife club meeting or taking it off the pavement.