Lost Bean

 

I recently picked up an interesting knife, a Serge Panchenko Skull Bean.

Serge Panchenko Skull Bean

I didn't know it at the time; I literally picked it up from the floor near an escalator in a mall.  Nobody was around to ask if it was their knife, so it came home with me.

The blade was labeled 'Midtech Nitro-V,' but stamped on the frame was a stylized S P in a circle.  Being made with nitro-V was my first tip that this was a good knife.

Nitro-V stainless was first introduced in 2017 and sold by New Jersey Steel Baron.  It could be one of the first steels explicitly made for the knife industry.  It is known for its edge retention, high hardness, and corrosion resistance (especially in salt environments).  It can withstand impacts and stresses without chipping, a property always valuable for knife steel.

Another question was, what is the handle material?  Once upon a time, I could run detailed chemical analysis.  But now I just knew it wasn't magnetic.  It didn't look like aluminum, so I suspected titanium.

But who made the knife? 

I tried Google searching and looked through lists of maker's marks, but nothing clicked.  I tried a Google image search, which returned as 'looks like a stamp.'  Yeah, that was helpful.

The stamp looks a little like E.T.  on profile

Thanks to Facebook, I got the name Serge Panchenko.  Now my searches revealed it was one of his models called the Skull Bean – Harpoon slip joint.

I usually don't get excited about slip joints, but this one was different.  The bottom of the knife, where the slip joint spring is usually located, is open.  The tension spring is side-mounted under the clip with a ball detent that holds the blade closed or open.  A small screw head mounted near the tang of the blade acts as a travel stop for both the open and closed positions. 

The tension/spring bar is built into the side wall of the knife.  You can see it under the clip.

Very clever.  I don't know why other slip joints don't license or develop a version of this.  It would undoubtedly make their knives more interesting.

I wanted to clean it, but not drastically alter the knife's condition.  The first step was to cut the paracord weight off.  Then I tackled the Torx screws.  I wasn't sure what I'd find.  Panchenko described his knives as having a ball-bearing race.  I could visualize tiny bearings scattering everywhere.

The clip came off first.  One suggestion I got from Facebook was confirmed.  The clip was an aftermarket replacement from Steel Flame.  

A custom Steel Flame clip

Hiding under the clip

Then I removed the butt screw, followed by the pivot screw.  I got lucky here—no ball bearings to lose or struggle with.  Two very thin circles of white plastic acted as separators and lubrication between the blade and frame.  I assumed it was Teflon, which I'd use, but that's a guess on my part.  I carefully wiped them off so as not to fold, spindle, or lose them.

Most of the dirt and or corrosion was on the inside.  See the plastic washers?

How about now?  I wanted to be sure I didn't lose them.  The two indents in the blade tang click open or closed.  The white area is really a highly polished surface.

The parts went into to my ultrasonic for a mild scrubbing.  Ultrasound cleaning uses high-frequency sound waves to create cavitation bubbles.  With some solvents, cavitation bubbles can reach temperatures hotter than the sun's surface.  I once studied aluminum tire molds cleaned by ultrasonics.  Dirty tire molds became junk very quickly in soapy cleaning solutions.  Ultrasonics work best with hard particles on hard surfaces.

I didn't want that level of cleaning and used a 50/50 mixture of Clenzoil and WD40.  I wanted the protective nature of the solution to penetrate under any surface corrosion and loosen it up.

A couple of minutes in the ultrasonic peeled off a little surface grime and staining.  The discoloration under the clip needed a little light-duty persuasion with a Super Eraser.  So did the blade.  I could have bead blasted the frame and blade, but I like an honest working patina, so I cleaned it enough to make specks a little less noticeable.

I reassembled the knife with a bit of Teflon lube around the washers, and it works fine. 

Cleaned and re-assembled

It was the lanyard that gave me trouble.  The knife weighs about 62 grams, and the lanyard decoration weighs 35 grams.  The lanyard hanging out of your pocket is a great way to assist losing it.  Perhaps the non-locking, short-blade knife was set up as a flail.  Using the knife as a handle, whipping the heavy, raised surface sphere would make an impression in just about anyone.

I believe the knot is called a king knot.  

I picked out a cord I had and turned to YouTube to learn how to tie a decorative King knot.  My first one was perfect.  But that one wasn't on the knife; it was just practice.  The next three were near misses.  Finally, I tied the knot correctly, and I'm happy with the outcome, even if it does need a little more work.

Did I sharpen it a bit?  Sure. I touched up the blade with my Spyderco Sharpmaker.  It needed a little touch up and I'm happy with edge.

Finished.  I really like that blade shape and the opening lever is very interesting

But what's the knife worth?  Don't know.

I emailed Serge Panchenko with a few questions, but he never answered.  The clip is custom, it is a unique knife, and the handle is titanium, and I think it is worth…..?

 

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.