Wow, what a dumpster fire 2020 has been. Still, we made the best of it and now we look
forward to Christmas and New Year in 2021.
Some of us aren’t coming to the new year and they will be missed.
I want to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas and a
healthy New Years. Stay strong, stay
sharp and stay healthy, 2021 will be a year for opportunities.
I just got CRKT’s newest
Minimalist, the Cleaver.
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| CTKT's newest Minimalist, the Cleaver |
You might think of it as a neck axe, but I think of it as a planing edge. It weighs only 1.7 ounces. Too light to actually chop, too small to generate swinging energy, but the 2.3 inch long edge can make clean slices and the cleaver head allows you grasp the handle front end for….
Okay, it’s a bit of
a toy. But it is still a very icey toy. CRKT makes quality knives. They are, dollar for dollar the best buy in
any price range. As with the other six
Minimalist the finger grooves fit a surprisingly wide range of hands.
The blade is made from
5Cr15MOV and the elemental break down is:
Carbon - 0.45-0.50%
Chromium – 14.75%
Molybdenum – 0.68%
Vanadium – 0.10%
Manganese – 0.45%
This China’s equivalent
of the German X50CrMoV15 steel, one of the most popular kitchen knife steels in
mainstream German knives. I’ve got to
admit the sprinkle of vanadium, which forms very fine and hard carbides, ups
the quality of this steel.
It has a Rockwell
‘C’ hardness of 55 to 57. This should be relatively easy to resharpen on an ordinary stone and still hold an edge. I will not be the first to tell you, always resharpen when you think it is getting dull, not when it is dull.
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| Like All Minimalist it comes with a neck sheath |
CRKT calls this Minimalist “…high-carbon stainless steel cleaver (that) … safely rips through food packets or clothing thanks to the false front edge. The hole in the blade pays homage to the hanging hold on the old style kitchen cleavers.” Well, they have to say something!
It is clear that
CRKT and my definition of high carbon steel are different. 440A contains 1.1% carbon. That’s in the high carbon steel range.
It’s made in China
and as I said before it’s almost a toy, unless you need an edge. When you need an edge, well, you work with
what you have. With the sheath you can
drop the Cleaver in a pocket, duct tape inside your first aid kit, wear it
under your shirt and it will be available if you need it.
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| Back Side |
You can find one
for yourself under $40 at: https://www.crkt.com/minimalist-cleaver.html
Do you say ‘switchblade’ or ‘automatic knife’?
Sounds like a George Carlin
question. Switchblade is warm and
fuzzy. Automatic is hard and cold.
To me, this is what I consider a switchblade. It’s a classic Italian stiletto. It clicks open with a menacing double click.
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| A classic switchblade what would be carried by the Jets or the Sharks. |
This is not an expensive one; I couldn’t find a maker’s mark. The blade is stamped “rust free” so I assume it’s stainless steel and is too dull to even cleanly open envelopes. I remember when knives came relatively dull and you put the kind of edge you wanted. But I don’t want to sharpen it and alter the ‘factory edge’. It has the classic release button which allows a leaf spring to fire the knife open, a slide safety and a horn handle. I got it as part of an estate I purchased and kept it because the knife was unlocked by depressing a tab on the knife’s butt.
But say automatic to me and I got to go with Pro-Tech
knives.
Pro-Tech Knives, LLC is a family knife company owned and
founded by Dave Wattenberg. They have
been building high quality American Made knives since 1998.
Pro-Tech produces about 12,000 knives per year and its most
famous models are the Godfather, Godson, and the Runt J4. You’ll see Pro-Techs in the hands of the U.S.
Military and law enforcement including the Secret Service and US Marshall's
Service. You’ll also see them in the
hands of collectors and anyone demanding high performance from an automatic
knife.
(Hint: Get yourself a
collaboration between Pro-Tech and Boker.
It’s a sweet little auto. You will not be disappointed!)
I’ve always wanted a Godfather. Not any of the variations. I wanted the Tuxedo. For years I watched the one with an actual
Ivory insert. But then, when we were
still relatively ivory friendly, it was out of my price range. But the ivory micarta, that was just too
powerful of a call. I went with the
black blade to compliment the black and white motif. I can’t help but think of Dino, Sammy, Frankie
and the rest of the Las Vegas rat pack when I see it open.
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| Pro Tech 's Godfather It's pissy eligant! |
It’s a big knife. Take it down a step and you’ll see the Godson and I found one I liked. Same good lines but I went with Bruce Shaw’s Steampunk copper insert.
Steampunk? It is a
visited reality in which Jules Verne’s world still exists. It just matured a little and discovered sexy.
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| If you needed to cut the mooring line a dirigible and escape in your velociped, this is the knife you need |
If you think of the Godfather and Godson as part of a family
of knives, then the limited production of their Rockeye Auto PK custom has to
be the hippy uncle from the LSD 70s.
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| Dude, it's time for the Airplane on next! They follow Cream. |
The Rockeye line was designed by Les George. Les started making knives in 1992 and found a kindred soul in master builder Stan Fujisaka of Kaneohe, Hawaii to show him the ropes. Sadly, Stan passed away on New Year’s Eve just a few hours before the arrival of the new 2014. One has to wonder what kind of knife shows they must have in the afterlife.
Having served in the Marines with a wide variety of jobs,
Les has developed well-defined ideas about what how knives and tools should be
made for use. You can see this in the
strong blade and handle of the Rockeye line.
The handle was anodized by Peter Kellett, who may be best
known for his unique, one of a kind art of amazing designs of metal guitars and
Pro-Tech knives. I was told, but can’t confirm,
that only four, maybe eight of these knives were made and again I was at the
right place.
If you had a cousin knife from the Deep South, maybe New
Orleans or the swamps of Florida, it would be the TR-3 Alligator. The Tactical Response 3 is a favorite with law
enforcement and military. They are hardworking
knives with a 3.5 inch blade, an automatic knife that is slender and fits
nicely in the pocket. But I can almost
guarantee none of them are carrying the TR-3 purple alligator. Artist Peter Kellett returns to marry a
purple alligator and a mother of pearl release button to a tactical knife.
I hear to tell chicken taste like gator. Where can I get me some?
I like the style of Pro-Tech knives. I especially like their custom or ‘arty knives’. You can go to their website (http://www.protechknives.com/product-category/automatic/) and find some amazing knives. How about a left-handled Godson in basic black?
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!
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.
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.
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:
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.
