Monday Knifeblogging

The NRA’s Christmas catalog showed up in my mailbox this weekend, and what fixed-blade knife do you suppose they chose this year as the proud bearer of the NRA logo?

Why, the RNS Favorite Knife, of course …

— the Benchmade DPT.

 

Of course, for the holidays, the NRA went and made theirs all kewl and “Tactical” in black, don’tcha know.

 

I first saw this knife in action at the 2005 Boomershoot, where Phil found it quite handy for all sorts of tasks. So, after far too much procrastinating, I got one for myself. It arrived this weekend. Here it is on the right with my daily pocket carry knife for comparison. Click for bigger, with plenty of super-hi-res detail for those who like such things.

I am very impressed with this knife. It is scary sharp and feels really good in my hand. The handle is made of a nicely pebbled material that makes it easy to take a solid grip. I generally prefer full-tang knives, but on this model the takedown bolt in the hilt (it actually has a hilt!) gives equivalent strength to a full-tang knife, with the total-coverage grip as well. As you might suspect, the takedown bolt also lets you disassemble the knife, which is pretty cool in and of itself. And that’s not all, you get a very well-made sheath. It has an insert to hold the blade, so it’s more like a scabbard than a garden-variety ballistic nylon sheath. Phil didn’t like it much, but it suits me just fine.

Sadly, although Phil had to abandon the Rant as his daily carry knife due to length restrictions, there are paradoxically no such problems in my neck of California. It shall be mine, said I, and so it is! 

OTOH, as slick a number as this new knife may be, I just can’t bring myself to strap it on to my dress belt and slacks. I would get some mighty odd looks around the office…. So it won’t be a carry knife for me, either — but I’ll make certain it will always be very close to hand.