It’s Christmas in October

OK, I actually bought these for myself, but that doesn’t mean they’re not presents!
(FYI, I did not buy them from the links below, I bought them from a catalog that appeared in my mailbox out of nowhere. If that company’s shipping had been a little faster than two and a half weeks, and their website still functional, I’d link the knives below to them. But alas, they’re being dingbells so they’ll get no free advertisement from me)

First up, I found out a couple weeks ago during a random search that the knife I bought for myself back in April was illegal (read: too long of a blade and scarrry) to carry on my belt during every day activities.

Washington State law says that a fixed blade knife can have a blade no longer than 3 ½ inches, measured from the forwardmost point of the hilt to the tip, which makes my Benchmade Mel Pardue Rant knife just over an inch illegal (which is like being a little bit pregnant), so off I went knife shopping.

And I found this by CRKT with a 3 inch blade

They call it the Ryan Plan B, which I can’t figure out; if I’m going for my 3in bladed knife, I must be to at least plan F or so.

My thoughts after having it for a week: Solid as a rock, but for the first few minutes I thought it to be a little small, until I figured out it was a finger knife (does not contact the palm and has excellent transitional qualities). Good job on the grips with a solid finger guard, which is good because it came with a relatively good edge on it and is now almost a bit too sharp after a few swipes with the diamond rods.

The sheath, just like with the Benchmade, could have used a little more thinking through. It’s plastic with a removable belt clip that will pop out if you don’t use two hands to put the knife back due to the pressure needed to secure the knife in the sheath. The thing breaks clean from the sheath with just a push of the thumb along the top edge and is ready to rock. Watch out though if you are bending or twisting while working with the knife as the sheath is hard plastic and will poke you in the gut if it is on the forward side of your beltline. Keep it the small of the back though, and you shouldn’t have a problem.

My daily clip knife has also been retired to letter opener status due to its refusal to keep an edge (or a point for that matter).

I tried every sharpener I had and until I decided to get a new daily belt knife, I was about ready to give the puck sharpener I use on my axes a try, then I saw this

It is custom Morgan Taylor. Yes, it is a hawkbill, but I am utterly infatuated with that style, the knife instructor of my youth telling me that I work well with them.

It is also quite sturdy, if not a bit heavy for a pocket clip knife, with a relatively well designed lock. From the factory, the action on the knife is a bit stiff, but some mild liquid abrasive and working with it should do the trick. The grip fits very well and feels quite natural. It, like the CRKT, came with a decent edge, but after some time with the sticks is also now a bit too sharp and I will need to close it with two hands until I get the action broken in.

All in all, I’d say that I did pretty well.