Terrific Temperance Two

The Spyderco Li’l Temperance folder was a watershed knife for my collecting career. It proved to me that a manufacturer, compared to a custom maker, could make a very unique and practical knife of amazing quality. The Li’l Temperance, or Li’l Temp for short, got me hooked on leaf blade designs and made me pretty much a single-knife-brand kind of guy. So when the excellent fixed blade Temperance came out, I had to get one as well. That fixed Temp did not disappoint at all. And now there’s a Temperance 2; a worthy successor to the Spyderco Temperance lineage.

I must admit that I hesitated a bit when I read about the first design plans for the Temperance 2; brown canvas micarta handle, no divots in the handle, only .5 inch increase in blade length? I think the divots are a crucial part of the Temperance concept. Handling the Temperance 2 prototype certainly did not disappoint. The feel is all Temperance. That is to say that it feels ‘alive’ in the hand.

Sheath
The stock sheath that came with the knife was better than I expected. The fit is very good, it doesn’t scratch the blade and it still provides a tight fit without any rattle. The knife snaps in and out of its sheath with authority. However, the sheath is a too wide for me. The ‘footprint’ of the stock sheath is simply too big for my taste. One of the many forum discussions caused me to take a good look at the Spec-Ops line of sheaths. They offer cordura/nylon sheaths with kydex inserts that can fit a variety of knives.

The tan 5,5 inch Combat Master sheath by Spec-Ops Brand works like a charm. The kydex insert is not form fitted to the Temperance’s blade. However, the strap that secures the knife in the sheath at the handle/blade junction is adjustable. I adjusted the strap to a proper fit over the knife’s handle. Lo and behold, the blade doesn’t rattle. The strap closes tightly but a firm tug releases the snap. I also haven’t discovered any scratching of the sheath on the blade so far. The sheath is nice and compact and suits the blade much better than the stock sheath.

The construction of the Spec-Ops sheath is superb, at least on par with the Maxpedition gear I’ve used for years. It’s likely to be a better quality, but time will tell for sure. The accessory pouch is a nice feature. Stuffing it with my Spyderwrench turns it into a ready to go do-all package for my next camping trip. If I could just find a way to carry my Surefire C2 (with R5 light engine) in that package, I’d be completely covered.

Handle
The Temperance 2 handle is a departure of the 3D polymer handle of the original Temperance fixed blade. The grip changing divots and the recessed area on the butt of the handle made the original Temperance an innovative, fast and versatile MBC knife. The brown canvas micarta slabs on the Temperance 2 seems more ‘old fashioned’ and a bit ‘boring’ by comparison.

I have to admit that the micarta handle does work. It’s grippy enough for a secure grip but smooth enough to work the knife for hours. Still, I want my grip-changing divots. The Temperance 2 will work as an MBC knife, I’m sure. But the divots gave the original temperance a solid dose of ‘fighter-feel’ and prevented the knife (the trainer actually) from flying out of my hands on quite a few occasions. Then again, I suspect the knife’s design-purpose seems to have shifted from ‘MBC knife, capable of field use’ to ‘Field knife, capable of MBC use’. At least that’s my personal impression based on the increase weight, thickness and handle material. I’m sure the brown canvas will appear to more outdoor afi’s who are looking for a field knife, than the black ‘plastic’ handle of the original Temperance.

Blade
Compared to the original Temperance, the blade on the ‘2’ is a bit thicker and longer. On paper, the Temp 2 is only 0,5 inch longer than the original Temperance, but in person it seems a lot bigger than just 0,5 inch. No doubt the increased weight has something to do with that perception. The Temp 2 is a heavier knife, it feels solid; definitely a knife I can put to work.

I’ve used the Temp 2 on a camping trip this past summer, and for the past few months around the house and garden just to see how it holds up. I can tell that the Temp 2 loves to eat wood. It cut impromptu tent stakes, whittled and made kindling for a few small camp fires. I loved using the knife. The cuts were always deep and controllable. The VG-10 blade held its edge just fine all week long.

I also used the (cleaned) knife for food prep, I made many meals and a bbq with it. I can confirm that the tapered leaf blade is –not surprisingly- a fine cooking knife. The thicker and heavier blade of the Temp 2 doesn’t work as well as the thinner and lighter original Temperance. Still, I wouldn’t hesitate to stow the Temp 2 in my rucksack for the next field trip. The slightly thicker blade and tip makes it –in my mind at least- a more all-round design. The bigger and heavier knife inspires a bit more confidence to me, I’m not an experienced bushcrafter so YMMV.

Overall
The Temperance 2 looks simple, but simple is good. Picking the knife up and using it makes you realize how refined the design has become over the years. The knife just plain works. I performed a few non-stop prolonged cutting tasks and the knife just kept on cutting. I never felt any hotspots in my hand. Controllability of the knife is also very good, the canvas micarta and jimping on the thumbramp did an excellent job of keeping the knife under control. Even when the knife and my hands were covered in meat, fat and juices.

The sheath could be better, the stock version is functional but for me it’s too big. The whole knife exudes that motto; no more than is necessary, no less than what is needed. The stock sheath just does not conform to that motto. I’d prefer to see the Spec-Ops sheath come standard with the knife, with a molded insert. Even with the pouch and all that cordura/nylon, it’s a much more compact package. If it can be done with the Spyderco Warrior, it could be done with this knife.

Do I have any wishes for a Temperance 3? Apart from the sheath and the divots in the handle I can’t think of anything. Even the blade length that disappointed me at the knife’s announcement is no problem at all for me anymore. The Temperance 2 is my go-to field and camp knife.

Review: Aqua Salt SE Yellow

To me, the Aqua Salt knives were –yet another-  ‘must have’ since I first saw the prototype. It never was the ‘must-have-now-or-else’ love affair I have with some other new models (the Phoenix comes to mind). It’s more of a ‘yep, that’s what I’ll get as soon as I get a chance’. That kind of sums up my feelings about the Aqua Salt. It isn’t very flashy or particularly innovative, but it is a handy little fixed blade that’s ‘just’ a good working knife and you’ll miss it when you lose it.

Sheath
When I finally received my Aqua Salt, I immediately checked out the sheath first. The injection molded sheath was my main concern for this knife. The Perrin Streetbowie was Spyderco’s first injection molded sheath and I didn’t like it much because of the blade rattling inside it. I managed to fix it by using hairdryer to warm up the throat of the sheath and tightening it a bit. The sheath for my Rock Salt, that appears to use the same design as the Aqua Salt, has also developed a slight rattle. The Aqua Salt’s sheath, however, is still rock solid after about two months. The knife snaps in securely and stays put, no rattling. Using the ‘thumb push off’  technique works great to draw the knife fast but controlled. I think that injection molded sheaths, and the internal ‘bumps’ used to retain the knife, work best for small to medium sized blades. A blade like the Rock Salt has significantly more mass that wants to move inside the sheath. Apart from the fit, the sheath is very nice. It’s not too large, but light and fully ambidextrous. I really like the new ‘ G-Lock clip’.

Blade
There have been reports about the PE versions having rather dull edges. I’m happy to report that my SE edge came very sharp from the box. The only part that was a bit dull was the tiny PE part close to the tip. A few swipes on the Sharpmaker remedied this problem. I immediately put the Aqua Salt to work as an all-round ‘house knife’. In this capacity it opened lots of packaging, mail and envelopes, broke down cardboard and it’s been a welcome addition to our arsenal of kitchen knives. It won’t replace any of my kitchen knives, or my Morans for that matter, because the blade is rather thick compared to the aforementioned knives. However, this thickness does make the Aqua Salt a nice strong outdoors knife. The tip is sharp but definitely thicker than my Moran or Streetbeat. It should be able to take some abuse. The edge holding has increased from ‘AUS 8-ish’ from the box, to a really good ‘VG-10-ish’ type of edge holding after a few sharpening sessions. Mind you, I started sharpening as soon as I couldn’t cleanly slice newspaper print. The H-1 combined with the serrations keep the edge working for a looong time.

Handle
The handle is what makes me think of the Aqua Salt as a medium-sized Temperance. The Aqua Salt is more blade heavy than the Temperance, but the grip is equally secure and versatile. With wet hands, that were also covered with chicken grease and fat (don’t ask ), I never felt I lost control of the blade. Once you grip the handle, the knife stays put, in any of the 4 major grips. Yet when carried on the belt, the surface of the FRN is somehow smooth enough to not catch on clothing when out and about. For one type of grip, edge out/point forward/index finger along the spine (for precise point work), I’d like to see some jimping on the spine of the blade. That way, I’d get a bit more control for this type of grip.

Overall
The Aqua Salt is one of those must-have knives you should keep in your toolbox, tackle box and on your boat. It’s not a very glamorous knife, but a really nice working blade. It’s one of those designs that works pretty good in all sorts of roles, while other more specialized designs get all the attention. I wouldn’t feel “underknifed” with an Aqua Salt when hiking, camping, doing chores around the house. However, I can also imagine the Aqua Salt being useful as a diving knife, or for SWAT, Rescue and Military use. With its relatively thick tip, compact size, sure grip and very low maintenance, I think the Aqua Salt could be a nice tactical knife for Military, Police or Rescue work. I’d love to see this knife tested and evaluated by some of the people in these professions.

Review: Perrin Streetbeat

I’ve always liked Spyderco’s fixed blades. They featured sharp edges and the edge geometry has always been geared to slicing as opposed to prying or chopping. As cool as the FRN models were, I and many other wanted to see some higher end fixed blades from Spyderco. The Lum tanto was cool, but not a real user to me. The Streetbeat is –to me- the first high end practical fixed blade from Spyderco. It’s small enough to occasionally carry and use in my urban environment and it’s bound to be the camp knife I’ll reach for this summer.

 

Blade
The short blade is nice and wide to support that thin and sharp edge. I’ve used the Streetbeat around the house for the past few months. The Streetbeat is an excellent little kitchen knife. I know that’s not a big surprise. The dropped edge and thin edge really come into their own on a cutting board. The jimping on the spine is relatively ‘long’, which is great for finding a grip for your thumb or index finger, even if your hands are wet and gooey.

Grip
The grip is just about as perfect for a small fixed blade as I can imagine. That big finger cutout keeps my hand where it should be, on the handle and not on the edge. Regardless of whether my hands were wet and slippery from kitchen work. The handle is also rather short. This makes the Streetbeat more comfy to carry on the belt and it makes for a more discreet carry package. Furthermore, that short handle with a round and wide end is perfect for resting in the palm of the hand for certain grips. For when you want to pierce through something tough, for example. On top of all that functional gripping action, the handle looks really pretty. It’s almost a kind of gentleman’s fixed blade. The surface of the Micarta is smooth to the touch, so the Streetbeat is comfortable to use for longer periods of time. I used the Streetbeat for preparing the Christmas dinner with my family, so my Streetbeat saw plenty of food prep action.

Carry

A few years back I had a passing interest in fixed blades, and when I carried them I preferred the IWB appendix carry. I was inspired by the writings of the late Bob Kasper on that subject. The Streetbeat somehow doesn’t work as well for this. I prefer the Streetbeat as a little belt knife. Just regular vertical carry on the belt behind the hip and the knife is out of the way until I need it.

Sheath
Sal, I’m sorry to have to say this but the out of the box sheath of the Streetbeat simply isn’t up to par with the rest of the package. I got the opportunity to try out a bunch of different knives and sheaths in the SFO and all of them had a less than perfect fit. The knives all wanted to rattle in their sheaths. The sample I chose in the end worked the best, it was rattle free and had a good tight fit. After a month or so, the sheath wore in a bit and the fit became loose enough to cause a rattle during carry.

I can appreciate how tough it must be to design and make a proper sheath for the Streetbeat. The handle becomes rather narrow at the handle/blade junction; I can imagine that there is very little material for the sheath to hang to, if you want to create a quick draw (with a full grip on the handle) type sheath. Luckily, I was able to obtain this Mike Sastre sheath which works wonderfully. I also wanted a sheath that looked more classy, so it could match that nice looking handle a bit better. That’s why I opted for the carbon fiber pattern concealex.

I don’t think the standard sheath is unsafe, as the retention was still good. It’s just terribly irritating to have this knife rattle in its sheath. I do think that factory sheaths, also from Spyderco, can be perfect and rattle free. The best sheath to date, came with my Moran fixed blades. The Temperance sheath was also really good. The Kumo sheath was OK, but not as nice as the previous ones. I would recommend to get more sheaths designed by the maker of the Moran sheaths. Another point I want to make is, for an expensive and high end fixed blade like the Streetbeat, I’d be more than happy to pay a little extra for a better sheath.

The Streetbeat is a really nice, and nice looking, fixed blade. Once I was happy with the sheath, I finally got to understand a little more about those bushcrafters that extol the virtues of small fixed blades. A knife like the Streetbeat can do more than the average folder, of similar size. It’s just as comfortable and safe to use right or left-handed. It also empties a pocket, where the clipped folder used to be. I really like this size for an EDC fixed blade. The design is excellent for EDC and for all sorts of tasks. It’s a versatile little knife. The downside of fixed blades for EDC is the legal issues involved. Urban carry of fixed blades (even as small as these) is probably frowned upon by the authorities. So for me, the Streetbeat won’t make the carry rotation. That is, until I hit the country side for hiking or camping.

Overall
I’d like to see more Spyderco fixed blades in this size. I know the ‘Mule’ project is coming up, which is a similar size design, so that takes care of the leaf shape design in a small fixed blade. How about a Streetbeat with a Wharncliffe blade?

Yin Yang Kitchen Knife Set

I must admit that after the Homemaker, the other older spydie kitchen knives looked a little pale. The rubber handles just can’t match the looks and feel of micarta. Since the Homemaker entered my kitchen drawer, the Santoku has been gathering dust. With the Yin Yang set I not only had a chance to expand my kitchen knife collection with nicer looking designs, but also the opportunity to test new blade shapes.

My wife really loves this set. The plainedge knife is the first she reaches for. I find the blades a bit to narrow. I prefer to ‘knuckle up’ to a wide blade when chopping and slicing. I do like the sharp tips on these knives, which the Homemaker lacks. The edge-holding is really good, but that should not be a surprise since I believe VG-10 was used for the blades.

However, these are really versatile knives. They can be comfortably used for chopping, slicing, opening packed food, slicing bread, frozen foods, carving meat etc…. With this set you honestly don’t ‘need’ anything else. Of course, we always ‘want’ something else, but that’s a different matter.

Review: Temperance PE, SE, Black & Drone

This is my absolute favorite fixed blade to date. The blade is short enough for a folder enthusias to master quickly. The blade cuts like a razor and looks like a benign kitchen knife. The handle is great for MBC in all basic grips, especially the fashionable pikal grip.

Sal explained to me that this pikal grip was specifically intended for the Temperance, in case you had to use it when attacked by a wild animal, like a cougar. This animal lover would like to think that staying on the trails and stop infringing on wildlife’s habitat with ever expanding suburbs would be a better solution to that particular problem, but for MBC it’s great. The thumb groove in the handle’s butt is a very functional and innovative feature for a reverse edge out grip.

The sheath is good, retention excellent, souple release and no rattle. I believe the current sheath design features a retention screw to allow for a slightly tighter fit, which I prefer. At least, that’s the version that came with my drone. In practice, I found the relatively short blade to blend perfectly with my MBC skills with folders. I love it so much that I got all variations that I could lay my hands on. Function-wise, I would like to see the edge dropped a bit, so that it is more functional as a kitchen and camp knife, so you can bring more edge to a surface. But it’s perfectly functional as is. I would love to see a Temperance FB with a 7 inch blade and of thicker stock, to go head-to-head with such popular combat knives like the Becker CU7 and the Chris Reeve Green Beret knife.

Review: K08 Santoku

Why wouldn’t you want the knives in your kitchen to be as good as the one in your pocket? Not my line, I saw it in an ad, but it exactly represents my opinion on the line of Spyderco kitchen knives that have come into my possession.

The Santoku, utility and paring knife were on my wish list for a long time, but a new folder always seemed more attractive. It was the same thing with the Sharpmaker; I put off buying one way too long. Furthermore, I can be found in the kitchen all the time, cutting up stuff to try out a new folder. The kitchen knives are much more effective cutters when cooking than any folder.

Santoku
The Santoku is best used for cutting everything that can be found in the vegetable aisle, and then some. Potatoes (not the peeling part), paprika, onions, celery you name it, the Santoku takes it apart like a laser. The wide blade not only protects the knuckles on my non-cutting hand, it also makes for a nice little shovel. In fact, the main reason I like this knife so much, is the fact that it is 50% shovel! Just turn the blade over (edge up) and you can neatly and safely pick up the food you just cut, or slide it cleanly from the cutting board directly into the pan. The fact that the Santoku has a nice rounded and blunt tip only reinforces this shovel function.

Handle
The handle, which is the same on all of these kitchen knives, is pretty peculiar. It’s a type of rubber that not too sticky when dry, and it gets stickier when it gets wet or greasy. I prefer to grip the Santoku with part of my thumb and index finger on the base of the blade. If I hold the knife on the rubber grip only, it feels as if I’m not getting enough control of this knife. It could be that I have to get used to using a longer blade.

Rockin’ the edge
The catalog states that the edge is slightly rounded to allow for rocking cuts. As a trained butcher, I am not so keen on this cutting technique as it does not work on meat. Also, I never had a good knife that could to this rocking. It’s very nice. When you’re cutting up an onion and the ‘order’ is lost and all you’re left with is a disorderly pile of large chunks, just put in the blade and start rocking. Within 30 seconds, a pile of fine onion bits emerge.

Cutting meat did not go as well. The wide blade acts like glue on meat. Both beef and chicken just stick too much on the blade. The Santoku’s blade shape and length encouraged me to try and cut some cheese. Oddly enough, the cheese didn’t stick as much onto the blade as the meat did. The curved edge allows for a nice two-handed rocking motion through cheese, just like a real cheese knife. The blade is pretty thin; it hurts the palm when pushing on the spine for cutting cheese for example (more resistance). That same thinness also accounts for the smooth cuts it makes.

Conclusion
Overall, I should’ve gotten this knife a lot sooner. For the price, you get an excellent vegetable chopper, a cheese knife and a miniature shovel. The Santoku is faster than (setting up) a blender, and a whole lot more fun to use too! My girlfriend expressed that she tought the knife was a bit too big, she feels a bit uncomfortable with it. And the fact that I keep ‘hogging’ the knife during cooking, is not helping either. In time though, I’m sure we will both find it to be our favorite kitchen knife.

A customized version for me would get a slightly shorter handle, tuned to left-handed use (the regular handle is slightly asymmetrical, tuned to right-handers), and make the blade just slightly thicker to improve handling with the support hand. Heck, a thicker Santoku should prove to be a pretty good camp knife!

Review: Homemaker

Ever since I received the entire set of Spydie kitchen knives as a wonderful gift, I have been keeping a close eye on any new kitchen knife Spyderco releases. When the homemaker came out I figured it would be a great ‘classy’ kitchen knife, and ‘let’s see if these scallops work as advertised’.

Handling
The Homemaker’s handle is longer than the kraton grips of other Spyderco kitchen knives, like the Santoku or K04 Utility. It fits my hand a little better even though the handle is very straight. The Homemaker is significantly lighter than the Santoku. This knife made me a much faster cutter. The light weight combined with the scallops allow me to make a solid and steady ‘takketakketakketakketakketakke’ sound on the cutting board. And no, I haven’t cut myself yet. And yes, I do produce nice looking slices.

Scallops
The scallops work as advertised, mostly. There is much less food sticking to the blade. It doesn’t prevent sticking completely though. I’d guesstimate that in my use, about 60% less food sticks to the blade. This makes the Homemaker a much faster and sharper knife to use.

Tip
The tip on the Homemaker is not pointy, but rounded as is evident from the catalog pics. However, it is fully sharpened all the way around the tip. I am not quite sure what to do with that tip, let alone resharpening it. I am not much of a freehand sharpener. My main use of the tip in a large kitchen knife, is to ‘stick ‘n pick up’ food from its packaging and placing it on the cutting board. It does this just as well as a pointy blade. So in a chopping knife of this design, I guess that the rounded tip facilitates ‘rocking’ motions with the blade. The blade has no or extremely little curve for rocking cuts, unlike the Santoku.

Overall
Great ergos, very sharp and very fast in the hand. It looks classy too. Some people commented on the ‘cheap’ look of my prized Spydie kitchen knife line, until they used them. The micarta and overall design of the homemaker is much classier, befitting of its performance. Sal, please try and make more designs with the maker of the Homemaker. I need some micarta serrated utility knives, to go with the Homemaker.

Review: K05 Utility Knife

“Utility knives in the kitchen, why on earth would you need a utility knife in the kitchen?”, this kitchen-knife newbie wondered out loud. Then his girlfriend tossed some packages of food on his cutting board. Ah, it is all clear now.

Opener
The smaller K05 is just perfect for opening everthing that’s wrapped around your food items, that you wish to decimate with the mighty Santoku. A fine point for sliding under wrappers, and if you’re in a hurry just use those serrations to cut through anything that’s in the way of the food.

Meat
While meat tends to stick to the Santoku’s blade, the little K05 zips right through. The serrations leave a nice smooth cut. I find this surprizing, since I expected a jagged surface on the meat with a serrated edge. Apparently, SHARP serrations are quite a different beast. Although the narrow blade helps minimize ‘sticking’ I also suspect that the serrations are helping with ‘separating’ meat. The K05′s edge does protrude beneath the handle but not enough to fully guard my knuckles when putting the complete edge on the cutting board. If there’s one upgrade I would recommend is to find a way where the edge lies well below my knuckles, without increasing the width of the blade.

Bread
I wanted the K04, thinking it would make and excellent ‘bread’ knife with a point. The K05 proves that it indeed should be a great bread knife. It’s sad but true; the Tell-Sell commercial got it right. I do appreciate uncompressed bread now! And again, no jagged cuts whatsoever. Sharp serrations not only perform, they leave cuts that are just as smooth as the most expensive plain edges.

Conclusion
You do need a utility knife in the kitchen for everything the Tell-Sell commercials say you do, such as divind a frozen ‘block’ of vegetables. Plus, the K05 has proven itself as a top-notch package-opener, meat cutter and bread knife.

Review Kumo

I got this one mainly for its looks, but it has proven to be quite a handy little fixed blade. Although the Kumo was designed –also- as a tactical fixed blade, I find the overall size and thin narrow design quite useful as an EDC for around the house.

The Kumo is as thin and sharp (edge and point) as any Spydie folder. The edge geometry and tip sharpness compare favorably to the Calypso jr.. And surprisingly enough, it works just as nicely as a Calypso jr. too.

Handle wrap
The handle wrap is gorgeous but also immensely grippy. The texture out of the box, to me, was even a bit too rough. After carrying it around for a while and using it, the initial roughness smoothed out and now the Kumo is easier on the hands. This tacky handle was used on purpose to add grip-security to this tactical blade, so that conventional guards wouldn’t be necessary. R.J. Martin explained this on the Spyderco Forum. I think the Kumo is much like the customs from Bud Nealy, which knives also don’t use much in the way of guards or finger cutouts.

Grip
The many deep dips and peaks in the handle wrapping are more effective for twirling and grip changes than any divots I have used in knife handles. A careful piercing test in a stack of cardboard proved to me that the handle was tacky enough to forego a traditional guard or deep finger cutout. The ‘skull crusher’ is not an accessory I particularly need or like, but it came in handy when crushing some walnuts. And the pommel’s point is a little rounded, so ‘capping the thumb’ is definitely an option. Still, I’m a bit leery of the lack of guard and finger cutout. Those features are something I’m so used to, it’s hard to neglect that. But in my testing the wrapping proved adequate.

Kitchen duty
R.J. Martin even hinted that the Kumo was a good performer in the kitchen and that gunk could be easily cleaned out of the handle wrapping. I did use it in the kitchen but I was careful to keep that wrapping clean. No particular reason, but I wanted to prevent ‘messing up’ this nice knife. The Kumo is quite the performer in the kitchen, though it’s too straight of a design for prolonged slicing and dicing on a cutting board. The edge is straight and doesn’t protrude below the knuckles of your hand, so you have to put the tip on the board to slice and dice. The grinds used in the Kumo supposedly make the tip stronger than it looks though. The blade doesn’t flex, but it still looks, well, thin. The Kumo is too nice for me to test it to the point of breaking.

Overall
Overall, it’s a looker that works much better than expected as a (plain) utility knife around the house. I prefer folders for actual carry, but if I would carry a fixed blade the Kumo is thin and short enough. I expect the Kumo is one of those “didn’t know I had it on me ‘till I needed it” type of knives.

Review: Rocksalt

The initial attraction to the Rock Salt, for me, was the ‘wow- factor’. Gorgeous lines, curves, cool size and amazing ergonomics. I knew from the start that I’d never use this blade to its full potential, but I simply had to have one. When Ed showed the concept model at the Amsterdam Meet last year, I knew it was one of those knives I’d have a hard time waiting for. But it has been released and I’ve been using it as a gardening tool, utility knife and kitchen knife for the past two weeks. Unfortunately there were no field trips or camping trips for me to give this knife a proper test. Nonetheless, I’d like to share my impressions of the Rock Salt.

Blade
The blade certainly looks the part, but how does it perform? The edge from the box was sharp but not hair-popping sharp. I’d call it a good working edge, it would shave hair in most places but it doesn’t compare to a Caly III straight from the box. It’s probably the sensible choice for a large field knife with a handle design that entices chopping. Still, I wanted to get a really sharp edge on the Rock Salt. It’s a relatively thin blade, I’d like to optimize that with a polished edge.

It took me about 4 sessions with a Sharpmaker and UF stones, to get the edge really –really- sharp. H1 sharpens easily, and I was mostly learning how to deal with the recurved edge. I almost exclusively used the corners of the stones to preserve the curves. The UF stones really add an extra level of sharpness to a sharpening session. Overall, it was real easy to sharpen the Rock Salt, especially if you’re used to large fixed blades or recurves. I can get the edge to easily pop hair of my arms.

The Rock Salt is a real nice cutter. In the kitchen I didn’t notice that much difference in performance compared to the Homemaker. Sure the Rock Salt is thicker and gives more resistance when cutting through a whole cauliflower for example, but not nearly as much as I expected. The recurved edge really does add extra cutting power. Starting a cut on a cucumber at the heel of the edge and then slicing through with the belly, is just plain fun. The slices just pop off.  

I also used the Rock Salt to trim some vines in the yard. Not much of a challenge as the thickest branches were only as thick as a thumb. The Rock Salt chopped through such branches in a single chop. The edge held up nicely, after 30 minutes of cutting and light chopping, the blade would still scrape off hair from my arm.

Breaking down boxes and smaller cardboard packaging for recycling was a fun chore. The blade would cut and chop through them all. This showed the great ergos of the Rock Salt; I never had the feeling I was wielding an ‘large’ fixed blade.

The edge and tip were thin enough to comfortably open the mail and cut out articles. Sure, my Stretch II does this much easier, but it can be done with the Rock Salt too. I can imagine that the Rock Salt is able to handle fine work like cutting and scraping for wooden utensils in bushcraft.

Handle
The handle is a striking feature of the Rock Salt. Four of my NKP friends handled the Rock Salt and were amazed by the controllable grip and light weight. That’s where I got the inspiration to use the Rock Salt as a kitchen knife. It feels like a slightly heavy kitchen knife, so why not use it as one? The handle allows for a solid grip in many different modes. The Rock Salt does favor the point forward grips more than reverse grips. The nice thing about the handle design is that you can use a hammer grip back on the handle, and you’re wielding a large knife. Using the choil and resting your thumb on the spine, drastically enhances controllability and it seems the shrink the knife. I like the checkering on the handle slabs, ramp and inside the choil. However the hump is a bit too sharp for my tastes. Most of my uses for the Rock Salt involved fine work, where I want to rest my extended thumb along the spine. In this grip the hump pinches a bit. I found a good use for the trademark round hole, it helps control the knife (especially when wet) for finer work.

Sheath
The sheath is an injection molded design. The blade locks in very securely, with a little practice the blade draws fluently. The material seems different from concealex/kydex/boltaron, it almost seems FRN. After a few days I noticed a slight rattle, which I think is inherent in injection molded sheaths. The rivets are shinier and larger than other sheath designs, it’s probably highly rust resistant as well. The G-clip is a really nice evolution of the mini-teklok design. The g-part of this clip does work nicely to hold the knife on a pair of pants without the belt. Overall, a perfectly functional sheath. I might try to reform the sheath a bit, but I’m not sure if the material responds to that.

Overall
The Rock Salt is a great knife that can do the work to back up its good looks. It’s a nice medium between a backpackers knife and the large choppers I occasionally read about in the knife magazines. I like the design a lot and can only wish I lived somewhere in the country, where I could use a knife like this more as matter of fact, as opposed to having to look for stuff to cut.