I never said anyone asked for sympathy.
And when you abuse your tools, don't be surprised when they break, no matter what you paid for them.
The non assisted models need stronger detent to transfer the force applied from your finger to the blade so it swings fully out. I have a ton of speedsafe assisted Kershaws, but I’m really enjoying these manual bearing models like the fraxion, atmos and natrix, they all fly open and drop shut with one hand, a lot of fun to fidget with.
As Blackbeard mentioned, these are different types of action. The knives you mention have assisted actions via the Kershaw Speedsafe mechanism. I’ve carried quite a few Speedsafe knives over the years, including the Leek and the Volt II. I actually had a Dividend in my shirt pocket yesterday. When done well, Speedsafe both helps a knife to stay closed and lets it open with a magic touch.
In a manual action, you build tension by pushing your finger against the flipper tab. You push through the detent. It breaks and the knife opens. With a weaker detent, proper opening is much more dependent on technique. A strong detent helps to build tension and ensure a snappy opening. With the Speedsafe, there is a little more play as energy builds with the torsion bar. There is a little hill to climb and then when you clear the top of the hill, the torsion bar springs the knife open. It’s a nifty little mechanism and has a distinct feel.
Speedsafe can be reliable and satisfying. However, there’s something special about a good manual action.
well, there’s the blade thickness, the geometry, the alloy and the hardness. these determine how much abuse a knife can handle.
the firebird is D2 with a high hardness, so it should keep an edge longer, but doesns’t allow for much abuse. cheap knives are usually much softer, the blade deforms instead of chipping.
Hi Teus, Absolutely, it all figures in. Mine is the G727m so maybe not Firebird. It’s 440c. The edge is very hard and has held up well for two years against cardboard/zipties/cord etc. In this case I was changing the cross over in an old set of speakers and there was a 50 year old staple in a 50 year old piece of plywood on the inside and just thought I would pop it out with the tip of the knife as that is what was in my hand. A portion of the edge crumbled like sand. I presume the edge just got very hot then cold or something in the manufacturing process and was probably harder and more brittle than it really should be. Is it my fault. Sure is. Will I trust it in important situations. Nope. Is it still a good value at $15. Yup.
Will probably stick with something like this if steel abuse is on the horizon :).
It is absolutely worth keeping a junk knife for rough and dirty tasks.
Is there any good deal for the Ganzo FH41?
Also got the multitool, that’s how I originally learned about Ganzo. It’s all very nice.
My Ganzo F7551 just arrived. Decent size portable cleaver.
Good choice. It is one of my favorite knife! And super comfortable.
It’s also a good base for modding! 
Thanks to Fasttech I learned about an interesting kind of knife, a folder designed to take scalpel blades:
https://www.fasttech.com/p/9719201
I really like the promise of a very sharp blade with minimal maintenance but 20 mm blade just won’t work for me.
There was a discussion in the FT thread about different blades:
The FT knife (also available elsewhere but FT is the cheapes source I’ve seen so far) uses #11 blades and the folded picture above shows there’s little chance of it fitting something larger.
If there was a folder that could accept blades #20, #21 or #22….maybe even #10….or similar - I would be very glad to try it.
Does anyone know such blade?…
Not the truth, your truth.
What is a mouth made for ? Eating, biting, articulating phonemes, playing wind instruments, etc ?
A knife’s blade is a bar of metal with a cutting edge, as is, it can have many more uses than a basic straight cut.
Hmm, the NiteCore NTK05 looks like there’s room for a fatter blade. FreeMe has it at $25. Here’s a lock’s review.
Personally, I carry a MiniChamp :-), but have a Kershaw Cinder that I sometimes carry.
Thanks.
I looked it up. It indeed looks like #10 would fit, though that’s not certain. Fasttech has them for only a slightly higher price w/out coupon; waiting for another 15-20% discount would drop the price to about $23-$24 shipped.
Considering that #10 blade is likely too small to be good for me anyway, that’s a little more expensive than I’d like….especially that I found other options:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000306725903.html
$15, takes #22 blades.
81 mm is a little long considering the still-very-short blade. Well, most scalpel folders that I found are like that.
There are a few exceptions with non-standard blades, namely Havalon and Gerber. Though they produce only even bigger knives which are simply not good for me.
Look for local source for scalpel blades.
Many available.
Mike
If you're ignorant enough to use your knife for prying things, at least don't be surprised when you have bad results.
Knife blades aren't made for prying.
You're very likely to weaken or damage your blade if you ignorantly use it for prying.
And the weakening or damage may not be visible at first.
If you want to abuse your tools, be my guest, but don't tell me that knife blades are made for prying.
And if you decide to sell a tool that you abused, I hope you're honest enough to let the public know that you abused the tool in the past.
I’m sure they aren’t made to use as a screwdriver either, but guess what?
If the knife is the only tool I have available at that juncture it will be used for whatever it takes to get us out of a jam.
It’s not like these knives are family heirlooms, they are a tool and should be used and abused if needed, as such.
JMHO,
your’s sounds like it will vary and that’s cool.
Later,
Keith
Of course anyone can abuse their tools as they like.
Just admit that it IS abuse, and that the tools were never meant to be used that way.
When someone asks me to borrow my tools, I always ask what their intentions are because I don't want anyone to abuse my tools, myself included.
You might be surprised how many people think it's okay to pry something with a knife blade.
I think they outnumber the flat Earthers, which is kinda sad.