Welcome to Gaia! ::

Twice before I've tried to get pocketknives to replace my old Schrade my dad gave me four years ago. Not because it's a bad knife, but because I just want a spiffy, modern spring assist. Twice that's failed, one because the blade was held out partially from the grip and kept cutting me and tearing my pocket, and the other because the weird screw loosened really quickly. So, I shelled out $40 for a Smith & Wesson S.W.A.T. Is it good? Well:





And here it is by the well-used Schrade:


I'll try to keep this short and sweet as I have a tendancy to ramble. The good:

The out-of-the-box edge is super sharp.

The satin finish is nice.

Crisp, snappy opening and secure lockup.

Left or right-handed opening (ideal for us lefties, but useful to all.)

Lanyard loop on the end. Useless to me, but could be good for some.

All screws and the item itself are tight and feel strong and sturdy.

Safety nub keeps blade from springing open in your pocket and stabbing you in the particulars.

Fit and finish are good.

Inscribed on one side of the blade are (Logo) Smith & Wesson S.W.A.T. and SWATM. On the other is US PAT. 6651344, US PAT. 6276063, ADD. PATENTS PENDING, DESIGN PAT. PENDING, 4034 STEEL in little letters near the opening nub(as if anyone cares about that.)

The bad:

The pocket clip is very stiff, and makes it as bit hard to slide onto and off of a pocket.

Those black sections you see are like skateboard grip tape sections (or something like it). They're very gritty, but combined with the pocket clip will wear away at your pants. Also, every time I put my hands in my pockets without being mindful of it, the grit rubs on my hand. Not painful, but a mite annoying.

The plastic nub that acts as the secondary (or primary) opening method is plastic, and might break off, eventually. An Amazon reviewer said this happened to him.

The metal knob used for the primary (secondary?) opening method, when pressed, will let the knife open quickly, but give way abruptly, letting your thumb slid up and dangerously close to the sharp edge as the knife opens.


The final words? This blade wont replace my Shrade all the time. It's a great cold-weather knife, because it could be slipped in a coat pocket (circumventing the pocket clip-grip tape issue) and be opened easily while wearing gloves. But the pocket clip-grip tape is a big issue for what would otherwise be a quickly and cleanly deployable knife.

Waste of money? Hell no, it's an excellent knife. But it's got it's problems that irk me.

I've never really been interested in assisted-opening knives. A simple thumb stud with a liner lock is my weapon of choice. The Browning I have now has a system in it that gives extra friction when it's closed to keep it from popping open, and that's perfect for me.

Someday I'll have to upgrade to a partially-serrated blade though. Sometimes the all-plain edge just doesn't have the guts.

My knife has a mechanism that applies friction to the blade when you adjust the belt clip. I activated it accidentally once, and thought my blade was broken.

It was the opposite for me. The serrations on my Schrade only got in the way when I wanted clean cuts. It was like cutting (pun) the blade's useful length in half.

I had been looking at the M&P, and now that I know about the sandpaper issue I wish I'd gone with it. It was the higher price that put me off.

Sweet knife. The one I carry is this giant Wenger Swiss Army Knife, with 30-something tools in it. A few inches thick. >.>

Thus, I'm looking for a new one for when I'm not going to need anything but a small blade. So, I hope to get one of these little knives soon. biggrin

I've seen those before. Not exactly what I'm looking for- I need a tiny knife that is just a knife. Nothing more, nothing less. (Though a balisong would be kick a**, the good ones are out of my price range.)

The secretary also has a 2"+ blade, but I call it small because it's so thin. Something like 2mm at its thickest, IIRC.

My current knife-


I consider it to be pretty large because it's 1 1/2" thick. >.>

Hell yeah! pirate Eh. I'm not much of a fan of Spyderco's. Their knives are pretty good, but I wouldn't rank them above Benchmade's Blue Series. The Gold Series of Benchmade is the true line of Ferrari knives- I saw a handcrafted Gold Series Balisong going for $1,100 the other day. Personally, I really don't see the point of getting knives the size that Spyderco and Benchmade specialize in. A swiss army knife can handle most of the tasks you'd carry knives for on a day-to-day basis, and a large kukri can handle the really labor-intensive tasks. The knives in between those two are more cumbersome to carry day-to-day, and can't really deal with the truly difficult chores you'd need something large for. They're also not really very good survival knives, but I'm sure they make one of those that would prove me wrong.Unfortunately, yes. emo
(I want to get Windows 7 soon, along with an upgrade to 4 GB of RAM. The OS is fine and all, but I'm pretty much screwed when it comes to gaming.)