Holt contacted the person I sold my Spector too. They want to fix any issues with there knives. Excellent customer service! Do not be afraid to buy one. The knife in this video was safe and wouldn’t fail. They’re a new company and I believe new knife makers as well. It’s an unbelievably first knife. And they have excellent customer service. I’ll be keeping an eye on the company and hope to get another one of there knives in hand.
Holy shit youre the only other knife guy I have ever met that actually checks for lock rock/pivot play/blade play etc. In the exact same way that I do. A TON of knives have poor lockup geometry and nobody even realizes it which is really sad. Hopefully more people see this video and actually check their knives the right way and start holding companies accountable!
Thanks for sharing the info. I believe most people use the word quality to describe price. They never test knives for fitment. If it's expensive its"quality". I caught myself doing this early on but now have started checking each knife. Quality is also subjective. Everyone's opinion will be a little different. Thanks again. Great video.
Loved your point about the knife community vs. consumers, and completely agree. I belonged to the latter group for decades before becoming aware of the community, joining it, and upgrading to better knives.
you prolly dont care but does someone know of a tool to log back into an Instagram account? I somehow forgot the password. I appreciate any tips you can give me.
Im a recent subscriber and your video's have shown me more about what really matters in knives and what to look for. I recently started to get the knife bug and I've learned more from your video's than many of the others. Thank you and please keep up the amazing work.
Thank you for this! I especially appreciate the shoutout to working folks who use a knife every day even though they may not think about the “knife community” per se. I think it’s awesome to cultivate a community of designers, makers, machinists, etc who put real heart and craftsmanship into their work. And also I don’t think there’s any reason to insult or belittle folks who are just entering that more professional collector space (as I’ve seen in a few of the less savory online spaces). These are great tips for determining quality! Much appreciated!
Great video!!! Lots of good points that you made. I have one knife that is like your Strider with play when knife is between open and close but it is solid when locked up. Hope to see more content. Thanks.
I don’t baby my knives, guns or trucks. I also spend a ton of money on all of the above. I literally used a $2000 Marfione Custom to prune my wife’s roses and cut straps off stacks of delivered lumber. As a home builder there’s no time for babying gear. That is the difference between a Collector and a User.
This is really true about that more people just use knives like "improperly" in our point of view. Even if I know that knives are just tools made to work with them I care about my blades, clean them up and strop every time after job is done in contrast to my father whose knife is always dirty and scratched. It is this thought in your head that you have to keep them in good condition to remain the value for swapping or selling the knife in the future. Those are "men's jewelry" in some way :D
Although blade centering and blade geometry can be fixed with a little adjusting and sharpening I like to look at those two because if they're going to let a knife go to market with a crooked blade and a jacked up tip or something I might not want to buy it at all
@neroknives why is it that you prefer early lockup to late lockup? I would assume that late lockup to be 'better' (as in a safer, stronger lockup) I always prefer a 20-50% lockup on all frame locks
Ive had things fall on the spine of a knife a couple times. One time it guarenteed would of folded a zt on my fingers. Or atleast the examples from the video.
Thanks for the info. I'm new to knives and knife collecting. I knew very little about correct lock geometry... I thought 70-100% was better because it prevented the blade from folding on my hand prematurely. I understand you to say that is not the case - right? I just subscribed to your channel just based on this video. Please keep them coming.
Great vid! Any experience with lockups that rely on a single small point of contact, like a CRK umnam with the ceramic ball or a jason guthrie tungsten rod insert? I have a recently built guthrie I'm edcing that passed all those tests easily, seems immaculately built to me, but interested in your thoughts on these sorts of inserts nonetheless.
Mad Man I don’t see any problem with them. The ceramic ball that crk uses, it’s a small contact area. But the amount of surface area contacting the lock face doesn’t really add any strength, just longevity to the knife. But since it’s ceramic it’s much much harder then the s35vn, so the ceramic won’t where out over time, But the blade will. But since the blade is a consumable And can be replaced, by the time the ceramic ball where’s down the lock face, you’ll probably of sharpened it so may times, it’ll be time for a new blade anyway. So I think it’s a good idea, the only downside would be that it’s possible for the ball the brake, but extremely unlikely.
Correct lock geometry is the most important aspect of lock integrity. Vertical play, lock-rock, and lock push are signs of QC issues (machining issues) when it comes to frame and liner locks. A knife with this type of blade play should not get past QC. I've personally experiences these issues with the following manufacturers: Emerson Knives Strider Knives and MSC ZT
He also says ok Kay ok Kay ok kay, every five seconds and it gets very annoying but it is informative I wish you could just stop saying okay every 3 seconds.
I think it would be interesting to hear you elaborate a little on your thoughts on the severity of each of these flaws. For example: I recently got a knife that has a little bit of lockbar travel if I push it, but it stops dead at 50% lockup, which to me is appropriate. How do each of these flaws affect the overall performance of the knife, and are there acceptable tolerances in them? Thanks for these really informative videos!
mr confirming your thoughts i dont buy fancy knives and use my tools hard and beat them up and do all of the things that you said fixed blades and mostly cold steel triad locks for folders for hard use . i could not have a zt as i probably would have cut all my fingers off as i do all the bad things were not supposed to do as i cant carry ever tool needed . the testing details are great as i have never looked at the play when open at 90% .but i will now i really like how you put everything to the test ... keep it up
I'm not a knife snob I have had $550 knives but generally I don't spend more than about 350 or 250 on knives, and some of my favorite knives are ones I spent 120 and less for.
Well done. I do almost the same thing. Check out Koenig Knives arius. Has excellent lock geometry doesn’t move even in hard cutting. Steel insert but just a touch of stick, the good kind. Mine had a little pivot play but bill sent me a new pivot and it fixed it right up. I added a little pressure to the lock bar and it is still almost a fall shut Knife. Excellent quality. Best flipper around at any price in my opinion.
Matthew Forrest Thanks. I’m actually still waiting on my custom Arius to be made. It’s been taking a long time because of blade show. But I can’t wait to finally get it in hand.
neroknives you won’t be disappointed. What’s odd is that the pivot is the only positive locator in the knife. The backspacer simply spaces the back it won’t stop the ti slabs from shifting. They did it by making he slabs perfectly flat. You will see what I mean. Excellent Knife.
I'm one of those new subscribers, and really like your channel. If I was to do a RU-vid video, I would like to think that my videos would be much like yours. I am a knife collector, camper, & outdoors enthusiast, have been for over 55 years (I'm 70), and you have re-kindled my greatest fear...buying knives on line. I want to hold, feel, pocket test, shake, rattle & roll a knife before purchase. And, as has happened just this past week, if I screw up on a purchase due to the dealer's fault, manufacturer's fault, or just change my mind after holding the knife...well then I pretty much have no recourse. There are no knife stores anywhere nearby and as a collector, the big box stores just don't do it for me. Sending a knife back (if they even agree to accept it) is expensive (postage, custom regulations, etc.) And often just not possible. It is the reason I watch so many knife reviewers...I'm trying to lessen the chance of a poor choice. Thank-you for your videos.
Well done on observing pivot tolerances. Nearly no one even discovers this. And in reality it probably doesn't negatively effect a knives performance as long as its not incredibly oversized. But what is interesting about this Is I sometimes wonder if certain makers intentionally don't ream their pivots perfectly. Because I have found a couple instances where I was able to find a pivot tube that was a better fit and would eliminate the knocking but now I have lockup problems because the blade isn't allowed to slip. I have even had a knife whos lock wouldn't even engage anymore because the lock needed that slippage to have enough room to engage the tang. And Im actually amazed to see just how many higher end knives costing over $300 that have this issue.
Great info here. Another thing I check is centering. Sometimes it can be corrected by disassembling and adjusting the pivot. However this doesn't always fix it. I'm not that OCD about it unless the blade is extremely close to the scale. If I can't get it centered better I will send the knife back for warranty service, or if it's still within the return time frame I'll request another knife. If I get another bad one I'll get my money back.
@Dion St. Michael No problem man. Maybe it's not so much OCD, just that we pay our good money for a product and we have an expectation that it will be put together correctly. The materials used may be excellent but if the quality control is off, it ruins the final result. And it makes us mad!😡
Depending on the price is exactly how much I abuse it the more money the less I torture it not for resell most people don’t buy a knife with reselling it in mind they buy it because they want a new knife
Sorry guys I miss spoke in the video😞. The lock on the Spector isn’t moving over because of light lock bar pressure. That’s due to the stock pin/and lock face. But a drop shut action is generally achieved by light lock bar pressure, which negatively impact strength among other things.
To be honest I only buy knives that will hold up to extreme situations. Function over beauty. I dumped a whole drawer of my knives to buy quality ones because I was tired of knives failing under use. I had mentioned in one of your other video comments how I've lost the tip of my thumb and cut halfway through my index finger because of a lock failure. It was at work and trust me when I say once you lose parts of your hand do to a shitty lock you look at knives in a different perspective. I do have two knives in my collection that are wall hangers and won't see use because they are straight up combat and have zero use for daily hard use. Now all that being said, I've worked in manufacturing and automotive industries so yes I'm harder on a knife in daily use than somebody riding a desk all day. I think it depends on what the person is wanting from a knife. Because of my needs I typically lean towards Tanto blades because I know they hold up better under duress than others like clip points that I've broken. Great video's I just think there's a little more to selecting a knife such as blade material and so on. Personally I still prefer a axis lock over liner lock for durability. Again great video's keep it up ,Cheers!
@Dion St. Michael , I have spinal stenosis and other herniated disks so I have nerve issues and rather playing guitar or using a blade can be an issue. Typically now thoe because I have a lack of feeling in my arms and legs, if I do have an accident it's not as painful lol. But I just don't buy crap blades anymore regardless, Cheers bud!
ConCQuence yea sabenza is sold. So are my hinderers, and striders. But striders just have some lash in the pivot. Out of what I went over, that the pivot movement would probably be the most minor to me.
Damen0530 I would recommend blade forms. They have a crk exclusive section. You can get awesome deals on there. A sabenza 21 you can normally get on bf for about $100 off retail in excellent condition. And even if you get one with a couple marks on it, you can always send it to crk and get it re blasted and sharpened for free. Just look for someone with a good rating. I’ve been on bf for years and never had an issue.
Damen0530 also they have a crk Facebook page that’s exclusive to just selling crk. You can check that out as well. But I would recommend checking out bf first.
Hey, I read a post by sal a while back while rummaging around in the spyderco forums since my delica that came with a tiny bit of play. In response to a question about lockbacks with some play "A very slight vertical play in lockbacks is fairly common if they are engineered for strength. sal" Why is this?
DontBotherNone I don’t know for sure. But id have to assume that because it’s a back lock. And Having a little extra play would allow the knife to still lock if the knife gets dirt in the lock. Now there might also be more to it. But I don’t see how having room would add strength, but I can see how it could possibly negatively affect strength. Also I have some spyderco back locks that have play and some that don’t. So I don’t think they make them with play on purpose, This is just my opinion because I don’t know for sure.
I said this in a comment on a previous video, but this reminded me of it. I don't really feel the Holt has any trouble other than the fact that they didn't put enough lockbar pressure on it in the interest of making it drop-shutty. If that bar can be bent over just a tad, I think we'll find that it's not a stop pin spacing issue. It's just the lockbar itself not being angled correctly and perhaps not being quite long enough if it's found to be horribly late locking up after the bending. I don't like it, and it is still a fitment issue. I just don't think it's the stop pin's or pivot's fault so much. Anyway, once the bar is pushed in a bit more, I don't feel that extra space left in that internal lockpin area would exist anymore. I think it's all the lockbar's fault.
Oh, your explanation of knife users in the REAL world is spot on. Maybe true-blue knife guys won't use their knives to do anything other than.....well.....knifing, but everyone else does. My dad's best friend gave him a little SOG Twitch. I don't like it, but my dad seems to enjoy it. I cleaned it up and sharpened it for him. Very thin, frail little blade. After I gave it back to him, he immediately walked out to his car and noticed a stone wedged into the tread of his new tires. I knew right away what I was about to see. He took his little, extremely thin, freshly sharpened knife, and started prying the stone out. His knuckles were turning white. It took like....a minute. He bent the tip, and then I died a little. THAT'S how real people use their stuff. The End.
Dave Glarner if you bend the lock bar it’ll just lock up at 100% and get lock rock really quick. Because there would be no more room for the lock to move over. Now what they could do is put sleeves over the internal stop pins. Kinda like what strider does when his locks would move over to 100%. That would make it so the stop pins can’t go back as far, and make it lock up earlier.
neroknives I get it. I guess I'd have to feel it. And I only do it if I determine it would get me somewhere. Past that, yeah. If it's off, it's off. I don't want 100% lockup AND the original blade play. I've never held a Strider. I should go ahead and work on that!
Dave Glarner yea I just sent them a email today so I’m waiting to see what they can do. And yes I would definitely recommend the newer striders. The one with the M.strider on them. The older ones are still good. But definitely not on the same level.
Jovonn Trujillo lol. yea definitely don’t keep trying to make a knife fail. If you want to just do light taps on your hand to check. And I would just leave it at that.
Great point,for example you can reach underneath an object or in an intricate area cut a rope thats holding something in place and as you draw the knife out you contact the top spine of the knife thus forcing it downward if your fingers are in the way ,you've earned a nice trip to th Emergency Room- I cut my left index finger(severed tendon) in such an unexpected way 3 weeks off work and a big medical bill later ......be careful guys I love making knives,but this incident messed up some plans,I am very fortunate to not lose my finger
Husky 701 I really like knives made in the us. So that’s the first thing. Then the second is that they steal peoples designs. They could easily come up with original designs. But choose not too. And my favorite all time knife is really difficult to answer. Just for a day to day working knife, probably the newer strider sng or smf. They are some of the best cutting knives on the market, and are extremely durable. But they are really noticeable in the pocket. A large sabenza 21 or a Benchmade Anthem will be up for any task they cut good and look good in the pocket. But don’t cut as good as the striders.
Holy shit dude!, my favorite thing about you and your channel is that you call out a lot of controversial shit!! Holt fans are hating your guts rite now! Lol, well done though....the truth will set you free!
Was that Brian Edell or Brian Udell knives? I checked 5 knife companies and found no makers or designers by that name.Please write the names of the knives reviewed in the information under the video
I’m kinda sick of people saying they don’t like want Ganzo does along some others just to let people not one company is going to go out of business cuz Ganzo make a similar 940 knife the dumb politics behind this is lame now when they logo and counterfeit directly that’s a moral thing all companies will not go down because of China or hats my opinion it’s just a good way to make if we want to spend hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars on a single knife
After handling and using many knives and thousands of dollars later.. I've found out that the only true way to find out if any one knife has or is quality is to use it..I've spent good money on knives that were made of top quality material and it be shit..and I've spent 20.00 on knives that out preformed knives that cost 10 times as much.. RU-vid has spread so much shit that many (myself included) fell victim to..bottom line is no matter who made it or what it's made of,if you don't use it you can't truly say it's good and I don't mean use it for a video and say it's great.. I'm talking spending time working with it..
convex haha. brian nadeau mini typhoon is what my knife is. You can only get his knives on the secondary market now. They go for about $500 witch is the same price as the holt specter.
I lost count of the number of points I disagree with to some extent. On the one knife that had the lock travel when you rocked the blade, bad that it happens, good that the geometry was correct so that it walked to a more engaged position (thus avoiding failure in use). So, by your definition, Strider isn't a quality knife because it rattles? I think you'd have a rough time selling that opinion on BladeForums. I think your video would be better titled 'How to Test a Knife' rather than 'Quality' because quality is a sliding scale depending on more than out of the box fitment. It also includes serviceability (can any problem be resolved with simple maintenance), is the choice of materials suitable to the price point? Is the out of the box experience in line with the price? Is service and warranty within expectations for the price? Your mileage may vary.
