Whats your latest knife purchase?

[shooter1975]

Scored another deal this time on BladeHq. A 610H for $139.99!! I guess it got discontinued.

[tcd511]

Protech 2205 Calmigo

California legal switchblade.

Fires strong!!


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Love my Calmingo! Awesome little knife!

[crufflers]

If you see any GEC 43's still for sale, grab one of those if you like the pattern. It is a new 2018 pattern IIRC, and they are gorgeous, great sized knife... not too small a blade and not heavy either.

I think the latest release was the 06 Pembertons. For whatever reason those didn't do much for me... I like the scout styles and really like sheep's foot blades on the smaller 15's like the Beer Scout, Crownlifter's, etc... and simple Sodbusters. I don't like spear points. I have been wanting to try a CASE sodbuster, but I love the GECS so much and they are so affordable... sending $30 or $40 on another brand that was not up to par would leave me wishing it was spent on a GEC. I tried some Maserins from the CK SFO value line and was disappointed overall. The GEC 71, 21 are just great knives.

[MeatyMac]

Interesting traditional... 2007 Great Eastern made Schrade... (GEC #23 Pioneer Trapper in Brown pick bone) GEC 2018 #43 for scale
From the early days of GEC

That GEC is a real looker...I’m starting to narrow in on what I like, bought my first Cripple Creek traditional stag scaled knife made in ‘98 the week before last and I sure like the look of that knife...


Mac

[Excitable Boy]

So after watching some videos from this years Shot Show, I was impressed by the new Gerber Fastball. I was a little worried about purchasing this given Gerber's past and poor quality control and the price but had high hopes Gerber was finally serious about their knives again. Well, the knife arrived and all my worries were confirmed. The knife I received had the blade so off center it was rubbing the frame and the left to right blade play was just too much. Pretty unhappy with my purchase I asked for an rma to return. it.

So fast forward to now. I am getting it ready to ship back and taking a look at it for a second time. I decided rather than returning it I would attempt to recenter the blade and remove the blade play. This took all of about 15 minutes and came out perfectly. So what did I learn? Gerber is still hit or miss with their QC.

The knife itself though is a good knife, now after fixing it. Is it worth the $100 price tag? No. Size wise, it is the same size as a Kershaw Dividend or Leek. Features wise it is more like the Dividend in construction. The main difference is the blade material. Where Kershaw uses 420C Gerber is using S30V. The Fastball is a flipper that acts like it has assisted opening but it doesn't. It deploys fast and locks up quick and tight. If your considering this knife I would suggest finding something else. There are more knives in this price range that you can get a better bang for your buck.

Blade play is an absolute deal killer for me. You can tighten the pivot and screw around to get it centered, but in the end, that means that the blade to pivot tolerances are way too loose and sloppy. Like a cheap *** semi auto pistol where the slide rattles around in my mind.

Scored some good deals on the bay.


ZT 0055

I love that 0452, but the oo55 does nothing for me. I've seen plenty of Gus's customs in real life and his workmanship is absolutely top shelf and the prices reflect it, but his designs just don't resonate with me. Too angular. He's a really nice guy. He's is always at a big show I go to in Vegas on Labor Day weekend and he typically brings just a couple knives and guys will fight for them.

Protech 2205 Calmigo

California legal switchblade.

Fires strong!!


[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Protech makes some of the coolest auto out there and Dave Wattenburg is a really nice guy. He always does a special show addition model for the Vegas show. I've got a couple I couldn't resist even though I can't do anything with them in Cali but fire them while sitting at my desk at home. I've got a Collab he did with Emerson and an auto Strider PT that they did. Fastest firing side opening autos on the market! Hopefully Knife Rights eventually gets around to getting Cali's auto laws fixed. They've done a good job overturning the auto bans in a bunch of other states. Most of my political contributions go to the NRA or CGF, but I did have to send a few bucks to Knife Rights last year.

[COINTELPRO]

Protech 2205 Calmigo

California legal switchblade.

Fires strong!!


[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[slower than...]

These just arrived today!

I will be the first to admit I know absolutely nothing about knives. So I won't begin to speculate on the quality, sharpness, metallurgy, etc. of these knives. But I assume for $49.95 for each, they aren't going to be anything special.
Saw these in the American Rifleman magazine (the NRA publication). Not the best knives for sure, but at least to me, they certainly look "purdy".

[crufflers]

Mine was smooth out of the box. Tab springy but smooth, action like butter. Interesting grind and design. I typically treat it like a two-stage trigger and take the slack out first, then fire it.

I saw a Youtube of someone taking apart the SLT and I would not try it. Glad you got yours where you want it.

[shooter1975]

Nice ones. How do you like the 0055?

Thanks bud! Its a really nicely built knife! definitely heavier than my 452. The SLT tab is something I have to get use to! Super smooth knife though after I took it all apart and put Gun Butter on all the bearings. I also polished the SLT tab, blade pivot and the flat sides of the handle scales. It was to monotone for me!

Just as a PSA on anyone that has an 0055, if your SLT tab seams gritty or not smooth its because its over tightened. When I got mine it felt like it was packed full of sand and the funny thing is that the SLT tab housing has 2 thrust bearings in it, which I was surprised. Word of caution though the little ****ing spring in the housing is a ***** to get back into position. Disassemble with caution!!!

[crufflers]

Nice ones. How do you like the 0055?

[shooter1975]

Scored some good deals on the bay.

ZT 0452WBW





ZT 0055

[MongooseV8]

Looks a lot like a Leek and Skyline baby

[tcd511]

So after watching some videos from this years Shot Show, I was impressed by the new Gerber Fastball. I was a little worried about purchasing this given Gerber's past and poor quality control and the price but had high hopes Gerber was finally serious about their knives again. Well, the knife arrived and all my worries were confirmed. The knife I received had the blade so off center it was rubbing the frame and the left to right blade play was just too much. Pretty unhappy with my purchase I asked for an rma to return. it.

So fast forward to now. I am getting it ready to ship back and taking a look at it for a second time. I decided rather than returning it I would attempt to recenter the blade and remove the blade play. This took all of about 15 minutes and came out perfectly. So what did I learn? Gerber is still hit or miss with their QC.

The knife itself though is a good knife, now after fixing it. Is it worth the $100 price tag? No. Size wise, it is the same size as a Kershaw Dividend or Leek. Features wise it is more like the Dividend in construction. The main difference is the blade material. Where Kershaw uses 420C Gerber is using S30V. The Fastball is a flipper that acts like it has assisted opening but it doesn't. It deploys fast and locks up quick and tight. If your considering this knife I would suggest finding something else. There are more knives in this price range that you can get a better bang for your buck.

[crufflers]

That's funny. I was in the hunt with both high end production knives and customs for years. These days, I'm starting to feel like I just have too many knives and am thinking of parting with some to just reduce the amount of stuff I own overall. I know folks with hundreds of knives and I'm not there, but even having dozens of high end production and customs adds up.

Yeah, for me it was fun because I figured out what I really like, what is just OK, and what I don't like. I got over the mental roadblock of NEVER SELL ANYTHING (still there for firearms, I admit). If I get something I don't like I might sell it right away. Painless when you make money on it or just break even considering EBAY's 10%.

When I sold some on EBAY my monthly totals were crazy. $400 knives that appreciate fast are not hard to let go of (any Team Gemini's hahah) if I am not using them and can't see a use for them besides piling them up. I still have too many users to take camping all at once or whatever. Folders I pretty much figured out two knives I absolutely love and still switch it up once in a while. No need to have dozens on the shelf, but I still do. It is a fun hobby even when you sell stuff IMHO. I keep on buying new stuff too, just change up what I like sometimes.

[Excitable Boy]

New stuff will keep you buying knives forever, hahah.

That's funny. I was in the hunt with both high end production knives and customs for years. These days, I'm starting to feel like I just have too many knives and am thinking of parting with some to just reduce the amount of stuff I own overall. I know folks with hundreds of knives and I'm not there, but even having dozens of high end production and customs adds up.