ITT: New Toys

[Allamorph]

O hnto!

[Allamorph]

I am double posting now for because.

Two new toys this time.  Any guesses on what they are?


Well, you're absolutely right.  Knives.    _{yay =3}

Both are from Columbia River Knives and Tactical.  Upper knife is the Shrill, lower is the OC3.  Blade on the Shrill is four inches, OC3 is six, and both are double-edged—although the Shrill is the one obviously intended for stabby purposes, and has a clip-on leather sheath for easy placement on your person.  OC3 is more for tactical stuff, like being a backup to your Bowie when you're hiking or hunting or what have you. 

Both hilts are made of micarta, which is essentially cloth/fiber/denim-reinforced thermosetting resin (or polymer resin, depending on how ubergeekish you want to be about it).  One of my roommates recently looked into making the stuff, and it's pretty neat, and durable besides.  Basically, you take a whole bunch of strips of whatever cloth or fiber material you want to use, and layer them together with resin between each layer, then apply pressure over the whole block to compress it down while it's setting.  When it's shaped for whatever it's being used for later, the cutting process reveals the layers and makes the patterns you see above.  Sort of like a topographical map, almost.

Edit: If you want to know more about micarta, you should talk to piggyback garu over at TheO.  He studies all sorts of textiles and stuff so he can go into theatrical costume production/manufacturing. Way more knowledgeable about the subject than I am.

Since these are both fixed-blade knives, I don't actually expect to carry them all that often (maybe the Shrill more than the OC3), but they're nice to have, especially if I end up taking a port of call in, you know, Singapore or something, and want to feel a little bit safer, just in case.  The OC3 is far too large to conceal on me (it's roughly the length of my forearm, for scale), but I do have my Thunder Strike for my back and my Sting for my boot as well. 

I've looked at CRKT's folding knives, but none of them really interest me.  They're almost exclusively liner-lock knives, which means when you open the knife, part of the inside frame bends over to 'prevent' accidental closure, but they can give out pretty easily if you apply enough pressure to the swedge.  Some CRKT foldings have an additional lock that reinforces the liner, but I just don't like relying on them, and I always feel incredibly uncomfortable having to put my finger in the way of the blade when I'm closing it.  I much prefer frame locks (which is a spring-loaded lever on the swedge side of the tang that also prevents motion) or the Benchmade Axis style locks (which keeps my locking/unlocking finger on the side of the knife and away from the blade). 

Right now, the only folding knives I own are either from Benchmade (which is a little on the pricey side) or SOG.  I've looked at Gerber, but heard odd things about their blade materials, and I've also been told that Buck, which was a great name when my Dad was younger, has gone into a sort of decline in the past couple of decades, so I'm hesitant to buy from them just yet.  I do want the Gerber MK II (although I would love to have it without the serrations), and I need to eventually get myself a KABAR since they're pretty much the standard on Bowies, and after that... 

I dunno, actually.  Should probably start looking into a good home defense pistol.  Maybe when I get to a shore command and can actually devote time to going to the range to practice.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Allamorph