Round two is on! How can I contain myself here, Drop & Reate have done a beautiful job of translating this knife into a performance production knife. As usual Jonas and Mike as well as the Drop team have thoughtfully worked through this process with me. I hope the care and integrity of this product come through in the pictures…I know it will when it is in hand! As the next model the Lynx offers a smaller format than the Orca with its own distinct design features. The sweeping belly blade which was inspired by some of my older skinning fixed blade knives is hollow ground with a thin edge for slicing and good cutting dynamics. While the rounded back edge drops down to a nice tip that’s design offers superior strength.
Over the years the Lynx Design has been one of my most requested designs and for various reasons I never made anywhere near enough. When I started in with Drop we agreed that we would do more than one design so the Lynx seemed I good Second option to the larger Orca that is out. As the Orca worked out well we wanted to try to keep to the linerlock format. The Lynx design with its clean style offered an option to emphasis the simple sweeping nature of the blade and handle design with the milling on the scales.
As many have observed about my designs, I like flowing lines and tactile textures or shaping. In this case the milling provides good texture for control as well as a visual element. The handle scales are thin making the knife lean and easy to carry. Additionally it fits nicely in the hand and the finger choil allows a comfortable choke up hold too. Our society has those that are sensitive to knives, so the small design of the Lynx and multiple opening options allows for a cautious opening. As well as fore finger flick, thumb flick and/or flipper tab opening when the coast is clear and fun time is on or time is of the essence.
Drop has been a good fit for me, and I really want to thank all the Drop Members for the warm reception on the Orca. It has been a pleasure to hear and see the enthusiasm and comments. Truly makes the work that goes into the design and planning part of this worth the effort! The Blade community here at Drop has been really supportive, not just with me but with several makers and this has allowed Drop to develop a wonderful line of quality products, in my opinion. At the last Blade show I even had the opportunity to check out all the models and hangout with the other makers, what a great time!
Thank you for the support and checking out the Lynx!
Regards,
Eric
PS: There is a couple more pics and a video in my Instagram feed (ochsworx) if you are interest. Swipe to see video.
EricOchsAny chance we will ever see a left handed version of this, or anything you sell here? I would of both the original drop and this one if it atleast had the option of rotating the clip, I don't even really care about the lock being flipped. On a liner lock it doesn't even matter which side the lock is on.
EricOchsInteresting looking knife! Should this be any different from the Orca when it comes to slicing performance? The Lynx is listed as somewhat thinner behind the edge but practically the same blade stock thickness. I can't tell whether the blade height is different, but the blade geometry seems similar. The Orca's primary bevel's pretty short, so it gets thick fast slicing through materials.
EricOchsDenim jeans were your literal inspiration for one of those variations, weren’t they? Blue collar ethos. Beer drinking knife.
But then w/ the purple and carbon black, it looks very elegant and black tie. Much like the Orca.
EricOchsi have been leaning toward picking up some of this Bob Loveless steel, in a piece like this with some purpose to it. Heard nice things about it, that it’s as good or better than the steels Chris Reeve did.
As a knife guy, what do you like about it- what’s it giving your knives?
reswrightThe RWL-34 takes a nice keen edge. While the S30V & S35VN steels that Chris Reeve helped Crucible develop are also great powder steels, which I have used extensively for years, and they have great edge retention properties. They do not take a keen edge like an AEB-L or Carbon Steel. The RWL-34 does and I do appreciate that. To be honest I like most powder steels pretty hard to go wrong with any of them. This one is pretty easy to resharpen. I think that should always be a consideration for collectors to know about. There are some amazing steels out there, but without a grinder or sharpening system there is almost no way resharpen them. That is not the case with the RWL-34.
EricOchsI agree. You buy a knife once but you will need it just as much on the 1000th day you carry it as you do the first. People do not understand, genuinely, how tricky and even expensive it can be to sharpen hard steels, but they know they want them. So they buy them. And the simple truth is, when people can’t sharpen an expensive knife they put it away, and get no more value or benefit from their investment of money. Instead of being happy to own it, they feel a little bit of regret every time they see it. Who wants to feel like they can’t even sharpen a knife?
The thing I like about your answer on top of the info is that it’s straight Bob Loveless philosophy: all about being used and being practical and making working knives.
reswrightA composition chart graph showing how RWL-34 stacks up against better known PM steels:
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The chart tells you that RWL-34's main characteristic is that it's a high molybdenum stainless steel. At high concentrations in the right alloy, molybdenum can form double carbides, which isn't immediately apparent just by looking at a chart, but ends up acting much as though there were some tungsten in the mix. The odd thing about RWL-34 is that it has comparatively little vanadium in it, but that's probably why it's easy to grind.
IT's pretty easy to overexaggerate the differences between high end steels, though. Any of them are awesome. I tend to look at them not as 'which is best' but 'what's the difference mean to me as a guy using and maintaining the knife'.