This seems interesting but, it is basically a crux with a button lock and titanium handles and its over 100 dollars more expensive. So a swing an a miss. its not that it isn't nice but for that price tag its not justifiable.
R117It's made in the US, like people have been clamoring for, in a better steel, which people have been clamoring for, and it's a larger knife too.
It's definitely not just an aluminum Crux.
OmniseedU.S.A made does not necessarily mean its better and the blade steal is great but any real hard use it would have is trashed by those aluminum handles. Ever put any pressure on aluminum. Its a very soft metal. What im saying is that if you look at a base crux and a mordax, your getting the same shape knife but one is noticeably more value and the other has better blade steel with a huge flaw, since you could go get a zt for abt 220 with better quality handle materials and still the good blade steel. Made in usa and just no button lock. This is a rip off
R117I didn't say US-made is better, I said that the community has been begging for more US-made offerings, like this one. It's the second US-made knife in their lineup, from a new manufacturing partner, both of which are interesting points and things that dozens of people have asked for over the past year and a half of these collaborations.
Different manufacturers in different nations result in different pricing, as a result the US-made knife is about a hundred bucks more than the WE-made knives. Jonas told us to expect at least that level of price jump if we wanted a model made in the US out of a more expensive/less ubiquitous steel than S35VN.
Bringing us to the steel, S35VN is great and I'm glad they avoided standardizing on almost any other likely option. M390/20CV/204P would be great to see more often, and some XHP, Cru-Wear, and LC200N would be awesome too. But the 20CV here is more expensive to work with because it's harder on the consumables involved in manufacturing, belts and whatnot, and the price of the material is probably at least 20-30% higher to boot. This knife is selling for normal Pro-Tech prices despite being in a steel that they don't use.
Zero Tolerance is a Japanese company with a US manufacturing facility, they're more or less a division of the Japanese counterpart to Spyderco and Victorinox. They pump out production knives that are well made when they don't have lock slip, but they are always available. Limited runs of a given knife generally bring a higher price tag, especially when they are an iteration of an existing popular custom, like the Mordax. Look at what the DLT Manix2 in 20CV is selling for now that the only market is secondhand. This is in many ways a better knife for the average person compared to the G10 Manix2.
As far as aluminum being mega fragile, that is not my experience at all. These are about 0.185" slabs of metal, you cannot bend it by squeezing and I don't see what you are describing at all. Aluminum works fine as a receiver for plenty of weapon systems, as a structural component in aircraft, and as a material used in everyday tools and devices, like Pro-Tech knives. Lots of people love Pro-Tech stuff, I spend a lot of time on knife forums, and I cannot recall seeing a complaint about aluminum from an actual Pro-Tech owner.
I think this is a pretty reasonable price overall even though it is expensive.
It's also not just a Crux, it's just the dominant parent out of a three or foursome of Elliot Williamson's designs. It is larger and a different knife in hand and in pocket.
OGBOBBYJOHNSONWhat i mean with the titanium is that you drop it once there goes your finish, its basically the same problem the benchmade 940 has. I'm not saying either are bad knives but once that finish is gone it doesn't look as nice and the finish is harder to fix than say titanium which you could do with some 9v batteries or g10/micarta that just needs sandpaper so there isn't a lasting value on the handles. the blade sure but i feel that because that finish is so easily destroyed on the handles you'd basically be paying for just the steel and that's not ideal
OmniseedYou can but its a much more involved process that needs to be temperature controlled and requires dye and acid vs titanium which is basically water and some batteries. I dont mind wear on knives in the 100 and under range with exceptions to worn micarta which looks nice but above that unless its an art knife, which this is not, there needs to be lasting quality. Not just initial quality in mind for the product and aluminum doesnt provide that especially on a knife that has exlcusivity like this.
OmniseedIm not saying protech doesn't make good knives or that all aluminum knives are bad, but this being a non auto push button lock with 1 milling pattern available or just plain, and massdrop being known for releasing a better version later. That doesnt make for a very compelling combo
OmniseedCF, copper, brass, g10, titanium any of these would have made the community and myself jump on this like rabid wolves. The excuse that they are used to the material doesnt fly, because they arent used to 20cv and that isnt a problem so why is the handle material.
R117I understand you outlook but personally I don’t fix knives if they are dropped unless it the blade that gets chipped. I feel if it’s dropped then that’s part of the history that knife carries for its lifetime. I guess if your trying to keep it as pristine as possible it may make a difference but that’s not my bag so whatever floats ones boat. Honestly there’s just something about metal I respect more than g-10 or micarta ... I would take aluminum & titanium over micarta & g-10 any day of the week... even if there wasn’t a price difference...again personal preference obviously varies person to person. I never understood this distaste for aluminum ... I never understood why people liked g-10 so much .. always felt cheap and toyish to me in comparison.
OGBOBBYJOHNSONBasically for me it comes down to wear copper and brass patina and wear very well and like you say add to the story of that knife but with aluminum after a while it just looks like any old beater knife and i want a worn knife that you could look at and be like oh man it still looks in good condition even after being beaten like it has an ESEE warranty, because if it has 20cv im gonna beat it like it does
R117Ok so you enjoy the life marks ... just not on aluminum! Ok we’re of the same mindset just our material preferences are different When it comes to the life marks left on them. 👍🏻