Proelia Drop-Point TX020 Folding Knife

Mine arrived. The ten second roundup is that it's good, the dimensions differ a bit from those listed, I think it's a better knife than a bargain. [image] The different dimensions: it's about a tenth of an inch shorter in the blade, the overall weight is 196 grams so it's slightly under 7 ounces, not the 7.2 ounes shown here or the 8 oz that the spec sheet that ships with the knife says - but the knife is professionally done by a solid OEM. The weight isn't off because incompatible parts were used or something, everything's got a nice tight fit with narrow tolerance. I like the knife. It flips nicely, very nicely for the size, and it's got solid ergos. It comes in a big inexpensive fabric wrapped cardboard box, and comes with a lot of extra hardware -- looks like there's an extra for every screw and pivot component on the knife, and a couple extra clips. This will be more of a benefit to some folks than others. Honestly the first thing I think when I see stuff like this is 'oh, whats wrong with the hardware that they gotta throw in extras?' Because usually there's a problem that someone's trying to head off at the pass if they ship the item with spare parts. But this stuff doesn't look like cheap hardware - it's mostly not super expensive stuff but it's very good and well made, and even the clip looks fine. So maybe they're just extras? But to me it seems like what's going on is that the OEM made a good knife but it's more, in this market, like $40 than a $50-60 knife and evidently they think they need to charge the latter, so they're coming up with a big box and all the extra toss ins to justify a sale price north of $50. So that's where I am on the bargain -- i don't need all that stuff. But a guy who buys and owns and uses only one or two knives at a time will possibly see this as a much better bargain than i do. The velcro pouch isn't anything I use, but someone else might, and it's not bad at all -- I didn't even really look at it at first because they're always crappy, but this one actually looks pretty rugged and decently designed. It's got nice bearings, too -- not the usual nylon cages, or cobbled together rings where bearings are jammed between nylon teeth and then sealed in with another layer of nylon, but an old school brass cage that looks pretty well precision made under microscope. [image] The fellas talking about appreciating a heavier knife? Mine's good, go ahead and have a go, you'll probably really appreciate how grippy the knife is despite the weight. My initial sense of it is that it's an ok value -- I don't feel bad at all that I paid for it, as a madder of fact I might have a go at modding it up a bit, not that it needs it. At the same time I'm not feeling an urge to run out and buy the TX010 for the same price. The knife itself is decent and the ruggedness feels to be there in spades, and if you like taking apart your knives but you lose bits all the time, this one definitely has your back. And, I mean -- look at that grind. [image] That's not hand ground. That's computerized, that's a CNC bit leaving those fine lines. The blades are stamped with a serial number on the side of the tang. If anyone finds out who the OEM is for these, I'd love to know. Looks like they know their biz. Mind you, the engraving script is a little aliased and artifacted from the process by which the text was mapped to the curve - check how the letter pitch jumps up and down in 'Hardening'. It speaks to someone doing the best they can with the engraving program they have, and not so much someone with advanced skills in manufacturing engraving. But iffy font is probably the worst thing I can find on the knife.

Curiosity got the best of me, even though the drop didn't go through -- I ordered a TX020 off the Zon and will see what's what when it arrives.

Nice! Who put the spreadsheet together? On heat treat the range of hardness is not really surprising. These blades get heat treated in batches and most ovens have hot spots and cold spots, so even if everything is spaced out you can see differences in how much thermal energy is being applied to the metal. You can clearly see which manufacturers prioritize getting it right though. As far as blade steel -- I knew most of this but not that they had caught out Y-Start -- says the JIN02 isn't D2 after all! That's a pisser... but I guess it isn't a huge surprise considering that they're affiliated with CH and Eafengrow. The build quality differences I was seeing - Y-Starts are generally better built than either CH or Eafengrows -- had me convinced that Y-Start was trying to be the legit arm of that enterprise. Alas. I like the way the JIN02 is put together but I can see the blade not actually being D2. I'm probably one of the people who would be least upset to discover that a D2 blade isn't D2, at least on a small pocket knife, but it's complete BS that they're doing that anyway. At least he didn't ding the LK5016 -- I think that's my favorite of the lot. Still, good looking out!