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reswright
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Jul 18, 2019
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Three Fixed Blades It's in the nature of Drop to focus on folders, which makes sense as the Blades community sprang from an EDC basis. Folders are more common there, relatively few people strap a sheath on in the AM before they go to work. But they do work in some fixed blades now and again, which I like.
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From top to bottom, the Real Steel Receptor in 9Cr18MoV, the ABKT Tac Desert Predator in D2, and the Kubey KU169 also in D2. I have a couple ABKT knives. I know little about their provenance but they usually seem to be decently well made.
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The Desert Predator has some nice fit and finish for a budget knife, and it must be said, a nice looking blade. Heavy media wash of some kind, but regular. It's a little longer than the others and has the weighting of a stabbing knife, but a grind that slices ok. It has a typical factory edge, and like all three of these blades you can see the CNC mill marks from its creation:
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Probably the least sharp of the three. D2 is hard to put a killer edge on. But I can get decent grips with it and it'd be fine for utility work. The Kubey has a pretty striking blade -- half skinner, half recurve.
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The big choil ends up being where your finger goes in a pinch grip. This blade is sharp as hell -- I have a bandaid on my finger that can attest to that, nicked it while drawing -- and the ergonomics are very nice for precise work. Nicer than the ABKT but that knife would be better suited to a wide range of work than this one. It's also D2. The edge looks a little keener than the ABKT under light, but it's still a factory grind. Probably best for D2 to leave it with the microserrations.
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It looks nice but for a work knife isn't quite "utility" enough. It should cut fine, but the blade isn't long enough for leverage or slicing. Real Steel makes the third knife, the Receptor:
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To look at it, with the scales sitting well back from the edge of the tang, the question is whether it has as good a grip as the other two knives?
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And it doesn't... It's actually much better! It absolutely melts into my hand in a pinch grip. (I have heard this style referred to as ‘proud scales’. Some swear by it.) This was done by the guy who did the Metamorph: Ostap Hel. I'm thinking he knows his business. This knife has killing ergos for a necker, which I dig immensely. The jimping works for both types of improvised grip. There's even some on the pommel for thumb and finger work when the knife is held in a reversed grip, but that's less impactful than the work on the spine.
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Where the other knives have D2, this has 9Cr18MoV, aka 440B. Little tougher than 440C, not as prone to chip, able to absorb torsional and shear force. CPM 3V and 4V are amazing, amazing steel for fixed blades, but outside of them, IMO the old school steels make better workhorses in the round. Anyway the big difference between this steel and the D2 is that it'll need sharpening more often but it will get sharper when it's sharpened. Not that you'll need to do that with the Receptor any time soon. It's been honed.
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See how polished the edge is, compared to the microserrated D2? Verra slicey. Out of the three knives, which would I most rather have? The Receptor - and I like the other two knives quite a bit, actually, for their price... but it's not that close a competition. The Receptor fits my hand extremely well and has a good balance for utility as well as defense. Some me of that is luck of the draw - your individual grip and style preferences, strengths and weaknesses all matter a lot. But some of it is mindful. I do believe I'll be watching the work of Mr. Hel.
(Edited)
Jul 18, 2019
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