My EDC knife for the next 5 months --Ongoing Review--

[Fred Sanford]

david, your clip must be a sitting a bit tighter than mine, I can get mine out with just the thumb in the pocket. index finger slides down to the point of the clip, and middle finger goes down to where the clip bends in towards the handle. point of my index finger is on the point of the clip the middle finger it's between first and second knuckle of the finger that is resting on the clip. Thumb is just against the inside handle, with those three points it very smoothly and easily comes out, then the thumb just slides up to the hole and open.

I seem to remember when I tested the pass around ukpk on BF that it was way tight like that.

Yeah I agree. For some reason I thought that I did it the original way I had said. Then I started thinking about your method and thought... "maybe that's how I do mine". I got it out and tried it many times and realized that only a couple times do I do the way I described. I like your method also and I find I use it more often.

So,David, I tried your UKPK removal method in comparison to Ousanas method. The method I use right now is the on Ousanas uses. Index finger on tip of clip, but I have to admit that your method is slightly easier for some reason. I think the slight extra grip of the forefinger on the spine helps ease the knife out with just a bit less pressure on the clip. That's just my take and I did each about 20 times (with my kids rolling their eyes at crazy knife dad...). I will continue to try out both and settle on one in the next week. Good tip.

I like your method better than mine. See my YouTube vid. I actually open it like you guys do. I must have been thinking of a different knife or just thought I did it differently. Weird.

[Pneumothorax]

Too funny. Either way, now Im going to be obsessed with this and will be doing double draws when ever I think of it...

[Fred Sanford]

An update...

Hey folks,

Been still using only my Orange UK Pen Knife. Loving it. I did decide to put a short lanyard on it and that is now how I pull it off of my pocket. Since the lanyard is black nobody at work even says anything about it. Funny because when it was orange paracord people made comments. Go figure.

So all is well with the knife. I've had no problems with it at all. Just a little rust which I'll get to in a minute. The knife has been touched up (freehand) on the 701 Profile stones about 4 times. So far I've only had to use the white ceramic one. If I can get the edge back with the fine one only I prefer to do that.....less steel removal.

So after about a week of carrying it without cleaning it or wiping it down or anything it did develop a couple little tiny surface spots. Understand that this is after me mowing the lawn on two different occasions, generally working outside here and there when I get home from work, and also today replacing my soil stack in the basement and also soldering in some new copper pipe and fittings with my dad.

Now also keep in mind that while I've been mowing and doing yard work that this knife has been clipped to my pocket while it's 85 degrees out and I'm sweating like crazy and when I take the knife out of my pocket there is some dampness on the blade (sweat). It's also been 84% humidity most every day.

The orange handles were pretty dirty after today working with cast iron pipe and having dirty hands when I would handle the knife. I actually liked that the handle is orange because I can see that it's dirty. A black G10 handle wouldn't show me how dirty it is. A plus in my book.

I didn't disassemble the knife I simply cleaned it with dishwashing soap and a tooth brush and hot water. Then I dried the knife off and blew it out with compressed air, and put a few small drops in the pivot area. After that I took some NevrDull and cleaned the blade with it. The small surface rust came right off. Now she's back in my pocket like new and working like a champ.

The more I use this knife......the more I realize that it could be "the knife".

Thanks for reading! :)

[Doc Pyres]

Good update David. Keep 'em coming! :)

(p.s. Always find your photos excellent)

[Pneumothorax]

David,

On the lanyard, I assume you just looped it through the clip?

And not to beat a dead horse, but the pocket removal thing...here's where I ended up. I find the index finger-into-pocket-on-spine removal method just a tad easier than the regular index finger-on-tip-of-clip method, but I cannot train my mind to automatically stick my finger in my pocket. Been removing knives the latter way too many years. So, the point is sort of moot since the difference is not that great (to me anyway).

[markg]

Well mine was $684.00 Weeeeee.

Oh my... What were you doing!!!

Pulling a wagon of small children behind your car while you were going 130 mph!?!?

This thread does make me more interested in the UKPK.

[Fred Sanford]

Oh my... What were you doing!!!

Pulling a wagon of small children behind your car while you were going 130 mph!?!?

This thread does make me more interested in the UKPK.

Minus the small children in a wagon and you've about got it...

[amen74]

The UKPK is an excellent EDC choice.

[Fred Sanford]

An update...

Hey folks,

Been using it now for 6 weeks and I love it. There was only one weekend where I carried the Stretch FRN SE and I really wanted to do that after a friend gifted it to me. Other than that weekend it's been 100% total UKPK. Here are my thoughts on it in random order after 6 weeks of carry and use.

1. The backspring is still solid as heck and nice and tight. I thought maybe it had become weaker but I find that it's me getting used to the mechanics of it. If I give it to a friend to open they still have a tough time with the tight backspring. Awesome.

2. The more I don't need a lock. A lock would be useful if I were carrying for self defense, but I'm not. A 3" blade with no lock is fine. If I need something larger I will go with a fixed blade. Period.

3. I finally needed to sharpen it up pretty good so I got out my Coarse DMT stone and put about a 15 degree edge on each side. After that I put about a 20 degree micro bevel on each side and finished up by stropping it on some coarse denim. Shaves like a champ. I love CPM-S30V.

4. The orange G10 doesn't get as dirty as I thought it would. Plus, it's easy to clean with some dish soap and a toothbrush.

5. I'm realizing from being spoiled by Krein Regrinds that this blade could be 2.5mm or 2mm and still be fine instead of the factory 3mm that it is.

6. I wish the finger choil had jimping.

7. After getting out my other UKPK's I do realize that the G10 that I removed for thumb hole access REEAAAALLY helps. It's hard to go back to one without it. I will be doing that to my other UKPK's soon.

8. After 6 weeks it's no big deal to retrieve the knife from the pocket without a lanyard. Easy. You just gotta get used to it.

Thanks for reading!

[Fred Sanford]

Yeah one other point to add, I just broke down a box made out of thick cardboard that is just shy of being 1/4" thick. The box was about 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and 5 feet high.

I had to grip the knife hard and push it through. It never snagged and performed perfectly.

A few more of those kind of cuts and I'm gonna have to sharpen her again. :)

[Claytron]

Great topic, I love the modified grip.

[StangBang]

Nice review and project! I am going to have to get one of these in a month or two :)

[mwebb524]

Just pulled the trigger on a foliage green UKPK at New Graham. If past experience holds true, will be seeing it for myself in a few days. I love the look of the this knife, but was wary of the lack of a lock. On reading many thread posts, though, it seems that most people who have negative things to say about the UKPK do not actually own one. This ongoing review has been very helpful in deciding. Also, in various posts Sal seems to have a soft spot for the UKPK, so it must be a great knife.

[D1omedes]

I truly appreciate this in-depth review, David. You've answered many questions/concerns I had with the UKPK. Many of what you've but the knife through, I would do and your expectations match my own.

I believe the UKPK will be the first CPMS30V Spydie I purchase. Thanks.

[Fred Sanford]

I thought I should also throw a link into this thread.

I forgot to include the other modification that I made to this UKPK. You can see the entire thread with pictures at the link below. :D

http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38917

Glad you like the ongoing review folks. Thanks for the compliments.

[Pneumothorax]

I really wanna do that mod, but am scared ____less to screw up my UKPK. I already dinged the tip a bit doing something stupid and ruining the scale would put me over the edge.

On the lock vs. slippie 'debate' one thing is for sure - the more you carry a slippie, the more you will get used to it being a slippie. Going back to a lock is no big deal. The opposite is not true...IMO.

[Scottie3000]

So today I decided that I wanted to file down some of the G10 handle so it would allow better right handed thumb access to the Spyderhole.

Here are a few shots. It works MUCH better like this. You can see the difference between the left and right side. The left side is factory. The right side is not. :)







Here's one clipped to my jeans just for fun....



And yes I made sure to cover my face with an N95 mask I had so I wouldn't breathe in the G10 dust / fibers /etc.

I just did the same to mine. Thanks for the great idea! I didn't wear a mask, I just did mine wet. I used waterproof sandpaper. It seemed easier and cleaner. The thumb hole is much more accessible now. They should come factory like that.