Casey1 - I've been in the same position you were just recently...I had held a Manix at a shop several times and really liked how it felt but it was a tad bit too heavy for my personal tastes (I live in Cali and wear shorts alot), so I jumped on the Lightweight Manix when it came out.
I also had read, as you have how much praise is heaped on the stretch and it's ergonomics, etc. I however never was a fan of the blade shape and it's hard to get behind something if you don't like the way it looks. I waited it out and finally relented when an opportunity to pick one up on the forums came about. Two immediate impressions came to me when it arrived, one it was considerably bigger and thicker than than I had expected. It is very comfortable and the ergos are very nice, but it was a bigger carry than I had envisioned. I also just could not get past the blade shape. I wasn't a fan to begin with and having the knife in hand wasn't going to get me past it. Now with all that said, there is some talk in a thread here of a Stretch with a different blade shape (which some feel is sacrilegious and understandably so) I would definitely give it another shot. A leaf blade or Endura style FFG blade would be cool IMO.
The Manix Lightweight also has incredible ergos and would be my recommendation to you. It's a tremendous value of a knife and is getting all kinds of praise right now if you poke around.
why is this?
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CubistHamster
- Member
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 2:40 pm
- Location: Afghanistan
When I'm picking out an EDC, one of the most important considerations is "how much fun is this knife to play with?" Back and Mid-lock knives, by virtue of being under constant spring tension, are much less interesting to mess around with than designs that allow free rotation of the blade around the pivot (Axis, CBBL, Compression, etc...) The Stretch feels great to hold, and cuts quite well, but it's kind of dull to fiddle with.
