Knives ruined...
Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 2:28 pm
After seeing countless testimonials and endorsements, I lost the last shred of self-control remaining and finally purchased a Police 4.
The Police, in all it's forms, has caught my interest, but also repelled me for years. It looked "too big" and "too thin". At one point, I went through a tactical phase, an over-built phase, a small knife phase, and an impulsive purchasing frenzy phase. Nowhere in my knife loving journey, did the Police seem appealing enough.
Maybe it was the comments about how much better the Police 4 handle is than the Endura's. Maybe it was the absolutely gushing reviews of k390 given by several fellow forumites. Maybe it was just my inner knife junky, purchasing a knife to chase the new knife high. To be honest, I truly don't care what the reason was, the Police 4 and K390 are absolutely amazing.
The knife arrived less than sharp, due to a very prominent burr. A few minutes on a DMT fine diamond stone and a 1um strop, left the blade hair whittling sharp. My only goal was to eliminate the burr, but I had accidentally whittled hair. That's a first, I have always needed to work for it, with a progression of grits. Rex 45 and V-toku2 get seriously sharp, and with very little effort, but it seems like K390 took it even further, and with less sharpening steps. The 3 finger sharpness test was deceiving, since other blades FELT sharper, but were in fact less sharp. High carbide steels tend to have that effect, with the exception of S90V, which feels insanely sharp to the touch, at least for a high carbide steel. Edge retention is a topic I'm not able to comment on, until the blade has been sharpened a few times.
The size of the Police 4 may have been intimidating at first, IF there wasn't a Military in my collection. The Military seemed huge at one point, but now feels normal, and as a result, so does the Police 4. Larger blades definitely benefit from a choil, as it tends to make the knife SEEM smaller. Larger blades also benefit the most from a choil, since the added control is much more noticeable to me.
The blade shape and handle shape are superb, and work especially well together. Some blades work well, while the handle falls short, and vice versa, but this is not an issue for the P4. Ergonomically, the P4 is one of the best I've ever handled(no pun intended), and might even be the best for my hand.
The knife is thin, so it slides into the pocket with ease. This, combined with G10 that is not overly grippy, means pocket shredding will not be an issue. Don't mistake the term "thin" for hot spots or uncomfortable, because neither are true in my experiences.
The knife has what I refer to as "full steel liners". Meaning they are not nested, like the liners on typical Spyderco FRN models, but instead are exposed on the outer edges, sitting flush with the scales. Full steel liners and a steel back spacer give this knife a premium feel and help justify the high pricetag. One positive that is often overlooked, when discussing full steel liners, is the impact it has on the action. The feel is solid and the extra rigidity offers a reassuring vibration, which travels throughout the handle, as the lock engages. Full steel liners seem to accentuate the lock engagement and simultaneously provide smoother action, by limiting any flex in the knife handle. These observations came from the P4 and a Delica 4 Hap40 in Pakkawood. Both have better action and a more reassuring lockup than comparable FRN models.
Overall, despite owning one for a relatively short amount of time, I've found the Police 4 to be extremely impressive. In fact, most of my other knives will be sold soon, because the Police 4(and a couple others) ruined knives for me. Nothing will hold up to a comparison.
The other knives which will stick around, despite the P4, are a Rex 45 Military, Hap 40 Delica Pakkawood, V-toku2 Stretch 2, and Zdp-189 Endura. With those knives, there is no need for anything else, but that's another topic.
The Police, in all it's forms, has caught my interest, but also repelled me for years. It looked "too big" and "too thin". At one point, I went through a tactical phase, an over-built phase, a small knife phase, and an impulsive purchasing frenzy phase. Nowhere in my knife loving journey, did the Police seem appealing enough.
Maybe it was the comments about how much better the Police 4 handle is than the Endura's. Maybe it was the absolutely gushing reviews of k390 given by several fellow forumites. Maybe it was just my inner knife junky, purchasing a knife to chase the new knife high. To be honest, I truly don't care what the reason was, the Police 4 and K390 are absolutely amazing.
The knife arrived less than sharp, due to a very prominent burr. A few minutes on a DMT fine diamond stone and a 1um strop, left the blade hair whittling sharp. My only goal was to eliminate the burr, but I had accidentally whittled hair. That's a first, I have always needed to work for it, with a progression of grits. Rex 45 and V-toku2 get seriously sharp, and with very little effort, but it seems like K390 took it even further, and with less sharpening steps. The 3 finger sharpness test was deceiving, since other blades FELT sharper, but were in fact less sharp. High carbide steels tend to have that effect, with the exception of S90V, which feels insanely sharp to the touch, at least for a high carbide steel. Edge retention is a topic I'm not able to comment on, until the blade has been sharpened a few times.
The size of the Police 4 may have been intimidating at first, IF there wasn't a Military in my collection. The Military seemed huge at one point, but now feels normal, and as a result, so does the Police 4. Larger blades definitely benefit from a choil, as it tends to make the knife SEEM smaller. Larger blades also benefit the most from a choil, since the added control is much more noticeable to me.
The blade shape and handle shape are superb, and work especially well together. Some blades work well, while the handle falls short, and vice versa, but this is not an issue for the P4. Ergonomically, the P4 is one of the best I've ever handled(no pun intended), and might even be the best for my hand.
The knife is thin, so it slides into the pocket with ease. This, combined with G10 that is not overly grippy, means pocket shredding will not be an issue. Don't mistake the term "thin" for hot spots or uncomfortable, because neither are true in my experiences.
The knife has what I refer to as "full steel liners". Meaning they are not nested, like the liners on typical Spyderco FRN models, but instead are exposed on the outer edges, sitting flush with the scales. Full steel liners and a steel back spacer give this knife a premium feel and help justify the high pricetag. One positive that is often overlooked, when discussing full steel liners, is the impact it has on the action. The feel is solid and the extra rigidity offers a reassuring vibration, which travels throughout the handle, as the lock engages. Full steel liners seem to accentuate the lock engagement and simultaneously provide smoother action, by limiting any flex in the knife handle. These observations came from the P4 and a Delica 4 Hap40 in Pakkawood. Both have better action and a more reassuring lockup than comparable FRN models.
Overall, despite owning one for a relatively short amount of time, I've found the Police 4 to be extremely impressive. In fact, most of my other knives will be sold soon, because the Police 4(and a couple others) ruined knives for me. Nothing will hold up to a comparison.
The other knives which will stick around, despite the P4, are a Rex 45 Military, Hap 40 Delica Pakkawood, V-toku2 Stretch 2, and Zdp-189 Endura. With those knives, there is no need for anything else, but that's another topic.