What "Other" is in your pocket???

[Enactive]

I just received a 4Max Scout and it is quite the tank. I have also been considering a Rajah 2 for a portable chopper.

I need to spend more time with the 4Max. I'm still in the shocked and awed phase as I'm stepping way out of my usual tendencies on knives.

It's fun to try new and different things.

The 4 Max felt a little impractical to me when I first got it. Makes my C95's feel small and those are already tanks.

I've found the more I carry and use it, the more I want to pick it each day.

I sanded mine under the clip,and also bent the very end of the clip to give it more clearance when putting it back in my pocket. Flared the end upwards a bit,but didn't bend the clip overall, so it still has good tension. Made a big difference.

Also took the edge from the 20-22dps factory angle down to about 13dps with a 15dps apex. Still not the sliciest knife I have with 5mm stock but it'll slice apples without cracking them now.

I like the handle on them a lot. One of those knives I get excited to use when a harder cutting task comes up.

I like my OD green enough I bought a few spares.

Nice! I'm glad you could get it thin enough to cut apples without splitting.

It definitely sparks joy in a barbarian sort of way. It's laughable to contrast with a Police 4. Similar length, but opposite ends of the girth spectrum. I know the P4 has a place in my regular use and looking forward to getting to know the 4Max Scout. Been thinking about it for a while. Thanks for the latest round of inspiration to buy one.

The factory edge on mine is nice, but I will thin it some over time.

I expect it to mostly be a woods knife. My usual woods folders, like the CruCarta Shaman and Backlock Manix 2 are half the weight of the 4Max and in a totally different size category.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

Epic duo!

Agreed

[aicolainen]

happy with how this turned out. not a perfect mirror polish by any means, but it's a much better polishing job than the old pre GSM SRK I stripped. It'll help keep corrosion from happening as fast.





for comparison here's the SRK, with factory grind lines much more visible still

That turned out very nicely !

What did you use to remove the coating?

I've been eyeing the Recon tanto for years. It's not exactly what I'm looking for, which is why it's yet to make the jump from my Lamnia wish list to the shopping cart, but with the price point I can't bring myself to dismiss it either.

One of my biggest reservations is exactly the coating, so if I can make it look like yours, that changes a lot.
The other, less important hold back is the american tanto blade shape. Although I would have preferred a regular curved belly, for the intended use it's probably not a big issue. It's more that I want to avoid the stigma of tactical looking blades around my often traditionally minded camp companions.

I have the Kobun Limited edition, which is a Japanese tanto (my only tanto of any kind) and I think the blade shape works quite well on that one, but It's also a thinner and shorter knife intended for a much different use case.

I used a product called citristrip:

stripped the OD green tanto. Still have some polishing to do before I'm done.

Going from tacticool black to a cloudy haze took less than an hour.

From there it took a while to polish it up, starting with 80 grit and working up to 2,000. I'd just work on it bit by bit while watching movies.

I need to post updated pictures, it has a nice patina now.

I never expected a tanto like this to wow me for bushcraft work, but using it has made me a believer.

The tip is nice and stout for prying and hacking away at stumps to harvest fatwood.

The blade length, thickness and slight upward angle make it wonderful for batoning.

The grind and edge are thin enough it makes great wood shavings and carves pretty well. It helps the steel is idiot proof to get truly razor sharp. Like comfortably shave my face with levels of sharp, easily.

There's enough length and heft to make it a good pocket sized machete, while not really feeling any bigger or heavier than typical knives on my belt. I've used them to do some light trimming on my woods trails and they're a lot more useful than smaller and lighter knives for knocking away briars and trimming undergrowth, though obviously not as ideal as a true machete.

They do sell polished VG1 and san mai versions for around $90-110, but I like the OD green handle and I can find the SK5 version for $30-40.



I've had a black one in my collection since the pre-gsm days, but I always viewed it as more of a bug out bag style knife than a woods knife.

Over the years I've found it too useful not to carry. It's currently one of my top 3 favorite fixed blades for general outdoors use. Never would have guessed I'd say that 5 years ago.

Thank you for your very detailed reply, vivi. Much appreciated!

It appears Citristrip is just as common as hens teeth around here, but I'll do some research and see if I can dig out an equivalent substance.

[silver & black]

In my pocket this week has been my Kansept Fenrir. Great knife and blade shape.

[aicolainen]

My two first TRMs arrived together with my Dyad jr. today.

I’ve been eyeing several of their models for years, but availability has been an issue.

When I ordered my Dyad I noticed the Nerd was in stock and while the Bulldog was OOS it was possible to back order, estimated to be back in stock in 1-2 weeks.

Of all their models it has quite consistently been the Neutron and Nerd that I’ve been most interested in, so kind of backwards to start off with a Bulldog, a model I didn’t even know about before I saw it on Knife Center that day.

It had a few things going for it, so I took my chances. For one it was possible to order. It also had an opening-hole-ish thing and blue denim micarta. All good in my book.

[abbazaba]

QSP Canary. Very similar to the wonderful WE Banter, but $30! Like the Banter, it could easily be a one and done for many people.

[Stas]

My daughter’s Explorer

[aicolainen]

QSP Canary. Very similar to the wonderful WE Banter, but $30! Like the Banter, it could easily be a one and done for many people.

It's a pretty rare thing that I don't carry a Spyderco, but today I didn't.
And most often when that happens I don't post in this thread, and wasn't going to today either, but in the strange coincidence that you brought up the Banter - I now feel I have to.
I've owned my Banter for 5+ years, and if my memory serves me right, today is the first day I've actually carried it.

It has seen some minor use just laying around in my office, opening the odd package and such, but when it comes time to pick something to put in my pocket the combination of coated blade, liner lock, thumb studs and ball bearings just stacks up against it.
Yet there's something about it that I like, so I've kept it around.


Went all in on the black color scheme today :)

[abbazaba]

The Banter is one of those knives that make me question why I own so many knives lol. The QSP Canary in Sandvik 14c has me thinking the same thing.

I've been sweating the Penguin Plus for a long time now and figured for 30 why not try another QSP... Obviously didn't disappoint!

[Makunochimaster]

[Paul Ardbeg]

[aicolainen]

The Banter is one of those knives that make me question why I own so many knives lol.

If I wasn't such a fool, it would certainly suffice for most peoples EDC, including me.
Many around here praise Spyderco for their liner locks, with good reason, but man. The Banter has one of the most reassuring liner locks I own.
I think that's the secret sauce that charmed me enough to keep it around, the confidence inspiring liner lock and, despite not being a fan of coatings, how nice the coating on the Banter actually feels and looks. And that the whole package seems very well made and put together, ofc.

[abbazaba]

The Banter is one of those knives that make me question why I own so many knives lol.

If I wasn't such a fool, it would certainly suffice for most peoples EDC, including me.
Many around here praise Spyderco for their liner locks, with good reason, but man. The Banter has one of the most reassuring liner locks I own.
I think that's the secret sauce that charmed me enough to keep it around, the confidence inspiring liner lock and, despite not being a fan of coatings, how nice the coating on the Banter actually feels and looks. And that the whole package seems very well made and put together, ofc.

The contouring of the Unlocked Composites Bias scales really transformed the knife for me

[aicolainen]

The Banter is one of those knives that make me question why I own so many knives lol.

If I wasn't such a fool, it would certainly suffice for most peoples EDC, including me.
Many around here praise Spyderco for their liner locks, with good reason, but man. The Banter has one of the most reassuring liner locks I own.
I think that's the secret sauce that charmed me enough to keep it around, the confidence inspiring liner lock and, despite not being a fan of coatings, how nice the coating on the Banter actually feels and looks. And that the whole package seems very well made and put together, ofc.

The contouring of the Unlocked Composites Bias scales really transformed the knife for me

Oh my...
From not having carried it at all to wanting to add an expensive mod in two days. Thanks Abbazaba

[vivi]

[Enactive]

My two latest 'others' with my CruCarta Shaman for scale.

[Makunochimaster]

[zenith2]

My daughter’s Explorer

Tel her it is one of the best knives in the world. Love it

[Brock O Lee]

I carried the carbon steel Ottermesser anchor knife frequently over Dec.

[vivi]

My two latest 'others' with my CruCarta Shaman for scale.

PXL_20260103_220540510sm.jpg

How are your first impressions?

I know when I got mine I considered it too heavy and unwieldy to want to EDC, but it certainly grew on me over the years.



My OD green 4 Max is the only knife I've carried so far this year. Though I did touch up a 4" japanese tanto voyager tonight. Bought it a couple years ago and never carried it....plan to change that soon.