First impressions and pictures of the JD Smith C58G.

[spoonrobot]

I've only had this knife for a few hours so these impressions are very early but here's the thoughts so far.





Note the slight hump at the lock bar. This is much more obvious in person and gave me pause until I tried out a few different grips and found that it should not ever be an issue. Still prefer the boye dent, and I feel this design would be improved by the addition of it but it's lack does not detract.








Interestingly enough the lockbars are polished to a mirror shine. Apparently they were subcontracted to the Swiss mountains.


The blade has been the source of a few frownie faces, mainly because the full-flat grind makes it look anemic next to that big-booty handle. I wish to allay those fears by stating that: It looks a lot better in person and the profile looks to be a **** of a cutter.

[spoonrobot]

Compared to the Barong and Khukuri. It is almost the exact same length as the Barong and has almost the same cutting edge. Note the differences in handle scale color. The Barong/Khukuri are much more green in relation the JD Smith, which seems to have a base gray. An interesting variation.


Thickness is slightly less than the Barong (on the right, JD Smith on the left).


A heck of a point. The blade has a very nice distal taper that goes from about 3mm at the opening hole to a <1mm at the tip.


The three shots show the knife in hand in my regular grip. I have largish hands; the handle feels natural and the fingers get a sense of freedom and a slight inclination of where is the best spot to rest. The G10 scales feel very grippy and are radiused all along the edge. Overall very good.






What's up with this? Both my examples showed some defective areas on the tang and the ricasso of the blade. I'd prefer not to see this on a $140.00 item but such is the case with production blades. Does not affect function.


G10 at 40X. Despite the fact that it appears clean to the naked eye there is always something in the material when viewed under power. I had just washed and dried this example and you can see a lot of skin flakes and other gunk. Keep this in mind when you are prowling the second hand market.


The edge near the ricasso at 40X.


This specific example is pretty close to being the sharpest out of the box knife I've ever received. In addition to this, it's capable of mowing down hair with no blade pressure. I've got some other media I want to test before I actually start using the knife and I'll post if anything else impressive happens.


That's it.

Oh, wait. Here's a short one-handed closing video.

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[gac]

Great photographs. Much thanks for sharing. That is a real nice looking knife.

[clovisc]

really fantastic review, and gorgeous pictures. i especially love the microscope shots... :D

[A.P.F.]

Thanks for the review and pics! Much appreciated.

[type00rev]

Awesome prelim review.....please keep us posted when you start the cutting tests.

[dialex]

Congratulations on your new knife and enjoy it. It is a good knife, very well designed from the very bginning. And they made it even better with that full flat grind :)
Thanks for the mini review and for the great pics and video.

[RazorSharp86]

I'd say nobody could ask for a more thorough and informative review. Thanks!

[224477]

Great review, thanks for sharing your thoughts. :cool:
Enjoy the knife

[mark greenman]

That was a superb review. I'm really tempted to buy one now! How did you get the 40x shot?

Thanks!
Mark

[CajunMike]

Fantastic review. Your work on this is much appreciated. Looks like a great knife.
I too am curious as to how you got the microscope views.

Cheers,
Mike

[cougar337]

wow what a detailed review. LOVE all the photos and different shots, thanks for posting this up

[Bluntrauma]

Hey great review!!

I just got mine the the other day and I am a bit ambivalent about it at this point. A few things. The blade to handle ratio is really off looking to me. The handle is so heavy in comparison to the weight of the blade.

Also, the hole is too small in my opinion and it is very sharp at the edges of the hole. The knife is very stiff and feels like it might have some debris in it.

I have put it in the box for now and will get it out and play with it more. Sometimes a knife has to grow on me and I think that's the case with this one.

[spoonrobot]

Thanks for the comments!

I had a little stiffness out of the box too. It went away after a scrub with hot soapy/water and then lubrication. I find this pretty typical of production knives and multi-tools.

The photos under magnification were done with a simple "pocket" microscope from dealextreme. It may not actually be 40X but that is what it says on the body. It doesn't interface very well with my camera so the pictures aren't actually as clear as the eye would see it. Works wonders for sharpening assistance once you get the hand of focusing the view. (This is just an old pocket-dump picture.)

[cobrajoe]

Good pictures, and a great review.

I've been wanting the JD for some time now, but the prices on the old Micarta are a bit much. I think I might need to grab one of these.

I think the handle would look a little better if it were polished, or smooth satin finished. G-10 always makes a knife look like it's gained a few pounds (in my opinion).

I also agree that the handle looks large when compared to the blade, but I think we're too accustomed to the "Fat blade" models that :spyder: often produces.

[Elsilrac1]

Great review. Thank you. Mine is great, no problems. Here is a picture of my JD family.

[spoonrobot]

[El Tigre]

Very nice comparative pictures!
I love the new sprint of the JD Smith! I think that the dual linners and the G-10 are great improvements.

"El Tigre"

[Blades]

Great pics!
I hope I like it more then my old D2 Military, cause I had to sell my Military to get a JD Smith. :)

[jdsmith02115]

Very nice review indeed. I 'm very glad you like the new and improved C58G.
All of your in depth examinations not withstanding, the knife speaks for itself.
Sal and team did a marvelous job of realizing some much needed improvements that I feel will surely put this model into the hands of many true and loyal spyderco fans. The initial response to the sprint C58G seems strong in general, because again; the knife speaks for itself.
j.d.