K2 Full Review - A week after

[78lilred]

Was just curious, mine had a slight recurve from not taking care of the original heel/drop before reprofiling. Mine is thinned out similar to yours, but done by hand and I'm not as steady like a jig.

[Laethageal]

Was just curious, mine had a slight recurve from not taking care of the original heel/drop before reprofiling. Mine is thinned out similar to yours, but done by hand and I'm not as steady like a jig.

Mine doesn't show a recurve, at least that I can see by eye. I, too, ain't that good with hand sharpening. That's the reason I built myself a clone of the edge pro using a threaded rod with a fixed rotating point on the top of it where a rod is used just like in the edge pro. Getting the rod up and down with the nuts holding the rod. Easy DIY setup for 30$.

[Laethageal]

Did some cleaning around the house of wild rose plant growing out of control, and also pulled some weeds. Here's a 1'x1' stack of small weeds the K2 easily cutted through with what's left of the sharpness after yesterday vine chopping session.


Some pictures of the wild rose I chopped and a small tree trunk I chopped down for the fun of pushing the blade to see edge retention.







Edge is still good enough for general purpose use, will slice printer paper without snag but will hardly shave anymore.



On another note, the lock on my K2 as settled to what I guess is it's final position after all the use it saw since I got it. It's at 85-95%lockup before hand pressure from use and 100% once I grab the knife solidly. The lock can't go any further as the ball on the inside of the RIL is hitting the other side of the handle. No blade play whatsoever, lock is rock solid when in place. Even if lock has moved further in, it is less sticky then it was a few days ago. Pretty soon I won't call it sticky at all anymore.

[Fancier]

Nice pictures! They explain a lot. Thank you for continuing to update this review.

[Laethageal]

I'm happy if the pictures and my review explains a lot to you. Means to me I'm not doing this review for no reason, and it's good to know!

I'll keep updating as I use it more and if I finally get to do my comparison run vs SB stretch.

As a small addition, here's a post I made on Cliff K2 review he posted this morning showing my opinion on his concerns:

A few immediate comments/concerns :


-what is the function of the very small choil, it can't be a grip extender
-no dropped blade/sharpening notch, that is going to be a bit problematic without care
-lock seats well, 50% travel, hard squeeze get 75%, doesn't seem to stick/bind
-stable under light/fast spine impacts with no issues, lock doesn't bind, 75% engagement
-slabs lack chamfering, uncomfortable in even a moderate grip
-the clip prints very strongly in my hand and is a high point / hot spot
-the large upsweep/belly is ~30% of the blade length, lacks utility vs classic drop point or Spyderco leaf

I don't mind having no sharpening notch, most of my knife don't have one and learnt to deal with this. On the other hand, having a sharpening choil wouldn't be a bad thing either.
I personally didn't feel any hotspot or uncomfort at all from the clip itself.
Lower part of the handle could be slightly rounded to get a more comfortable hold of the knife but isn't that big of a deal in my hand.
I too find the large belly not to be fully efficient and am beginning to think about the best way I could modify it's shape so it's more to my liking. The way it come out of factory, I find it is pretty hard making any precision cut with the tip and feel I lose much blade lenght. This big belly is really the only downside I have with this knife.

Just my opinion :)

[Laethageal]

Update on clip position:
After carrying the knife some more, I have developed a small grief about clip position. Contrary to Cliff, it's not about how it feels when I hold the knife as I don't find it bothersome at all, but about how it rides in my pocket. My main knife carry position is front right pocket(exterior side), has been since I started carrying knives, and I don't plan to change anytime soon. The clip isn't centered on the knife, so one side is secured to the pocket and doesn't move much while the other can swing much. For you to understand better, look at the picture bellow and small drawing I made on it:


The way it is, the uncontrolled side of the knife is facing toward the opening of my pocket. If the clip was designed to be positioned like my red drawing, the uncontrolled side of the knife would sit in the corner of my pocket and be absolutly stable. I know that the way the knife is made, I can't switch the clip (after few modification) to where my drawing is as the RIL is sitting there. Moving the clip would also change how the knife is hold in hand. I feel the current position is the best for right hand holding as the clip sit perfectly in the deep of my hand and make for a better full contact:


It also might not be of concern to people using different carry position. If fact if I had left front pocket carry position it would be perfect:





Oh well, guess I might learn to carry front left pocket not to screw the ergo!

[WorkingEdge]

Great review! Looking at your bevel, even at 8.5dps it does not seem very wide. Very nice. What you have put it thru inspires confidence.

I hope you keep updating this review.

[Laethageal]

Well yesterday I went again in the woods with the kids and the K2 to have some fun. I was aiming at getting a good time with the kids as well trying to do enough work with the K2 edge from previous testing to get it to a point I could say it was dull. We had been in the woods for somewhere close to 1h15. Most of this time I spent doing chopping and slicing cut on thick vine (2"+ only that time) and clearing some small tree(up to 1") to they could run before throwing themselves on the vine. I wasn't seeing any degradation of the edge and sharpness seemed to be the same as the previous days. I must say that at this point, I have put about 5hrs non stop work at chopping and slicing notch in wood can vine and the blade still slice printer paper. It also make clean slicing cut in wood against the grain, with the grain being cut cleanly. It might not be considered "hard use" by some as I didn't purposely twisted the blade out of the wood, but it's pretty good none the less.

Now, the next part wasn't fun at all. My kids are 4 and 7. My daughter, even if she loves all things dangerous and climbs everywhere she's able to, still have some trouble walking around the dead branches/trees and fresh vegetation growing taller then her. I was occupied cutting another vine in the middle of a 50' long slope so my boy could try it. At the same time, I heard movement in the direction of the top of the slope and saw an adult doberman arrive at running speed. He stopped 4-5 meter from me and started to growl. I asked the kid to stop playing with the vine and get behind me. They were scared and didn't really listen to me and were kind of frozen in place. The dog had no identification necklace and therefor I had no idea if he was dressed to act fine with kids, to defend a territory, or anything else. He was clearly trying to circle me to get close to the kids but didn't really try to get closer to me. I have absolutly no martial training, and a deep hate/fear of growling dog since I was attacked by one that had to be shot down when I was younger . Boy can I tell you I was happy to have the K2 on hand instead of something smaller. There was nothing but dead rotten branches on the ground and none that could have helped me. Every added inch of reach I could get was, honestly, welcome and slightly reassuring. If need be, I was ready to take that +/- 90 pound dog down. At least I knew that if I defended with my left arm as a lure and he had taken a bite on me I would have had time to slice his neck or stabbed him and there was no way he could survive more then 1 or 2 slice of the K2 edge driven by my adrenaline boosted arm.

I won't keep the suspence go on longer as after 2 minutes keeping him far from my kids while trying to get closer to the wood exit, the owner came, looking for his dog who just fled. The kids, myself and the owner of the dog got a good fear out of this story, but no one was hurt. I can tell you that I barely slept last night, thinking about if there was something I should or shouldn't have done to keep the kids safer. Asking myself what would have been the best reaction to have if the dog attacked, what could have happened at worst and all kind of displeasing thought.

After all this, I get to think that having a blade this size with which you know you can abuse the edge chopping wood for 5 hours and still be a reliable slicer feel reassuring.

I don't know when this knife will leave my pocket again.

[Fancier]

Glad to hear that everybody came through okay. Mace seems to be a pretty popular option for stopping aggressive dogs.

[MacLaren]

You did right. He didn't stand a chance against that K2. Of course if your out in the woods a lot then some pepper spray or a pistol would be good to have imo.& of course the K2! :)

[Laethageal]

The forest I was in with my kids is about 200-300 meters wide by a few kilometer long and was determined the limit between my city and the next because of the small river in the middle of it. Building and house are located on each side and there is usually nothing to be feared from this small forest.
Getting a pistol in Canada involve taking 2 training(about 20hrs), 2 test and filling 2 or 3 paperwork. Since I'm not going in deep wood, I seriously don't have needs to get through this. Not to forget about 180$ fee for the training. Pepper spray might be a good idea on the other hand. We never know.

[MacLaren]

I see.

[The Mastiff]

Laethageal , thanks for taking the time and putting in the effort to test it and share your results with us. I enjoyed your review.

Joe

[Laethageal]

Today is a rainy day. I don't have any material that would be worth cutting up to keep testing or comparing the SB stretch to the K2 so I decided to try a corrosion resistance test on the 10V blade.

Cutted an orange in 2, took one half and removed the skin. Let the knife sit on the orange, wet of the acidic juice, and see if the blade stains/rust/take a patina. Picture quality won't be that good since they are indoor picture.




After 3 hours, I wiped and cleaned the blade. There is a small blueish spot on the bevel from the 3 hours exposure to the orange, and it also made the chips from chopping woods easier to see. On a side note, the knife sat for 3 hours exactly in the position of the 3rd picture. Seems like the blue spot is exactly where the knife was in direct contact with the orange.


Gonna go take a few minutes and fix those afternoon even if cuts without any trouble/slip a tomato. Maybe the fracture created sharp edge. I can't tell, but maybe Cliff can help?

[Fancier]

Another nice set of photographs, thanks!
I wonder what would have happened (or not happened) with the factory bevel angle?

[Laethageal]

I can't tell, but it was too thick to my liking to push/slice wood deep enough. Even if it suffered some damage, it took me about 5 minutes to fix it, after spending 5 hours cutting wood and chopping wood with the knife. It is a better slicer now and will go through cardboard and most material easier now, which is something I prefer over ultimate edge retention.

[Laethageal]

Hello all!

I've been away from the forum for a long time, close to 2 years I guess. Had various other things taking up my spare time.

Today I was speaking to a friend about my K2 and it got me thinking I had left a review for the knife and that I could do a quick update. Can't say I have hours to write and modify things, so this is mostly gonna be a few observation with maybe no logical order

So, what do I think about the knife 2 years after buying it?

Positive:
It is still my favorite knife by far.
Edge holding is excellent. Abused it over and over and it's not failing. Cutted anything, even 3mm thick geotextile covered with splash of dried concrete, lying directly on the ground. Might still have some picture from that abuse
Sharpening is not that hard (once you stop being a polished edge junky )
Size is big enough for any job
The grip is solid
Keeping it clean is really easy due to plain titanium handle
Not that bad with rusting/spotting as after 2 years and no maintenance/cleaning except a quick wipe on the jeans it is still perfect.
Thin blade geometry is good to keep some penetration on harder material without being flimsy/feeling insecure.

What I don't like:
After using it, abusing it many and many times, I can come back on my previous comments about ergo being ok. It is ok, but not for medium length hard task, or long task using medium strength. It will become unconfortable and there's some better ergo knife out there.
The knife is slightly too big to use in public as most people will give you weird look if you dare open it to open a letter at the mailbox
The lock got sticky somewhat and need 2 hand to close safely.
The blade geometry (big belly) still annoyes me but I never got down to grinding it down. It's not bad enough for the work involved to do it by hand on a 10$ cheap stones.

It is still the only knife I carry except for my little SB ladybug with my keys. All others have been stored and seen no light in 2 years.
I know it's not as detailed as previously, but it serve to show my opinion about ergo changed but not enough to remove it from my pocket.

[Brock O Lee]

Thanks for the long term "review"... Few people ever update their initial honeymoon-period reviews, which is a pity. These lasting thoughts over many hours of use in different conditions are especially telling and valuable.

How about a picture showing off the patina, scratches and dings of a well loved knife?

[Laethageal]

Here's what it looks like now :)

[clovisc]

Thanks for the great review! This knife design looks fantastic, and the size seems perfect for some of my outdoor adventures; however, I'm curious how S10v with 2.45% carbon would hold up in a humid, maritime climate. The orange test was interesting. I'm curious to learn more about S10v's corrosion resistance from anyone with firsthand experience of the K2.

Here's a cool S10v fact sheet from Crucible: http://www.crucible.com/eselector/prodb ... m10vt.html