Wow, some great feedback. I didn't know we had some many people modifying their knives in a similar way. I’ve never seen the Assist II before, pretty cool.
So, last night (before I saw everyone’s posts) I did end up grinding the blade to a more acute angle. I really like it now; very pointy. The tip angle is approximately the same as the Endura 1 tip. It might be almost prefect. And, yes, I did slip up and hit the side of the blade; dang it. I should have taped up the blade before grinding, but I get excited.
Note, I too am not new to grinding rescue knives like this. Naturally, in design, there is nothing new under sun.
One thing that did slow me down on this project was the VG-10 steel. Wow, is it ever hard. The Byrd blades (and I imagine the H-1) are much softer and quicker to grind. No wonder why the knife companys charge a premium for the high hardness steels. Though I would guess that most of the grinding of the blades is done before heat treat which would make things quicker then I experienced.
Based on the geometry of the knife, I find that the Yojimassist is a much stronger self defense knife than the Yojimbo (sorry Mr. Janich). I would really like to see Spyderco do a short sprint of the Assist for defense. Take a look at the pictures below. Both knives are held a “proper” neutral hand position for maximum grip strength as Janich recommends in this style of SD. The Yojimassist has far greater penetration for hitting those tendons. Note, I am a big advocate for Mr. Janich’s SD style.
This is due to the rescue knife design that angles the tip of the knife forward and because the blade is about 0.5 in longer.
Plus, the Assist has a handle with amazing grip retention and the blade has cobra hood. It is really an unstoppable blade. And, it all else fails … there’s always the whistle!!
