First impressions:
The knife came in a presentation black box.
Out of the box there have been some issues: the action was a bit gritty and the knife wasn't very smooth. There also were a couple of small nicks on the edges of the aluminum handle, burr on the blade tang and the lock was a bit stiff.
Other than that it was great - no lockup issues, blade was centered and came razor sharp.
I immediately disassembled the knife and found out what caused it to be gritty - some dirt inside the pivot area. I cleaned it up with WD-40, lubed it, took off the burr from the tang and assembled it back.
Then I saw what is causing the lock to be stiff - the ti pocket clip pushed on the sub-frame lock bar, so I pushed it back a bit. After all this work (that took about 15 min), the knife started to function awesome!
Pros:
- The materials and features: the knife is made from a solid chunk of aluminum, has a titanium sub-framelock with a steel insert, ti, pocket clip, awesome angled thumb studs, double row steel bearings and a D2 blade with beautiful vertical and horizontal satin finish and a rounded spine. Also comes with a brown genuine leather lanyard.
- The construction: it's actually my first integral knife and I loved this way of making a knife. It also has 3D machining on the aluminium handle and on the lock bar, so the handles aren't flat, but have curves, like on the genuine Lochsa.
- The pocket clip: is made from titanium and has just the right amount of tension. I also liked the fact that it is positioned tip-up, while the genuine Scott Cook Lochsa sometimes comes with a tip-down clip.
- The fit, finish and machining: Except those 2 small nicks on the bottom of the handle (could be because of the seller) the details are great.
- Ergonomics are great, largely because of the shape of the handle and the fact that it has an integral construction.
- I like that although it is a clone, it comes without the logos, and has a slightly different design, so couldn't be considered a counterfeit.
- The price and the bang for the buck.
Cons:
- Proprietary screws: are beautiful and could be turned pretty easily with a pair of pliers, but I still would have preferred usual torx screws.
- The gimping on the spine doesn't really work, but it is about the same way on the original.- The condition out of the box and 2 small nicks on the handle.
Summary:
- Overall I feel like this is a great knife to have.
I probably won't ever get a genuine Scott Cook Lochsa (as of now I'm not ready to spend $2K+ on a knife) and even if I will eventually get it - I certainly wouldn't use it.
This knife provides the opportunity to get a Lochsa style knife that you can actually use and that is a great thing, because trying out an integral handle at work is an awesome experience, that makes you understand why those are being made.
It also carries very well and is a much better choice to buy than a clone Sebenza.
I got the knife here: Wild Boar Lochsa Integral Clone Knife
Other integral knives are sold here: Knives with an Integral Handle
Chris Reeve Sebenza 21 here: Genuine Chris Reeve Sebenza 21
