Tag: Orange

Bulgarian Rhapsody – Manly Wasp in S90V

In winter we all need vitamin C, after a long wait I get my shot !!
My Viking friend Dan Sharpe has been the one who has injected me the Manly Virus. First one was the Manly Peak, the Comrade…  And with my Welsh pal Wayne, both were keen to have the chance to carry their Manly knives legally in the UK: three inches blade, no lock and a deep carry clip. By luck some people of Manly were reading our conversation on our Facebook Group and voilà: the WASP was born.
But our Bulgarian friends were even more clever than this… Let see why. First picture, please ?

Here is my Manly family. The Wasp is the shorter. All are in S90V and with a very thin edge.

The stout WASP is showing proudly is wide belly. This is a powerful combinaison: belly and ultra thin edge.

The cleverness of having the Wasp steel liners hidden inside the G10. The Comrade got thicker G10 slabs too keeping is role of hardchore slipjoint.
You got the best tech of the Peak and the Comrade in a compact tool.

Thin edge is evident on simple tasks like peeling a fruit. Thos Manly knives are razor sharp out of the box and their S90V is very well het treated: no chipping and no bending. I have used hard my WASP in plates and the ceramic was not able to mark the blade. This is really amazing.

I’m starting to think that Manly S90V is as tough as 3V !! (Benchmade CPM 3V Pukko pictured)

The WASP is not threatening at all on a table. It can be used in a restaurant or amount non knives friends with no problem. I know, I only got compliment about it.

Yes, that wide thin belly edge is really powerful. It goes deep and steady in any material. Of course the slip joint mechanism is the same as the Comrade with zero play and 4 steps to avoid closing on the finger. Also the guard is an excellent protection. You really will need your two hands to open it.

I’m not crazy about the “look” of the screw but this is consistent in all my Manly Family. It’s really “cosmetic” but I think this knife desserve a more beautiful screw. No big deal. The Orange G10 is perfect and I won’t need to sand it. The G10 on the Comrade was more aggressive… The ergonomy is absolutly great for a short knife with no lock. So far it is a joy to use. There is no “square” feel like on the comrade. It is really close to the Peak in term of flat handle.

Here is a close up on the wonderful deep carry clip, the same which is found on the Peak. It works great.
The Comrade clip is the only “proud” clipped of the family. But again it is logic with the way the Comrade has been design as a slip joint tank for outdoors applications.
The Wasp is more on the stealth side but its belly near the pivot makes it really powerful in pushcuts I do when cutting wood to make a pole. More to come after some use,  but this one is ready for travelling is Danemark !
Anyway all those Manly have thin edge, great action, and wonderfully heat treated S90V blade. The Wasp is the proud son of the Comrade and the Peak. Now I hope a 3 inches version of the Peak will be proposed.

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Pingo Star…

IMG_6523Another inspiring knife but what more to bring to the table about the Pingo that has not yet been written either in Spyderco’s catalog or in captain Nemo’s great Pingo review ?

Here we go…

 

Parsley stem cut very neatly tree times thanks to the N690Co stainless steel full-flat ground blade. Next time i’ll have to test in supplement of parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme! More seriously recent outdoor chores have been cut a branch of mexican orange blossom and wisteria vine; really simple!

 

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Lillian is jealous as Pingo gets along very will with Stitch.

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Perfect baguette push cut.

 

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Another tribute to 1966 (after Simon and Garfunkel) and to the first round debate of the last french presididential election: Pingo and pudeurs de gazelles!

 

Pingo and the pumpkins: the blade’s belly shape concentrates cutting power and Pingo sinks in with ease. Sorry Linus!

 

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The wire clip enables Pingo to be snug real deep in the pocket.

 

Now we know whom Prokofiev’s three oranges really love!

 

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Just before the soup, where is Pingo?

 

Pingo Star and the groupies!

A first glimpse at the Spyderco C187CFP2 Peter Carey Rubicon 2

I’m not a fan of thick hollow blades for quite long time now. The Gil Hibben Rambo III knife is not in my dreamlist anymore and the last hollow ground knife I have reviewed has been the Recon 1. But one of my favorite knife, which has not been reviewed is my 1994 Sebenza. Anyway, the Sebbie and the Cold Steel or even the Gayle Bradley are holow ground but not thick blades.
The Peter Carey Rubicon 2 is 3,5mm thick and for a 3 inches blade it is substantial.
(The Slycz Techno was 5 mm though…)

The Rubicon 2 is not a big knife, is it destined to be an EDC. He’s not heavy, its liners are made of titanium and the scales of peel carbon fiber.

The first you enjoy is the ease of deployment. This knife flips like no other in my collection. No need for assisted opening on this baby: the heavy blade, the ball bearing pivot and the well designed flipper make the trick. The opening is positive everytime.

Eric Glesser told how difficult is it to have a flipper which also provides an alternative opening system. Meaning: sometimes you just want to open your blade gently with the Spyderhole and not with the flipper. You want to trade a “shlack!” for a “click!”.
The Rubicon can be open with the thumb and even the index. It’s fun how easy it is! The operation is so smooth and could be catagorized into the gravity knives family. This ease of operation has been a big charm upon me: the more I’ve played with the knife, the more I have enjoyed it.

The blade got a beautiful satin finish perfectly executed, perfectly executed, symetrical and and centered.

The second big charm on the Rubicon 2 is the handle. The way the flipper create a guard and a subguard, depending how you hold it. This short handle is married litteraly to my hand. For once, there is no lanyard hole and the butt of the knife is pointer than its blade.

A beautiful orange spacer gives a very hightech look to the knife as everyparts are perfectly adjusted: spacer, scales and liners. This high quality of manfacture is again provided by Taichung in Taiwan.

The bronze washers and the ball bearing gives the smoothness and the exterior stop pin assure that the washer are wide enough for stability: no lateral play.
The only break to the action could be the ball detent of the titanium liner lock but it is minor compared to the momentum of the blade.

The design is well thought also once the knfe is closed.  The Rubicon 2 gently rests in you palm confortably. The peels carbon fiber is very nice against the skin giving a very positive grip. The jimping on the blade are purely decorative and this is the way I like them two.
I won’t need to file them.

The blade is wide and thinly ground and very effective thanks to its nice belly. I was able to push cut through hard material easily. It has surprised me how it zipped though.

The balance of the Rubicon 2 is perfect IMHO. The choice of the material again provides that. The handle is very light.

I haven’t been able yet to find an easy to clip carry the knife. The texture of the scale and the very strong clip give a lot of friction. I was even able to carry it in the pocket watch.

Compared to the Ed Schempp Bowie for example: the Rubicon 2 is not pocket friendly at all.

It is not carried deep and the orange spacer screams loud : “Hey look !!!”

I’m so unhappy with the way the knife rides in the pocket that I’m thinking to use a pouch and get rid of the clip !

For the moment my cutting test with the Rubicon 2 has been really positive. It’s a short knife with a big potential.  Also your thumb can easily rest on the spine giving you more leverage.

So here we go with a first glimpse to a very well designed knife. I would have been more excited to get some exotic steel on such a radical design but S30V heat Treated by Spyderco does the trick.

The Rubicon 2 is destined to be a reliable workhorse and not only a looker and a very addictive flipping toy. There is a strong will behind its design to provide strong cutting power in a small package in its design and all is served by an ergonomy which is for me magnificent. The knife is simply anchored to your hand.