Tag Archives: Slipjoint

Bulgarian Rhapsody – Manly Wasp in S90V

21/01/2019 nemosandman 8 Comments

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.

Folders, Review

Manly Comrade S90V – Heavy Duty Slipjoint !

17/01/2018 nemosandman 5 Comments

What strikes first when you hold the Comrade is its thickness and weight.
This 9 cm blade non-locking slipjoint folder is massive; once open, see how its beautiful classical lines are gentle to the eye.

I have chosen the CPM S90V version with a camo G10 theme. As this non locking knife, it deserves some virility. It’s a a slipjoint with a very strong attitude. The kind of knife our grandfather would have loved. The notch in the blade is like a reminiscence of my childhood…

Also it is such a pleasure to have a non-locking traditional knife with a CPM420V AKA CPM S90V blade.

As you can notice the blade is perfectly centered !

And it comes with a clip which is unfortunately not a need carry clip.

Surprisingly it is much more beefy and thick handled than its grand brother the Peak.

The Peak has got hidden recessed liners whereas the Comrade has got a more simple layered construction. It gives a real confort as the square handle fits the palm of your hand.

There are three steps before to open it completly. The last one is the harder to pass giving a very secure feel in the non locking open position. This is really a knife to open with two hands. Once open the choil forms almost a quillon where the index goes to secure it.
Like on a locking Spydie Millie, this is a system found first in boot knives. The force applied during the cut goes directly to the blade.

I have sanded mine to my taste and for that I removed the clip.
No doubt we got here a hardchore workhorse non-locking folder with enough blade for many tasks and a steel which is hard to beat in term of edge holding.
Its clip makes it easy to carry. The edge is thin like on the Peak and it’s going to be a great knife to go around places where locking knives are forbidden.

Also after watching the video of BlackforestGhost here, I think batonning with a slipjoint non locking knife is less stressful for the tool as there is nob lock to take the impact. The slipjoint is a spring ! So no lock failure possible. 😉 “I bend and do not break…” from the Oak and the Reed from Jean de la fontaine.
I really love that Bulgarian Comrade which is the only industrial S90V slipjoint I know so far. Manly, please do a 3 inches version and a one hand open version !! 🙂
More to come soon.

A shorter version The WASP can be found here.

edited by Pascal Jaffré on 17 jan 2018

Folders, Uncategorized

Spyderco Pingo – Do NOT mess with the Danish Cookie

03/01/2013 nemosandman 10 Comments

In those days of tactical fever.
In those days of fears.
In this last day after the End of the World.
This is the time to change all the rules.

For the first time , Spyderco is releasing a folding knife with a hole in a blade which is like a blue carrot’s salad for a sniper: useless.
A folder with a hole in the blade so tiny it will only catch germs….

WTF ?

The Pingo is a collaborative effort of Danish knifemakers Jens Anso and Jesper Voxnaes. This knife was specifically designed to conform to the knife laws of Denmark, which prohibit both lock-blade folding knives and all forms of one-hand-opening knives.

(I love copy and paste… from there.)

OK now I’m currently carrying a Spyderco Techno. I love this little dwarven titanium folder but the Pingo ???

The handle looks well thought. The blade is unusual and non threatening. Sober design.
Wait a minute, the Pingo looks like it could be a great EDC.

Spyderco Pingo

Now after two weeks of being in my pocket 24/7 this little Pingo is an excellent surprise.
First thing first…. DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE DANISH BUT: I open it with a flick.
This is good as I do not live in beautiful Danemark.
But beyond that detail, the knife got excellent ergos. Great ergos !
Its a full four fingers handle knife ready for hard work because it has a great belly and a great geometry.
And this knife is a cutting machine.
I was very surprised to see how that little knife was able to handle a lot of jobs with ease.
The belly is on the reason of its high perf. But also the razor thin full flat ground blade.

All in all for a great price you can go legal on a lot of ground with an incredible workhorse. Trust me the Pingo will surprise you.
Kuddos to Jens Anso and Jesper Voxnaes fo bringing it and Spyderco for always giving birth to the most exotic and pragmatic projects.

Folders, Review

Acereuil – Another great limited Douk Douk version

11/12/2012 nemosandman 3 Comments

The Acereuil is the special édition by Armes Bastille (Acheron) of the Douk Douk Ecureuil from Cognet. The Ecureuil (Squirrel) is a all silver knife when the Acereil got a blade handle with the Acheron logo on it (The Acheron pet has been designed by the gifted Bastien Bastinelli from Bastinelli’s Creation.). Fred Perrin told me about l’Ecureuil some decade ago. It seems to be his favorite Douk version back in those days.
Now I also got his Vendetta Douk Douk I have reviewed last year wich was an elegant and pointy adaptation of the Douk.

As you can notice, the handle is typically Douk Douk but the blade is a more “classic” spear point blade. Beautiful blade actually. XC75 us easy to keep razor and its very thin edge will not chip on that good old carbon steel.

All three knives are great EDC and for less than 20 euros it’s a bargain. Douk’s got strong springs and perfect grinds. Each of them can be used on a plate or in the wood. Carrying is also legal in my country. this is definitively a tool not a weapon. once you get used to clean the blade, the patina starts to develop slowly giving them a lot of character.
Legal EDC with a very strong attitude, its a friendly knife.

Tre amigos…

NemoKnivesReview