Hi All,
I had this posted on Bladeforums but it really belongs here of course.
I got my HEST/F LE Sterile a couple days ago. Seems to be a lot of "interest" in them so I took some pics and will give my thoughts.
I'm a pretty critical person but keep it well hidden most of the time. I'm a natural born engineer too so can't help but think how I would do things differently.
Index:
1. Politics
2. Knife Quality
3. Blade
4. Handle / Scales
5. Opening / Closing
6. Bottle Opener / Wave Feature
7. Detent
8. Rotoblock
9. Pocket Clip / Self Defense
10. Lanyard / Lanyard Hole
11. Delays in Delivery
12. Why did I buy it?
13. Things I would personally consider changing for future runs
14. Conclusion
1. PoliticsRegarding the whole Bladeforums nonsense, I couldn't give a toss about peoples attitudes or personality disorders/mental health issues (both lovers and haters). Who cares whether you think someone's an ass or a bully. Not me, that's who. You've all been a jerk to someone, right? I know I have. Just because there's no evidence of it posted on the 'net doesn't make you a saint. Who ever you are, someone, somewhere, hates you. I couldn't care less. I'm not going to take sides when something doesn't affect me directly, why would I?
I wouldn't have posted Ren’s info up and RYP broke the rules but it's gone now, no harm done, and nothing to do with me anyway. Hope they sort it out.
Quality control on this Lionsteel made knife is excellent apart from one single (misprint doesn’t count) minor issue and anyone calling it a piece of crap is being ignorant, letting their bias against RYP show and probably hasn't held one.
End rant.
2. Knife QualityI am here because I'm interested in good knives. The HEST/F is one. Overall it's a well designed and manufactured folding knife with some unique features and maybe a couple perceived minor flaws. The tip issue is a minor one, has happened on plenty of production and custom knives before, and is easily and permanently fixed by the end user with no negative side affects at all.
On at least some, (probably all but I'm not sure) of the 250 LE blades, the tip of the knive sits slighty proud of the scales when the knife is closed.
This is how mine (and I think all other LE blades) sits, more or less:
I'm not sure but I suspect the main reason for this is the coating on the blade and the stop pin. Without those coatings the tip would have sat perfectly, that's how little difference is required in the size of the stop pin, at a guess.
RYP/Lionsteel are fixing all the LE blades that haven't been shipped yet (I think by replacing the stop pin but not 100% sure) and I think they are sending replacement stop pins to everyone who already has the knife. That will correct the issue.
The standard production HEST folders will not have this issue at all.
It shouldn't have shipped like this IMO but it's a small thing and easily fixed.
All it needs is a new pin with a very slightly smaller diameter which is easily replaced by anyone with a T7 Torx bit for the handle and the pivot tool that comes with the knife. Detent and lock up are not affected by this to any relevant degree at all as is obvious when you understand the relationship between the pivot and the blade length.
I removed the stop pin, did some testing and put it back in, untouched as I'll wait for replacement pins from Lionsteel, no rush. As it is I can't touch the tip with my skin but can get a nail under it. It won't catch on anything so I'm happy with it like this for now, but would want it fixed eventually.
I measured and 4mm of movement at the blade tip when closed, or open, equates to
approx 0.3mm movement at the stop pin and even less than that at the lock face, about a 10% difference in the lock up which is no issue at all in a lock this well engineered.
The lock face has a great shape, it will never make it’s way over to the other scale thanks to the curve of the ramp in the blades lock face and the lock will just wear in more securely as time goes by. this is how a frame lock should be made.
In my opinion there is no need for the knives to be sent back to the factory or anywhere else. Lionsteel should just send everyone a new stop pin (or 2 or 3 if you want to get the position extremely precise) and maybe a T7 torx bit, ($2 from eBay) plus instructions which even I would be happy to write or film. It is no more than 5 minutes work to swap the stop pin, no matter how slow and careful you are.
When closed, the blade can be just touched with my little finger if I poke it in there, and would sit only a very small fraction of a mm lower with a new stop pin (not noticeably at all). Personally I would like to see a very thin backspacer right up to the end of the blade. The backspacer could be paper thin really and then end in another handle screw, right through the sharpening choil cut out. It would still leave room for a flipper if the finger guard of the blade where extended to be one. If I keep the knife I may make a temporary flipper from JB weld or something just to see how it works.
Mine is sterile but as for the misprint issue on the Mr. DP blades, who gives a crap, big deal, it in no way affects the performance. It's worth more like that long term and you should be happy if you got one. I have bank notes with misprints. if the Mint can miss those, I can forgive Lionsteel and RYP.
3. BladeThe blade is centered bang on. I read criticism of un-centered blades but haven't seen pics, anyone seen a blade not centered? The pivot and washers are big enough that if tightened properly I can't see the blade getting close to the liner, even though the fit is tight and gap is small. When closed I can’t wiggle the blade enough side to side to make it hit the liners unless I was to get stupid with the force used, which I wont.
The HEST/F blade is 5mm thick, same as my Junglas and Fallkniven H1.
The coating seems great but I haven't used the knife so don't know how it will hold up. I suspect it will be pretty tuough and durable, seems better than Emerson and Fallkniven coatings for sure. Spyderco and ESEE coatings seem tougher and I don't know how they compare to the HEST/F long term.
Blade is the same as the fixed HEST, great big belly, flat ground, good point and thick and strong. Fair bit of distal taper near the point so should be ok for fine stuff. Not sure how it will slice, it's no Opinel...
It's very sharp, has only been touched by my finger tips but it's a fine edge. I haven't cut aything with it but I'd expect it will be the same as the fixed blade apart from the coating being smoother. The jimping is great, deep and aggresive, you can press real hard and not slip or get a sore thumb.
4. Handle / ScalesThe scale is very grippy but not painful, it gives a great hold on the knife and wouldn't be slippery even soaked in mud or oil. Excellent. The liner scale and the G10 are very, very closely matched. Only the tiniest step on the “inside” side, can’t be felt with a finger, just barely with a nail. I spent hours sanding Emerson knives, no need to touch this one at all IMO.
I would like the forefinger cut out on the scales to be extended forward a bit, to line up with the finger guard on the blade when open. This would increase closed length a bit and then closed there would be a gap between the jimping on the blade and the scales so the blade would have to be reshaped as well. There are several solutions though and I would like to see a bit of reshaping in that area, especially if the blade was turned into a flipper.
5. Opening / ClosingDetent is strong enough to ensure the blade won't come open in your pocket unexpectedly, (unlike a Hinderer, at least without modding the detent). The detent also prevents accidental wave openings better than an Emerson.
This strong detent requires pressure on the thumb studs which are not as smooth as I'd like. Most companies thumbstuds/disks make your thumb get sore if you sit there and open the knife enough times. The studs here are not bad, better than a Hinderer (which still are not bad) but could be more comfortable, more of a concern if you have girl hands. I don't, but thought I'd mention it and I do prefer touching things that aren’t rough or sharp.
I often put a bit of heat shrink over rough thumbstuds to make it nicer to operate them.
My Right hand thumb stud came with a small scuff on it. No big deal.
The blade was shipped with the pivot adjusted correctly IMO (pretty tight). It was not "tight" as I had hoped it would be. I am able to wrist flick the knife open, just. It doesn't slam open, just clicks into lock. I'm very good at that but so are Customs officers and if they can get a knife open by flicking (trying for as long as they like) they keep it. Customs didn't open the package which is lucky for me, or I'm sure they would have nabbed it and I would have had to jump through expensive hoops to try and get the blade into the country, probably unsuccessfully.
If the pivot was loosened it would wrist flick easy.
The opening and closing action is very smooth, the blade has a ramp ground into it where the ball sides up onto it and the ball has a slight flat ground onto it. Lock bar tension is not too hard and the non-lock side scale cut out is deep enough to expose some of the lock bar, making it easier to release the lock when you want to. I can't see it happening by accident and if you're really hacking away, use the rotoblock to secure the lock bar.
In common with all frame locks you have to be careful not to squeeze the lock bar against the blade with your fingertips when opening, many people don’t realize they are doing that and get frustrated at how hard a frame lock is to open. You have to hold it in a way that feels a bit unusual at first but you soon get used to it. On the HEST/F I touch the pocket clip with my last 3 fingertips and my forefinger doesn’t touch the knife. I push forward with my thumb, not out or up but forward, towards the tip on the front of the scales.
The hex in the pivot had very minor marks in it, would be nice if it was perfect but no biggie. No need to ever touch that anyway, the tool works wonderfully on the other side of the pivot.
There is very solid lock up and only very minor play in the pivot when open, not side to side, but up and down. That's caused by the tolerances of the pivot and not a concern at all. It's about average for this price range knife. I have good folders with far more play.
6. Bottle Opener / Wave FeatureThe bottle opener/wave hook would technically weaken the blade but it's so thick I can't see a failure happening there, the pivot would probably bend first, and it's beefy. Emerson’s have a small notch cut there too for the disk to sit in, and much thinner blades.
I haven't opened a bottle but the cut out works great as a wave and doesn't stick up out of the blade like Emerson and especially Spyderco wave hooks do.
This seems like a great design for a wave hook, I love it.
7. DetentThe detent is already pulling the blade closed when the tip is level with the highest point of the end of the handles, which is 8mm proud:
The detent is centered when the blade is almost but not quite touching the back spacer, and the tip is well below the handles:
The detent hole in the blade is 2mm wide. So the detent works acceptably to pull the blade closed anywhere from the blade being 8mm+ open, to the blade hitting the backspacer (and further). The detent is consistently very strong over about half that range. There will be no issue with the detent with new stop pins.