HEST/F Review

questions, comments , film clips and pictures on guns and weapons and HEST.

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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby JarheadJournalist » Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Steven,

Great, thorough review. I have the Sterile version and can't think of a single issue I don't agree with you on. 30 minutes after I opened my package (the one with the knife in it in case any of you thought I was a flasher) I had the blade hidden in the handle. This is one fine blade.

My Leatherman Skeletool will remain my EDC since it is illegal to carry the HEST in Germany, but the HEST/F will be my EDC when deployed, be it a training mission or an actual down range one. I showed the knife to some of the Special Forces guys on Panzer Kaserne here in Germany during an interview and they loved it as well. They offered to "field test" it for me during an upcoming deployment to dangerous place. Some how I feel I'd never see it again if I took them up on that offer. "Sorry, man. I lost it," they'd say with a smirk.

Again, great review.
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby RYP » Tue Feb 08, 2011 3:42 am

Jarhead. Tell us about your scar. If I knew how to post pics I would post mine. Much cleaner cuz it is a flap sewn internally. I hit head on by a car on my motocycle in Peru. Ripped my hand, turned my bones into small shards. Spend two weeks traveling through the jungle mud and when I finally got to a real hospital the doc took 8 hours to put it back together, A week later fell three feet onto concrete. Ripping all the wood screws, pins and titanium thingies out of my arm. Doctor was pissed. Another 8 hours in surgery with plenty of 2 and three inch screws.

I have the same lumps. Fused tendons going through the carpel tunnel. Took two years to get my hand to work. Met a Delta force guy who had the same thing. Spent two years bending his wrist to get it to work. We swapped wrist extension measurements. Its a small club. My microsurgeon says come on back when you want your tendons' separated or plastic surgery on the scar. Fuck it. I earned it.


Wear that scar proudly.
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby neuron » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:41 am

Fantastic review and pictures. I'm even more excited for my pre-ordered regular production HEST/F to arrive now.

(Just registered here, by the way. I post under the same name over on BladeForums. I really couldn't care less about the saga that played out there over the last week or so; I'm just interested in high-quality, useful knives/gear. And RYP seems deeply committed to providing that and, where something is lacking, to doing everything he can to work with his customers to correct the error and refine the product.)
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby JarheadJournalist » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:22 pm

It isn't a very cool or sexy story.

I was drunk with a few other Marines and we started rough housing in the streets of Kaiserslautern, Germany. A buddy jumped on my shoulders and due to the beer, cobblestones and rain I fell forward. I landed on my forearms to protect my face. He landed on his knees. Unfortunately, my arm was between his knees and the street. Sounded like two gunshot going off when he landed.

Image

I was brought to Landstuhl Medical Center and had two titanium plates, twelve titanium screws and 42 staples added to me. They also had to do a lot of tissue reconstruction since the bones cut through some tendons and muscles.

Image

When I came-to after the operation, I couldn't move my fingers. They feared nerve damage and waited a week to see if another operation was needed. The day of the decision, I wiggled my thumb! No operation needed. Three months later and all fingers were responding in their own little way, but the bones weren't fusing. Docs decided to wait another 3 months to decide if they were going to use pieces of my hip to fuse the bones. That didn't happen and things slowly got better. You can see the gap in the bone on the right of the second image. That is were the bone shattered into pieces too small to work with and just got discarded. That's is my guess why there was a fusion issue.

Fast forward about 14 months from the incident, I can type again. I can't pronate (face my palm down) all the way and it is still pretty weak. Rehab helped and I am now rehabilitating myself at the gym. Making very slow progress, but I passed the last Combat Fitness Test barely missing first class last November. Also, I can't feel my thumb. Burned it a few times since without noticing until the next day.

The surgeons also offer to tune me up physically and aesthetically, but like you, I say fuck it.
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby stevenkelby » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:29 pm

Gutsy arm break, thanks for sharing. I did a similar thing to my leg, hit by drunk driver on my motorbike. Loss of movement and strength sucks while healing but the scars are cool :)
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby JarheadJournalist » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:33 pm

stevenkelby wrote:Gutsy arm break, thanks for sharing. I did a similar thing to my leg, hit by drunk driver on my motorbike. Loss of movement and strength sucks while healing but the scars are cool :)


No shit?

I have a similar leg injury. In my college days I was hit by a drunk driver running a red light while I was crossing the street. Got a titanium rod and some screws in the left tibia.

looks like we are all a little related here.
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby stevenkelby » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:48 pm

Ha, mine was the right tibia and fibula. Rods and screws. Knee damage too. All works well enough now. :)
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby DBR » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:52 pm

That's a very, very good review. 8-)
I was on my way back from the P.O., not the Parole Officer, but the Post Office, and I was being followed by Yuri and Sergei Cutchikokoff. Normally these guys were my Ketel One dealers, but today was much, much different...

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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby RYP » Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:04 am

Titanium...gotta love it
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby sdg » Thu Feb 10, 2011 4:55 am

Damn nice review, stevenkelby!

stevenkelby wrote: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.


Speaking of Thumb disks. I don't know if this is something that's patented or not but I'm a HUGE fan of these. I feel they require less pressure on the thumb when opening and allow my entire thumb to sit between the handle and disk when opening. Even though I don't have my knife in hand yet, I was planning on looking into the possibility of conversion and was considering giving it to my machinist if deemed possible. Even if it is, I don't know that I'd have the cojones to cut up an LE blade, though. If it's not patented, maybe RYP will be interested in a prototype with a disk.

RYP wrote:For example I have already ordered clips in three finishes and without holes (logo,black coated tempered stainless, logo tempered stainless and plain tempered stainless).


I'm interested in these. It would be good to have a black clip option since I carry my knife just about everywhere I go.

I doubt I will ever use the lanyard hole. I may give it a try just because it comes with a lanyard, but it's not really my thing.

RYP wrote:For the next round of HEST folders we will make some tweaks to the belly, clip, blade length and other subtle mods.


Hmmm, sounds dangerous for the pocket book.

Have you considered a HEST/F with a thinner blade for urban use that doesn't require a super-strength blade?
-Steve
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby DocBurN » Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:28 pm

sdg wrote:Have you considered a HEST/F with a thinner blade for urban use that doesn't require a super-strength blade?


For my part, i rather carry a super-strength blade 24/7 even for "urban use" or small job.. just in case. i may be paranoid about "bad thing could happen" but having a strong knife already saved my life once 10 years ago.
Un grand prophete a dit: Mange de la marde tabarnak de cowliss..
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby Texas Carnie Roadshow » Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:29 am

The most work I'd get out of it on the job is maybe the rare seat belt needed to be cut, or the window punch.
I can't wait to use the window punch.

Now if someone could just instruct me as to what I'm supposed to do with the lanyard, cause I'm just lost on that thing.
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby RYP » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:46 pm

Lanyards are a personal choice. I included hand made ones by Thom at MonsterWorks. And there is a titanium bead done by Shon Rowen.

Ours is the Afghan flag and goes through the two holes in the clip, take the clip off (with the tool) push the end of the lanyard through one hole and then loop it over itself. You can also do it with the clip on the knife. The lanyard gives a better grip, makes your HEST easier to find if you drop it and has a bunch of paracord in case you need it.

I am in an airport. Can anyone post pics?
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby Texas Carnie Roadshow » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:10 pm

RYP wrote:I am in an airport. Can anyone post pics?


No need. saw it in one of the many other threads.
When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? To surrender dreams - -this may be madness; to seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all - -to see life as it is and not as it should be.
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Re: HEST/F Review

Postby flipflop » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:50 pm

1. Politics

Dónde está el banco?

All the rest is suss-suss-sudio

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