Thursday, July 9, 2009

S&W Extreme Ops Automatic Folder






I've been using this Smith & Wesson knife now for a couple years for a duty knife. It doesn't get a ton of use, but it's on my gear every day and gets exposed to the elements and banged around quite a bit. I've used Smith & Wesson knives quite a bit and they're great value. For the price they are very good quality!!

This knife is one of S&Ws automatic folders that utilizes a button on the side of the knife to spring the blade open. The blade opens fairly smoothly. On occasion it'll stick a little, but for the most part it opens smoothly. This is a very convenient and fast way of opening a knife. The knife features a lock to prevent accidental opening of the blade, but it seems to be the one weak point with this knife. The lock is made of a plastic that has held up for me so far, but I've heard of it breaking off. To lock the blade you slide the lock toward the blade. This puts the lock under the release button, blocking it from being able to release the blade. One problem with this lock is that it's very loose. It easily slips back and forth so when you lock it it easily unlocks by itself. After about a year of using this knife I figured out that if you lock the lock, then push the release button it puts a little bit of pressure on the lock and holds it in place a little better.

With the blade being made of 440C steel it is easy to sharpen in the field. It will dull quicker than other blades, but it's very easily resharpened and easy to work with.

This knife is lightweight with it's aircraft aluminum handle. The handle has grooves in it to help give it grip and is comfortable in the hand. For sizing, this isn't the largest version of this knife. I believe this one is the small version.

The pocket clip is removable but can only be placed in the one position.

This knife is pretty durable, but when carried in the pocket in hot and humid environments you will get some surface rust. Keeping an eye on this and cleaning it off will keep it looking pretty good.

This knife comes in at least 2 different sizes, black or gray, plain or serrated blade, tanto or regular clip blade.

No comments: