Everything you’d want from a tactical folder, plus a hilt! Columbia River has been around for fifteen years, manufacturing knives from space age materials and with a space age look. Gradually that avant garde outlook shifts around to what we we already knew, a tanto blade for superior armour penetration and a hilt to keep your fingers off the blade.
The openwork handle is aircraft quality black anodized aluminum scale; the 3.875″ blade is high quality high carbon alloy stainless steel. Once open, the blade locks into place, rivaling a fixed blade design in terms of strength. Crisis over, with a little practice you can close the knife with one hand.
The combo fine and serrated blade is a multi-purpose choice, with enough traditional blade edge to make the knife useful for ordinary purposes. The knife is equipped with a steel clip but is not recommended for pocket use. Hang it from your belt or your pack webbing instead.
The black anodized blade and tanto style qualify this as a military knife, but if it’s so complex it requires instructions for operation I have to wonder why it’s better than a fixed blade sheath knife. Some people like complexity–if you buy genuine Columbia River knives, you get the best of that genre.
Whether this is your own best choice will depend on what you like. This is a techie’s knife and will require regular cleaning, if you’re the sort of person who gets things dirty. If the openwork and crevices fill with sand and muck, the blade may not swing and lock as easily and reliably as when you took it out of the box.
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