I saw a video where NutNFancy did a review on one that he likes but I know nothing of the quality of that model
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI9ae283-Ns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI9ae283-Ns
A good rule of thumb is to ignore NutNFancy and look for someone else's review (or 5 different reviews in the time it takes NutN to get his 45min review in) 
$200 for the entry-level Edge Apex and it's nowhere near the Wicked Edge (only natural stones, and only 220 / 400 / and 1200-hone for that price) - and in your harder steels, going from 400 to 1200grit is an uber-pain to get those mirror-edges everyone likes to brag about. You can add sandpaper in various grits, but it takes a long time to get good results.
The EPA is a Pain to setup - once you get it setup, you can go forever and get a nice edge out of it, but it's expensive enough, slow enough, and enough of a pain to setup that it falls behind in all of all of the value-factors for me (it it's going to be slow and a pain to setup, it better be cheap - if it's expensive, it better be quick or easy to setup, etc.). I'd get a Lansky or Smith and add diamond stones and just save the money over the EPA.
I can chuck in a virgin blade in the Wicked edge in under a minute, setup the stone-angles in another minute or two, and completely re-profile a blade to any angle I want in another 10mins (thats the max time for just really PITA hard steels) and get a nice mirror-finish on that edge in another 3-5mins.
If I were going to spend anywhere near $200 on a kit, I'd look at the Wicked Edge Field/Stream or Basic version at $275 and add any stones to it when I could later on. A 600grit Diamond-stone finish is more than most folks even care about though the occasional mirror-finish edge is nice to look at (and if you want to stay cheap, you can do the sand-paper trick on the W/E kit and get a very nice mirror edge by stepping up from 600 grit (in only a few minutes on each grit).
Once you get the system down and all your blades re-profiled to where you want them - you can even put leather-scraps from a belt over the existing stones and get some strop-paste for that uber-nice stropped edge (you can almost always strop back a dull edge to uber-sharp again with like, 15 strokes).
$200 for the entry-level Edge Apex and it's nowhere near the Wicked Edge (only natural stones, and only 220 / 400 / and 1200-hone for that price) - and in your harder steels, going from 400 to 1200grit is an uber-pain to get those mirror-edges everyone likes to brag about. You can add sandpaper in various grits, but it takes a long time to get good results.
The EPA is a Pain to setup - once you get it setup, you can go forever and get a nice edge out of it, but it's expensive enough, slow enough, and enough of a pain to setup that it falls behind in all of all of the value-factors for me (it it's going to be slow and a pain to setup, it better be cheap - if it's expensive, it better be quick or easy to setup, etc.). I'd get a Lansky or Smith and add diamond stones and just save the money over the EPA.
I can chuck in a virgin blade in the Wicked edge in under a minute, setup the stone-angles in another minute or two, and completely re-profile a blade to any angle I want in another 10mins (thats the max time for just really PITA hard steels) and get a nice mirror-finish on that edge in another 3-5mins.
If I were going to spend anywhere near $200 on a kit, I'd look at the Wicked Edge Field/Stream or Basic version at $275 and add any stones to it when I could later on. A 600grit Diamond-stone finish is more than most folks even care about though the occasional mirror-finish edge is nice to look at (and if you want to stay cheap, you can do the sand-paper trick on the W/E kit and get a very nice mirror edge by stepping up from 600 grit (in only a few minutes on each grit).
Once you get the system down and all your blades re-profiled to where you want them - you can even put leather-scraps from a belt over the existing stones and get some strop-paste for that uber-nice stropped edge (you can almost always strop back a dull edge to uber-sharp again with like, 15 strokes).
I just bought a Cold Steel Recon1 Tanto with plain edge.
A few features I like... Plain edge, Tanto tip, 100% G10 grip with no metal liner, new pocket clip position for deeper carry, and THE reason I bought that particular knife... THE TRI AD LOCK SYSTEM. The triad pin takes all positive and negative forces instead of the lock. Keeps lockup super tight and is self adjusting. NO VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL PLAY.
Of course it's EDC tool but if I was to go for an extended survival type trip (or far from home) I'd pack a fixed blade. Folders are good but fixed blades are inherently stronger.
A few features I like... Plain edge, Tanto tip, 100% G10 grip with no metal liner, new pocket clip position for deeper carry, and THE reason I bought that particular knife... THE TRI AD LOCK SYSTEM. The triad pin takes all positive and negative forces instead of the lock. Keeps lockup super tight and is self adjusting. NO VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL PLAY.
Of course it's EDC tool but if I was to go for an extended survival type trip (or far from home) I'd pack a fixed blade. Folders are good but fixed blades are inherently stronger.
Oh yea... The best part of the Cold Steel Recon 1, if I lose it or break it(which I doubt for EDC use), then I'm only out $70 vs. $200+ for a BM or Emerson.
If money was no object.. I'd prolly buy a strider.
If money was no object.. I'd prolly buy a strider.
I don't know if I ever will own a $200.00 EDC knife to me that's 2-3 really nice knives or half down on a decent firearm.
In other news I finally got my squirt ps4 and juice multi tool in. Both blades are very sharp and both are top notch quality. I also got in my Keyport and have officially finished (for now) my EDC.
The Tri-Ad lock is a thing of beauty. Designed by Andrew Demko. If you have time, check out the AD-10 - it's his custom knife that he later collaborated with Cold Steel on for the Cold Steel American Lawman (which I own). I will say this though, Cold Steel offers knives at affordable prices, but is charging way more than they should for a Taiwan-made AUS8-bladed knife - once you get into anything with higher-end steel, things get way more expensive where as Kershaw and Spyderco tend to hit that mid-range price-point on import-made knives with decent mid-level materials (Benchmade, not so much - they tend to go cheap or expensive).
When it comes down to expensive knives - you have to view them like any other expensive specialty tool. Use it for what it was designed to do and enjoy the upgraded materials, fit/finish, customer-service (should anything go wrong), etc.
Before you know it, your $200 knives aren't the most expensive ones in the collection
What's really a B!+@# is when you're carrying around a limited run knife that only cost you ~$150 but is now worth over $350 (and can't be replaced as it's no longer made).
Not all expensive knives are worth it, but most of the popular Mid-Techs and Customs are - and the difference is very much easily understood.
So with the move into the new house (and unboxing, breaking down move-in boxes), I haven't bought a new knife in quite some time (and about 4 of my folders are currently dull, so I need to get on sharpening them soon).
I am however, very tempted by this one:
http://www.gpknives.com/bm300flipperblackblueg10.html
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I am however, very tempted by this one:
http://www.gpknives.com/bm300flipperblackblueg10.html
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I've been carrying a zt 0651 for a few months now and have fallen in love with it. It's a large pocket knife, but very lightweight, well balanced, and extremely smooth. The blade holds an edge very nicely, as well as being easy to get back into razor sharp form with ease. Definitely suggest taking look at this one.
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