The reviews on this knife are accurate. I did ...
347694
The reviews on this knife are accurate. I did shift the lanyard to the ferro rod, because of the difficulty of getting it out.  It's now in my bug out bag.
3286016
This is a curious knife with a lot going for it and some things going against it. For all of the reviews about how sharp it came out of box... well, mine didn't. It wasn't exactly dull, meaing it could cut paper (barely); however, I have $30 buck knives that cut better out of the box. And every $15 Mora I own could have put the saddle mountain skinner to total shame. I gave it  a 1/2 star reduction for that. Only half a star because anyone who buys a knife that's this expensive probably should know how to sharpen it. I do, and I did.  While I still wouldn't (and likely couldn't) shave with it now, no functional knife that isn't razor needs to be razor sharp, This knife is still far from the sharpest knife I own. However,  it's edge is quite good and it seems to hold reasonably well in no small part because the steel is very goood.  All my favorite pocket knives are s30v. It is also a perfect shape for its intended purpose.

Second, I am going to take a half star away because of the handle.  The handle is really thinner than it needs to be and thinner than most pocket knives I own. It is deceptively thinner than it looks online and I have big paw-like hands. I know.. I suppose I could have checked the handle thickness... but the blade thickness was exactly what I was looking for, so, it hard to imagine that handle thickness would be so inadequate.  In fact they are just a fraction of an inch wider than the tang. Very thin handles are not condusive to extended cutting tasks.  In other words, it compromises where it shouldn't. pocket knifes have thin handles to fit more comfotably in a pocket... Unless you have a boot knife I see no point in having a fixed blade knife with a super thin handle. Half the point of halving a fixed blade knife is that it should be more comfortable to work with than a folder.  There is also a big hotspot because of the lanyard loop. That being said, it is a hunting blade and when you hold the knife with your index finger on the spine (in a skinning position) it does seem to fit very nicely with lots of traction and control. However, skinning is only a small fraction of the uses for a hunting knife. I'm not taking off a full star, only a half, because the handles are replaceable.. which means I can fit larger more rounded handles to this knife if I end up feeling the need. Being able to remove the scales is also a really nice feature if you need to clean your knife.

Another deduction of 1/2 star comes from the sheeth. The kydex is kind of unfinished looking in one section and the retention isn't particularly positive. It doesn't snap in to place like virtually every other kydex sheath I own (probably because the handle is too thin and small to have any place to click in. It is just held firm by friction. When the knife first came  it actually fell out of the sheeth when I turned the knife upside down (nearly impaling my foot). After tightening the screw, it is much better, but far from ideal.  I am worried that if I were to take a stumble the knife concievably could fall out. While not 100% likely (especially now)...  it is still a concern. I really don't want to lose my knife or worse fall on it.  Secondly, it only has a belt loop instead of one of the more modern attachment mechanisms, that would allow you to attach it to molle or a pack, etc. On the bright side it is very light and hugs closely to the hip.

Final 1/2 star deduction is the price. I don't mind paying $130 for a good knife, made with good steel (which this is)... but when I do, I want it to come sharp, be comfortable to hold, and have a sheath that I wouldn't want to replace. So, in the end. I like this knife. I know that sounds weird, but according to the scoring rubric that's what 3stars means. I like it, I don't love it.. and I need to do a lot more work to get it exactly how I want it. Luckily because of  the design of the knife I can do just that.  The blade shape, steel and size is perfect.. everything else has to go.  Once a I get it all fixed up, I'm pretty sure it will be one of my favorites.
3088880
First I want to take a moment to say about the whole online rating system is so unreliable as people place bad reviews for something not totally relevant such as preferance without perspective of maker or the website where it was ordered from. This is a great knife and my not quite 5 stars are for the maker and for you to take into consideration. If you like a heavy knife this one will fit you well, but most people in the philosophy of what this is going to be used for due to it's size, would like the liners milled out and the handles carbon fiber especially for the price. The second thing to be aware of is the spine like most benchmarked is roughly shaped but not finished, it has 36 grit trenches not a 220 scotch brite lighter finish and why I bother mention it is this is not a throw away tool where athsetics are worthless,  it is a pretty, classy knife those interested in owning it may want to be aware of. The rest of the news in my experience is subjective like sharpness and smoothness I can change to my liking as can anyone who would pay this much for a knife
3999072
the other reviews were correct. The grind on the knife is relatively poor but the knife did arrive very sharp and usable. Did not take long to put a proper grind on it and I love the size of this knife.
4734769
For what this knife is, it's really not bad. The opening is smooth and lockup is sturdy. The handle is very ergonomic and fits my hand very well. The blade holds its edge fairy well. My grandpa cut through drywall with it and it dulled the tip a lot, but the knife really isn't designed to cut drywall, now is it? It took an edge on again just fine. It's no where near as good as my benchmades, but that's a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. My point: if you want a good EDC knife made by a great company and don't want a hefty price tag, this is a very good option.
4539668
This is a fairly good knife for its cost. The weight is neither to light nor too heavy and it fits comfortably in my hands. The handle is made of plastic and connects to the blade securely. The blade is coated with red (I will talk about this more at the end of the review) and did not seem like it would scratch off very easily. The blade is extremely sharp and cut through my vegetables with a breeze.  I am sure this blade, down the road, will need to be sharped but for now it is very sharp and cut through just about any vegetable I tried.
My complaints with this product is that...
number 1, I ordered a purple one and ended up with a red one. Apparently the color on the picture is not what the get... So if that bothers you I would suggest looking for something else. I am sure the functionality of the two different colors are the same.
Number 2, the packaging is extremely difficult to get into. I had to use a scissors to cut the blade out, but even then the handle got stuck in the plastic and I almost cut myself trying to get the knife out.

Disclaimer: I received this product at a discount for a fair and honest review.
184132
I purchased this knife a few weeks ago as I lacked a chef's knife.  The knife itself is good.  It comes quite sharp and goes through most everything I've put against it with very little effort.  Even though I don't cook all day so don't know how this is for extended use, the handle is comfortable and plastic.  There is good balance.  It isn't too heavy to become cumbersome but is sturdy enough that I am able to control the slices.  For the price, it is great.

There are two complaints which I have.  First one is that it didn't include a knife sleeve.  I'm going to have to buy one to protect the blade and myself.  The other complaint is when I slice wet items (cucumber for instance) the slices often stick to the side of the knife instead of falling off.  Not a huge deal, just slightly annoying.

This is a great knife and I'd have no problem recommending it to someone looking for a good, inexpensive chef's knife.  Are there better knives on the market?  I'm sure of it.  But for this price point, you're getting great gear and not spending a pretty penny either.
2125268
Most people agree that this knife isn't like your heavy German knives. The knife is quite sharp and the blade is thin enough to decimate some produce. I even use it for thinly slicing chicken and beef and it's done very well for me. It's been my "go to" knife for most every chore save for butchering a chicken or really anything bone related. Keep on top of steeling it and it'll stay nice and sharp for you.

Beware though, I somehow bent the tip slightly, so these blades really are thin so be careful how/where you place them.

Great knife though, I'm thinking about getting the nakiri style one as a back-up.
159508
Got a $200 gift certificate for Amazon for Christmas and a chunk of it turned into this knife. I have an Al Mar SERE 2000 that's in this same size class that my wife bought me for XMas in 2005 or 06 that I've built up some sentimental attachment to. Didn't want to take a chance on losing it.

That started me on a hunt for a new folding knife. Tried out the Kershaw Needs Work for a little while and while a great little knife it was just that, little. It wasn't up to the same range of tasks due to its smaller size.

At any rate I ordered this one and it's exactly what I was looking for to substitute for the Al Mar SERE 2000.

Other reviews have used words and phrases like . . . "Well built", "Like a tank" and so on, they were all telling the truth. This is a large, very well made tank-like folding knife. If Rambo or Crocodile Dundee were to have a folding knife this would be the knife they'd have. The other reviewers weren't lying and they summed it up well.

The blade, hinge and liner lock are massive. The scales are very positive. Even when your hands are wet and freezing from rain and sleet and are all bloody because you're field dressing a deer in the back field by the pipeline it won't slip out of your hand. The entire knife reeks of quality.

Positives :
 154CM is good steel, holds an edge well and has good corrosion resistance.
 G10 scales won't slip out of your hand even when wet and freezing.
 Hinge and liner-lock are very sturdy.
 The S-shaped blade geometry of this knife aids in cutting after the hump on the belly of the knife as it catches whatever material you're cutting.
 My knife came fairly sharp from the factory. Not scary sharp, but pretty sharp.
 The blade coating on the blade seems to be scratch resistant. There wasn't a huge scratch in it the first time it hit metal like with my Kershaw Needs Work.
 It's a large knife and even though I don't use my knives for batoning (I use a hatchet) this knife would stand up to such use.
 One of the other reviewers mentioned that the clip has a "death grip" on your pants pocket when trying to draw it and made a point to mention how strong it is. That's definitely true. He mentioned that as a negative as he was worried about it tearing up his clothes (I'm usually wearing jeans, Dickies or Carhart, not really an issue for me), but I'm listing it as a positive. It definitely isn't going anywhere until you need to use it.

Negatives :  Although this knife is supposed to be a manual flipper forget opening it with just your index finger. The blade weight/friction of the hinge prevents flipping it open. I open it part way with my index finger and then have to rotate the blade out using the thumb-stud. Maybe eventually it'll loosen up a bit, until then it's not really a flipper.
 The price. $125 is a pretty hefty price for a knife if you're the sort of person who loses knives quite often, but the "death-like grip" of the pocket clip will help with that.
 If you work or associate with hoplophobes this isn't the knife to use. The large size of this knife attracts attention even if you're just cutting a box open for someone. I don't really care too much what others think or say, but if you're looking for a low key knife for an office mail room that won't have people urinating in fear this probably ain't it.

In summary unless you're looking for a flipper with auto switchblade-like speed or you work around people who'd freak out about a larger knife and it would affect your career I can't really imagine someone being unhappy with this knife.

(For size comparison the pic from the top goes Spyderco Ronin, Kershaw Needs Work, Al Mar SERE 2000 and then the Zero Tolerance Tactical Response)
2228942
I am an avid home cook, and have been reading about knives for a while.  From what I understand, there are basically three alternatives:

- Carbon steel knives don't hold their edge for long at all, but are easy to re-sharpen to a very fine edge.  (But see the comment below - I had thought that carbon steel required really frequent resharpening, but that might be because restaurant chefs use CS and use their knives so much, not because it doesn't hold an edge).

- Stainless steel knives hold their edge longer, but are harder to re-sharpen.

- Ceramic knives hold their edge longest, but are most difficult to resharpen.  Also, ceramic knives are fragile enough that you don't want to drop one, put it in the dishwasher where it might bang against other implements, or cut meat with bones, for fear of breaking or chipping the blade.

Like most home cooks, I've been making do with stainless steel for a while, but I was excited to get the chance to try and review a ceramic knife.  Basically, this knife has worked well for me, and it's become my "go-to" knife for slicing and dicing vegetables.  It's very sharp, and works fast.  It slices cleanly and dices quickly.  I like that it comes with a plastic sheath, since I was worried about putting a knife this sharp and this fragile in a drawer.

The Bodum santoku wasn't as revolutionary for me as for some reviewers -- it's a little sharper than my chef's knife, but I can't slice much thinner or much faster, just a little better in both cases.

I didn't have the loose blade problem or the balance problems that some of the other reviewers experienced, but the blade problem is a concern.  I assume Bodum will fix this in future models -- if you are reading this review in the future, I would look for at least a few months of consistently good reviews.

Lastly, be careful -- this thing is sharp.  I had to warn my kids, who saw the white blade and bright colors and assumed that this knife was safer for young hands than Dad's shinier knives, but haven't had any other problems.

Update 9/30/11: Well, it was fun while it lasted -- I ended up taking a chip out of my knife when breaking down a peach last week.  It was my fault, not the knife's; I had been warned not to cut meat with bones, and on reflection, stone fruit like a peach is at least as risky.  The knife must have chipped on the pit.  On the other hand, it held its edge and remained my primary knife for fruit and vegetable chopping for nine months.  On the gripping hand, I'm going back to my stainless steel chef's knife rather than buying a new one, so I suppose that while this was nice, it's not nice enough to make me want a replacement enough to pay for one.
3590787
Just got the knife, I don't have much to say about it as of right now.
It's a small knife, but I have small hands so I think the size is fine. I have heard it's a terrible knife and all, though if your going to be using it as a EDC and it's 20 bucks? Why give it such high expectations?
Anyways, it's not as bad as most people think it is. I do wish the knife came a bit more sharp. The knife for opening and closing is very stiff as well, but I'm just going to assume it's still new which is why it's so stiff. The knife handle heavy, but it feels like nothing when u have it held in your hands.
Othewise, I think I'll be happy with this knife till it breaks or something.

I'll edit this post about half a year from now to see how this knife goes.
2659772
I'm no professional chef, but I really like this knife.  It is sturdy but not too bulky.  I love the way the handle feels.  It's awesome for the price.
2620209
Having seen a lot of negative conjecture about this knife soley based on the fact that it was 4116 steel, and not a lot based on first hand experience, I was pretty concerned after buying it.  (Read the negative hype about 4116 after I bought it), so I was starting to think I may have made a $50 mistake.  But after doing more reading about the steel and checking the hardness rating of 56-57 which is right there in the 56-59 HRC range of most well liked survival knives, I thought it might be alright and warranted some hard testing.

Out of the box it came pretty sharp.  Cut paper with ease, but would not shave hairs.  I decided to refine the edge a little to see if it would shave hairs.  That was my first experience with the steel.  For all the rumors of 4116 being soft, the steel on my leatherneck tanto was considerably harder than I expected and took a little more effort to remove a minimal amount of material and sharpen.  Within a few minutes on my spyderco sharpmaker, it was shaving my arm with ease.  So then a few days later when the opportunity presented itself, I decided to test it out pretty hard before taking it on my next camping that's coming up.  I didn't do little things like cut rope or cardboard, I went straight to chopping big limbs and and batoning logs.  After two lengthy afternoon sessions of chopping and batonning (without sharpening), it did not chip or roll in the least little bit, and though it will not shave the hair on my arm, it will cut paper cleanly and effortlesly.  I honestly did not expect the blade to still be in as good a shape as it was, but it was seriously still in really good cutting condition.

I like the thick spine almost all the way to the tip, made batonning so much easier, the shape of the rubber grip grew on me, I love the sheath, and am very happy with the steel composition and durability.  The finish wore severly in no time, but as these knives are made from stainless and not carbon steel, it should be slightly less of an issue.  Overall, having given it some honest hard use testing, I would honestly recommend this knife as a solid option.  I'm no steel expert and have no other experience with 4116 knives to know if they're good or not, and maybe cold steel just has a really good heat treat or tempering process, but don't beleive the hype from people who havn't personally tested this knife.  It's a solid choice, especially for the price.
3158369
Havent gotten to abuse it yet but i have used it and must say, it is a nice knife. Sheath is crap. Sharpening stone is decent. Fero rod is a nice add on. In hindsight I would probably order the one without the finger choil since its such a large blade anyway. It has nice balance. The jimping doesnt bother me since my hands are already rough. like another review said the point grind is a bit steep and i would be worried that it could break right there but when it comes to self defense and penetrating clothes or tissue this could work in its favor. I like the grip but had to add a lanyard because it does feel a bit short for such a big hunk of steel. All in all i give it five stars because it was exactly what i was looking for .
1175345
I do like this knife and the fit and finish is good, expected better after reading other reviews.
3437660
I just received this knife so I am in the early stages of using it but felt the need to respond to some of the poor reviews.  After three days of use I felt that the clip needed to be in the other direction.  I used a T6 screwdriver and changed it without any issues or problems (took around 2 minutes).  When retrieving the knife from my pocket, using my third finger I move the safety pin to the open position (the safety pin is closed which prevents accidental opening while in your pocket), and then touch my thumb to the flipper for the fastest opening knife I have ever owned.  If you do not have the manual dexterity to perform these operations I do not recommend this knife, or that you should be handling any knife other than the butter knife.  To all others, this is a great knife at a great value.
3294613
My first impression of this knife was it is HUGE. My second impression was it is sharp. I think this knife has that intimidation factor.

This knife can be an overkill if you are looking for a simple utilitarian folding knife.

This knife feels solid both when folded and when extended.

The steel of this knife is also supposed to be better than most. The knife is also thick, and thicker than most kitchen knives. It is sharp, so sharp, it can act as a shaving razor if need be.

I wouldn't use this knife to chop wood, but it should be able to do everything else more than adequately.

If you are looking for a large folding knife with quality build and high quality steel, then this knife should be more than adequate.