Tag: Best EDC Knife 2021

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Olight Drever Review (Olight’s First Knife Design, N690, Made by Kizer, 20% Off Coupon)

So Olight made a knife, well they released a knife, and no it doesn’t contain a flashlight inside. You might have seen I made a post about this here on my Youtube community and Facebook channel page when it was announced. I have had one now for about a week and have been carrying it pretty much exclusively so here are my quick thoughts. Thanks to Olight for sending this to me to share with you. 

 

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Save 20% on the Olight Drever by using the code LQ20 at checkout at https://bit.ly/OlightLQ 

Background Info

A few things you should know, Olight didn’t actually design or manufacture this knife, it’s a collaboration with Kizer knives, a well known Chinese knife manufacturer, and it was designed by Yue Don a Kizer knife designer. This should help ease the concerns of some of the Olight faithful on Facebook who were concerned that Olight should stick to making flashlights, etc.

 

Full disclosure I know Yue, and he has provided me a bit of inside info to share. Kizer is the only folding knife manufacturer in China to have ISO14001 (Environmental Standard), ISO9000 (Quality Standard) certified. The coatings used on the Drever are FDA certified so it’s safe to use with food. 

 

Packaging & Accessories

Olight does packaging well, and the knife is no different. You have a nice true to size color photo of the light on the front slip cover and a full set of details on the back. Inside you a nice nylon and velcro slip with Oknife embroidered on it and felt inside. Inside you have a sleeve for the copper colored challenge coin. It has heft to it, but I don’t think it’s actual copper. Olight seems to be getting into the challenge coin with a few models recently. The other accessories include a gray microfiber cloth and the manual with some care directions. 

 

Stats & Versions & Size Comparison

The knife itself weights 3.42oz, thanks to skeletonized scales, and comes in at 4.5” in length with a 3.49” blade, so just under my city/states legal limit. I measure it as 0.52” thick so not the thinnest knife in the world but I haven’t had an issue with the smoother contoured G10 scales in my pocket or hand. So it’s a large knife blade wise, but not too bad in the pocket.

The knife is using Bohler’s N690 with a full flat grind, which is a new steel for me, I have read up on it online and for a conventionally produced steel (Not powered metallurgy) people seem to like it. It will take a very fine edge, and hold it reasonably well, some suggest slightly better then 154CM or VG10, while being very stainless, so it should make a decent food prep steel. 

Out of the box it came pretty sharp, and I have no need to sharpen it currently, but I am excited to sharpen and put a mirror edge on it with my TS Prof Kadet sharpening system. For the price range here, I think it’s a solid choice and should be easy to sharpen. It’s a liner lock, made of 3CR13 Stainless with the scales being G10. 

There are two versions, available currently, a Blackwash blade, with blue pivot and clip, or the limited edition blue scales, pivot, clip and stonewashed satin blade that I have here. Each knife is serialized on the blade on the show side. 

Here are a few photos of how it compares to other knives in this price range/size that I have. 

 

How it feels in my hands and pocket

Ergonomically I like how it fits in my medium sized hands when open and closed. I have no obvious hotspots when gripped firmly. When open you can choke up easily with the large finger choil on the blade, or hold entirely on the handle. I could see if you had large hands, it might be a little small.

 

In my pocket 

As far as how it carries, I really like they went with a deep carry clip, it’s right side, tip up carry only on this model. The flipper tab hasn’t grabbed my hand or other stuff in my pocket. I wouldn’t mind a bit more tension on the clip or texture on the G10 to make it just slightly more secure in my pocket. 

Action

The knife is running on bearings, and has 2 main deployment methods, you have the short flipper tab with jimping on the tab or thumb studs on both sides. I found the initial detent to be very positive, and it taking a decent amount of force to get going with the flipper, that said it’s still easy to open, just more force than normal. Hopefully this will break in more. 

I am able to deploy the thumb studs easily. Thumb studs are not my favorite way to deploy most knives but it works here very well. It floats nicely  when opening, and after some use is easily drops shut without any wrist action, hard to film with the angle I have here. Centering when closed is spot on, and there is no blade play when open. I found the lockbar easy to get to with the G10 contouring as well as the texture on the lock bar. 

Conclusion

I think Olight was smart here to partner with Kizer to produce and design a really nice knife from day 1. This allows Olight to keep up their reputation for making quality products and designs. The experience with production and design here are obvious in my opinion. As competitive as the knife world is, especially at this price point, it was a good business decision. Quality is quite good, centering was spot on and the knife is solid when deployed. Hopefully it’s a partnership that will continue and we see other designs in the future. 

 

I won’t lie, I like this knife, this price range has a lot of competition but this is a serious contender. For me it fits well in the hand and pocket, the full flat ground sheepsfoot blade, performs well too. This should be a blade shape that’s easy for anyone to sharpen on any system or stone too. 

I don’t have much to say here in terms of negatives for the MSRP price of $69.95 with a sale price of $52.46. The detent is pretty strong when using the flipper tab. The pocket clip is tip up, right hand carry only, which some people may not like. The blue scales make for a lot of blue on the knife, and I wish they were a bit darker in color. 

 

The good news is the Black Drever is in stock currently. Hopefully the success here means we will get some special edition colors (Orange scales?), and maybe other knife designs in the future.

 

If you do decide to pick one up make sure you use my code LQ20 to save 20% off the regular price. That code is good anytime on regularly priced flashlights and accessories too. https://bit.ly/OlightLQ

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Vero Axon Review

Today I have a knife review for you of the Vero Engineering Axon. This is a knife I preordered, and have been waiting since August 2020 for. I have had it for about 2 weeks now and been carrying it most days during that time. This is going to be a bit of a long review so settle in and enjoy.

 

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Who is Vero

Vero Engineering is one of the hot new knife designers of 2020. Joseph Vero has a background as a mechanical engineer and was working in the drone industry in a professional setting. Vero Engineering started as a hobby with some CAD sketches but with it’s growth, it has allowed him and his wife to work on Vero Engineering full time which I think is an accomplishment in itself, especially with everything that happened last year economically. The Axon is his 3rd knife design. All knives are made by Bestech in China, to Vero’s tolerances and standards.

https://veroengineering.com/

 

Packaging & Specs

The knife comes in a zippered taco pouch with padding. You get a Vero branded microfiber cloth that the knife is wrapped in, as well as an identification card with the specifications of your specific knife on it too. The case has a cool velcro embroidered patch with the Axon on it. The background is green which is perfect for me.

 

Specs & Size Comparison

      • Overall Length: 8″
      • Weight: 3.67oz
      • Blade Length: 3.4″
      • Cutting Edge: 3.25″
      • Blade Thickness: 0.135″
      • Blade Material: M390
      • Blade Style: Sheepsfoot
      • Blade Grind: Full Flat
      • Finish: Hand Rubbed/ Hand Belt Satin/ Stonewashed
      • Lock: Titanium Nested Liner Lock w/ Steel Lockbar Insert
      •     Handle: Micarta/ G10/ End Cut Carbon Fiber

The Good

I had high expectations for this knife as the hype was real and it was the most expensive knife to date, that I have purchased. Fit and finish wise it didn’t let me down. I have the black micarta configuration here that’s unoiled which I am really enjoying so far, and the belt satin grind on the blade. Centering was perfect and there is absolutely no blade play which is saying something with how well the action works here.

The grinds on the M390 sheepsfoot blade are all symmetrical and pretty intricate, you have the belt grind on the blade, then the flat is going in a different, contrasting direction, then an upper faeit, again, is ground like the blade. The edges where you’re going to be touching on the spine have a nice chamfer and these get slightly less and less as you go towards the tip. To the point of there are sharp edges on the sheeps foot but no burr. Then the rectangular ‘V-spot” (Which has what the Vero community on Facebook has named it) notches in the blade are bead blasted inside which is a nice touch and some added contrast.

I am a fan of the sheepsfoot blade, it’s slicing machine, everything from opening boxes, breaking down cardboard and more. The blades “belly” is flat in the warrencliff style and gives you a lot of cutting surface and it should be easy to sharpen on a normal stone or other sharpening systems when it’s time to do so, and there is a small sharpening choil to help with that as well. It’s not your best piercing blade shape but the only time I miss that in my EDC use is to open envelopes under the flap and that still works for that task. It’s a nice touch that every knife does have a hidden serial number at the base of blade near where it locks up. There is jimping on the spine of the knife just where you need it to help with deployment and no more.

 

Weight

When I first picked up this knife out of the package the weight was the first thing to hit me. It was lighter than I expected for the size. My scale says 3.67oz and this is thanks to the extensively milled titanium liners, backspacer, and clip. For the size of the blade this is fairly light weight while still feeling solid in your hand. For me it works well.

 

Action

The knife runs on ceramic bearings inside brass races which makes for a super smooth action. This is the factory action, I haven’t taken it apart, added oil, or messed with the pivot tightness at all. There is no grit or break-in needed here. There are multiple deployment methods which I will talk about in a minute. The knife does have a detent ramp, which makes it feel even smoother, while still having a knife that won’t fall open. That said if I flick it hard with my entire arm or shake it violently in my hand, I can get it to come open on its own. Lockup on my knife is about 40% and there is a steel insert on the titanium nested lockbar, so no lock stick concerns.

 

The closing action is great too, it’s so close to being drop shut that I think after a bit more use or a cleaning the first time; it will be. All it takes now is a slight jiggle to drop shut in a controlled manner. The sharpening choil is also sized just right so the blade will drop on your thumbnail which is nice considering how free flowing it is.

 

Deployment Methods

There are multiple deployment methods with the Vero Axon. It’s designed as a front flipper, with the jimping on the spine allowing you to roll your thumb over it to open if you want. You can also use your index finger to kind of light switch it from the front side. I can’t do this myself one handed, but you might have better luck with larger hands or longer fingers. Other options are using what the Vero Facebook group has called the “V-spot”, which are the rectangular reliefs on each side of the blade as a Spydie hole of sorts, it works well and since they are on each side you can easily middle flick it from the underside too.

 

Material choices

Another thing I really like is the wide selection of materials that Vero is offering on most of his knives but especially the Axon. At preorder your you had 3 blade finish options on the M390 Steel (Tumbled, Belt Satin, Hand sanded hand satin), 2 colors of unoiled Micarta, a Red G10, and an end-cut carbon fiber. Since then, he has offered, or teased, that DLC will be an option for the blade, clip and body, brass scales have been offered as well. Bacon Damascus has been talked about for the blade here too. I wouldn’t be surprised if you see Timascus back spacers or clips offered eventually as it’s an option on most of his other designs. With that wide selection of options, it feels more like a custom knife then a production model. It’s also been said that Joseph is going to have scales available for purchase after all the preorders ship too so you can swap out colors. I am thinking I may have to pick up end cut Carbon Fiber or the Red G10.

I like that all of the scale materials options ship unoiled too, so you can let the knife either take on your own patina as you use it or oil it if you prefer. The micarta I have ads a nice grip without being too grippy. Blade steel here of M390 is a great choice for this price range.

 

The Not So Good

One of the areas I think there is room for improvement in future generations of the Axon is access to the nested lockbar when you disengage the blade. It’s a little tight and hard to access, I have to press my thumb pretty hard into the knife and then over to get it to move. If you had larger fingers, I think this would be even more difficult. I think possibly changing the relief angle or even amount on the opposite scale to open that area up ever so slightly would improve the user experience when closing the knife.

 

Screws

One of the reasons the Axon was slightly delayed was the screws. They were changed in the late stages from T6 on the prototype to T8 on the production models to make the design a little more robust for owners who plan on swapping screws. All the screws and the pivot are stainless steel, and the screws are a bright polished finish. On my knife the screws were a little inconsistent in their depth – which is something that isn’t an uncommon problem in the industry on popular designs. I tightened them which helped slightly but I still have one in the rear that sticks up a little higher and isn’t perfectly flush with the scale. This seems to not be a widespread issue based on other owners I have chatted with and it’s pretty minor.

 

Clip

I feel a little bad listing the clip as a not so good on this one because it’s a good clip but let me explain a few small issues I have with it if I am really nitpicking. The clip is mounted internally using hidden hardware and is solid titanium. It is mounted for right hand carry only, and is not reversible. It’s deep carry but not ultra deep carry, about 10mm of the knife will stick out of your pocket. Tension is good, with a few pairs of pants I have tried, my issues comes with the amount of relief that’s in the clip. Depending on the pants you’re wearing you may have to either pry up on the clip slightly or hold your pocket to keep from bunching up when carrying the knife. This is still better than a clip being too loose in my opinion and it’s easy to get used to.

Ergonomics in my hand are decent, this kind of goes back to the clip which is why I am putting it here, but the bottom of the clip where it flares out is a bit of a hot spot in my hand if I grip the knife really tightly in a normal way. If I choke up, or slide back a bit so the flare of the clip fits between my fingers instead of my palm it feels better. I do like how the body slightly tapers as you reach the clip. It helps the knife feel slimmer. 

 

The Ugly

There isn’t a lot to say here about the Axon, but the availability of any of Vero Engineering designs is a bit of a negative. They sell out in 2 to 3 minutes tops, everything from the various knife designs to the prybars, he just can’t keep them in stock. The result is they are hard to get, and even the secondary market is hot if things do pop up. This isn’t new to other knife manufacturers, or things in the EDC world but just a little frustrating if you’re a fan trying to get one.

 

The other thing is the time it took to get my Axon. I ordered in August, and it showed up late January. 5 Months is a long time for a preorder for a production knife, I knew it was going to be a while, but I didn’t quite expect it to be this long, and I was even in the first wave. Not everyone who did that preorder the same day I did has their knives just yet.

 

Conclusion

I am really happy with my purchase of the Vero Axon. I was worried after waiting for months and seeing the continual hype that it wouldn’t live up to what I built up in my head but for me that’s not been the case. I see holding onto this one for quite a while and it being a staple in my EDC rotation.

I think this is about as close as you can come to a “Custom” knife but with high end production level prices. Production location doesn’t matter to me, as long as the quality is there and for me Vero and Bestech achieved that. This is a really nice design that’s been well executed. Should you have the issue Vero Engineering is easy to get a hold of. They have an active social media presence too, with live streams of updates on preorders, upcoming models and more. That’s one thing I always like to see when paying for a higher end EDC item is that the maker is accessible not only for service but I think it helps create a community feel and draws at least me more into the brand.

So, let me know in the comments if you have been able to pick-up any of the Vero Engineering knives and what you think of the Axon.

Full Image Gallery https://imgur.com/a/tvSAd5T