Architect Knives

1 Comment

1. GenericLib 2 days ago

   Pictured from Left to right: AK6.5 in Magnacut, AK4.5 in S35VN, AK3 in Mangnacut

   Backstory: I was in the market to upgrade my old, crappy 5″ camping knife in coated 1095, I also wanted a true survival knife to throw in my emergency pack, and I’m always in the market for an edc. I’m more of a folding knife guy, so this was my first real foray into the fixed blade world. My buddy showed me his AK3.5 in Magnacut. I loved everything about it except the size. It was sitting right in the middle of being a solid edc and solid camping knife without being great for either in my opinion. A little too clunky to be a better carry option than a good folding knife for my purposes. Not quite enough umph to do all the light camp tasks. I decided to try out the 3 and 4.5 to compensate for this and would get the 6.5 to test out then shove in a pack to hopefully never again use if I liked them.

   AK3 Magnacut. Here’s the dilemma. I love the knife itself, but I don’t like carrying it as an edc. It just feels too clunky on the belt and too big for the pocket. Maybe a more compact custom sheath would help, but I’m not too keen to find out. The extra pocket space is nice for when I need my pockets for other stuff at a jobsite, but it really doesn’t do anything that one of my folding knives couldn’t do in a less obtrusive manner. The blade itself has been great for anyone who my complaints don’t apply to, though. This is my first time working with Magnacut, and it seems to be performing about as well as my other high end blades at these lighter tasks. You’ll be able to strip cable and break down boxes to your heart’s content with it. No real noticeable wear from my tasks, and little stropping after use made it easily shave again.

   AK4.5 S35VN. I’m familiar with S35VN from my folding knives, but I was skeptical about buying good steel for anything where I’m mostly chopping hard stuff. *There’s no way chopping through tree limbs won’t instantly fuck up an edge, right? Best to buy shit steel and keep a rough edge on it with a crappy pull-through sharpener* is what I used to say. I’m a convert now. I did my typical camp work and a little extra by clumsily whittling with it. It held up no problem. I never realized just how good these steels are. The knife as a whole is awesome. It looks fantastic, feels great, and works beautifully. It’s my ideal camping knife. I think I’ll be able to stop bringing a dedicated food prep knife now that I have this thing. The one thing I’d change if I bought the knives over again is that I’d get the 4.5 in Magnacut and 3 in S35VN. The extra durability from Magnacut would probably be more useful on the camping knife even if S35VN is fantastic for my purposes. That’s my own fault for being too impatient to wait for the steels to make their rounds either way.

   AK6.5 Magnacut. I haven’t taken it for a test run yet, but I imagine that my feedback will be basically identical to the AK4.5 in terms of performance. I’m not going to put it through any crazy trial to see how much I can abuse it, and I expect it to hold up at least as well as the 4.5, but I will update if that’s not the case. I almost waited for the 3V version to make its round on the 6.5, but I landed on higher corrosion resistance. I didn’t think that would be a problem after seeing how well the S35VN has held up. Anyway, the knife feels like a beast. I feel like I could chop down a tree with it. I’m not sure how I feel about the sharpening choil. I’ve never been a fan of big ones, but I’ve also never used a knife this big before. Maybe being able to choke up will be useful.

   The scales, sheaths, and accessories are all customizable. Everything works well and looks great. I never knew that I needed a fire striker holster and a pouch to put my tin of dryer lint until I had them.

   Check them out. They sell good stuff.