Blog about outdoor products I personally believe fit under the category of "HARDCORE" By this I mean not only well-made but totally functional for serious pursuits, either on land or beneath the seas. As a diver, caver and scientist, I want to be able to rely upon my gear.
Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Kizlyar Supreme Alpha Field Test and Review English Language
Hi all in this video I review Kizlyar Supreme's Alpha model second version with serration's. The Alpha comes under the banner of Kizlyar Supreme's Tactical Echelon Series of knives. Clearly an operators knife in design, ie large false edge, anti reflective coating and fully Molle compatible carry system, I field tested this knife for general strength along with it's practicality in usage for tasks other than pure military.
The Alpha is a full width full tang knife, ie the only metal missing from the tang is where the bolts go to anchor those Kraton/ABS slabs to. This gives the knife a hefty feel as soon as you pick it up. I tried to bend or break the handle by applying a load of about 75kg directly across the ricasso. (ie I hung off the blade shoved into some bricks of an old farm house. No chance of breaking here. This model I tested was made with D2 tool steel but the same design like so many of the Kizlyar Supreme range, is also available in AUS8 as well for better corrosion resistance if working near a wet environment all the time.
Despite the Alpha being almost 5mm thick and having a a narrow blade profile, because it is a hollow grind, it cuts really well and of course this is what it should be doing. If the knife had a flat grind and still retained the narrow blade width then the blade angle would be too steep for good cutting and I guess that's why Kizlyar Supreme designed it thus. If you're like me and like to use military style knives for outdoor work then the Alpha could work for you.
Many people don't like serrations but I find them very useful for outdoor tasks. I don't baton much and really have never felt the need to do this to start a fire anywhere except maybe in some parts of Europe where the wood can be really wet then i'm batoning to let it fry out for a couple of days before I decide to light a fire.
Anyway I think after using the Alpha for about a couple of weeks it was a nice knife to handle. I don't think it's suited to Jungle deployment as the narrow blade is not going to be good here. Better off taking a larger knife and proper machete, JMHO though based on some quick tests. For those too that are hung up about scratches on the blade, well that Ti ceramic coating Kizlyar Supreme are using is pretty tough. Though I couldn't careless about a blade getting scratched i use my knives, none of them are hanging on a shelf somewhere.
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