Chris Reeve Large Inkosi Folder

Amazing knife. Glad I bought this over some of the less expensive (but probably nearly as good) competition for my edc.

This is an excellent design, and its the best that I've seen - Period.I've been a knife collector for over thirty years. I've designed and ground a few of my own fixed blades, and I've analyzed different ways - how folding knife designs may be engineered to be as strong as a fixed blade... Although that may never be the case, Chris Reeve seems to be the only one that I've come across in the industry - who gets it.It's the Pivot - stupid.Actually its a bit more - but you start with the biggest damn Pivot that you can fit in your knife design. From there - the tang of the knife that surrounds the pivot needs to have as much "meat" as possible - in thickness AND circumference. Next is your Stop Pin... This too needs to have the largest diameter - providing the most surface contact with the blade... And last but far from least - is your blade lock. Chris Pioneered the frame lock concept years ago - which I believe to be the most solid and the strongest.As you look at other folding knifes, with the latest trend in overly thick blades (aka 'sharpened crowbars') - check out the size of their Pivots, Stop Pins and Lock Bars. If any of these components are on the small side - their design is lacking, and will fail more easier than you may anticipate...... NOW, if we could only get Chris Reeve into grinding Convex Blades - you'd have the - what I would consider - the ultimate in a folding knife design.

I have the Large and Small Inkosi models and they are very well made. The small came out first so I bought it because I liked the Sebenza model. The improvements are in the pivot and the blade material. The case has not changed from the titanium standard, but the blade steel has. The more impressive change was in the pivot which is much larger and has a double bearing system. There is no blade wobble and the knife opens like butter. If you are looking at this knife, you already know that it is much better than its cost. The price of a real Chris Reeve is a bargain for anyone that wants a real knife.

Great smaller size Reeve BUT with large pivot and ceramic ball detent. Extra thick blade width- love it! Tough to break in but getting smoother everyday. Easy to thumb flick once you learn how!

First off I'd like to thank SOONER STATE KNIVES for their impeccable service. I ordered the knife Wednesday afternoon, and here I sit on Saturday writing this review. They are an authorized Chris Reeves dealer(I checked on their website), so you can rest easy that you will receive exactly what you've orderedThe knife is simply amazing. Over the past 20 years, I've owned many 200-300$ knives made by benchmade, spyderco, and cold steel. As far as fit and finish goes, this knife makes them a collective joke.I've examined this knife very closely, taken it apart and put it back together again, and cant find a single thing off about it.That's what you are paying extra for: world class machining, assembly, and inspection. They have a pretty good lifetime warranty as wellA cool little added plus: the box includes WIHA allen wrenches, lubricating grease, and purple loctite for when you disassemble for cleaning. I must warn you to be EXTRA careful with the bronze washers. If you pinch or bend them in any way, you'll have to send the knife in to chris reeves for replacement, as the washers are hand specially fitted to the knife I will say this: if you are looking for a free swinging knife that you can flick open(all the rage nowadays), then look elsewhere. Grab a knife on bearings instead. This knife is designed for smooth deliberate "hydraulic" opening, and in that regard it is the best I've handled.Sharpness out of the box: this doesn't matter to me, as I can sharpen my own, but for those of you who can't, and care about this: it came extremely sharp out of the box.Buy with confidence!