Eagle eyed knife fans who watched my coat video last week and youre "like skipped it"
well the ones who watched may have noticed in one of the shots a knife from a highly
anticipated upcoming review.
And collectively they scream finally the HX Outdoors ZD005 review the $100 ish gentlemens
folder from the same company that brought you the tasteful gentlemans fixed blade survival
knife.
Ok maybe eagerly anticipated is a slight exaggeration.
Ok maybe complete.
Sorry my lawyer wrote this.
At any rate lets look at the dimensions of this light weight knife for pockets.
Like the overall length and weight.
Blade length and cutting edge, handle size and grip area.
Spine thickness, handle thickness, and tallness closed.
Ok lets look at the tanto style blade first, which is satin finished and made form VG-10
steel.
Youre like VG-10 on a hundred dollar knives, wheres my pitchfork.
Which brings up an important point, why doesnt cold steel currently make a tactical pitchfork.
The top is rounded sort of like a Sebenza 21, so sorry ferro rod starter bros.
The blade is sharp out of the box and has held up well to several weeks worth of tie
line cutting, and food prep, etc.
Its still pretty razor sharp.
Blade centering is pretty good.
The blade is deployed by a flipper on a ball bearing system, and locked up with a frame
lock.
You get smooth consistent flips, should you so choose to flip it.
It borrows a patented design from the Lion Steel TRE uh oh- lets just assume HX Outdoors
licensed it right, because thats the right thing to do.
This system It allows you to remove the flipper and deployment block up top.
It comes with case, but without tools- I used a T7 torx bit to remove both.
I guess removing both helps in those countries that think its a-ok for kitchen knives to
be legal but not tiny folding pocket knives.
If you dont want to go the two handed route- just leave both on.
The frame lock is nice and sturdy, and covers a little less than half the tang.
When you close it theres a slight little bit of a click sound a tad sloppy sounding, but
hurts nothing functionally on the knife.
The detent is pretty strong on the knife and you cant flick it downward to open it.
The frame lock has a hardened insert where the blade meets the tang.
Ok so the blade is made from a steel that people love to complain about in a 100 knife-
I see you dudes on the We Knives instagram but the handle can be had in wither half tiotanium
carbon fiber in a heavier version or carbon fiber and titanium, to make th knife only
a tad heavier than the Benchmade 940-1.
The titanium has nice subtle surface texture milling on mine.
No sharp edges.
And the other side is carbon fiber and if you take a look at this and my Benchmade 940-1
it looks to me like the HX outdoors uses legit full carbon fiber.
The carbon fiber doesnt quite have the nicer smooth grooves the 940-1 has, but it still
is decent.
It fits my hand well and aint too small.
Guys with big hands might not love it, but it works well for me.
Pocket clip is titanium , and not deep carry.
Tip up blade backward in my right pocket- which is of course most tactical for a righty
for deployment.
Cool said tactical- moving on.
Lets line it up with some of my more expensive knives.
The 940-1 first.
We all know that I love this knife.
Its under 2 and a half ounces, full carbon fiber, high end steel about $250.
I like the deployment on this one a bit better, and the longer blade size- although the handle
grips on both are similar sizes.
Honestly from a buld quality and fit and finish both of these knives are on par.
You get the nice steel with the Benchmade though.
The Sebenza 21 a $455 knife.
Showing you this one, mainly because of the construction, which is half carbon half titanium.
What youre buying in the Chris Reev Pitchfork is the tactile feeling of perfection and youre
doing that because you find joy in holding and using the finest possible pitchfork which
all members of the angry mob envy.
The HX outdoors is a smaller knife, but about the same in build quality the sebenza 21 has
a bit sturdier of a frame lock though.
How about the steel will cut jack.
This knife is about $140 and uses a high end steel it flips slightly faster than the HX
outdoors and is made in Italy.
It has a smaller handle and is uglier to me and a bit heavier to me I prefer the HX outdoors.
Ok lets look at the HEA designs poison about the same blade size.
Both Tantos, that one has a solid titanium handle, so its heavier.
I really like the poison, but Id be lying if I said it was better made knife.
This is about a $270 knife and word has is WE Knives makes it for HEADesigns in China.
Youre paying for the blade steel, and cooler more original design, and a slightly faster
deployment although the frame lock on this one wears on my hands more.
Ok one more Chinese knife.
The Y Star LK 5010.
This one uses a steel that people think is punier with 440C, but has a nice all titanium
handle.
Fit and finish and build quality is similar between this and the HX Outdoors.
I cant say which I like better.
Out of all these knives though I did a comparison, because theyre all lightweightish
high end knives.
My favorites are the Poison and 940-1 mainly because of the design or ergonomics.
I am not a steel snob, although a lot of guys are.
I look more at deployment, how it feels in my hand, and build quality.
The HX outdoors is a fine knife, and maybe if the blade was over three inches and the
handle larger it would see pocket time.
If you live in a country where knife laws are the worst and you need under 3 inches
and the convertibility of a two handed opening, its a nice knife especially since all the
other knives here cost significantly more overseas than in the states here.
The HX outdoors is a nice high end materials knife.
Gear Best Provided this knife for review.
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