JLaw
Member
My new Bear & Son Barlow arrived today. I have been awaiting it's arrival since I ordered it Sunday.
I've had a hankerin' for both a Bear & Son knife to check out their quality and another hankerin' for a barlow pattern knife to see how I like the pattern.
I decided to combine the two wants into one knife, and of course since Bear & Son offers carbon steel blades it was a no brainer.
Initial impression after opening the box was "Wow, I really like the barlow pattern!" Good weight to it, great feel in the hand, and a useful size clip point blade. The little pen blade on it, well I could take it or leave it. Maybe I'll learn to like it but for now I don't have much use for a second blade on a pocket knife.
Blades were sharp enough on arrival, but a few minutes on crock sticks and several passes on a strop cleaned the edges up to where I like them.
Spring tension is tight on this little booger! Had to be careful opening the pen blade, that sucker could break a thumb nail. A drop of oil on the pivot cured that problem. The clip point opened up with a little less worry. There is a pretty nice half stop built in on each blade, not the standard full round found in many production folders.
The bolsters are polished nicely on the sides, but the backspine of the knife doesn't show the same shine. In the closed position the spring on the clip point blade sticks up a little, it's barely visible but will positively catch with a fingernail...but then again this is not a custom folder.
The derlin handle material was just as expected...yellow! Nice addition with the "4th Generation" medallion embedded in the scale.
Best part about the knife so far is it's USEFULLNESS. Had a great time cutting up meats and fruits for dinner. The finely honed edge cut through it all with ease. Granted that one dinner is no test of a blade, I am looking forward to much more use of this knife to get a feel for Bear's quality.
JLaw
I've had a hankerin' for both a Bear & Son knife to check out their quality and another hankerin' for a barlow pattern knife to see how I like the pattern.
I decided to combine the two wants into one knife, and of course since Bear & Son offers carbon steel blades it was a no brainer.
Initial impression after opening the box was "Wow, I really like the barlow pattern!" Good weight to it, great feel in the hand, and a useful size clip point blade. The little pen blade on it, well I could take it or leave it. Maybe I'll learn to like it but for now I don't have much use for a second blade on a pocket knife.
Blades were sharp enough on arrival, but a few minutes on crock sticks and several passes on a strop cleaned the edges up to where I like them.
Spring tension is tight on this little booger! Had to be careful opening the pen blade, that sucker could break a thumb nail. A drop of oil on the pivot cured that problem. The clip point opened up with a little less worry. There is a pretty nice half stop built in on each blade, not the standard full round found in many production folders.
The bolsters are polished nicely on the sides, but the backspine of the knife doesn't show the same shine. In the closed position the spring on the clip point blade sticks up a little, it's barely visible but will positively catch with a fingernail...but then again this is not a custom folder.
The derlin handle material was just as expected...yellow! Nice addition with the "4th Generation" medallion embedded in the scale.
Best part about the knife so far is it's USEFULLNESS. Had a great time cutting up meats and fruits for dinner. The finely honed edge cut through it all with ease. Granted that one dinner is no test of a blade, I am looking forward to much more use of this knife to get a feel for Bear's quality.
JLaw
