(Again, serrated H1 is amazing. Only plain-edged ARKs will be available after the end of this year. PE H1 is fine, but will require frequent sharpening with any use.)
Fiv3r, I"m really glad it's working for you. I can say without prejudice that the ARK is one of my two favorite neck knives at any price.
John
It really is the first neck knife that hasnt driven me nuts with its weight. I actually decided to see if i could get by for the rest of the week sporting nothing but the ARK as my edc. I did break my previous on my person 24/7 rule last night. I rolled over in bed a bit hard and it smacked my wife...she did not appreciate it. But hey! The sheath lock held up
So far, so good when it comes to carrying just the ARK. Actually, it displaced a recently purchased Manix 2 so completely that I gave said Manix to my little brother. He'll appreciate it more, and I have decided that I dont like the awkwardness of the ball lock. It's a lot easier for me to just yank a fixed blade from a chain than it is to pinch the little tabs on the Manix.
The little ARK has handled everything. Opening my lunch, opening mail, breaking down boxes, etc. It has handled all of the mundane chores just as effortlessly as it fills the role of SD knife. Actually, i find the whole profile incredibly useful. It is certainly more practical than say a Spyderco Civilian.
To reiterate, I truly do prefer H1 in the serrated configuration. It is most likely the only steel i prefer SE over PE simply due to the fact that in my personal experience it performs a lot better long term. Other's mile may vary.
In short, the ARK has kinda solidified the best parts of Spyderco for my uses. While I appreciate their build quality and not enough good things can be said about Sal and Eric, i find most of their knives don't do for me in a day to day capacity. However, when you take their innovation and apply it to something outside the box like a rustproof edc fixed blade that weighs next nothing, im way on board. The ARK has rekindled my appreciation for H1. I may need to pick up another fixed blade in it before next summer's beach vacation. At the very least I'm mulling around picking up another ARK in SE to keep in reserve should I ever lose this one.
Folks that haven't tried H1 and hesitant to try a SE, i can't think of a more cost effective and useful tool than the ARK.
Jake