I have reviewed Bear & Sons aka Bear Manufacturing knives before. I have a trapper folder that I like a lot, as well as a neck knife, and I wrote about the mods I had to make to the sheath (still working fine).
About three weeks ago, I was out for a drive in the country with a friend. We stopped by an out-of-the-way antique mall place. Neither of us saw anything of much interest until we were on the way out. The store had new knives of various kinds by the register. My friend has wondered about butterfly knives since seeing one in a movie a while back and noted one in the case. I noticed the maker and, in yet another impulse buy, decided to buy it.
I thought of butterfly knives as a novelty item. This particular Bear Manufacturing version is very solid and makes a pretty good everyday carry, general purpose tool. I was pleasantly surprised.
Let's talk about dimensions. Folded -- just under five and a quarter inches. Open and locked -- there's a toggle that locks the wings both closed and open -- 9 inches. The cutting edge of the clip point blade is 3 1/2", tip to guard is just under 4". The spine is a very solid 1/8" (3mm) and the material is Bear & Sons high-carbon stainless.
I don't know the composition of the steel, but it sharpens up nicely, and, so far, it has held the edge well. Admittedly I have not had time to do any serious cutting work with it.
The knife looks great and has a good feel. As I said, I am impressed by how solid it feels. It tends to inspire confidence. I'm not going to be doing any of the fast and fancy moves that you might see done with these knives in videos, but I do have fun flipping it around and playing with it. I've only slashed a finger once to this point.
Because of the sturdiness, weight, and closed length, a person would not even have to open the knife to benefit from its presence in the hand during an intense, close-range social encounter. I think it would stand up to use as a serious weapon if such an encounter were to become potentially lethal.
I have been carrying it as a backup, hip-pocket blade when out on one of my bikes. I'll probably continue to do that.
One of these days the grandkids are going to have a really good time figuring out who gets which of the old man's blades. Nobody will have to end up with just one.
If you are like me, you're probably getting all the news and politics you could possibly want, so I have another knife review coming in the next few days -- if things work out. I recently got a couple of nice-looking custom fixed blades from a knife maker in a neighboring state that I want to show off.
After that, I may have a new firearm to review. We'll see how it goes.
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