Grayman Dua folder review (pic heavy)
Mar 1, 2013 9:34:33 GMT
Post by George on Mar 1, 2013 9:34:33 GMT
Grayman Dua
First knife review ever, I don’t know some terminology so bear with me
Dua means two in Indonesian. It was the second design following the Satu (means one) which is the same design but twice the size. Grayman began making knives for the US Military and law enforcement. It’s a husband and wife owned and operated business.
They make knives for serious use. They are not made for collectors, they are made to be used. This is what turned me towards them. I need something hardcore for work that will last for years. I can tell now I have handled it that ive found what I wanted.
So I originally ordered the limited edition full black with black G10 scales from an online Aussie shop. As Grayman don’t sell internationally and you can no longer get one handed opening knives into Australia due to customs, you are very limited and I believe there are no more left. Anyway they had no stock of the full black so I went with the standard beadblast finish with the black G10. It turns out I am MUCH happier with the beadblast look that I thought I would be, a blacked out knife for what I wanted to use it for would look cheap after a fair bit of use (the black coming off the blade etc)
So it arrived a week ago and first though I was surprised at how small and thin it actually is. Then I opened it and wow that is a serious no-nonsense blade!! It is a huge meaty blade hidden perfectly in the handle. Real smart use of space and design.
In hand it’s a dream, I have big hands and it’s a perfect fit. If you have smaller hands it would also be perfect as they way they have designed the grip, there are two divets for the 1st and 2nd finger, then the rest is flat and tapers out to the end of the handle.
The cut out bits on the back of the blade and the handle are serious and offer TONES of grip. Other knives I have owned are ok but one you get wet or slippery hands they offer no help pushing a cut with the thumb. I can see this will never slip, it really digs into your thumb. A bit rough on your thumb if you push really hard but this is a positive and wont even matter if you’re wearing gloves.
The titanium liner lock is great. Its made so as the metal surfaces wear it moves up further on the blade, so it remains tight and wont ever become loose. A good design, as it shows me these are designed to last. It is a bit stiff to unlock one handed, but I figure after a few weeks it will be worn in and have a nice smooth operation. It sticks a little bit at the moment, requiring a bit more force in the first push to unlock it.
The handle is all really simple, another major point for me. Too many knives have too much in them, everything and the kitchen sink. This means more stuff that can fail, get full of dirt and cause problems. This is fine for a collector but someone who need to use their knife daily in all conditions will really love the simplicity of it.
It has a nice large hole for a lanyard, or tie that also goes through the pocket clip. A nice thought there too. If you secure it with a lanyard and the clip you have no chance of losing it, ever. The pocket clip is really nice, simple again which I love but perfect for its intended use.
It uses a Chris Reeve Sebenza pivot. You will have to google this if your not sure about it, or check this video
In my eyes this is one of the best pivots a knife can have.
Now to the blade, I still open it and think wow, what a tank. 4mm thick CPM S30V steel means serious cutting with less sharpening. Its got the Grayman logo and the steel type laser engraved. I love they put the engraving in there and really makes it a bit more fancy, which is good after all totally plain is a bit boring.
The blade is perfectly centered in the handle.
I really don’t like the thumb studs, they look really ugly in my opinion. I don’t think they match the blade, BUT having said that they work really well, you get excellent grip no matter what position you get you thumb in, it still flicks open nice and easy. So that’s the purpose over pretty factor I guess, which is fine, I purchased it to use anyway.
One thing I noticed it wasn’t very sharp. It would just cut hair and more tore paper. That’s ok for a knife to use but im going to have to sharpen it at some point so I figure I would get it paper sharp on my Spyderco Tri-angle. Wow what a nighmare. I had to reprofile the blade as I use 40 degree on the tri-angle, and I think the Grayman had a 50 degree edge. I have never dealt with CMP S30V steel, and I can see why people love it so much. It will hold an edge forever basically. Im not even kidding, 3.5 hours later I had finally reprofiled it to 40 degrees and its now paper sharp. The sharpness doesn’t bother me so much, just the fact now it will be easy for me to get back to super sharp when ever I want. I NEVER want to re-profile another S30V steel blade again!!
So I have only used it a handful of times. Ill have to add to this review after a few months of use at work and see how its going, but so far im really happy with it.
First knife review ever, I don’t know some terminology so bear with me
Dua means two in Indonesian. It was the second design following the Satu (means one) which is the same design but twice the size. Grayman began making knives for the US Military and law enforcement. It’s a husband and wife owned and operated business.
They make knives for serious use. They are not made for collectors, they are made to be used. This is what turned me towards them. I need something hardcore for work that will last for years. I can tell now I have handled it that ive found what I wanted.
So I originally ordered the limited edition full black with black G10 scales from an online Aussie shop. As Grayman don’t sell internationally and you can no longer get one handed opening knives into Australia due to customs, you are very limited and I believe there are no more left. Anyway they had no stock of the full black so I went with the standard beadblast finish with the black G10. It turns out I am MUCH happier with the beadblast look that I thought I would be, a blacked out knife for what I wanted to use it for would look cheap after a fair bit of use (the black coming off the blade etc)
So it arrived a week ago and first though I was surprised at how small and thin it actually is. Then I opened it and wow that is a serious no-nonsense blade!! It is a huge meaty blade hidden perfectly in the handle. Real smart use of space and design.
In hand it’s a dream, I have big hands and it’s a perfect fit. If you have smaller hands it would also be perfect as they way they have designed the grip, there are two divets for the 1st and 2nd finger, then the rest is flat and tapers out to the end of the handle.
The cut out bits on the back of the blade and the handle are serious and offer TONES of grip. Other knives I have owned are ok but one you get wet or slippery hands they offer no help pushing a cut with the thumb. I can see this will never slip, it really digs into your thumb. A bit rough on your thumb if you push really hard but this is a positive and wont even matter if you’re wearing gloves.
The titanium liner lock is great. Its made so as the metal surfaces wear it moves up further on the blade, so it remains tight and wont ever become loose. A good design, as it shows me these are designed to last. It is a bit stiff to unlock one handed, but I figure after a few weeks it will be worn in and have a nice smooth operation. It sticks a little bit at the moment, requiring a bit more force in the first push to unlock it.
The handle is all really simple, another major point for me. Too many knives have too much in them, everything and the kitchen sink. This means more stuff that can fail, get full of dirt and cause problems. This is fine for a collector but someone who need to use their knife daily in all conditions will really love the simplicity of it.
It has a nice large hole for a lanyard, or tie that also goes through the pocket clip. A nice thought there too. If you secure it with a lanyard and the clip you have no chance of losing it, ever. The pocket clip is really nice, simple again which I love but perfect for its intended use.
It uses a Chris Reeve Sebenza pivot. You will have to google this if your not sure about it, or check this video
In my eyes this is one of the best pivots a knife can have.
Now to the blade, I still open it and think wow, what a tank. 4mm thick CPM S30V steel means serious cutting with less sharpening. Its got the Grayman logo and the steel type laser engraved. I love they put the engraving in there and really makes it a bit more fancy, which is good after all totally plain is a bit boring.
The blade is perfectly centered in the handle.
I really don’t like the thumb studs, they look really ugly in my opinion. I don’t think they match the blade, BUT having said that they work really well, you get excellent grip no matter what position you get you thumb in, it still flicks open nice and easy. So that’s the purpose over pretty factor I guess, which is fine, I purchased it to use anyway.
One thing I noticed it wasn’t very sharp. It would just cut hair and more tore paper. That’s ok for a knife to use but im going to have to sharpen it at some point so I figure I would get it paper sharp on my Spyderco Tri-angle. Wow what a nighmare. I had to reprofile the blade as I use 40 degree on the tri-angle, and I think the Grayman had a 50 degree edge. I have never dealt with CMP S30V steel, and I can see why people love it so much. It will hold an edge forever basically. Im not even kidding, 3.5 hours later I had finally reprofiled it to 40 degrees and its now paper sharp. The sharpness doesn’t bother me so much, just the fact now it will be easy for me to get back to super sharp when ever I want. I NEVER want to re-profile another S30V steel blade again!!
So I have only used it a handful of times. Ill have to add to this review after a few months of use at work and see how its going, but so far im really happy with it.