I was after a small, thin, neck knife and stalked around the Wilderness gathering in search of a suitable one. I looked at a couple but they were either too short, too bulky and heavy or just plain too expensive.
On the last day I noticed the Benchmade Snody Activator. It appeared around the right price at £60 so after fiddling about with it for a while decided this was just what I needed.
The handle, made from stabilised Rosewood, is thin (10mm) enough not to bulk out clothing (like my current neck knife) yet large enough to provide a good grip. If you've got large paws, then you might not get on with the handle width or length. My little finger just fits on the end of the handle. The handle is slightly rounded,making it feel quite comfortable for such a thin handle and it feels comfortable and warm.
The shape of the blade is very similar to the Bark River PSK in design, although a lot thicker. In fact Mike Snody may well have looked at this design (or the other way round) to create this blade. The blade is drop-point style with full tang and a secondary bevel. I was a little uncertain about the serrated thumb grip at the top of the knife, but even that felt comfortable and, as I'll explain later, became very useful.
The handle has a forefinger recess which is also very comfortable not cutting into finger like so many knives of this design.
As far as I've been told, Mike Snody is an American custom knife maker who speciality is combat type knives. This utility design is very popular and he's obviously franchised it to the manufacturers, Benchmade.
I've never had a D2 steel blade before and I don't really know much about it. I'll comment on the sharpening capabilities and strength of the steel at a later date, but it is rated 59-61 HRC. Here's the rest of the stats:
Overall Length (inches): 5.5"
Blade Length: 2.125"
Blade Thickness: 0.140" = 3.5 mm
Blade Material: D2 Tool Steel Full tang
Blade Hardness: 59-61HRC
Blade Style: Drop-Point Utility
Handle: stabilised Rosewood.
Handle thicknes 10mm
Weight: 2.40oz.
You can forget about the sheath. It's black, bulky and ugly. In fact I'm not going to darken the doorstep of this upmarket (ahem) site by even putting up a picture of it! Luckily, the Bark River PSK custom leather sheath fits it a treat (cheers American Bushman!) so it's happily living in there.
I've only been on one excursion with it, which was during last weekend's downpour. As I said in that post I decided to make a fire in the damp after the worst of the rain had cleared.
The Activator duly made some thin shavings from the maya stick showing it was hair popping sharp out of the box. The handle wasn't in the least slippery despite the wet weather and bare hands. The serrated grip for the thumb proved a god send for control over fine movement.
Additionally, the same serrated edge provided a great way to scrape even finer shavings to make some dust out of the stick. I was even more delighted when, after getting the angle right, I saw sparks fly off the firesteel/knife by using a combination of the back edge of the blade and the serrated thumb grip. I managed to baton a couple of small pieces of wood for the fire, and again, the thickness of the blade withstood this no problem (although it wasn't a real test of strength.)
I've not done any carving with the knife yet, but so far I'm more than happy with this little knife. For an off-the-shelf neck knife, it's compact, strong and versatile and sits comfortably around my neck without bulking out clothing over the top of it. As usual, I'll do another review when I've used it a bit more.
Thanks for the visit,
Pablo.
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