Viper Ten 5922CBR N690Co satin, burgundy Micarta

Monday, 7 January 2019

This is almost the perfect EDC knife. At around 100 grams it's nice and lightweight. The clip is simple but effective, giving a deep pocket carry. The flipping action is truly awesome - the lightest touch of the finger sends the blade flying out. It closes just as easily - the locking bar offers little resistance. The blade is perfect for most uses like cutting boxes or veggies; it sharpens easily and N690 is, in my experience, totally stainless. After maybe 6 months I see no blemishes. I really love this knife and I'd love to give it a perfect score but it has one terrible defect - the shape of the corner, where the clip meets the handle, is almost 90 degrees and creates an almost intolerable hotspot. Most knives are curved in this area for a reason. The Viper Ten digs into the flesh below the palm of my hand, which is not a terrible problem for short tasks but repeatedly opening and closing the knife, which should be a fun thing to do, is in fact quite uncomfortable. Every time I use this knife I wonder why they designed it like that. Generally I have found Italian knives to be unrivalled in quality and materials, and this is no exception. It is a beautiful knife, too, slightly ruined by that corner. I accidentally dropped the knife onto a hard surface and found I had to adjust with the screws on the lock bar, as it had become loose. Since there are no instructions on what each of the 3 screws do, I had to experiment to get the lock bar locking properly. It's a bit fiddly and some instructions there might be a good idea, if they ever make a Viper Ten model 2 - which I hope they do. It is a great knife. And so close to perfect.

Saturday, 9 April 2016