Gnome Pocket Titanium Knife Folding Flipper D2 Steel

What an exquisite design, and what a terrible pity it's being produced by the bunch of quality control averse design thieves that stole this design from Anton Malyshev and The Custom Knife Factory, a Russian concern that would have executed the design with a far better level of fit and finish. Speaking of design, Mr. Malyshev only made three errors: First, the blade is twice as thick as it needs to be, second, the pocket clip does not cover the lockbar, therefore there is neither over travel stop nor anything to prevent the user from interfering with the opening when they place their finger on said lockbar, and third, there is no lockbar insert to prevent the lock stick that occurs when titanium interfaces with steel.As for execution of design, fit and finish is lackluster at best. Surfaces and edges were not given the care and attention to detail one expects from a titanium frame lock flipper. Despite having plenty of room to thin the grind down, the blade is quite thick behind the edge. Speaking of the factory's excuse for an edge grind, I've seen worse. I think. I don't recall when or where, but I'm sure it will come to me. At least the steel is hard. It took me about an hour to reprofile the edge to a sensible 17 degrees per side. Closed detent is so poor that it takes considerable care and attention to flip the knife all the way open, although not quite so poor that one can shake the knife open. That more than anything is inexcusable, a frame lock flipper must flip open easily and with authority! I would gladly disassemble the knife, clean the grit out of the bearings (which is audible) and lube it properly, if only I could! Apparently whomever made this thing thinks it is acceptable to use permanent thread lock in modern knife construction. News flash! IT. IS. NOT.To sum up, perhaps some day CKF can be persuaded to properly produce the Gnome, until then, I guess this poor effort will have to do.

I only have three "permanent" spots in my knife collection I won't cinsider selling without some ridiculous markup, those being my gentleman's, general purpise, and heavy use knives. I had a certain deer-related, dollar and a dime named, lockback number with a clip mod, if you catch my drift, and this gnome beat it.This will not be your smoothest knife. The pivot on mine rattles loose unless cranked down fully which doesn't help the slightly textured bearing tracks, but the detent is perfect for fast and snappy deployment and a satisfying pingy click upon closing.The ergonomics are magic and alow you to put the thick stock high flat grind to very good use. This beast might as well be a fixed blade for all I've put it through so far without losing a step.The D2 holds its edge well so it was heat treated properly. I've cut/batonned branches up to an inch across off of black locust and only had to strop it so far. I plan on refinishing the sand blast to a stone wash just for personal taste but there is abaolutelynothing to complain about as is.Couldn't be happier without paying for a super-steel, recommend.

Pretty happy with this knife. Smaller than you think but fits nicely in the hand. Smooth finish but not slippery. Blade came shaving sharp and has held an edge very well. The screw does keep slowly coming undone but I have been flipping it constantly. Still annoying to have to keep in mind. When fully tightened the action on the blade is tougher but do-able. Overall I'm happy with the knife, but I probably wouldn't buy it again? Hard to say. 3.75 stars?

This knife is a clone which is usually a deal breaker for me, but it has the designer's (Anton Malyshev) blessing and they do include his name on the description page so I'm hoping that they are making it right.There's not a knife in this price range that I am aware of that has similar features, build quality, materials, or fit and finish. Unreal value. I bought it on a whim out of curiosity and plan to give it away to start someone else in the hobby, but I would gladly carry this regularly.My only complaint is the clip, which is more a matter of preference than anything. The retention is pretty stiff and can be irritating.Mike.

Well built knife but really needs a lock bar insert! Not a poorly built knife but the lock stick on mine was terrible. I got it for the wife and she couldn't get the lock undone if she flipped it out fast. This is a known issue with titanium to steel but some knives don't suffer from the stick as badly as others. This one was bad so I returned it. Otherwise a solid little knife.

I have a dozen or more inexpensive---under $150....knives and this one isnt as nice as a Kizer or Twosun or several other Chinese brands that I own. For the cost of this knife there are several Kizers that are better.I'll likely gift it.

Solid product

Nice knife. The action is smooth. Sturdy design. Seems to hold an edge well but I have not sharpened it yet.