NedFoss Pocket Knife "for Men" (anyone can use of course) is a quality budget knife for beginners & pros. Beginners will need one maybe two hours practice and should be fine. Pros will love the "beater" quality of the knife and it's *low price tag. *15.99 USD 2/8/2023. Pros: *Hefty somewhat heavy overall feel without feeling like a brick in pocket/on waist. I like the heft; it indicates rugged strength of construction. *Gun-metal charcoal-grey finish has a matte yet shiny look. Best of both worlds. *Sharp blade slices paper out of the box. Not like butter. 8/10 sharpness, whetstone if you need 10. *Thick sturdy blade. Withstood puncture tests of cardboard, wooden cutting board, hand towel & thick bubble-wrap lined envelope the knife was mailed in. Tree trunk and harder material this might chip, not going to test that. Regardless of the video showing it shave-chop trees. This is a mid-grade strength blade that does what it needs for under $20. 8/10 puncture strength. *The heavy blade flicks beautifully sideways, on its back and on its belly, which was surprising. You won't need to finish the opening manually like some blades do, opening 90% of the way. 100% every time so far with this. Cons: Flicking out needs practice. Will need breaking in/flicking to loosen up the stiffness. Even after that, it is still awkward finding what works best for you. Using a thumb for the double-sided thumb studs is unrealistic I'm finding; I have big strong hands and I can't thumb flick it out. Blade is too heavy when closed. Small area to work with plus fingers are too close to the knife edge if you use the double studs. I use the back protruding tilt flipper to open. Requires a strong index finger push all while gripping the blade handle so it doesn't slip out of hand. It's not easy, but not impossible. Practice. It will flick in time. *Clip is too tight. Very nitpicky and can be adjusted. Nonetheless it is tight. *Seatbelt cutter is useless. Just use the blade itself if in that god forbid scenario. *Bottle opener CAN be used with the blade closed; you do risk knocking the blade out of alignment & scratching the finish if you do. I have bottle openers on my keychain loop anyways so will probably never use the knife for bottle caps. Grey area/mixed feelings: *Blade Closing. Not bad, not good. The all too simple design of pushing aside a thin piece of metal to close the blade has me wondering how this will hold up in self-defense scenarios or heavy-duty tasks if one needed to slash hard. Feels safe so far, not budging or wiggling forward/folding to cut hand on accident. *It's big. If you want a more discreet, lighter pocket knife, you'll want something under 4 inches on the blade, under 5 inches on the handle. Not tested: *Haven't tried the glass breaker. You could use the hilt flipper prong too if needed in that scenario I would think. Overall: 8.5/10 knife. A 4-star rating is too low in my opinion, so I rounded up to 5. Cuts, slices, durable and looks nice. Awkward opening leaves a bit desired to reach perfection status. Looks, feels and works like a 30โ40-dollar blade! If you're the victim of quality control issues you're not out of a fortune ($15.99) and should be able to get a replacement if you choose. For folks not super-into knives, this can serve as a one & done pocket blade if oiled and sharpened from time to time. If you're a knife afficionado this is very much welcome in the repertoire and not a waste of time or money.
