CWP laminated blanks

4 stars for Lamnia: ordered on Monday, shipped on Tuesday, ready for pick up on Thursday. 4 stars for the knife, too: TOPS like to claim that military personnel use their knives. They don’t, and why should they? Most of their knives look cool (to 14 year olds), but are unpractical, with over-contoured handles and aggressive jimpings. There are two exceptions, both designed by outside experts: the HOGS 4.5, and this one, the Brakimo. They are no-nonsense, highly functional tools. As is usually the case with knives made in USA, the price is 70-80 euros too high in Europe. The same money buys much higher quality products by Brisa, Peltonen, Fällkniven and others. However, if budget considerations are secondary, this is a good knife and an interesting addition to a collection. Rust issues have at least partly been resolved by coating the unground part of the blade. The kydex sheath is excellent, offering a perfect fit. I don’t much care for the clip, but using it as a thumb stud, the knife can easily be deployed with one hand. The knife itself looks massive, but is actually quite nimble and easy to use. This is partly due to a perfect balance, right on the transition from blade to handle, and partly by the very comfortable handle. It is slim (which I like: comparable handles are on the Fällkniven S1x and Brisa Trappers), but smooth and ergonomic. The blade has a scandi grind with a secondary bevel, which is so small, the user can decide whether to turn it into a pure scandi over a few re-sharpenings. It’s a high grind on a strong blade, meaning both fine work and chopping or batoning (for those who don’t carry an axe) are equally possible. Certainly a good knife. At the price point, one would expect a particle metallurgical steel though.