Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Mega Folder...now that's a big pocketknife



I can’t remember the year and I vaguely remember the purchase other than I was in a sporting goods store and eyed this mega-folding knife displayed under the glass countertop.  Asked to look at it; examined it; decided it was unique.  So I took it home and for a number of months it sat on my desk while I figured out what purpose it might fulfill.  A bunch of years have passed since that afternoon and during the intervening decades the mega-folder has seen little use.  In truth, it’s just too ponderous and ungainly to serve any useful role in bushcraft, woodcraft, woods roaming, or general ranch chores.  Of course, that’s my opinion and others might disagree.  The nicks on the blade were made long ago when I needed something to field butcher a deer and I’d left my small ax and saw back at camp.  I was carrying the mega-folder and used it to break bone—a task it wasn’t suited for because the blade, though robust, is a bit too short for bone breaking.  I just realized that I don’t even know what type of steel is used in the knife.  I imagine its some sort of stainless alloy since it hasn’t rusted even though it was left in a storage room drawer for many years.


The knife comes with a built in wire saw that is somewhat difficult to unravel and is only partly useful since it is awkward to use given the cumbersome handle.  Notice as well that there is a small hex wrench located in the pull-out handle of the wire saw.  The wrench is protected by a piece of rubber tubing.


The blade is ¼ inch thick near its base tapering to a fine point.  The blade measures 3 ¼ inches long and is 1 ¼ inches at its widest section.  The handle is made of some sort of hard plastic and is 5 7/8 long.  I haven’t weighed the knife but it isn’t a lightweight by any means.


Last year Son Number 3 found it in the drawer and his eyes widened (like I suppose mine did when I first saw it) and so I said, “Do you want it?” and he said, “Yeah!”


The leather carrying case is well made and when I first bought the knife it contained a sharpening stone and an octagonal wrench to lock the blade in place when opened.  A nifty feature but I never used it and along the way the sharpening stone disappeared and so did the wrench.


Once upon a time somebody must have figured this knife would make a dandy something or the other.  Maybe in the hands of a true believer it might just be the ticket.  Regardless, at least one young fellow eons ago fell for the look and purchased a copy.