Reader Reviews

Rating: 4 / 5

This knife is a brilliant design. Every part of it is functional and the result is a lot of knife for just 22g (or 24.3g as mine as actually weighs). When I opened the (very nice) box and first played with the knife I thought it was an easy 5 star perfect knife. Compared to my Buck Hartsook Knife (15g + 8g case) I got a lot more knife for basically the same weight.



This knife is a great size for a camping knife. It's a good size for filleting a fish, slicing cheese etc. That's why I was a little bummed out the first time I went to use it. If you try to slice something (ie. cheese) you'll quickly notice that it's difficult to cut a straight slice. The knife wants to curve pretty seriously to the right, due to the way the blade is sharpened. You can cut straight if you really focus but it's a bit of a battle and you'll probably wind up with a wiggly cut.

A normal knife is sharpened on both sides of the blade, so the knife edge is shaped like this: ^

On the Baladeo, just one side of the steel is sharped so the knife edge is like this: |\

That is why it curves to the one side.

I understand why this has been done. It's to get the sharp edge closer to the handle when the knife is folding to make it safer to store. That's a good reason, but it still doesn't make it any less annoying to try to cut a straight cut. Accordingly, I can't recommend this knife for anyone that slices a lot foods like cheese, salami etc or to anyone that requires precise cuts. This knife is more at home cutting guylines, opening packages and for simple wood tasks like sharpening a stick.

Edited by dandydan on 10/03/2010 18:17:03 MDT.

Rating: 1 / 5

This is a waste of money... it's a nice little object, cute design etc...
It's also a perfect example of "stupid light".
It has a very, very poor cutting edge I couldn't even begin to make a feather stick on a piece of green maple I had at hand when it arrived. The edge is very dull, I can rub my thumb down the edge with significant pressure without cutting myself. If I do this with a Mora knife I will have short thumbs and a lot of blood. Best use for this knife would be as a letter opener.
I am sorry I bought it, and quite surprised by the other (positive) review of this product.
Get a real knife or don't bother at all. YMMV