The guys at Vosteed never cease to amaze me. They are a company that's constantly breaking the mold, and pushing the envelope. Co-founder and in-house designer Yue Dong is the wizard behind a lot of what the company produces. Having worked at Kizer as a product development director, he knows what it takes to bring something from concept to completion. A very large project that he's been working on has just been released on Kickstarter. Dubbed the Ankylo after the Ankylosaurus dinosaur that lived about 68 million years ago, this knife is the embodiment of of its namesake.
The Ankylo is a tank of a knife, and was built from the ground up with strength in mind. It took two years of trial and error, and lots of help from the community to make it a reality. It's not only the design that makes this knife special but it's groundbreaking lock. Dubbed the V-Anchor lock, it moves the lock and it's components to the pivot of the knife. Normal I jump right into how comfortable a knife is to hold etc, but this lock is the blood sweat and tears of the Ankylo's development. The lock features a locking plate that fits into a notch in the blade, seems pretty normal up till now. The lock also has an N52 neodymium cylindrical magnetic connector that is inserted inside the lock shaft to ensure the button is recessed even when the blade is in a closed position. That connector and a thick lock plate join forces to stabilize and reinforce the lock. Whether the lock is engaged or not, there will always be contact among the three parts, thus creating an integral fail-safe system.
That's a lot going on, but what it means is that it's strong and ensures positive lockup every time. In this photo is a pictures of the steel from which the locking plate is made, next the finished product, and one of the caged bearings from the pivot. Ok, with the locking system out of the way let's get down to specifications, and how it performs. The Ankylo has an overall of 7.75", a blade length of 3.18", and a handle length of 4.57". On top of the V-Anchor the Ankylo features aluminum handles, and an Elmax steel blade.
Handles, handles, handles. If a knife isn't comfortable, it doesn't matter what it looks like. The Ankylo's handles are made of 6061 grade aluminum, with all the corners double CNC chamfered. Aluminum is a great and cost effective handle choice because it reduces the overall weight and machined easily. I've got average sized hands, and this feels like it was made for me. I love that I can hold the handle in three different places. There's the normal grip, another where my index rests on the finger guard, and another in the choil area. There's ample jimping both on the underside of the guard as well as along the spine. It seems like there's no uncomfortable way to hold it. I appreciate the frag pattern and the hard-coated matte finish. Frag is something Vosteed has used for a while, and it's a fan favorite. The texture provides additional grip without being too aggressive. The hard-coat adds to the texture, keeping the handle from being slick when wet. The clip on the Ankylo is right handed tip up only. At some point the company plans on making the clip accessable for lefties as well.
The blade's reverse tanto shape combined with Bohler Elmax steel make for a great pairing. Reverse tanto blades are a great all purpose shape, they're utilitarian, and easy to sharpen thanks to the gentle sweeping profile. Elmax itself is a good well-rounded steel, that has excellent edge retention, high wear resistance, and corrosion resistance. Opening the blade is handled via the Vosteed trifecta, hole, rear flipper, and front flipper. Having so many opening methods, combined with an easy to operate lock make for a fidget friendly knife. The thumb hole also works great with spydie flicking, which is my preferred method of deployment.
Using this knife has been an absolute blast, it's easy to use, and slices through things with ease. The ingenious V-Anchor lock feels natural and intuitive. The Kickstarter runs through till the end of April, with a launch around June. If your looking to get your hands on something unique, and special back this amazing project.
http://tinyurl.com/29aujqzo
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