Schrade "Extreme Survival" OTF

The knife is a Zytel frame with a metal channel sandwiched inside, bearing a three-inch titanium-nitride coated blade that is something between a clip point and a spear point. Overall length is seven inches. The Zytel handle is about three quarters of an inch thick -- which is fairly chunky. The metal pocket clip, affixed to the butt of the handle by a pointed striking cap, appears to be removable, but I did not try to remove it. The knife can be oriented in the pocket with the front down only, which is the only logical means of carrying an OTF knife if the pocket clip is used.

There are three controls. The first is a notched, plastic "safety" switch on one side of the handle. The second is the lever used to push the blade into opening position, while the third is the lock release attached to the opening lever. The theory of operation is simple enough: One draws the knife (presumably clipped to a pocket), releases the safety (used to prevent the knife from shooting open in the pocket), repositions the hand in order to slide the lever in the open channel in the handle (you have to hook a finger on the pocket clip on the obverse to get the leverage for this), and pushes that lever forward. When the handle has moved roughly an inch, the internal spring takes over and shoots the blade out the rest of the way under "assisted opening". The blade locks into position when open. Pressing the release on the lever allows the user to retract the blade into the handle until it again locks into position, after which the user presumably reactivates the safety switch.

In practice, this was a little more difficult to do than it sounds. The safety switch on my knife was completely frozen. I could not move it with my thumb no matter how hard I tried. Finally, I used a pen to shove it open. I then worked it back and forth several times, using the pen to dislodge it from the locked position for each transition. Eventually, the safety loosened enough that I was able to move it into the unlocked position by hooking it with my thumbnail and pushing hard.

The knife opens as it is supposed to, but it does not always lock into place. A few times, right out of the box, it does not open with enough force to engage the lock. The lock also disengages far too easily. Only the barest push on the lock release will unlock it. The sound of the spring compressing when the blade is retracted does not sound all that healthy, if you ask me. It sounds strained.

The pocket clip exhibits extreme lateral play, owing to its single point of connection to the handle. It had decent tension in the pocket apart from this, but the side-to-side play is so great as to be annoying. The blade on my sample, however, locks open securely when it is locked, exhibiting only the faintest lateral play when forcibly pushed against the Zytel frame. It does not move vertically or on the axis of its spine.

The grooved handle is comfortable enough, with some grooves for added purchase abnd a textured surface on the face. I wish there were more grooves, though, as a lot of the handle is smoother than I'd like. The open channel is a magnet for all kinds of pocket debris, though.

The blade on my knife was nicely sharp out of the box and cut very well. It tapers to a needle-sharp point. That point does not project at all beyond the front opening (which was a problem on my old Bokermatic).

All in all, the Schrade "Extreme Survival" OTF is an interesting concept that has been executed by Taylor in its usual mediocre fashion. Made in Taiwan (as of this writing), the knife makes a fun toy but would not make a very good daily utility or self-defense blade. It's certainly better than nothing, and has a fairly high "flash factor" thanks to its styling and assisted opening action, but it's not what I would consider a serious knife in any category.>>