This is a guest post from a friend of mine. Awhile back I gave him a Camillus Tiger Sharp knife to try out with the only caveat being that after he used it for awhile he write a post about. Here are his thoughts on the knife…
-Jarhead Survivor
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For those of you not familiar with Camillus they are one of the oldest knife manufacturers in the world. They have been making quality blades for over 130 years. That being said I myself have never owned one until now – my only excuse being that I’m too cheap to spend the money.
I have looked at several of their products and find them to be very interesting, but still never could bring myself to buy one; however, I was recently given the opportunity to field test one of their products and naturally I jumped at the chance.
I was asked to test the Tiger Sharp folding knife. For those of you wondering what the Tiger Sharp is it’s an interchangeable blade system and before you say, “Oh great, it’s just a glorified box cutter!” Hear me out.
Yes, in a way it is, but Camillus has taken it to the next level. At first glance it looks just like a normal pocket knife, but when you take a closer look you realize it’s an interchangeable blade system that is very well thought out and designed.
I might add I couldn’t wait to put this thing to the test. I started out easy with light rope and twine then moved on to tow rope and cargo straps for big rigs and let me tell you this thing never slowed down even for a second. I used it to carve wood and even to pry boards apart. Once again it never failed me.
I’ve used the serrated blade to trim back small branches in front of my tree stand and once again no complaints. This knife is extremely lightweight and comfortable in your hand and nearly effortless to use for any task you throw at it.
The spare blade comes in a small clear sheath that fits in your wallet and changing blades is simple. You just unscrew the thumb screw, slide it right back, tap the blade and it pops right out. Being left handed one of my biggest complaints with other knives is that the thumb screw is never on the correct side for me. Not a problem for the Tiger Sharp wich has an ambidextrous thumb screw. And the belt clip is low profile – another nice feature for lefties I might add.
With an overall length of 6 1/2 inches and a blade length of 2 1/2 inches it is of average size in the pocket knife world, but the titanium bonded blade puts it a step above the rest.
I’m known for pushing my equipment to the max and often voiding warranties. Don’t get me wrong, I take care of my gear, but I expect that it performs it’s job to the fullest or it is of no use to me.
I have had a lot of pocket knives, but this one is the best so far. I’ve made this knife part of my EDC and look forward to purchasing more Camillus products in the future.
Anyone looking to spend under $70 on a good pocket knife should look into the Tiger Sharp folder with a retail price of about $45 and replacement blades around $15. You can’t go wrong with this knife.
Features:
- Ambidextrous thumb screw
- Strong high tension spring belt clip
- Open space on handle for easy cleaning
- Smooth teflon bearing for fast easy openeing even with one hand
- One smooth and one serrated blade included
- Titanium bonded blade 3x harder than steel
- Lanyard hole
- torx head tension screw
- Titanium handle with aluminum scales
- 6 1/2″ over 2 1/2″ blade 3/8″ thick handle
-Al
9 comments
I’ve never seen this model before – interesting! I’ll give it a look.
This past Friday, I received an ordered Opinel #8 Outdoor knife. This too has some interesting features. For one, the usually thinnish blade is now Mora sheath knife thick. It has a combination plain / serrated blade edge . Wood handle was changed to synthetic and has a built-in 110 db whistle are rear.
https://www.opinel-usa.com/proddetail.asp?prod=opinel-No8-outdoor
Thanks again for the Camillus review.
Knife choice is a personal thing, and somewhat situational. Glad to see that Opinel has entered the 21st century! Remember the adage, “Two is one, and one is none”.
Good one Jarhead:
Though knives are an essential tool (weapon), I’ve never seen the need to lug around a Rambo knife big enough to set up a sawmill in the wilderness.
Right on Jarhead – WRITE ON!
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Way back in olden times Cammillus was made in —-Cammillus NY. I own several(50+) of them. They were one of the oldest ,and best knife makers in the world. They made contract knifes for Western, Case, Primble,Boker.and many many more over 150+ years. Sadly the state of New York and the Feds made it impossable for them to stay in busness. The knife now known as camillus has the name but not much else. I don’t and won’t own a single one. Like the chinese bokers and Case, all they have is the name.The rest is made in China
Just a little warning FYI. The link in the review takes you to the fixed blade model, not the folding one being reviewed. I found this out by not paying attention and ordering two. One for myself and one for a close friend. I especially liked that they were convertible to “South Paw” status. But the ones I got were fixed blade. Nice knives, but I opened mine and it didn’t have the second blade (besides being fixed). Murphy’s law rears it’s ugly head, I suppose. I’ll let you know when I get the folding ones.
BTW, the picture above is of the fixed-blade skinning knife (what I ordered). If you Google Camillus Tiger Sharp Folding Knife, you’ll find it at Wal-Mart for $35.
Hey Cliffy – the picture above is my error. Al offered to send me some pics, but I was running up against a deadline and grabbed that image from Amazon. Good eye!
The link is also to that particular fixed-blade knife. I just wanted to warn other senile readers of your blog so they wouldn’t simply “add to cart” like me.
At first glance I actually like the fixed blade knife. It’s extremely light weight for a sheath knife. Camillus sells the blades as replaceable, but I’m wondering if they can be sharpened with a diamond block. I’ll have to abuse mine for awhile and try it.
Fantastic post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this subject?
I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
Thanks!