rmw from United States, SD Public Profile

There isn't much to fault this knife for. First off, this knife is a great value. Currently less than $80 for a made in the USA, quality S30V blade knife with G10 scales. I payed $160 for a Benchmade of similar size, same blade material, etc. The trade off is that the USAssist is not nearly finished as nicely as a Benchmade, nor is the lock-up as 100% flawless; however, it is plenty good and at half the price it is a great choice for a user knife you don't mind beating on while the prettier knives collect pocket lint.

With the ball bearing system and assisted open, this knife will fly open to the locked position without fail every single time. While not as buttery smooth as an axis-lock, it has always locked open, while the axis-lock knives sometime require a second flick if I flub the first one.

I was coming from the Gerber Bear Grylls assisted opening knife, which was cheap, but I loved the ergos of the plung-lock system. I bought 4 of them and keep one in the truck, one on the boat, one in my pocket and one in the house. However, after a few years, I was frustrated by the edge retention of the chinesium steel on the Bear Grylls AO. When I saw the USAssist with S30V steel I had to give it a shot. The steel on this USAssist is light-years ahead of the chinesium steel on the budget-minded BGAO. The only thing to keep in mind is that it holds an edge much longer at the expense of some sharpenability. I just maintain the edge with a few passes on a ceramic honing rod and I ca