There’s no actual strategy to clarify the pricing construction of knives. Model, supplies, perform, and nation of origin all play a task in retail pricing. However nonetheless, the numbers are in every single place.
Maybe nothing complicates all that greater than the $10 Ozark Path 7.5” EDC folding knife, bought solely at Walmart. It’s been available on the market for a short time now, however a few months in the past, it began to get plenty of consideration on the web — a lot in order that it’s bought out in shops and on-line.
Dubbed “The Ozark Grail,” the web stands divided on whether or not this 7.5-inch pocket knife is definitely reliable. Purists word it’s strikingly comparable in type and performance to Benchmade’s Bugout, which begins at $180 and is among the highest-grossing pocket knives available on the market right this moment.
However the Bugout isn’t with out its personal faults (it’s a medium-duty knife at finest), and this $10 Ozark Path knife addresses that by including metal liners that beef up the core and get rid of deal with flex.
Briefly: I beat the snot out of this knife, and although it appears prefer it, it nonetheless capabilities simply in addition to the day that I took it out of its clamshell packaging within the car parking zone at my native Walmart. This $10 Ozark Path folding knife from Walmart might not have a backstory to brag about. As a replacement is an underdog knife with the shape, perform, and supplies I anticipate in knives 10 instances its value.
-
General size
7.5″ -
Blade size
3.3″ -
Blade metal
D2 -
Blade form
Drop level -
Grind
Flat -
Hardness
60-62 HRC -
Lock kind
Crossbar -
Carry
Proper hand, Tip-up -
Weight
2.9 oz.
-
Hardworking D2 metal -
Extremely dependable crossbar lock -
Nice ergonomics & quick, clear operation -
Unbeatable value
-
Extraordinarily excessive demand and restricted inventory
Ozark Path EDC Folding Knife Assessment
Design & Options
Ozark Path did its homework with the design and execution of this knife. The Ozark Path 7.5-inch Slide Lock Folding Knife is a flexible, on a regular basis carry pocket knife aimed on the outside crowd.
It sports activities a 3.3-inch D2 drop-point blade that may be actuated by an ambidextrous thumb stud. Ball bearings across the pivot additional support the opening operation on the knife.
It additionally boasts a crossbar lock — not solely the strongest and most dependable knife lock round, nevertheless it additionally permits for opening and shutting the knife with one hand.
There’s no manner of avoiding the similarities between this knife and the Benchmade Bugout. The place the Bugout has metallic plates that assist the pivot and lock, the Ozark Path carries a full metal body, from tip to tail. This addresses flexing points and offers assist to each the pivot and lock. Moreover, it does so with out including weight to the knife, which tops out at 2.9 ounces.
Different points embody a nondescript orange plastic deal with scales and a right-hand, tip-up pocket clip. There’s additionally a black coating on the blade to assist stave off rust and corrosion, above and past the protecting properties of the D2 metal.
First Impressions
Rising up, Ozark Path all the time struck me as a worth model. My household purchased Ozark Path tents for a fraction of the value of big-name tents and hoped they’d get us by means of a season. I’ve discovered the model’s merchandise sturdy and dependable sufficient for household tenting, however not on par with greater high quality manufacturers for something backpacking or trekking associated
With that in thoughts, I walked into this $10 Walmart knife take a look at with low to reasonable expectations.
Once I first dealt with this knife, I sat in my truck within the Walmart car parking zone in search of construct imperfections or a scarcity of end work. I discovered none.
All of the layers matched up, and the blade sat completely down the middle of the deal with channel. I noticed no marks on the deal with scales the place they got here out of the mildew, and felt no wobble within the blade. Then, I spent the following 20 minutes driving again to the home, flicking the knife open and closed.
As somebody who’s examined knives that contact the $1,000 mark and all value factors as much as it, I actually can’t make sense of this $10 knife. It looks as if the corporate should take a loss in earnings simply to upset the trade. D2 metal might now be thought-about a worth metal, however that doesn’t imply it’s any much less potent than within the days when it was extremely wanted.
The crossbar lock is the strongest, most dependable, and most generally tailored lock mechanism on a folding knife. And from the body up, this knife is stable and sturdy. That is simply a $40 knife by right this moment’s requirements, if no more.
There needed to be a catch.
Within the Discipline
I discovered tons of complaints about this knife on-line, a lot of that are unsubstantiated. Out of the field, I had no blade wobble nor any points with the crossbar lock itself. Nevertheless, you’ll find some dyed-in-the-wool knife nerds claiming in any other case. It is a frequent apply when issues appear too good to be true. Folks will go to nice lengths to search out one thing destructive to say about unicorns.
However I don’t suppose their findings are real.
I spent a month beating the hell out of this knife, however not outdoors the norm of every other knife I take a look at. I examined it like every other knife, as a result of that’s the way it’s going to be handled. In between utilizing it in real-life conditions, I cycled the knife as many instances as I may once I had some downtime.
It grew to become a behavior and I ended counting at 1,000. There was no blade wobble, no put on on the pivot pin, and the lock labored simply in addition to it did the day I eliminated it from the packaging.
One factor that has all the time bothered me in regards to the Bugout is how the deal with flexes. As I said beforehand, the inclusion of metal liners on the Ozark Path eradicated that. One other concern I’ve had in regards to the Bugout is how nicely it might stand as much as lateral torsion, or side-to-side flexing.
So, I batoned the Ozark Path into a bit of wooden and flexed it left and proper, absolutely anticipating it to snap — nevertheless it didn’t. After that, there was slightly blade wobble, however I simply fastened that by retightening the pivot screw.
(The place) Can You Get One?
I’ve by no means seen a lot hype round a knife in my life. On the planet of knives proper now, nothing has extra consideration centered on it. Suffice it to say, the fan-dubbed “Ozark Grail” is bought out on-line.
Nevertheless, there are rumors that you’ll find them on cabinets at random Walmarts all through the land. For those who’re out getting cat meals, it is perhaps price taking the stroll a couple of aisles over to see when you’re in luck.
That mentioned, you possibly can join alerts when this knife comes again in inventory on-line. If you wish to get your arms on one now and don’t thoughts paying slightly further, there are many them on eBay. The markup isn’t horrible — I noticed a couple of for round $30, which continues to be an excellent deal for this knife.
Conclusion: Ought to You Purchase?
After a month of real-world use, the “Ozark Grail” has my stamp of approval. The coating on the blade is beginning to put on off and the blade may use a rehoning, though it’s nonetheless pretty sharp. However this stuff are to be anticipated. I didn’t discover something out of the odd, apart from the knife being orange and black and giving off some critical Halloween vibes.
In my knowledgeable opinion, there isn’t any motive (in addition to being bought out all over the place) that you just shouldn’t purchase the Ozark Path 7.5-in. knife; you possibly can simply belief it to get you thru day-to-day life or any outside adventures you could have deliberate. For $10, it’s really an anomaly, however, as I mentioned, knife pricing doesn’t make sense.
