CS Recon Scout

What´s your opinion on the Recon Scout?<br>My points of interest are:<br>is the balance good?<br>does the edge get nicks if you chop twigs with it?<br>is the handle and the sheath durable?<br>is it hard to sharpen the edge?<br><br>thanks in advance<br>Max

HI MAX<br><br>I own a cs recon scout and have had a few surprises with this knife,both good and bad.IMHO I can't really recommend this knife ,.especially if it is going to be your main large carry knife for survival purposes.I read the CS catalog and was very impressed with their hype regarding how tough the steel was, how it sliced through many strands of rope in one slice,how it came razor sharp etc.My personal experiences with the recon scout were disappointing to say the least.<br>When I first purchased mine,I paid for it and rushed home to try it out for myself.My first test was to check how sharp it was-it was as dull as a brick,and when I Iooked down the spine of the blade I noticed that the blade was about 5 degrees off center.I took it back to get an exchange,but before leaving the knife counter I took it out of the box to<br>inspect it and it was exactly the same as the one I just returned-dull and bent.They had 5 more in stock and I didn't<br>find a good one until I opened the last box,at least this one<br>had a straight blade,but it still wasn't very sharp.I took it home<br>and decided to sharpen it myself,thinking it wouldn't take much effort to do.Boy was I wrong,I had to totally reprofile <br>the edge on a coarse stone which took forever,because the <br>blade was 5/16" thick and a lot of metal had to be ground off.<br>When I finished sharpening,I re-tested it-it would now push <br>shave hair easily.I then took it outside and proceded to chop<br>three 2x4's in half with no problem,and it was still relatively<br>sharp. The knife has it's good points,and some bad.As per<br>your specific questions-the knife is fairly well balanced in the hand,the carbon v steel is very tough,its cordura sheath was<br>of decent quality.On the other hand it's main weakness is the <br>handle material-kraton rubber.This hasn't happened to me ,but<br>when I did some research on this knife at www.knifeforums.<br>com-there was quite a few people who experienced the handle coming loose,or off during hard use.For this reason<br>alone I relegated my recon scout to home use only-mainly for <br>making wood tinder,and splitting larger pcs.ofwood for the <br>fireplace-and other misc.cutting chores.I don't know if it was <br>just a bad run of blades from CS ,as I purchased mine 8 yrs.<br>ago,but for the price I paid for this blade,I expected a lot better<br>Check out the search option for knives on this forum,and you will see what various types and brands the member use.Pick-<br>ing a good knife is a very touchy subject,as most everybody<br>has their own opinion on which is best,but you can definitely<br>purchase a much better knife for that amount ,or less,than<br>what a CS recon scout costs IMHO.<br><br>Dennis

Hi Dennis,<br>thank you for your answer. I think that I´ll go for an other knife.<br>Max

Can't comment on the Scout...but I do have the Recon Tanto. Pulled it out of the box and found it to be shaving sharp. I used it the other day to trim some bushes and do some light yard work. The knife performed as advertised, cutting numerous limbs and small bushes. The last time the knife was used (before this) was several months ago, when I used it to cut six bambo walking sticks. I've never sharpened it and tonight, it will still shave the hairs on my arm.<br><br>My only real "complaint" is the the blade is almost over-built. It's thick and heavy, being more like a sharpened pry bar instead of a knife. I honestly think that it'll stand up to some real hard use.

I have two Recon Scouts, one a factory "second." Both came razor sharp, straight and true. They are long and heavy enough for some pretty serious chopping, yet short and handy enough for fine work. I added a high riding kyudex sheath, and probably carry the RS (on a GI pistol belt) more than any other fixed blade knife I own...I recommend them highly...