Hogue Knives Compound Tanto OTF Automatic Knife Green G-Mascus (3.5" Black)

Bought this for my father as a Christmas gift as he has a few ultratec's in the collection and I wanted to give him something else to add. Upon getting the knife I gave it a once over checked it for function and put it back and wrapped it. When I unboxed it I noticed that the knife did not come in a plastic bad and thought that was strange. A few days latter when the opening begun, my father started to play around with it and for some reason the blade was miss firing. Either failing to exit when pushed forward or fail to re insert fully on the back draw. My father knowing more about the knives than me tried to point the blade down and fire it. Still the blade was misfiring. My father and I talked about returning it or taking it apart our selves and we came to the conclusion to lube it up like a messy Friday night. Sure enough after working the action for a bit and letting the lube settle in worked without an issue. Would give it a higher rating if the blade was packaged in a way to retain oil so function would have been normal upon opening as it lost a lot of its appeal when failing to perform one of the knifes best traits. This being said the finish on the knife is extremely cool and unique with the hexagon milling and pattern. Also I own several other Hogue products my self. Will buy more no doubt.

Let me preface by saying that this was my first OTF, and my only basis for comparison is a Guardian Tactical Recon 035 that I've handled. On balance, I think this is a really good knife, and good alternative to many of the higher-end OTF brands. The G10 scales look and feel great, though the shape of the handle is a bit odd in the hand. The blade (which is black, not dark gray as it appears in the photo above) is well ground overall but arrived very dull. The blade play (both vertical and horizontal) seemed to me to be excessive, but is comparable to the GTR 035, and I gather pretty much the norm in even the higher-end OTFs. The action is fast, snappy and satisfying, but requires a lot of force to deploy and retract. If you aren't holding the knife in just the right place in your hand, you'll find that your thumb has to do some real gymnastics especially to retract it. It's a feel thing, and once you find the sweet spot it's not so bad. Ultimately I wound up returning this one in favor of the GTR 035, but if you like the unique look of this knife, give it a try! Hogue is a serious player in OTFs and does G10 scales as well as anyone in the business. I just wish they wouldn't ship a dull knife.