Jot Singh Khalsa

[Ken Lau]

I just received a used Jot today and wanted to hear what others think of this rather unusual knife.



When I first took it out of the envelope, I thought that it looked rather bizarre and kinda ugly with the blade folded; the handle was strongly curved and the blades ramp / hump was huge! But on opening it, it seems to look so much nicer. The handle is quite small and fits my hand very snuggly. There is a really deep cut out for the first finger and this is very comfortable for me. But when I move my hand forward, and place my first finger into the choil and my thumb onto the front of the rather large ramp or hump, the knife feels perfect for controlled skinning type of work.



The only thing that I found was the liner lock was rather difficult to get to with my thumb when closing.



Last thing, anyone know how many different ways there are to open this knife?



cheers



Ken

[NCBlades]

You can open a Khalsa several ways. I like to open mine by hitting the hump on the blade on my wrist or something and making the blade swing out (Kinetic like on the Gunting). Also I like to open it by just putting my thumb in front of the hump and opening it that way. Or you can do the regular thumb in the hole open. I can't seem to hold the Khalsa and fling it open by holding the blade and slinging the knife downward very well. I hope you get some ideas here and understand what I am talking about.

[Ken Lau]

I discovered hitting the hump with my left hand and that seems to zap the blade out really fast. I wont do it on my leg though cos I remember Ferret did that and needed stitches afterwards!! I cant open the blade by putting my thumb in the hole and flicking the blade out with my thumb. Or by just flicking the knife itself. No luck there either.

[Ferret]

I was just going to say it, Ken! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle> DON'T DO IT! On an attacker it works fine...even Bram has stabbed hisself inna hand, so play carefully. I agree that the lock is awkward to disengage. Inertia opening works well with this one too.

[Ken Lau]

Hey Ferret, Hope you are all healed up! <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>
You know what? I find it pretty difficult with the inertial openings on the Jot. It doesn't open as smoothly or as fast as my Wegner, Viele or Starmate! Need to lubricate the pivot and play with it more I guess!

[colecchio]

The Khalsa is not a working knife. There are 2 design flaws which render it useful only for light tasks and display.
One is the finger cut out on the blde which encouages hand placement there. When the blade tip meets resistance the finger well does not prevent the forefinger from sliding onto the blade.

I learned this by experience.

I have purchased two Khalsa models. One, which failed and subsequently has been retired, and another which I presented as a gift to a friend. I have cautioned him about the lock failure.
The damage to the knife was to the locking mechanism. The portion of the lock that contacts the blade has deformed so that the knife can no longer be closed.

The lock configuration on this particular model is noticeably different from other models which I have owned e.g.: Delicas (3), Catcherman, Almite Navigator, Dragonfly and Ladybug (4), in that the locking mechanism operates transversely to the blade instead of vertically along the back and that the lock itself is much less in thickness or cross sectional area than the blade.
The failure of the locking mechanism was due to a flaw in the design of the mechanism itself, whether because of the location, the strength of or the deflection characteristics of the material used, it's cross sectional area or any combination of the forgoing.

In any case the locking mechanism should not have failed as a result the normal force of my arm vertically along the back of the blade.

I was coring a green coconut, by the way.

Spyderco refused warranty saying that the knife was abused. It wasn't.

[sam the man..]

Pardon me for my ignorance, but you'd actually used Mr Singh's design on a young coconut? Whoah! There plenty of coconuts here and I trust my plain edged Endura to do the job! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle> I personally think Jot Singh's spydie is a good showcase of South Asian blade design. The Sikhs are very proud of their sword making skills!

Sam

have spydies
will travel...

[colecchio]

I researhed the knife before purchacing it. One review I read refered to it a serious working tool.

It isn't, as I have described.

And yes I did use it on a coconut. I Like coconut water w/ my scotch.

According to his Bio Mr. Singh is not a Sikh by birth nor ancestry. He has adopted Sikhdom (Sikhness?, Sikhosity?). Nonetheless The Khalsa is an intriguing design w/an albeit flawed locking mechanism.

[sam the man..]

Colecchio - thanks for the info! Coconut water with scotch? Mmmm.. This I gotta check out! Some folks here in Malaysia drink fermented coconut brew -- its got the kick!

Sam