As most of you know, I'm a member of several diverse forums. The common denominator of my participation is that ultimately these interests result in making a purchase--on an item that enhances my life.

For example, I might come here to research go-fast Sportster parts, but during that same week I also bought a new SureFire flashlight, and a new bundle of WigWam socks. Strange as this might seem at first, when I ride I carry a flashlight and wear the best socks I can find for the best boots. It's all the same idea.

My point is quite simple. If we all met for dinner and emptied our pockets, we'd all be carrying much the same stuff. That's because our lifestyle relies upon most of the same ancillary or related items.

I think we need a thread or a section or a continuing focus on stuff we buy, use or collect. Now granted, right now I'm still wincing from problems on a knife forum. However, I was there to research quality pocketknives--probably a representative purchase that would also fit your needs. Had my association there been better, I would have secured the item and reported on it here! As it is, I just bought a pig in a poke.

During the past year I also bought a Motorola i680 cell phone. I bought it because many deployed soldiers use it for durability, and Harleys shake and we drop things. I also bought a pair of new style Harley waterproof boots--they are lighter and easier to walk in. I had two pair of fully polycarbonate no-line bifocal safety glasses made with side shields. I can do the ton on the slab, get off and go read a book at Borders and never notice the difference or change glasses.

My guess is that you guys are also buying those same products. We ought to discuss these things--also my new jackknife comes today.

I have often stated my dislike for knives with a serrated edge. So, it might sound odd that I bought one--and with a fully serrated edge, to boot. It's a Spyderco C30SBK2, what they term a "remote release" design.

The knife does not have a pocket clip, but rather a carabiner type release is crafted onto the end of the handle so it can be attached and then quickly detached from any ring or belt loop you are wearing.

I intend to use this knife as sort of a "back up" tool for when I'm riding. More to cut things like wet rope, or bundles of wires, or seatbelts. The types of things where precision is not a factor, but perhaps speed is. It would make a great steak knife, that is, if I ate steak!

The one thing I like about Spyderco products is that you don't have fix a crooked bevel or re-sharpen them when you first buy them. They are sharp when you open the box, and they have the best bevels of any assembly line knife produced.

BTW, the blade is constructed of VG-10 steel, one of the new "uber" steels. Many top end Japanese laminate kitchen knives, like Hattori, use that alloy for their core when folded and welded.

https://www.osograndeknives.com/Spyderco ... ase_ii.htm

Well, I couldn't wait to use my new knife, and besides, I have a special ritual I do with all knives I intend to keep as my own. I eat a meal with "mayonnaise."

Some of you know about this bizarre first use, but I really don't feel a knife is mine until I use it to get the "new" out of it. I got home from the gym, hungry as usual, and decided to make myself a salad. Not a salad in the traditional sense, but a cob salad complete with tomatoes, olives, hard boiled eggs, spinach, lettuce, and peppers. And to make sure the ritual was adhered to, I poked the Spyderco into a jar of mayonnaise and used it as a spatula.

It sliced up all of the veggies remarkably well, considering it had a factory serrated edge. The knife prepared the entire meal, and it was then rewarded with a thorough dunking in some scalding hot soap suds with the rest of the day's plates. Excellent knife. So far my only complaint is that the knife is assembled with rivets and not socket-head screws. Unlike my other knives, this one cannot be taken apart for scheduled cleanings and lubrication.

Had a great Saturday. My wife made plans for her new business, I had a good aerobic work-out, and we finished the morning at my favorite Japanese restaurant. I also made sure I took along the new Spyderco.

Yeah, *sigh* it worked. Like all good knives (or guns, or motorcycles) it needed a slight "tune up." I noticed that the knife sliced some foods like a laser. On some things like Chinese dumplings, the edge had a tendency to tear rather than shear. No professional chef would tolerate that, and I figure that neither should I.

I put off my nap for a bit and got out the polishing stones. I wanted the impossible, or at least, a seemingly hard to produce edge. I wanted the knife to rip through a seatbelt or a drunken townie's leather jacket with a simple snap cut, but I also wanted it to glide through that perfect porterhouse. Because the bevels are dissimilar, you have to actually do two separate sharpenings. And because I'm an OCD fanatic, both sides got a polish with antique glass and paste.

Yeah, I promised myself that this edge is for hard use and not for "pretty." I kept that promise--sort of. No question, the polishing made the edge a folding toothy scalpel, but gosh guys, it sure is "purdy" to look at...