NKD! With review and observations on DM 2 Dolphins brand.

[Good Old Luke]

NKD! With pictures, an admittedly amateur review, and thoughts on the 2 Dolphins brand.
Yes, it’s NKD, and I pulled the trigger on a small, Dolphins Maniago push- button, picklock.
Going to try and be pretty thorough here, but I’m very new to Italian Autos—so please, feel free to correct my terms, or add any thoughts, or observations you may have.
There are a few of these for sale , here at AAPK, but mine came from a different, online retailer.
Not sure if I can name them here, but I can let yinz know where I got it, if you PM me.

First. I chose this model for the size, and the price. I carry, and use, ALL of my knives. I’m not a collector, per se, and due to my medical condition, I have need of a tool for doing things you would normally do with healthy hands…

Price was a consideration as well. And this site offered this particular knife for about $40 less than all other options. And now I see, on their site, that they are “out of stock.” So it appears, I got the last one.

It came well packed and on time. So, kudos to the retailer, and the USPS.

First observations,OOTB: With pics: My 6” Campolin, and 7.75” AKC Slimline are included, for size comparison.
1.) Looks good coming OOTB. It’s a nice bit of stag, not too gnarly, but nice, well placed scales, chunky, and not smooth beveled, into the bolsters. Overall, pleasing, and comfortable in hand.

2.) The blade is well centered when closed. And fit and finish is good to almost very good.

I say almost because the F&F is nowhere near the F&F of the Campolin I have. ( The little AGA is a much more solid feeling knife, with an explosive open—no joke, it kicks hard! And locks TIGHT.)
Not so with the new DM. The first few openings were marred by a coupla failures to fire. Leaving the blade caught on the pick lock mechanism. Like this.

Pressing the release button more firmly seems to take care of this issue, and it fires normally, but doesn’t lock up as tightly as my other autos. But it does lockup, with no wobble or play

3.) The polish on the bayo blade is very nice and it looks great, but it came dull as a butter knife. Actually looks like the final sharpening was skipped. To use this knife, I may to have to put a secondary bevel on it, and def do a final edge… For you experts out there, is this normal for these types of Italians? I mean, if I step up to a 9” AB, or SKM—can I expect the same kind of edge on the blade? (My AKC Slim came like a razor, and my little AGA needed some stropping, but was ok.)

4.) This knife has a fixed bolster, so I guess it would be classified as a “picklock?” Am I using the correct term here? And being small, I do have a bit of difficulty unlocking the mechanism—mostly due to the fact that I suffer from some pretty advance neuropathy, and can’t quite feel it. But it takes a little effort to lift the lock and close the blade.

5) Like I said, it looks great, and the tang is nicely stamped.

So, overall. It’s almost very nice. But with a weaker spring than I think it should have, and a fit and finish that is a bit below my small Campolin, and larger AKC. The safety button is squashed a little on one side, and doesn’t feel very substantial, but it works well and locks the knife in pocket, and the brass liners are a little rough around the edges…. But I may be picking nits on that.

So what do you switchblade fans think? Is this typical of the DM’s you’ve seen or handled? And should I be concerned with having to very firmly press the button to get a full open?

I like it. Like the size, and can live with having to edge it, I have the tools to do it, just a PITA for a new, knife especially at that price. I got a good deal though—so I think I’ll hold on to it—unless a coupla you experts here think the weaker spring may be an issue—then I may reconsider.

So. That’s it for now. I’ll wait to hear what you all think bout this little beauty…. Here’s more pics, for your enjoyment.

[Bill DeShivs]

Italian stilettos are traditionally not sharpened. They do not do well as a using knife. The blades are not designed or ground for cutting. As a person with neuropathy, a small picklock is probably the worst knife you could pick as a user..

Comparing it to the lever locks, which WERE designed to be used is a mistake. It's like complaining that a racing motorcycle is not good for going to the grocery store.

Holding the stiletto firmly in the hand when opening will insure complete deployment.

[Killgar]

One word- lubrication.

Lubrication can be an Italian switchblades best friend. Lubing the pivot might help with producing a complete opening, and putting a little white lithium grease in the blade catch hole can also make firing the knife easier (I learned that from Bill DeShivs ).

You might also look between the liners to see if the spring is rubbing on one of them during firing (rub marks). If it is, a little oil on the spring where it's rubbing can improve firing.

For pivot lube I use Latama Quick Release oil. It's not cheap (I think it's made of unicorn tears), but it works great.

As far as the edge, I agree with Bill, stilettos aren't typically good for cutting, particularly the bayo blades. If it's a 4mm thick blade or thinner you might be able to put some kind of edge on it, but it will never be a slicer. On the other hand, stilettos with full flat ground blades can be very effective at cutting, though not necessarily good for heavy-duty cutting tasks. I carried a 9" manual Kissing Crane stiletto (below) from the age of 15 to the age of 31, and it served me well for a wide variety of cutting.

I'm glad you like your new knife .

[Madmarco]

Very nice, Luke, use them well!

[Madmarco]

One word- lubrication.

Lubrication can be an Italian switchblades best friend. Lubing the pivot might help with producing a complete opening, and putting a little white lithium grease in the blade catch hole can also make firing the knife easier (I learned that from Bill DeShivs ).

You might also look between the liners to see if the spring is rubbing on one of them during firing (rub marks). If it is, a little oil on the spring where it's rubbing can improve firing.

For pivot lube I use Latama Quick Release oil. It's not cheap (I think it's made of unicorn tears), but it works great.

As far as the edge, I agree with Bill, stilettos aren't typically good for cutting, particularly the bayo blades. If it's a 4mm thick blade or thinner you might be able to put some kind of edge on it, but it will never be a slicer. On the other hand, stilettos with full flat ground blades can be very effective at cutting, though not necessarily good for heavy-duty cutting tasks. I carried a 9" manual Kissing Crane stiletto (below) from the age of 15 to the age of 31, and it served me well for a wide variety of cutting.

I'm glad you like your new knife .

Very cool K-Crane, KG, the first I've seen with an EZO notch!

[Killgar]

Very cool K-Crane, KG, the first I've seen with an EZO notch!

Thanks MM .

I did the cutout in the handles and liners myself to make it easier to grab the blade during opening. In particular it made it a lot easier to open with gloves on.

[Madmarco]

Ah ha, I see KG, you did a great job on it too, it looks professional.