Rike Knife 1504B Review

It was not so long ago when Rike needed a lengthy introduction.  Not any more.  This brand is growing strong and continues to make inroads to the coveted US knife market with exciting new offerings.  Today we’re focused on the Rike 1504B.

The Rike 1504 model line has two primary variations – A (sheepsfoot blade design) and B (spear point design with a milled fuller that runs a good portion of the blade).  Our 1504B is a mid-sized folder that plays rather big in the hand, with its large sweeping blade design that maximizes the 3.75 inch blade usage, and allows for a multi-purpose application of usage. Oh, and I hope you like blackwash, because the 1504B is covered in it.  If not, don’t fret because Rike has dished up a variety of colors in the 1504 line to suite your tastes.

Overview

Rike knives are no stranger to us. At this point, we have reviewed several of them in the past, all with extremely positive results.  Still, we take nothing for granted so approached this review like any other.  That said, a sneaky part of me suspected we might be in for a treat with the 1504B. I was right.

Like our other Rike Knives, the 1504B is a frame lock folding flipper with a meaty 3.65 inch cutting edge on the spear point designed blade made of CPM-S35VN steel. The business end is adorned with an obvious fuller groove through most of the top portion of the blade making for a mostly visual addition to an already very usable style blade. A blackwash finish allows the 1504B to really seem streamlined for its size.

Further, the Black Stonewash handle made of 6AL4V titanium is ergonomic and modern in its design. As this is a flipper knife only (no thumb-studs), interested patrons can expect to see ball bearings in the pivot, and some level of lefty friendliness in terms of the opening mechanism. At about 5.5 oz. the 1504B is slightly heavier than some other options, but by no means hefty.

First Impressions

It’s true that first impressions can make a big difference in terms of how we ultimately form an opinion about something. In our case, we opened up the Rike 1504B eagerly anticipating yet another fine-tuned modern looking folder from Rike. Thankfully, it delivered. Granted, it is not the most flashy looking knife, and though its sister model is not all blackwashed out; it just does not seem quite as futuristic as some of Rike’s other offerings.

Where it lacked in overall ‘WOW’ factor, it made-up for in jack-of-all-trades usability – The design lends itself to several functional uses. For instance, we immediately thought that this knife would be well suited as a backpackers camping knife. The shape of the blade, though spear point has a large rounded belly that we felt perfect for utility usage, general cutting tasks, and food preparation.

Feel In-Hand

Rike Knife 1504B feels substantial from the moment you hold it in your hand. Make no mistake, it is not a heavy knife, and at 5.5 oz. it easily can be considered a middle weight, but the ergonomics fill the hand completely. A very full fingered grip allowed us to feel assured in our holding of the knife both in the closed and the open positions.

Let’s talk about the open position for the moment… or more specifically the flipper tab, and the action of the flipper.  As we opened the knife for the first time we can still remember the slightly strong detent we overcame, and the fast sweeping blades upward motion. The resounding thwack that we heard in the wake of that opening was epic. Wow, the Rike 1504B is a no-nonsense flipper and we see no apologies needed for that at all.

In fact, the slightly stronger detent as compared to some of our other Rike knives is a welcome change, and one that we feel matches nicely with this knife. The sound however is something we did not expect at all. Like it or not, you will know when you have successfully opened this knife. As far as we can tell, the knife is very comfortable for most hand types, as it is very comfortable in ours.

Repeated opening of the knife, AKA using the flipper repeatedly did have a few immediate and unintended consequences. The first was that the noise immediately brought attention from the family. The inevitable “what was that”, followed by “he’s flipping a knife again” was the direct result. Beyond that was the unexpected blade play from the knife in both the open and closed positions. Seems that after about 30 flips of opening and closing the knife, which by the way was smooth and authoritative with each effort, the pivot screw was loosening-up more and more.

It was slightly surprising as our other Rike Knives did not have this issue. Truly, it is not a big deal. We simply tightened it up and added to the list of chores that we needed to Loctite the pivot screw. This is a common issue with many knives, and one that is thankfully easily rectified with either a blue Loctite, or by some thread-sealing tape (such as the white teflon verity).

Real Word Usage

As with almost every knife we test, we carry and use the knife as either a primary or secondary carry blade for at least one full week, or often two. In this case, the Rike 1504B was with us for an extended period of time on the test-bench because of the holiday season and the number of other knives under review at about the same time. It is safe to say that we carried this knife for about 3 weeks in total.

The opinions about a tool such as the Rike knife 1504B did change over the course of our carry sessions. At first, we enjoyed it for what it was, a solid folder that fit reasonably well in the pocket. By the way, a solid A-score for the pocket clip – Easy in and pretty easy out of the pocket. But as we used it more, and perhaps because we received so many other epic knives, the sparkle started to wear off a bit. Though we can’t wait to introduce you to some of those other knives, caution be stated… Santa was very kind to us this past holiday season, and pricing on some of these soon to be reviewed items are rather high when compared to the Rike 1504B.

It wasn’t until week two of carrying the knife that something important had dawned on us. The knife was actually being used as it was intended – as an actual tool. Not as eye candy, or as a talking point for a conversation, but as a real had-use, do anything tool. For those not into using their knives, this may be one of the biggest compliments a person can actually give to a user-knife. When a tool does its job without any stress or drama, it has performed in exactly the manner it was designated.

We used the bloody hell out of this knife is the truth. Never once did we say to ourselves what a shame it would be that the finish might get roughed up, or whether we should grab a cheaper knife to perform that task. Nope, this was it, the one knife that had a chance to do everything, and it did.

About that, we ran the 1504B through the paces as a box cutting king, and cut it can. This baby is a cutter for sure. A nice finished grind worked well as we cut open dozens of boxes from our trips to Home Depot, Lowes, Ikea, and Best Buy. The spear point shape of the knife was a winner with the box cutting for sure. Though we wore gloves, we are doubtful that too many hotspots would be present on the knife. Oh, and the knife feels amazing with gloves on. It was always sturdy and allowed for an excellent grip.

In addition to standard and everyday EDC tasks, the knife was used to open many a holiday gift. Plastic covering, boxes, sealed items, and packaging glue on tape was simply no match for this knife. It never broke a sweat, and I never even bothered to think it might.

If that wasn’t enough, we had some fun in the kitchen making a new year’s meal. We are confident that you have already guessed the Rike 1504B made an appearance. Sure, we could have used our fantastic chef’s knives that we have lovely collected over the last few years, but why when we already have a great cutting tool in our pocket. The Rike helped make New Year’s appetizers, dinner, and desert. As we had thought, it was a real good choice in the kitchen. Think of it like a utility knife meets a 4-inch Santoku knife. It was good. Okay so it was not as thin behind the edge as a true chef’s knife, but at the same time it was more generally useful.

For instance, I would not dare take a chef’s knife on a camping trip. Call me a purist, but it just doesn’t seem right. However, I would not hesitate to take the Rike 1504B. The size and shape of the CPM-S35VN knife, with its excellent water resistance and edge retention would be just what the doctor ordered. Scooping peanut butter, cutting bread, and even breaking down small to medium sized sticks would be easy work.

Though we did not do any so-called tests, at least from the perspective of planned events that matched it up against another knife, we can feel very confident that the Rike knife passed the EDC challenge with flying colors.

Competitive Offerings

All these knives available at BladeHQ.

The competition remains rampant in today’s market place. The Rike 1504B is a formidable competitor, but like smart consumers we should always weigh all the options. For us, that means considering the Rike 1504B at about 300 dollars retail against the following options:

Zero Tolerance 0095BW – The ZT 0095BW us a 3.6 inch flipper with an S35VN blackwashed blade, and titanium handles. Listed as a drop-point style cutter, this knife provides a unique design approach to an otherwise rather common blade style. Like all ZT knives, this one is made in the USA, and offers a value packed feature set for the money of about 220 smackers. This looks like an impressive knife for the money. Value conscience folk should give this one the sniff test at least.

Spyderco Advocate (C214TIP) – Spyderco and Gayle Bradley have teamed up to make this collaborative flipper piece that resembles the custom version of the same named knife. Re-imaged as a production Spydey, the 3.5 inch M4 bladed flipper provides a weight loss alternative to those who just have to count each ounce at only 3.6 oz total. Made of 6AL4V titanium, the Advocate has a slim design and drop-point blade for versatile usage. At about 230 bucks, this Taiwanese made offering might just be right for those who value quality, and slenderness in the pocket.

WE Knife Co.608 – For those looking to compare the Rike to beefier option, let us briefly discuss the 608 line. We have reviewed this knife in concert with another WE knife in the past, and were generally quite impressed. Available in many different finishes and colors, the 608 offers up a tanto variant blade design, that uses CPM-S35VN steel. At about 3.94 inches total blade length, this is a nice size knife, and is almost the same weight as the Rike, as the 608 is about 5.2 oz. It is substantial in the hand, and attractive frame-lock design makes it a real interesting option.

Final Thoughts

The Rike 1504B has become something of a staple in our life. Though it is time to move on and review some other great knives, it will be missed for certain. Perhaps the style and look are subjective, but we think the 1504B was sharp looking (pun intended), yet understated. For us, we could not design a more suitable style to our tastes.

If you like brawny knives that are just a bit overbuilt, and can accomplish almost any job, we would strongly recommend the Rike 1504B. As a tool, companion, and fidget toy it is great. So great that it actually made us complacent enough to let it hangout with us in spite of all the other knives we have to review and choose from in our overly wieldy-sized collection.

What it truly tells us is for those who want one knife to rule them all, and don’t want a bunch of knives all over the place just because, the Rike knife Co. 1504B might be the only knife you would ever actually want to need, period. Rike hit another home run with the 1504B!