Eric Elson Dreadlock Lite Folder

Reviewed by corwin99 on April 12th, 2009

Eric Elson is a young, talented, part-time knifemaker from Ontario, Canada who has been making knives since his mid-teens. I have watched him slowly develop as a knifemaker in the last few years and has now developed a personal style which is really nice in my opinion. His work is very tactical and overbuilt.

The Dreadlock Lite folder is one of Erics first folders along with the Dreadlock. This is an early example of his work as the grind lines are not as defined as his current peices. The G-10 also does not make on the lock side with the handle side. Nevertheless this is a nice knife. As an earlier peice, this review does not reflect the quality of his current peices that he has for sale which I handled at the CKG show in March 2009.

The folder is very smooth and built very well with a nice smooth action. The S30V blade is extremely sharp as would be expected from a knife of this caliber and price. Typically this knife comes with 154CM, but this version is in S30V. Notching on the spine for the thumb grooves is very nicely done and extremely grippy.

The thumbstud was a bit hard to grip and open the knife as since it acts as a backstop as well, it has to make contact with the handle scales and does not have a lot of room to open the blade. The machined out portion with the G-10 Lock stabiliser (which Elson called the “Launch Pad”) is a great idea and also makes the knife nicer to hold in my opinion. However you also lose the comfort of being able to grip the lock and keep it engaged when you are using the knife and in that sense it is more like a liner lock. Its a personal preference thing, but I am okay with it myself.

Some of the oddities of this incarnation of the knife is the non-matching screws on the pivot and the handle, and on the reverse side. Also the non-matching G-10 and thumbstuds. Ideally I would have liked to see all the G-10 and hardware match. While it is a small detail, it is crucial in making the knife look refined. On his current models at the CKG knifeshow this year, the models were much more refined.

Overall, an excellent folder with great action and great finish, aside from the minor issues I mentioned. Also would like to see a somewhat more substantial looking pocket clip as the skeltonized kind seems too frail for the knife. Eric is becoming a very established maker with very respectable work. I look forward to seeing him as his work grows, as he’s a great guy to chat with and I enjoy talking with him when I visit the show.

Specs:
Blade Steel: CPM S30V
Handles: G-10 and Titanium
Blade Length: 3 5/8″
Overall Length: 9 1/4″

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