Jeff Harkins SS Triton OTF

Reviewed by corwin99 on August 23rd, 2009

Without a doubt, this is the finest automatic OTF knife I have ever had the pleasure to behold. This precision crafted automatic knife is perfectly made, and oozes quality. Jeff Harkins is truly a magnificent custom automatic knife maker.

This Harkins Triton has a handle that is made from 416 Stainless Steel, and a combination of bead blasting and hand satin finishing on the flats. The firing trigger is stainless steel, as are many of the innards that make the knife fire as hard as it does. For those that are not familiar with the knife, it is a Dual-Action OTF (Out The Front) Automatic, which means that pushing forward on the trigger fires the knife open, and pulling back on the trigger will retract the knife blade.

I’m not familiar with Jeff Harkins’ spring mechanism on the Triton, but unlike the Microtech peice, this one does not stop when met with resistance… it will keep peircing through! Microtechs when fired against a cloth or something will stop firing and require the blade to be manually pulled out and locked in, while the Triton will keep peircing through the cloth.

The double-edged dagger blade is perfectly ground, which is not easy to do. The hand-rubbed satin finish goes so well with the hand-rubbed finish of the handle, and the plunge portion of the grind blends into the handle opening. The handle is assembled with black machine torx screws, positioned very carefully on the backside of the knife handle.

As you can see in the third photograph, the beveling around the coffin-shaped handle is immaculate. The firing button on the Triton is a bit on the stiffer side, so it does take quite a bit of a push to fire the knife and retract it, but it is understandable given the strength of the spring that is firing the blade. The knife overall is quite heavy as well, since it entirely stainless steel.

Overall, the production quality of this knife is very similar to the Scott Cook Lochsa, and in fact has similar styling. However, the precision machining and parts that goes into the complex dual action automatic mechanism are far more sophisticated than a simple frame-lock folder, even one as unique as the one-peice Lochsa. The Jeff Harkins Triton is the most satisfying OTF automatic knife that I have ever handled.

Specs:
Blade Length: 3.6″
Overall Length: 8.5″
Handle Material: 416 Stainless Steel
Blade Material: ATS-34

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