Steel Will Cutjack Mini Thoughts

A Steel Will had been on the top of my list to try in 2018 due to all the great things I've heard about them. I had the opportunity to try out the Cutjack Mini for a few months, so thanks to Mike for letting me borrow it from him! I really wanted to like it, but it's got a few major issues. If I was looking for a budget knife under $50, I'd still go for my Ontario Rat 2 every time.

As far as likes, the price (around $40) is reasonable for what you're getting: D2 and FRN handles. I haven't had any problems with the steel at all. It's a mid-sized 3" blade which will handle the majority of EDC tasks. It's always nice to see a variety of color options as well. There aren't any major quality issues luckily, and the liner lock is solid lockup-wise.

The dislikes outnumber the likes unfortunately. It's not the best looking design in my opinion. I normally love FRN handles, but these ones look and feel cheap. The clip functions fine but again doesn't fit my preferences when it comes to design. Steel Will should not have widened the butt end of the knife. It makes it look weird proportionally and the added thickness causes the ergos to suffer. Choils are nice to have, but the ergos need to be comfortable whether or not you choose to use it. If you don't use the choil, the handle feels way too cramped. The action is the biggest letdown of all. I normally have to flip it 3 or 4 times for one decent deployment. You have to either throw a lot of wrist action or use a lot of pressure on the flipper to get it to flip cleanly. I like flippers that flip out quickly with very little effort, like the Tuya SNS or CRKT Eros. If you're going to make a flipper, it needs to flip well at least 95% of the time or you might as well just use thumb studs. Another tiny cosmetic gripe is the black backspacer. It stands out considering there's no black anywhere else on the knife.

The Mini Intrigue looks more like my cup of tea design wise, so I probably should have tried that one first. Based on this knife though, I don't get the hype for Steel Wills. The design is ugly, and it flips terribly. I say skip it and get the Rat 2 or splurge more for something that will actually flip well. I'm happy I didn't end up buying this myself as I would have been extremely disappointed. Thanks for looking!