Spartan-Harsey Fighter

This is one of the best knives I’ve ever purchased. Being well balanced, the weight of the handle feels solid, and I described as a true tactical tool. The handle shape makes transition from saber to ice pick easy and the up flare at the handle end with the guard gives confidence in aggressive use. The sheath with the release button works with the perfect pressure for release, giving some security with movement but not being a hindrance to quick use. I would have liked to have this on deployment. Spartan blades made a quick adjustment to my order for engraving, even though I made the mistake of emailing the details late. The quality of work speaks to the precision and dedication of an operator’s mindset. The craftsmen should be proud.

An excellent addition to my collection of hand made fighting knives. Feels very good in the hand.

Really great knife and sheath. Came quickly ,razor sharp, beautifully made ,great handle . Great design and shape ready to be used for its intended purpose. You cant go wrong with this blade !!!

Really great knife and sheath. Came quickly ,razor sharp, beautifully made ,great handle . Great design and shape ready to be used for its intended purpose. You cant go wrong with this blade !!!

This knife is well designed and well made. A stunning blade!

Contrary to the one negative comment relative to the sheath, this may be my favorite blade from SB USA, including the Difensa and Shinto which are also amazing knives. This one is a true value.

Great knife for the money. Only improvement would be a green handle option

I highly recommend.

This review is long, so strap in. Let me begin by saying that I'm a longtime fan of Spartan Blades and a proud Difensa owner. Mr. Harsey's designs are among my all-time favorites, and that's why I jumped on this knife right away. Overall, I really like this design, and I'll be keeping the one I received. However, this particular knife has issues that I would not think to associate with Spartan Blades. I'll describe the issues I've found, and then I'll describe the pros/cons based solely on opinion. 1. The edge grind is rough and uneven, and there's even a very noticeable blemish on one side of the edge near the tip that looks like whoever sharpened it slipped, causing a small spot on the edge to be ground at a different angle than the rest. It's just ugly and not a reflection of the price point. I'll be reprofiling the edge to fix this. 2. The sheath. I am a fan of innovation and interesting concepts when they're executed well, but this is not a good example of that. First, Velcro in the belt loop is stitched so high that it needs to be opened(un-Velcroed) a little to fit my very standard sized leather belt in the loop, and after just two days of carry the rough side of the Velcro was starting to shred my belt. I had to use a lighter to melt and flatten about an inch of it to stop it from messing my belt up any further. Not great. The other issue is something I can't fix, and it's a big problem. The inside of the sheath is literally dulling the knife. I can see inside the sheath where the edge is rubbing against plastic, and this is, I believe, largely due to the way the locking switch forces the blade forward when the thumb ramp comes into contact with it. With a little honing, I got the edge shaving sharp, but now I can see shine on the edge where it rubs against the plastic. I haven't cut anything with this knife yet. I can't fix this. Cool design executed poorly. I'll be getting a sheath made for it, because this shouldn't be happening Pros: 1. The handle is GORGEOUS, and the ergonomics are fantastic. The scales could use more texturing, as they feel a little slick at times, but it's not a huge deal. 2. The blade shape and proportions are just...so sleek and deadly. Cons: 1. Design-wise, this knife is almost perfect, but the jimping could be improved, in my opinion. Compared to the Difensa, the thumb ramp is too narrow to feature jimping this aggressive, and I find it fairly uncomfortable with a hard thumb press. Not terrible, but not great. 2. The switch to unlock the sheath could use some texturing in addition to the ridges it already has. On multiple occasions, my thumb has slipped off of the surface of that switch, failing to free the knife. If you're going to lock a defensive/fighting knife inside a sheath...which I honestly think is a silly idea...you'd better make sure that the mechanism that unlocks it works like a charm in a pinch. There's nothing wrong with a common molded sheath, and this switch only complicates producing a potentially life-saving option. Overall, this is a good design for $200 that falls short of that price point in a few ways. American made knives should exceed expectations and live up to the hype, but I have to be brutally honest here. I have three Kubey knives, all made in China, all under $100 dollars, all featuring some of the best edge grinds, fit/finish, and kydex sheaths I've ever seen in my whole knife enthusiast life. I'd love to see this brand/line melt that type of competition and bring more Americans back to the American market, but this knife isn't it. Design: 4.5/5 Fit/Finish: 4/5 Sheath: 1/5 Materials: 5/5 Overall Value for Price: 3/5