GRITR Quest EDC Review

The GRITR Quest came in a very simple packaging without any add-ons or special wrapping. It came in a small box and wrapped in plastic. Pretty simple for its price point and unlimited warranty.

However, the first thing we noticed was that the knife’s finishing was not too good even right out of the box. It was chipping at the end a bit, creating hot spots without contoured edges. It looked a lot like the cheaper version of a Chinese knife. It did not leave a very good impression.

Secondly, it was hard to deploy and unlock at the first flick. It required two hands to flick it open, although not at the very first time. It requires an exaggerated finger flick to flip it open, despite the exaggerated flipper protruding out, which must have made it easier. The liner lock however, worked well. It was well-placed and worked fine.

The blade was also not razor-sharp right out of the box. Although, its finishing was fine with visible grind lines and edge geometry.

The 2.25” drop point 8cr13Mov with a flat grind is a fairly small blade that turns into the pointed edge without enough blade space. Being shorter than 3” means having enough flat blade area to work with, especially if you are to use it during outdoor activities. However, it does have a nice sharp edge with a good edge retention. You can probably use it from smaller cuts. But it lacks jimping and finger choil to do so. That makes the blade limited in use. You can probably perform lighter EDC tasks with this blade geometry through.

The drop point does provide some control and adds strength to the tip. You can perform tasks like cutting, skinning and carving. There are also multiple grind lines on the blade in two halves. You can see the vertical and horizontal grind lines running along from the spine’s edge and thinning towards the tip.

The black stonewash finish gives the blade a darker shade and protects it from any scratches and fine lines. But the phosphorus bronze washers are not too smooth along the spine and towards the rear. It makes the blade hard to use.

The 8cr13Mov is a low-cost Chinese-produced stainless steel commonly viewed as a copy of the Japanese AUS 8 steel. It has a high content of chromium and molybdenum with a high carbon element making it hard and tough. However, it provides excellent cutting value in budget. The $11.49 is just the right price for this kind of stainless steel blade.

The high carbon content is what makes the blade too hard. That means it won’t break easily. But too high carbon content disproportionate the rest of the elements and does not make it razor-sharp. Therefore, the blade does not cut well and was not razor-sharp right out of the box either.

The 3.5” G10 scales provide a solid non-slip grip with an agile hand control, but the finish of the handle is not so great. You can see the fine lines and rough edges near the rear of the spine. Although G10 itself is a reliable and cost-friendly handle material, its edges are not contoured or textured.

It proves to be a hindrance in the ergonomics of the handle. The glass cutter at the bottom of the spine also has a sharp edge and can cut into your palm when holding it too tightly.

However, the good thing is that it has an external stop pin to stop your fingers from sliding right under the blade. You can use it to really choke up the knife to use the cutting edge for precise cuts. At the same time, the absence of the jimping along the thumb ramp makes it harder. There is also no sharpening choil to make things easier.

The entire handle is put together using just three simple Torx screws with a good finishing. But it may require more than two hands to unscrew them at the same time.

It is lined with skeletonized stainless steel liners inside the G10 laminated scales. The blade fits perfectly straight between them and does not accumulate gunk too quickly. However, it does require maintenance and cleaning for a superior performance. Luckily, the simple assembling of the knife makes maintenance an easy task.

The blade is also perfectly straight when in an open position. It does not loosen from its place even after disassembling and putting it back together. That makes the knife low maintenance.

The black stonewashed pocket clip is ambidextrous and tip-up carry only. Although it is big enough that it takes up almost the entire surface area of the handle. It is deep pocket carry, discreet and lightweight. The black clip allows discretion and does not feel like you are carrying anything. That makes the knife easier to carry and hold on to.

It also does not create any hot spots when sliding it inside and outside the fabric of any pocket. You can easily carry your cell phone and keys alongside it and it will not create any problems. When in closed position, the blade sits perfectly inside the scales without the tip of the blade pointing out. That also makes it safe to carry.

The finger flipper and thumb knobs deployment promise one-hand opening, but require two-handed opening. It also does not offer a smooth deployment. Its stud is hard, it has no ceramic ball bearings on the pivot for smoother opening and closing. There is also no jimping along the thumb knobs to make opening the knife any easier.

Liner lock is commonly used in folding knives, is reliable and easy to operate. But it does not do a very good job on the GRITR Quest, again because of no pivot ball bearings. The detent on it is also hard, eliminating a smooth lockup and opening the knife.

However, the lockup is pretty solid and secure. There is no blade play when opening and closing the knife. It is also easy to leach into the button lock, which is securely placed on the spine at a safe distance from the rear. But it does require more finger play to lockup and open and knife.

The blade is also perfectly straight when in an open position. It does not loosen from its place even after disassembling and putting it back together. That makes the knife low maintenance.

When we put Quest to the test, the first things that were prominent were its not-so-sharp blade and a rather hard deployment. It was not an ‘easy carry’ knife per say and barely does its job. It was not razor-sharp right out of the box, which means that it failed its first test of sharpness. So it does not matter how much you clean or maintain it, its initial production was flawed enough to begin with.

We tried cutting open the foil paper off of a bottle as shown. And since it was a pretty light task, the Quest was able to make a neat cut. We were able to hold it well, and the external stop pin played its part well. It is also crucial to note that it was the edge that did the job well. We barely used the blade’s area.

Next we tried cutting open a package, and here too the knife did well. We used the edge here too so it is safe to say that the knife has a good edge retention and edge holding. Since the blade itself is too small, the edge proved to be useful in punching holes and slicing off the wrapping paper. But it did cause bumps in between. The slicing action was not as smooth as was to be expected from a good EDC knife.

We did not try using the glass cutter or the seatbelt cutter. But users have complained that it does not perform the job well in that department either. The cutter also comes in the way and pinches into the palm when we try holding it from the rear end of the handle. However, it works better when choked up from the handle’s spine. It also allows us to use the edge to make precise cuts.