I bought the Shieldon Relicanth from WMK and was impressed by how slicey that D2 blade was. I saw the Charkos at around the same time and came back around to it after handling the Relicanth for a few weeks.

First, it is a chunky, hand-filling knife. It absolutely feels solid in the hand. Time will tell if the Damascus blade will perform and last under harder use. On boxes, it is okay. The blade is not particularly sharp and the thickness of the blade might slow down repetitive cuts. It will give you a workout, but I feel it will stay around to complete the task.

I know this is sounding like a 3-star review, but I have to give them an additional star for the Damascus process they used. I am a complete novice when it comes to Damascus, but with every Damascus blade I have owned and handled, the Damascus pattern seemed etched and shallow. With this blade, for better or for worse in use, the layers are visible to the naked eye, even without my reading glasses. It is a beautiful thing to see how the light bends around the curves of what looks like the shape of melting metal. I do not know if this is a good thing or a bad thing for a Damascus blade to show its layers visibly, but I like it. You can feel the shape of the Damascus pattern with your fingers, too. I think that is such a cool thing. There is no laser etching going on here.

The subjective negatives: I wish the G10 was flat around the pivot. There is this twist or "weaving" element on the G10 around the pivot that makes it look like a Christmas wreath. Plus, if I had to guess where the scales would deteriorate first, it would be at the edges of the weave. Also, this knife is a handful. I think there are more purpose-focused work blades. For the life of me, I cannot think of one place I would carry this knife to. It's just one to keep in the drawer and use on occasion around the office. If you like a larger knife, you could do a lot worse than this Charkos.