With a blade of only 2¾", the smallest version of the Urban Trapper, the Petite, has become a good deal more compact and lightweight, and this new G10 version weighs in at just over an ounce! The Urban Trapper Petite comes with the same high quality features as the original: a VG-10 blade with satin finish, titanium frame lock with ball bearing, and reversible titanium pocket clip (tip-up). A new dimension of gentlemen's folding knives.
- Type: Pocket Knife
- Overall Length: 6,18 in
- Blade Length: 2,76 in
- Blade Thickness: 0,08 in
- Weight: 1,16 oz
- Designer: Brad Zinker
- Blade Material: VG-10
- Handle Material: G10, Titanium
- Opener: Flipper
- Lock Type: Framelock
- Color: Black
- Item Number: 01BO782
Brad Zinker
Brad Zinker is a Custom Knife Maker from Florida and member of the American Knife Makers Guild. His designs are often rather slender, his preference for narrow blades and reduced handles is easy to see. The weight of its designs always plays a decisive role. The extraordinary knives should never strain or be a hindrance to their owner.
VG-10
The Japanese VG-10 is a cobalt alloy (just like the N690) and has been used in the knife industry for many years. Spyderco in particular uses VG-10 for most of their models produced in Seki (Japan). Its performance data exceed those of 440C.
G10
G10 is a so-called glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP for short) used for the mass production of handles but also for blades and even entire knives.
As a glass fiber reinforced plastic, G10 is a composite material. This type of material consists of at least two base materials. The special feature of composite materials is that the finished composite still retains the individual structures of the base materials. This means that the base materials also keep their own chemical and physical properties. Compared to traditional materials, composite materials are lighter and more durable.They were first used in those areas and industries in which weight reduction is a priority, such as aircraft or race car construction.
In recent years, however, composite materials have also been used for other products, including knives. The base materials used for G10 are glass fibers and epoxy resin. Glass fibers are produced by melting glass and extruding fine filaments from the melt. Glass fibers are highly resistant to chemical materials and physical influences, which makes them weatherproof and age-resistant. They are also incombustible. In addition, glass fibers possess a high tensile modulus, which means that they are relatively sturdy. Epoxy resin is a synthetic resin that can be cured to form a plastic material.
Cured epoxy resin is extremely hard and strong but at the same time considerably lighter than metals with comparable properties. To produce G10, a glass fiber matrix, i.e. a woven glass fiber structure, is embedded in epoxy resin. The two materials are shaped and cured together. The curing process permanently bonds the glass fiber matrix to the epoxy resin. The glass fibers make the resulting fiber/plastic composite very sturdy and durable, while the epoxy resin makes the material lightweight. Handles, blades or entire knives made from G10 are often black or charcoal gray; handles made from this material often have a rough surface.
Titanium
In the knife industry, titanium is not just used to make blades but also handle scales. The metallic white material offers several special properties. While pure titanium is rarely used in knife production these days, titanium alloys are still very popular for making high-quality knife handles.
Titanium is extremely strong and light and offers high corrosion and temperature resistance. The material is particularly corrosion-resistant because it creates a protective layer as soon as it touches oxygen. Under most conditions, this protective layer either shields the titanium from corrosion entirely or at least strongly inhibits corrosive effects. Although titanium is much lighter than steel, it is still very strong. In physics, the strength of an object describes its resistance to the impact of external forces without breaking. Temperatures above 400°C, however, make titanium lose much of its strength. Therefore, titanium alloys are mostly used in knife production. Alloys are metallic materials consisting of at least two different base materials. The titanium alloys used to make knives usually contains vanadium or aluminum, two elements which significantly increase the strength of titanium at high temperatures. The purity of a titanium alloy is denoted by its classification.
The classification devised by the international standards organization ASTM International is widely accepted around the world. It defines 35 grades of purity for titanium alloys, with the first four grades being reserved for pure titanium. If you are in the market for a knife with handles scales described as \"made from titanium\", you should check whether they were made from pure titanium or a titanium alloy, as some of these handles scales simply receive a titanium coating.
The coating usually hides another – and often less expensive – material that might peek through one day, if the titanium coating wears off with use. While pure titanium has become rare and can usually be recognized by its high price point, the difference between titanium alloys and titanium coatings is often not easily recognizable for non-experts.
