Vosteed Psyop Elmax Blade Knife Review
The Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife uses Elmax steel. Designed by Geoff Blauvelt with a blade length of 3.32″, it’s well-suited as a larger EDC knife.
Official Specs
Here’s a link to the official page for the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife.
Versions
I see at least 16 versions of the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife. There are plenty of options! The version I have here has titanium scales, but other options (Micarta and fat carbon) are available.
Worth mentioning is that there’s also a Mini Psyop. I have tested that one and it remains one of my favorite knives ever!!
Price
The Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife price ranges from $139 to $249, with this titanium handle version being the top end, at $249.
Package and Manual
There is no manual.
What’s Included
-
- Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife
- Cleaning cloth
- Hard carry case
- Patch
- Card
Look
The Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife boasts titanium handles. And these aren’t just titanium, they’re anodized blue titanium. They look great. I didn’t mention it above, but the titanium option of the Psyop has a cross-hatched grip area option (seen here) and a smooth option.
The anodizing is very even (despite how the picture below looks – that’s bad photography!). Below, you can get a good look at the grid pattern, too.
You’d have other purchase options, but the blue scale titanium and black blade and details look great together!
Open / Close / Lock
There are a few ways to open the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife. I consider the main way to be depressing the top liner lock and flicking the blade open (sort of as seen below.)
But you could also use the ample thumb hole very effectively. A third option is the tall edge of the blade where the jimping is – this knife can be considered a flipper, too!
There’s just one way to unlock the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife, though. To do that, you must press the top liner lock.
When pressed, the blade is unlocked and swings freely closed (or opened, if you wish to open it this way.)
The action is great, and like most Vosteed knives, this one has a caged ceramic ball bearing.
Build and Feel
Build quality is unsurprisingly great. The titanium handles feel great to use. (That said, I’m a big Micarta fan too, so I am sure those would be fantastic, too!)
I don’t see it clearly in the product photos, but I suspect both Micarta and Fat Carbon scales are slightly rounded. The titanium scales, as seen in this post, are flat on the sides.
The blade is perfectly centered.
Again, the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife uses a caged ceramic ball bearing. You can’t really see it here, but that’s where it is!
One pivot side does not have access for adjustment.
But the other has a TORX driver.
The backspacer matches in color on this model, but provides contrasting color on others. Vosteed says this backspacer is titaniu, too!
Despite having metal scales (which should be properly stiff already), the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife has skeletonized liners, too. This probably keeps the production processes similar between the metal scale version (like this one) and the Micarta and Carbon versions.
There’s minimal branding!
Size
Blade Length:3.32″ | 84.40 mm
Overall Length:8.01″ | 203.50mm
Blade Width:1.22″ | 31.00 mm
Blade Thickness:0.138″ | 3.50 mm
Handle Length:4.70″ | 119.40 mm
Handle Width:0.94″ | 24.00 mm
Handle Thickness:0.500″ | 12.70 mm
Weight:4.66 oz | 132.00 g
Above, you can see the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife with the Civivi Elementum in orange G10. I use that knife so much!
Here’s the knife in hand:
Below you can see the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife with the venerable Convoy S2+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!
Also in the photo above, my Standard Reference Material (SRM) flashlight is the Hanko Machine Works Trident, an 18350 light. While I have not reviewed or tested the Gunner Grip version seen here, I have tested a Hanko Machine Works Trident Total Tesseract in brass. I love the Trident, and it’s a striking contrast to the inexpensive Convoy S2+, another great SRM.
Steel / Cut / Oats
The Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife uses Elmax steel and has (according to Vosteed) a drop point blade.
According to coltellimania.com, which produced this image, the Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife does appear to have a drop point blade.
If you want more info about Elmax steel, visit this site: https://www.uddeholm.com/us/en-us/products/uddeholm-elmax-superclean/
The blade offers a flat grind and, in this case, a black stonewash finish.
Retention
The Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife has a 3d milled titanium pocket clip. The clip is quite long but allows reasonably deep carry.
The clip is very flat and has good retention, particularly in the case of Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife versions that have the grid pattern (or are Micarta). Smooth titanium and Fat Carbon probably have about the same level of smoothness.
The clip is not reversible. Carry is tip-up only!
This is what I’d consider a premium Vosteed knife. As such, it doesn’t come with the typical nylon pouch. It does come with this hard case, which is perfectly suitable for bag-carry.
Summary and Conclusion
As I said above, I love the Vosteed Mini Psyop. In particular, I like that one for its size! The Vosteed Psyop Elmax blade knife is a bigger version, but it offers some changes. Those include adding a flipper, a thumbhole, a top-liner lock, and titanium scales. These are quality upgrades, particularly (or obviously) if you want those changes. Even if you like the bigger version of the Psyop, I’d probably go with the Micarta version. It’s cheaper (than titanium), probably has a contoured handle (more comfortable), and is available on Amazon (through that referral link). But if you want Elmax steel (which is great!), you’ll need to go with titanium!
Notes
- This knife was provided by Vosteed for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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