Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock Knife Review

The Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife uses M390 steel and has a great blade shape for EDC. The sub 3″ blade and aluminum handle make it a great user! Read on!

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Official Specs

Here’s a link to the official page for the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife.

Versions

At least six versions of the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife are (or have been) available. They differ in scale color and, more importantly, blade shape. Some colorways are available with the blade shape seen in this review and a Bowie blade, too.

Price

All versions of the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife cost $139.

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Package and Manual

There is no manual.

What’s Included

• • Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife
  • Cleaning cloth
  • Carry pouch
  • Sticker
  • Card

Look

This version of the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife has deep blue handles. These are all aluminum, but aftermarket scales are available too, in other materials.

The look is great. Also, if the lines in these stock scales are not to your taste, note that many aftermarket scales offer different designs, as well as different colors.

I was torn between this blade shape (which Vosteed calls “Zulu”, incorrectly, I think) and the Bowie. I’m pleased with the look of this blade shape, and for how I use a knife like this, both blade shapes would be fine. Depending on preferences, though, the Bowie might look better to you!

I appreciate the very straight lines when the knife is open.

There’s minimal branding on the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife.

Open / Close / Lock

As stated everywhere about this knife, it’s a crossbar locking knife. I really love these knives!

While the typical way to open this type of knife would be the thumbstud, I prefer to release the lock and flick the knife open. It’s easier, and it keeps my digits well out of the blade path.

Thumbstuds match the rest of the hardware on this version (black), but other versions have different color thumbstuds (orange, lime green, and black are available.)

Build and Feel

The build quality is great. This is an expensive Vosteed knife, and the build quality matches that cost. The pivot area, which you can see below, uses caged ceramic ball bearings. Opening this knife is very smooth!

Blade centering is perfect. Also note here something I’ll mention later – the full metal liners. They form part of the accent color (black) for this blue knife. I think all the models of Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife get either black as below, or silver (aka uncoated).

Here you can see the skeletonized liners. These are almost certainly stainless steel.

Size

Blade Length:2.92″ | 74.11 mm
Overall Length:6.72″ | 170.09 mm
Blade Width:0.98″ | 24.86 mm
Blade Thickness:0.118″ | 3.00 mm
Handle Length:3.81″ | 96.78 mm
Handle Width:1.01″ | 25.80 mm
Handle Thickness:0.49″ | 12.50 mm
Weight:2.99 oz | 84.80 g

Above, you can see the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock 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 Vombat Crossbar Lock 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 Vombat Crossbar Lock knife M390 steel and has (according to Vosteed) a “Zulu” blade.

The blade really just looks like a drop point to me (which is great; I love drop points!)

If you want more info about M390 steel, you can click on KnifeSteelNerds.com. There you will find all of the info!

The blade offers a flat grind and, in this case, a stonewash finish.

According to coltellimania.com, which produced this image, the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife does appear to have a drop point blade.

Retention

A “paperclip” pocket clip is included. I like this clip more than I like most paperclip clips. I think the wire is thicker. There’s also a little accent piece screwed between the wires, which obviously adds accent, but seems to add some stiffness.

The clip provides fairly deep carry and is very easy to use.

The clip is reversible. Below you can see the area where the clip slides into the scales.

Below you can see Vosteed’s new pouch. This pouch is simpler – just a hook/loop closure, but I prefer it.

Here’s another reason for liking this pouch better: it’s flatter.

Summary and Conclusion

To be frank, I thought this knife would be as silly as the name – Vombat, what is that? But naming aside, this is a great knife. I love the blade shape, I love crossbar locks, and what’s possibly the Vosteed Vombat Crossbar Lock knife’s best feature is the 2.92″ blade. Well under 3″! The blade remains beefy even for being a reasonable EDC length, and the aluminum scales with metal liners make the knife appropriately stiff. I don’t love that this one comes in at the high-end price of $139, but I would say it’s worth it! And aftermarket scales for this model even add some interesting modding potential!

Notes

• This knife was provided by Vosteed for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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