Vosteed Vombat Modswap Knife Review

The Vosteed Vombat Modswap knife uses 14C28N steel and has a great blade shape for EDC. The sub-3″ blade makes it great for users, and many scale options are available!

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Official Specs

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

Versions

At least 12 versions of the Vosteed Vombat Modswap 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

This version of the Vosteed Vombat Modswap knife  cost $69, but some go up to $139.

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Package and Manual

There is no manual.

What’s Included

• • Vosteed Vombat Modswap knife
  • Cleaning cloth
  • Carry pouch
  • Sticker
  • Card

Look

This version of the Vosteed Vombat Modswap knife has blue Micarta handles.

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 Modswap knife.

There’s a subtle update on these thumbstuds. The tiers are just a bit shorter than on previous versions.

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.

The thumbstuds on this blue Micarta version have an alternate color from many of the other accents on this knife Other versions have different color thumbstuds (orange, lime green, and black are available), and some have matching thumbstuds.

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 the Vosteed Vombat Modswap knife get either black or silver (aka uncoated), as below.

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:2.70 oz | 76.60 g

Above, you can see the Vosteed Vombat Modswap 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 Modswap knife with the venerable Convoy S2+. This is a brass version, which is a good bit heavier than aluminum, but has the same dimensions: 24mm in diameter by 117.5mm in length.

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 Modswap knife uses 14C28N 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!)

The blade offers a flat grind and, in this case, a stonewash finish. Compared to the previous version (that I reviewed), this blade shape is just slightly updated. It’s a fairly trivial change, though.

According to coltellimania.com, which produced this image, the Vosteed Vombat Modswap 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.

Modswap

The whole modswap feature is good marketing. You add the knife to your cart, and a new option should appear. Then you’ll select another set of scales for $3.99. It’s a good deal! It’s a good deal if you want to change the scales. (Honestly I do not. I’m perfectly happy with the blue Micarta!!)

Vosteed sent both these sets of scales. Orange aluminum and blue.

Each set of scales includes all hardware. On the left above shows all the parts, and on the right is a whole set bagged up. But it’s not quite all hardware, as you’ll see below.

Here’s a look at the oranges – it’s very hard to get oranges to match, and these are pretty close.

Swapping all the included parts will give you the knife you see below. I didn’t make any mod plans on this knife, and Vosteed sent what they sent. If I were carefully ordering, though, I’d be sure to get the blade color, handle liners and crossbar buttons that I want. Because those do not come with the modswap parts!

I do still like the orange look. But it is very visible to my eye that some parts aren’t the same finish as others.

Ergonomics are the same before and after the swap.

I sort of complianed that the skeleton finish isn’t part of the modswap. But if they were included in the swap, the whole effort would be much more complicated. Again, buy the blade color and liners that you want to end up with!

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 Modswap 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. The new lower price for this Micarta version is very welcome! And all these scale options are quite fun!

Notes

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