I own dozens of knives. My grandfather instilled in me a respect and enjoyment of knives over 50 years ago when he gave me my first pocket knife and taught me how to whittle while we were sitting in his backyard. I have a healthy fondness for knives and I find a good knife to be my most used tool. Of all the knives I've ever owned, the Al Mar SERE 2000 has been my favorite. If a knife was ever made to perfectly fit my hand and to balance perfectly while in use, this is the one.The fit and finish of my SERE 2000 is impeccable. The G10 handles are virtually indestructible. The open back is easy to keep clean. The blade is polished to mirror brightness. It opens and closes smoothly and effortlessly using the thumb studs. The 3.6" VG10 blade came razor sharp and it's not hard to maintain or restore that sharp edge. There has never been an issue of "blade wobble" in the several years I have owned and used this knife. The liner lock is solid. I've owned other liner lock knives that were simply unsafe due to the poor contact at the locking point. The SERE 2000 locks up so well I forget it's not a fixed blade. The location of the pocket clip means the knife rides deep down inside the pocket with almost nothing except the clip showing. While the handle is big, it is "melted"--there are no sharp or square edges to abrade fabric or the hand when reaching into the pocket to retrieve keys, change or whatever.
The reason this knife works so well for me is the size, shape and weight of the handle. The blade is actually rather short in comparison to the gripping area. That weight in the handle makes the blade feel very agile and quick when cutting, slicing or chopping. It's hard to describe but it's quickly recognizable.
The downside to the knife is that it is large and heavy. For those with smaller hands, it may be too much. The blade is also a hair over 3.5" long. Some states consider a knife with a blade over 3.5" in length to be a dangerous weapon. I know it's silly but the legal system is a hodge-podge of silly laws that bog down justice ever actually being achieved. If you live in a state with a blade length limit, don't carry the SERE 2000. There is a "Mini" SERE 2000 with a 3" blade that may be preferable.
Yes, this IS an expensive knife and many people would consider it an unnecessary extravagance to spend this much for a pocket knife. From my viewpoint, I would have actually saved money over the years if I had just bought the best first instead of buying several less-than-the-best trying to be frugal.
11/01/2010: For some strange reason, my review of the full-sized knife from July 2009 got transferred to the Mini SERE here on Amazon. Seeing the full size SERE is now again available, I have transferred the original review to the proper item. Just for the record, I've tried the Mini SERE and found it to be disappointing. The original SERE 2000 is an outstanding knife in every way and I highly recommend it instead of the smaller knife.
Firstly, there is the sharpness, which is truly and frighteningly razor sharp. Then, there is the shape of the handle which seems to perfectly fit my hand in whatever way I grip it. The machined scales produce an incredible gripping surface that seems to cling to my hand. The knife's metal frame is fastened into a secure unit before the scales are fastened into place with additional fasteners (and probably a bit of cement as well) so the structural integrity is excellent. The weight, 3.6 ounces, gives a sense of significant heft without weighing down my pocket excessively. The smoothness of the blade pivot and lockup remind me of a bank vault closing and the fit and finish of the blade and handle are truly flawless. The pocket clip is the soul of discretion, and produces the absolute minimum of protruding metal frame from your clothing, if you choose to carry it that way.
The blade shape is tactical and clearly made for piercing, but there is just enough "belly" in the blade to make it practical for the standard everyday uses of cutting rope or slicing sandwiches, preparing food at the beach cottage, or whittling tinder to start a campfire. I'm not military or ex-military, but if I had to choose a single pocketable knife to handle expected or unexpected urban contingencies which is why I carry a folding knife this would be the one I'd choose. My budget won't manage a Mercedes right now, but it can manage this Mercedes of folding knives.
Buy ALMAR ALS2K Sere 2000 Stainless Steel Now
This is a great knife. To add a couple thoughts to prior reviews. On the positive side, the liners run from the top to the bottom of the frame. I have looked at some Benchmade and Gerber tacticals that have liners that are about a 1/3 of the width of the handle. To me, having small liners embedded into the handle is not as rigid as having liners that are the full width.Second, the liner locks pushes hard on the blade while opening and closing. I expect a little oil will smooth this action somewhat but there is more resistance opening and closing with this knife than with others. On the plus side, that means the liner lock moves over tightly even though the pressure to unlock is not excessive.
The most significant drawback is making sure you are okay with the pocket clip. The pocket clip holds the knife very securely, perhaps too securely. The scaled finish on the handle is very fine, creating an almost sandpaper like surface. When clipped into a pocket, the clip and the friction of the scaled surface form a tight hold on your pocket. It is not easy to pull this knife from your pocket in a hurry. If you are wearing slacks, a couple pulls is going to rough up your pants pretty good. So keep in mind as an EDC that you need to take a firm hold on the knife and rip it out, it doesn't slide out gently. Other knives with a plastic type exterior create much less friction and slide out of the pocket quickly and easily.
In short, if you are using this as a self defense knife, you need to practice drawing it in a hurry or your hand will probably come out empty. But you will never have to worry about this knife slipping out of your pocket in any activity.
Overall a very nice knife.
UPDATE:
I have carried this knife almost daily for a year now and have some updated thoughts. My general thought is that this knife is not a good every day carry for self defense type situations for the following reasons.
1. pocket clip issue identified above the abrasive surface of the knife handle and the very tight fitting clip creates tremendous friction when you try to pull the knife out of your pocket. I have to get a very firm grip on the knife to pull it out and then shift my grip in order to flick the knife open. I am sure others with different skills or techniques may not have this problem at all but for me, its awkward, slow, and even after a year, unsure.
2. the pocket clip attaches to the very top of the knife. This makes the top of the knife flush with the top of my pocket, so its discrete. But it also means that there is no part of the knife protruding from the pocket for easy grab. Drawing the knife out requires reaching far into my pocket, which is slow and awkward for me. By contrast, I own another knife where the clip was on the side of the handle so that about 1/2 inch of the knife protruded. This has downsides too but the upside was that I could quickly grab the knife and pull it out unaffected by the type of pocket (jeans, slacks, shorts) or type of material.
3. I oiled the hinge on the blade opening and this smoothed out opening quite a bit. I am a lefty and I tend to open the knife by flicking the blade downward into a blade out reverse grip. I usually flick it pretty hard and a few times, the liner lock has not moved over and the blade has hit the full open position and rebounded into partially closed because the liner lock did not engage fast enough. I can't make it happen every time and the only solution is to open it more softly. That sucks. Who wants to be uncertain whether the knife is open or not in an emergency when the blade might just as easily close back on your fingers.
4. Sharpening. I sharpen with waterstones and although it took a bit of work to regrind the edge to a more accute angle, the blade took a decent edge. Not the sharpest I have ever done and not the easiest but good.
My overall conclusion is this. This knife is most useful in its namesake environment. If you are camping, doing wilderness survival, in some type of extreme environment then this little blade will serve you well and you will never have to worry about it inadvertently falling out of your pocket or being pushed out by some type of activity. Its also fantastically well made (and very expensive) But for an every day carry centered around a quick reaction self defense use, I would not recommend it.
Read Best Reviews of ALMAR ALS2K Sere 2000 Stainless Steel Here
I couldn't find anything that I didn't like about this knife. It's just too well made; high precision/hard blade, rock solid handle, and it opens and closes very smoothly after a drop of oil to its pivot screw.The blade is so sharp that I was able to actually shave with it. There was absolutely no blade movement at all when I wiggled it. All of the tactical knives I have, I had to adjust the pivot screw first day but for this one, I didn't have to adjust anything at all. Only complain I had was that the blade could be slightly longer (without considering the legal limits in many states). This blade can also be function as utility knife as survival knife since it's so sturdy.
Its liner could be a bit thicker to lock the blade solid for the stressful situations in combats. Anyway, for me, it's money well spent.
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I'm working on a knife collection that focuses on usability. My first knife was a Kershaw Leek 1660CKT which fits the profile of a useable knife to the tee. The Al Mar SERE 2000 is the second addition. I paid over 3 times more for the SERE than the Kershaw and got over twice the knife. All you have to do is hold the SERE in your hands and you will immediately see that they did not skimp on materials. Everything about the SERE is solid handles, liner, and blade. You KNOW that this knife will still be around when you bequeath it in your last will and testament. SERE stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape hence this knife's construction reflects that design intent.Pros
Materials VG-10 steel, stainless liner
Grip It's a handful. Good blade to grip ratio
Blade Razor sharp, shaves hair right out of the box
Pocket Clip Solid mounted on the end for low profile carry
Locking No play at all in the locked position
Cons
Size Since it's a survival knife, the Al Mar SERE 2000 is a little bit larger than most EDC knives. For the most part, this is not a problem. If formal attire in a high profile setting was required, I would have to wear a Sports Coat.
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