Liner Lock Pocketknife for Hunting and Fishing - 7-3/4" - Unfinished Kit

A good knife, but some issues.

I've "built" (i.e. shaped and attached the scales) two Sarge liner-lock folding knives. This one, Item #183985, and the fairly similar #153377. They have almost the exact same dimensions, but there are differences. Although the blade length is very nearly the same, and the thickness is exactly the same (7/64", which is a good thickness for these knives), the chord (from the edge to the back of the blade) is substantially greater on this one, a touch under 1" (by maybe 1/64"?). This blade (183985) also has notches along the spine of the blade, giving greater control. These differences result in a visibly beefier knife than #153377, which has a chord of about 11/16". The metal in this knife's handle sides is also significantly wider and thicker, resulting in a bigger handle (useful for larger hands, IMO) and is shaped for fingers to be positioned, giving better grip. But it also makes it a much heavier knife, 5.9 oz vs 3.6 oz for the #153377. Is this good or bad? Personal preference, I guess. It feels like a substantial knife this way, but I suppose it could get tiring to use, being more than 50% heavier than the other knife. Both knives are fairly easy to put together. Each uses 2 screws (plus epoxy) to hold the scales on. The critical dimensions are the distance between the 2 screw holes in the scales, plus the fit of the scales to the bolster - and this bolster's edge is curved, so you'll want to take some time to fit it exactly. I used 1/8" Wenge for the scales, which keeps shaping of the scales to a minimum. After getting the outline correct, really all you need to do is round off the edges and fair the wood into the bolster. The directions call for 3/16" thick scales, which in my opinion is unnecessary. These scales are fairly flat but very comfortable, and if you countersink the screw holes just a bit, you don't need a specialized setting drill for it. I have a few issues with this knife. First, the screw that holds in the front of the scale is of a different diameter than the screw holding in the back end of the scale. I don't know why they do this, but it seems an unnecessary complication. The screws COULD have been the same diameter. Yes, it DOES come with a clip, held on with 3 screws. But 2 of the screws are far too short to engage the threads in the knife, which means that I can't mount the clip at all. I suppose I could go to a specialty store and try to find out what screw size to use (that matches the Torx driver that the other screws use) but I'm not sure I want to go to that trouble. Last, the hinge is stiff. There's a thumb knob on the blade itself to open it (and which works perfectly well with the other Sarge folder, #153377), but it's difficult to open with that, and it's usually easier to press the knob that comes out the backside of the knife (I'm sure there are specialized terms for these parts, but I don't know them), get the blade partly out, then use the thumb knob on the blade to go the rest of the way. Or just use both hands to open the knife, which makes these blade parts irrelevant. I've tried oiling the hinge and it doesn't seem to help. I don't know if this is a characteristic of the design in general or my knife in particular. Would I recommend this knife? If you don't want to use the clip, and don't mind the stiff action, sure. I'll definitely take it camping with me, and I'll probably take both knives with me to see which I like better.