Top: The Spear Point
Flipper compares favor-
ably in size with some
of the author’s favorite
bushcraft knives — the
Mora #1 and the Kellam
Puukko.T
wo worlds, one knife.
Jesse Jarosz is a young
knifemaker, having started
out in 2009, but he’s already got
an impressive resume of custom
knives, as well as a series of fixed
and folding collaborations that he
does with KA-BAR knives out of
Olean, New York.I’ve had a chance to work with Jesse’s
fixed blade KA-BAR designs in the
past and was impressed, so I was
looking forward to seeing what his
new folders were all about. I recently
reached out to him to get his take
on the new designs and he told me
that he wanted to do somethinga little more EDC-friendly than his
fixed blades — something that could
easily be carried at work or in a casual
setting, which led to the design of the
7508 and 7509 flippers.He stuck with his philosophy of
simplicity and functionality above
all else, but did add in some design
touches to ensure that the knife looks
as good as it performs. Performance
that I put to the test.The 7508 and
7509 Flippers
Jesse has two models built on the same
frame and handle setup, the 7508,
which is a Wharnclie blade, and the
7509, which uses a spear point blade.
Both blades are 3.5 inches long and
hollow ground from AUS-8A stainless
steel — heat treated to a Rockwell
of 57-59. The factory edge was good,
although not quite hair-popping sharp.
A ¾ inch long set of jimping on the“BOTH BLADES ARE 3.5 INCHES LONG AND HOLLOW
GROUND FROM AUS-8A STAINLESS STEEL — HEAT
TREATED TO A ROCKWELL OF 57-59.”
Bottom Left: A set of
jimping on the spine
of the blade provides
a convenient place for
the user’s thumb to rest
during push cuts.Bottom Right: The
titanium frame lock
engages solidly keeping
the blade safely locked
open during use.34 KNIVES ILLUSTRATED • JULY/AUGUST 2019 knivesillustrated.com