* Inspiration..
One day I was in the garage flipping my SS4 user around, grip changes, chopping air, etc.. and the beak caught on something (clothing?).. my SS4 flew tip first into the concrete floor! Took a chunk of concrete out.. surprisingly tip was ok! ..just a small bur on the end of tip.

I also plan to EDC this SS4 concealed along with my Glock.. so goodbye beak.

If you have Large hands, you prolly won't like this mod.. as the SS4 handle isn't all that big to begin with.

* X-Ray
Hog Feet's x-rays of the SS4 Tang over at BF came in Very handy..
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=444088
..I scaled it to life size, printed out, and used as a template.. to know exactly where tang was.. where to cut & where not to cut.

* Problems i ran into..
In this rough mid-production pic.. you can see the voids in the Res-C, probably air bubbles during the injection molding..




* Res-C & fire..
Err.. i'll talk about That one another day..

* Impressions.
It's more compact now. Lot easier to flip around, get into ice pick grip, etc.
That beak is actually great for choking back on and getting a lot more leverage for chopping.. unfortunately SS4 blade doesn't have any mass for chopping. That kind of beak would be Awesome on a heavier HRLM type blade.

The SS4 still ate this X-mas tree though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ..