Just getting to play with mine for the first time today, and I have to say, I think this knife is just about perfect for what I want a knife to be. I have smallish hands for a guy my size and the mudders fit my hand perfectly (another knife that I know some people think has a smallish handle but fits my hand perfectly is the fallkniven A1, so there you go). I actually really like the placement of the choil and ramp. I notice that if I choke all the way up on the blade, my thumb wants to go past the ramp (some other people commented on this), but if I grip back on the guard (as if it's a trigger), my thumb rests right on the ramp, gives me excellent control, and gives me a 1/4 cm of space between my finger and the blade. Again... smallish hands. Drop point is my favorite shape so... yeah. Love this knife. The thickness, the length, the weight, love all of it. If it were legal to carry a fixed blade in NY, this would easily be my EDC.

My only sorta gripes are that 1: the gray blade is darker than I thought from the pics, but this doesn't really matter to me, and I think I might actually prefer this color to what I thought I was getting, and 2: the balance is so forward-heavy on account of the narrow tang. But some people pointed out that this might make it a decent chopper for a blade its size, and I have yet to actually put it to use, so I'll withhold final judgment on that. Holding by the choil/ramp basically negates this issue anyway.

This is my first SY knife and what an impression! I take a pic but my camera is currently on vacation without me, heh.

That's how it's fitting my hand as well. I got out for a couple minutes and made a nice walking stick for me boy in short order. It handles nicely... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Congrats on getting your S5! I just picked mine up yesterday, and I'm liking it so far but still not as much as my DMDC.

Just in case I haven't said it yet, welcome to the yard! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I also know that I can't obtain a "real" light saber like Darth Maul's or even Luke Skywalker's, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have at least some advantages over my Rucks, AK-47s, or MOAB.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Tanker is a very dark gray, but having looked at other folks pictures, tanker gray with black handles may well be the most popular combo, but it also works with the other handle colors -- it'll grow on you. Not that it matters right now, but for future reference, urban gray is a lighter blade coating, approximating the color of cinder blocks or concrete, and sage is a grayish brown (I always think it should be green, but it's not).

But the sage will always smell better than the tanker. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I love the forward balance of the S5. It's just right and not too much. I greatly prefer the feel of the S5 in my hand versus the SS4 for example or the Ratmandu. A slight forward balance due to a tiny bit heavier blade makes the knife faster and easier to use, at least for me. I am not a fan of some of Scrapyard's competitors products for just this reason. A thin fragile blade is not the kind of woods knife I want or prefer.

Sumo...I'll take yer S5 if you don't want it. I would like to order an S5 LE Orange mudders please. On that note...An S7 , mudders in SR101 .250 with a NICE RainWalker kydex pants..in Orange