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Reviews > Knives > Folding > Deejo Custom Knife > Test Report by Coy Ray StarnesDeejo Knife Review by Coy Starnes Initial Report: July 2, 2018 Field Report: September 18, 2018 Long Term Report: November 14, 2018 
Tester Biography I live in Northeast Alabama. I enjoy backpacking, hunting, fishing and kayaking. I enjoy hiking with family and friends but also hike solo occasionally. Most of my hiking has been in the Southeastern US. I hike throughout the year but actually enjoy late fall or early spring the most with some winter hiking mixed in. I don't like the hot and humid weather of summer unless I can escape to the mountains where it is cooler. My style is slow and steady and my gear is light. I will sacrifice weight for comfort and durability to a degree. A typical 3-season load for me is around 20 lb (9 kg) not counting food and water. Product Information
Initial Report: July 2, 2018 Product Description The Deejo knife is a single blade folding knife with a pocket clip on the back side. It comes in 3 sizes, a 15 g/7 cm, a 27 g/9cm and a 37 g/11 cm. I chose to test the largest 37 g/11 cm knife. The blade is made of 2CR13 stainless steel. The locking mechanism is very similar to a liner lock but is actually called a frame lock. The blade sits on the front of the knife with the tattoo visible and also where the ash handle is rather than in between two handles or slabs. However, the design of the knife is such that even though the blade is basically exposed, it sits under a lip of the ash handle enough that there is no danger of cutting myself with it if grabbing it in the closed position or cutting my pants pocket when carrying it. The length of the blade is approximately 4 in (10 cm). When closed the knife is about 4.5 in or the 11 cm given as a size choice. The overall length of the knife when opened is 8 in (20 cm). I don’t have a set of calipers to measure the spine of the knife but it is about average for a knife this size. What really set this knife apart from the run-of-the-mill pocket knife is the amount of customization available. I counted 68 tattoo options. A tattoo is a laser engraved pattern or drawing on the front side of the knife blade. I had a hard time choosing which one to go with but finally settled on the bicycle design. The grizzly bear was a close second but I saw a bunch I liked and only a couple of designs that I did not like. For the handle material there are five different woods, eight different colored handles of a plastic like material or a carbon fiber handle that is black. There is also a naked model that doesn’t have a handle material. There are three different blade colors to choose from, mirror, grey titanium and black titanium. I went with the grey titanium blade and ash handle. And finally, there is an option to personalize the knife with up to 35 letters. The letters are placed on the frame lock and covered by the blade when the knife is closed. I went with my nickname which included my first name Coy, AKA Coy Boy. As I configured the knife I noticed that adding a tattoo increased the cost by $10. The engraved lettering added another $10. However, I could add any handle material for no additional cost. Here is the knife as it appeared on the website after selecting the size and options I wanted.  The website has a really neat tool that allowed me to see all the different options as they would appear on the knife. The personalized message on the frame can be seen by opening the knife. Of course the backside stays the same so it serves no purpose to look at it after each change. I used my iPad Pro that has a 13 in (33 cm) screen and found the rendered knife I chose matches the one I reviewed almost exactly. The size, tattoo and personalized lettering are the same. The ash wood handle has a slightly different grain but looks the same. On last note, to order a knife the buyer must set up a personal user account. This is done with an email address and a password of your choosing. I’m not sure how typical my experience was but I received my knife 3 days after ordering it and a day ahead of the date an email said I should expect delivery. Initial Impressions When I opened the box to examine the Deejo for the first time I was immediately struck by just how gorgeous the knife is. It is truly a work of art. I was also impressed with the lightness of the knife considering how big it is. I own several pocket knives with a similar sized blade but the Deejo is much lighter than any of them. The knife has no thumb stud or even a thumbnail slot but is extremely easy to open because so much of the blade is exposed to just pinch and pull open. Once opened the frame lock locks the blade securely. There is very little play in the blade. I’m not sure what grind the blade has but it is beveled on both sides. The blade is decently sharp but not quite shaving sharp out of the box. And lastly, the knife looks more like a gentleman’s knife. It is definitely not a tactical looking knife so it shouldn’t intimidate anyone when I have it out and opened. However, despite its elegant looks, it is not a toy knife and should serve as a great EDC. The extremely lightweight design should also work well for ultralight hikers who want a reasonably large blade with the least heft possible. I am really impressed with this knife so far and look forward to getting it out in the field for some real use. In the meantime, I leave you with a couple more images of the knife taken with my cell phone. I just wish I were a more professional photographer too really do it justice.   Field Report: September 18, 2019 Test Locations and Conditions. I have carried the Deejo daily since getting it. As far as hiking goes, I carried it on numerous day hikes on local trails for exercise or just to go swimming down at the creek. My first overnight was July 9 at Cloudland Canyon State Park in northwestern Georgia. It did not rain but was extremely hot and humid, with a high of 90 F (32 C) and a low of 67 F (19 C). Due to the heat and humidity I only hiked about 5 miles (8 km). My next overnighter was on September 1. This would be my trip to the Walls of Jericho in Northeastern Alabama. It wasn’t quite as hot but very humid with several light showers. I’ve heard some say it is the toughest trail in Alabama. I wouldn’t go that far but it does have lots of steep sections covered in rocks and roots. The hike involves a lot of elevation loss and gain, at least 1300 ft (400 m). I hiked a little over 11 miles (18 km). The high was around 85 F (29 C) and the low around 65 F (18 C). Field Test Results I have been pleasantly surprised at the performance of the Deejo knife so far. And why was I surprised? Well, for starters, this knife is so lightweight I had my reservations that it would hold up to everyday use. I have used it to remove tags from new clothing, stripping wire, cutting up a bike inner tube for a bike project that needs some padding, cutting rope, cutting holes in a big box to make my grandson an airplane, and even whittling a few limbs when bored. However, the bulk of use was making mater samiches from my garden tomatoes and cutting pears into bite sized pieces from my backyard pear tree. Some of the pears were so big that the knife blade would not reach all the way to the other side during the cut. I even carried some pears on my last overnighter. Here are a few photos of the many uses I found for the Deejo.    I’ll be honest, none of the chores I listed above would be considered knife torture, but were demanding enough for a good idea of the usefulness and even limits of this knife. For example, when I was whittling, the thinness of the handle was noticeable compared to some of my other knives with much thicker handles. However, the knife was in no way uncomfortable to use in this manner for several minutes. Another thing I’ve come to appreciate is the weight (or lack thereof) of the knife. I was wearing gym shorts with no pockets on several occasions and didn’t like how the knife felt on my waist. No, it wasn’t too heavy, I just felt like the ends (not the blade) poked me when I had to bend my legs in relation to my waist a lot. So, I decided to move the knife to the only logical place which was the neck on my tee shirt. I ended up carrying the knife like this several times. And when I would be getting ready for bed at night I would take my shirt off and bang my nose with the knife because I completely forgot it was there.  I did sharpen the knife shortly after getting it. Well a good friend actually did the sharpening after I showed it off to him. As I mentioned in my Initial Report, it wasn’t quite shaving sharp from the factory. It took him just a few minutes on an Arkansas stone to sharpen it to the point that it had hairs jumping off our arms. This was before most of my subsequent use and I am pleased to note that it still shaves but is slightly duller. I’m also pleased that the knife shows no sign of rust, despite slicing many tomatoes. I was always sure to clean it right after any food related cutting, even the pear slicing.  I thought I would miss a thumb stud or thumb nail groove for opening the knife but it really was a non issue. I never found myself in a situation where I needed to open it one-handed. It also stays locked open very securely and I never felt like it might accidentally close. Long Term Report: November 14, 2018  Test Locations and Conditions I’ve continued to carry the Deejo on a daily basis. The weather just recently turned cold. I carried it on one more overnighter on September 29 on a local trail in the woods close to home for approximately 4 miles (6 km) total. The high was 77 F (25 C) and the low was 66 F (19 C). I also carried it on several day hikes and while riding my bike. Long Term Test Results I really haven’t made a lot of new observations during this last stage of the test. With the colder weather I did notice that when I carried the Deejo clipped in my jean hand pocket it was a little uncomfortable. The reason I didn’t notice this earlier is because it was warmer so I didn’t walk around with my hands in my pocket very much. However, as already noted, I could carry it clipped on a tee-shirt at the neck so it wasn’t a big deal. I also have some pants with other cargo pockets and would just select a different pocket to clip the knife into. As far as use goes, I used the Deejo mostly for opening packages and light food prep. It has remained sharp after the initial touch up my friend did shortly after getting the knife. I chose the bike tattoo because I am an avid cyclists. It is only fitting that I mention that I always carried the Deejo when on a bike ride. Depending on the bike I would carry it either in a pocket or in my saddled bag. However, I recently got a frame bag and found the mesh side pocket was the perfect place to carry the knife. It always stayed securely clipped into the mesh pocket despite the rough country roads and mild single track I ride most often. It also meant I had quick access to the knife if I needed it. Fortunately, I didn’t need it to fend off any wild animal attacks but did use it opening various snacks I carried inside the frame bag. Final Thoughts The Deejo has become my favorite knife. This is no small feat considering I have dozens of knives to choose from. It is not the toughest knife I own by a long shot but this is offset because it is such an incredibly light knife. I will say that despite its lightweight construction, it is sufficient for most tasks I need a knife for on a daily basis. This is also an important consideration when backpacking. However, I think the main reason it has become my favorite knife is because of the personalization it offers. I chose a tattoo that matches my personality and it even has my nickname on it. If I somehow misplace it there is a good chance I will get it back. This concludes my testing of the Deejo knife. I would like to thank Deejo and BackpackGeatTest.org for this testing opportunity. Read more reviews of Deejo gear Reviews > Knives > Folding > Deejo Custom Knife > Test Report by Coy Ray Starnes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||