Finally bought my first Grip-551SBKOD this last weekend. I really don't know why it took me so long to get one. It seemed there was always something else that caught my eye. My favoite guy at all the gun and knife shows in the area had a really good price on them and I fell in love with the Olive handle with the black blade. I can see this moving up my favoite EDC list very quickly. It will be tough to over take the 710, but there are things about the 551 that I like better then the 710. Mainly the gimping. The Nitrous-Stryker still has the best gimping of the knives I own, but the 551 can hold it's own for sure. Overall I am very happy with it and I am already saving my pennies for a Ritter Grip the maybe some Wilkins grips. I knew once I bought a Grip it would not stop there

I’m a huge Grip fan as well. I just sharpened my 551 for the 6 or 7th time and while the blade is getting beat to hell the Axis and handle are still rock solid. I have a new one ready to go.
My Grip Inventory.
1-550HG
1-550HGBK (NIB)
1-550HGSBK
2-551 (1-NIB)
1-551BK (NIB)
1-553 Tanto
1-555HG Mini (NIB)
1-556 Mini
1-556BLU Blue Mini (NIB)

That’s more than I thought I had.

Zed: Bring out the Gimp. Maynard: Gimp's sleeping. Zed: Well, I guess you're gonna have to go wake him up now, won't you?

I have the laarge D2 grip and I love it. It's my go to EDC. It's as light as my small sebenza but and almost disappears in my pocket as well as the sebbie. I also don't hesitate to abuse it the way I would my sebbie even though the sebbie should be a stronger knife. I'm less fearful of losing it as it cost much less and can easily be rreplaced. My D2 is scary sharp too. I stropped it when I first recieved it with black green and finally the pink stropping compoundsd and for the past year and a half all I have done is maintain that hair popping edge by running it over the strop a few passes when it needs it. I also sanded off the ridges on the butt end both on top and bottom as the harse plastic serrations cut into the palm near the pinky finger. They easily came off with 120 grit then I sanded it down to an almos unnoticible polish with 1000grit paper and it fits my hand like a soft glove. ( I left the serrations moldeed into the plastic handle up near the blade as they do not irritate my thumb or index finger like they do the palm)

Up until my 755 MPR recently became my beater camping knife I abused either a 553SBK or a 550HG. The 553SBK was first (my first BM too) but I quickly found out that the tanto blade and serrations really make whittling a pain in the ass. The 550HG is an awesome blade though, I really want to get it in some Wilkins grips so I can start using it again. I really like the grip handle for functionality, but I don't care for the plasticky feel. Awesome tool though, just not as cool to show off as an MPR lol.

I’m lucky in many respects to the Grip. The only thing I don’t like about it as it comes from the factory is the over aggressive stippling on the scales. It’s not an issue with hot spots. It’s the darn clip and stippling ripping the hell out of my pockets. I put a strip of black Gorilla tape in that spot and slightly bend the clip back to adjust. You have to really press down on the tape and it sticks. It makes the knife slip in the pocket really smooth and it’s even more secure than before. The tape has a slight friction effect that holds the knife/clip in the pocket well.

Other than that, I love the 154CM for ease of use and maintenance. In addition to the dirty work my Grips see. The handle that many comment on as feeling plastic like doesn’t bother me.. It’s not like the scales on the 580/585 which do bother me but don’t rip my pockets up. So… I’m easy to please.

quote:

Originally posted by Jasonrph:
Ritter Grip the maybe some Wilkins grips.

This combo (in mini) is trying to surpass the 960 as my favorite blade for edc. They are great knives.