REVIEW – A few months ago I reviewed the original Vosteed Raccoon button lock which has become one of my favorite knives. There were, however, a few complaints on the interweb about being able to force the lock if you hit the spine hard enough. Vosteed listened and decided to make the Raccoon even tougher by adding a cross-bar lock. Let’s see if the Vosteed Raccoon Cross-Bar Lock knife can make a great knife even better.
What is it?
The Vosteed Raccoon Cross-Bar lock knife (they missed the opportunity to call it the Rabid Raccoon) is Vosteed’s newest everyday carry offering to pay homage to Rocket Raccoon from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Dimensions of the blade and handle are exactly the same as the Raccoon Button Lock but now features a very strong cross-bar lock that allows truly ambidextrous use which lefties will appreciate.
What’s in the box?
- The Vosteed Raccoon Cross-Bar lock knife with black coated blade and green micarta handle
- Tin and soft case
- Support card, wanted card, spec sheet, cleaning cloth, Velcro patch
Hardware specs
- Blade Designer: Yue Dong
- Blade Material: Sandvik 14C28N
- Handle Material: Micarta in black or green
- Blade Shape: Drop point
- Blade Grind: Flat
- Finish: Green- Black coated stonewashed, Green/Black- satin
- Hardness: HRC 60 +/- 2
- Lock Mechanism: Cross bar lock (adjustable tension)
- Opener: Thumb stud
- Overall Length: 7.60” or 193.12mm
- Blade Length: 3.25” or 82.55mm
- Blade Width: 1.07” or 27.27mm
- Blade Thickness: 0.118” or 3.1mm
- Handle Length: 4.36” or 110.75mm
- Handle Width: 1.10” or 27.95mm
- Weight: 3.04 oz or 86.2 g
- Pocket Clip: Stainless, reversible, tip up
Design and features
The Vosteed Raccoon Cross Bar sports a very usable 3.25” drop point blade in 14C28N steel which is a good mid-range budget steel made by Sandvik in Sweden. It’s known for good toughness, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening.
Performance
The Vosteed Raccoon Cross Bar is nearly identical to the original Raccoon. The only difference I can discern from the two knives aside from the different locking mechanism is the Cross-Bar has a slightly different choil shape which swoops up into the handle rather than coming back down in line with it like the original.
The other slight difference is the pocket clip has been moved a little further up on the handle which will make it sit lower in the pocket.
The crossbar tension is adjustable which is a very nice feature. When you take the scales off you can see three holes on each side of the skeletonized liners. Just move the springs to the front for a stiffer action or back to make it easier to operate. The ball bearings on the pivot are buttery smooth and have zero play.
The drop point blade has a very usable edge and belly shape for easy cutting. The black coating is evenly layered and as you can expect with coatings the action was a little stiff at first but working it in has smoothed it out nicely.
There was a little excess oil from manufacturing so I removed as much as I could before I put it back together just to avoid attracting pocket lint. There is a lanyard loop and the pocket clip is reversible. When closed the blade nestles nicely in the handle and has a sleek profile.
What I like
- Adjustable cross bar tension with rock solid lockup
- Ambidextrous
What I’d change
- Nothing
Final thoughts
The original Raccoon was my instant favorite and has been my daily carry for a few months and now it’s even better with the truly ambidextrous cross bar lock which is my preferred locking mechanism on folding knives. It was hard to believe the Raccoon could get any better but at $59 this is possibly the best knife out there for the money. Grab one if you can because these will probably sell out quickly. Vosteed has somehow made the perfect knife even better with the Vosteed Raccoon Cross-Bar lock knife!
Price: $59.00
Where to buy: Vosteed website and they have a selection of knives on Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Vosteed.
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I’m a longtime collector (45 years) and it’s been my experience that when the specs omit country of origin, that means China or worse. My displayed collection of 87 knives includes USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the UK, nothing from China. I’ll spend the extra money for superior quality and pride of ownership.
Greetings Bloodthirsty Vegan,
Apologies for the late reply, I somehow missed this comment. Vosteed knives are made in China. I will say though that after a year of using the Raccoon I have been very impressed and it has held up great.
What size bearings are in it and pivot thank you
Greetings Adam,
The ball bearings themselves are pretty small, 1mm wide and the pivot is 4mm. The action is smooth and at only $59 it is a great deal.