Is the Vosteed Raccoon as great as you’ve been told?

Introduction

I purchased my Vosteed Raccoon a short time ago and it’s been in my pocket ever since. Not because I think it’s the best knife in the world, we’ll get into that, but because I like it and it disappears in my pocket, like an EDC knife should.

The Vosteed Raccoon I’m reviewing today is the one pictured. Vosteed didn’t send it to me. I purchased it myself. Am I happy with my purchase? That’s why you’re really here, right? We’ll get to that… patience grasshopper.

First Impressions

It’s a beautiful knife. The color combination on this knife is gorgeous. The black micarta scales, Sandvik 14C28N blade, orange thumb stud, deep pocket clip. This colorway is one of my favorites this knife offers.

It feels good in the hand. The fidget factor is off the charts. You want to spydie flick it? easy. You want to thumb flick it? easy. Whatever your preferred opening method is, you can do it. The blade flicks open and locks into place with the top liner lock, solid. It’s not going anywhere… unless you accidentally hit the button to release it. We’ll get to that.

Now let’s get to the meat and taters…

Specs

Fit & Finish

Micarta always worries me on a knife. I can’t get past the fact that it’s soft, absorbent material layered to make a hard material worthy of knife scales. I’m not saying it’s bad. I’m not saying it’s good. I’m saying it’s Micarta and if you’re going to carry this knife in while sweating in the sun all day, just know, micarta is absorbent. Something to think about. If you ride a desk in a cubicle farm, it’s a non issue.

A couple things I noticed on my particular Vosteed Raccoon.

1. The scales are not perfectly parallel. The clip side bulges out ever so slightly, likely from the pressure of the liner lock. If yours is the same you likely never would have noticed it had I not mentioned it. Doesn’t affect the function of the knife in the least, but I noticed it so I’m including that observation.
2. The blade adjustment is perfect. Sits exactly in the center between the scales.
3. The stonewashed blade fits this colorway perfectly. Purely cosmetic but lets be honest. These things matter. Nobody wants to carry an ugly blade.
4. The hardware is recessed nicely. Nothing but the pivot pin and the button protrude at all from the handle.

Carry & Ergonomics

The pocket clip allows this knife to ride pretty deep in your pocket. That’s 100% a preference but I want a knife that I almost forget I’m carrying, it rides so deep… tip up of course. None of this barbaric tip down nonsense on this knife. It’s only 3 ounces. It’s not weighing down your pocket. I usually carry my knives in my right pocket with a Olight i3t next to it, and getting my hand in my pocket for the discreet pocket scratch is a non issue.

Lets talk ergo briefly. It’s not the most hand fitting knife I’ve ever owned or carried but it’s good enough. I would tell you that I wish it had slightly more and aggressive jimping but that was taken care of with the Raccoon 2.0.

There’s no real choil to speak of on this knife so your hand is pretty far rear when getting a full hand grip on this unit. That seems to have been somewhat addressed on the 2.0 just judging by photos. I don’t have a 2.0 here to compare.. yet.

Edge Performance & Steel

In my extensive research opening various amazon packages and whatnot deliveries, it cuts well. It cuts 550 cord without issue, it passes the obligatory paper test, shaves your arm hair and it’ll cause you to need a band-aid and your wife to say, “I told you to stop playing with that knife” if you get careless with your fidgeting.

Here’s what matters.. Vosteed claims on their product page that the stonewashed 14C28N blade has a HRC value of 59 +/- 1. Our friends at the Steel Hardness Lab agree. SHL testing concluded that the Vosteed Raccoon‘s blade has a Rockwell C Hardness measuring 59.8. Not too shabby.

We would all love to see HRC values above 60 but 59.8 is a pretty good result for a 14C28N blade at this price point. It’s hard to complain about.

Value

I’ll always preface my opinion on value by saying, it’s my opinion and your perceived value may differ from mine.

What you really want to know, do I think the Vosteed Raccoon is a knife worth it’s $70 price tag? Yes, all day long. It’s a knife your buddies will notice when you pull it out of your pocket and flick it open like the knife connoisseur that you are. Is it the perfect knife? No, but it’s a knife you’ll likely be happy to throw into your EDC rotation and not have any second thoughts, but buy the 2.0. See why in the next section.

Pros & Cons

Disclaimer: These are my findings on the original version of this knife. Some of these points were addressed in the 2.0 version. Those are noted.

Pros

• It’s a dang good lookin’ knife.
• HRC 59.8 (Steel Hardness Lab)
• Fidget factor is very nice. You can flick and close and flick and close this thing til your wife gives you “The Look” because you’re disturbing her doom scrolling.
• Top Liner Lock.
• Deep carry pocket clip

Cons

• The TLL button protrudes and can be accidently pressed pretty easily. (It’s now recessed on the 2.0 version. Well done Vosteed.)
• No choil. You can’t really “choke up” on the 1.0 version. (This seems to have been somewhat addressed judging by photos on the 2.0 version.)
• Micarta scales. Depending on who you are and what you put your knives through, this may not be a con for you. I want G10 or some type of metal. If you’re an email warrior and a power point samurai, it’s a non issue for you.

Where to Buy

• Buy the Raccoon 2.0 on Amazon
• Buy on Vosteed.com

Final Verdict

In my opinion, the Vosteed Raccoon is a great value and would make a great addition to your EDC knife rotation. Buy with confidence. There’s a reason it’s a fan favorite amongst the EDC community. The top liner lock gives it a step ahead of just about every other knife in this price range and the single issue I had with it on this version was corrected in the 2.0 version.

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