Good knife in the end, but it required some tuning, and out of the box fit and finish leaves a little to be desired. It arrived with a decent show side bias in centering. I don't normally care too much about that as long as the blade isn't rubbing, but in a $300 knife, it matters. Factory edge was like a 5 out of 10. Bevels were even and there was a decent working edge, but it could not shave. I was able to strop it up to a point that it would shave hair, but it's still a 6.5/10. Definitely well below expectations for $300. Worst of all, the action was quite stiff. It literally wore my thumb raw and took off some skin it was so hard to open. This was not really a detent problem, but more of a tuning problem. Thankfully this is one of the absolute easiest knives to take apart. Three simple T8 screws (including pivot) and you're in. It took me 3 attempts, but in the end I fiddled with the body screw and pivot tightness enough to get it right in the sweet spot. It's now pretty well centered and the action is great. The thumb studs are still sharp, and so tight to the scales that it takes some getting used to. It'll never be your fidget toy on the couch, but the action is now crisp and the blade snaps right open with a light touch in the right place. Lockup looks delicate with a thin lock bar, but thankfully feels quite solid in use. No issues at all, and no play or stick. After tuning and oiling, the thin and light blade on bearings even drops shut in a very satisfying way. I've carried it for about a week now with light use during that time. The carry profile is awesome. The milled titanium scales are great and feel solid in hand but very slim in pocket. The clip does a great job of tucking it into the corner of the pocket, and you barely know it's there. I wouldn't call it a pen knife, but it has that vibe with just a little.more size. It indexes well in the hand and is pretty comfortable and fairly secure in grip. No hot spots to speak of. Blade itself cuts well enough. It's a good and versatile drop point with a light swedge. The grind and blade finish are excellent, other than the edge itself. It's not a tall or super thin laser slicer, but perfectly respectable. Great for tackling varied EDC needs, and solid enough to feel confident that it can be pressed into moderately hard use (within reason, of course). I think it's a great knife, but not any sort of "knife of the year" candidate like some seem to tout. I love that it's a premium knife made in America, and $300 isn't a bad value for a US-made product in premium steel and with house-milled titanium scales and liners. But for that money, fit and finish suffers in the small details like the factory edge, centering, and tuning out of the box. Tactile just needs to work on those very correctable issues to be a top contender and work its way into the same arena as excellent American-made brands like TRM. They're very close.
