The Camillus Cuda Maxx Mega Folder
This is the production version of the Darrel Ralph Custom “Madd Maxx” folder. Those that have pushed hard for Companies to manufacture large folders have referred to folding knives such as these as “Mega-Folders”. This is a very large folding knife.
The Cuda Maxx sports a D-2 clip point blade that is 5.5 inches in length. The body consists entirely of 6AL4V Titanium. The “lock” is part of the Titanium frame on this type of knife, being an integral, frame-locking knife Like a Sebenza…). The integral frame lock has a lot of strength although some have had some concerns about the actual size of the contact area, where the frame portion of the lock meets/touches the tang of the blade. I find the Cuda Maxx to be adequate. I believe the lock-up is more than strong enough. It is on mine anyway.
With an overall length of 12 inches and a closed length of 6.5 inches, the knife only weighs 7 ounces. Pretty impressive, huh? I think so!
Opening Method
The opening method of the knife is sometimes advertised as “dual, ambidextrous thumb studs,” but I think everyone is quite familiar with the concept of “Flippers” now, for those that are not, the Flippers are the dual projections which form a workable but smallish guard on this knife. Another nice touch on a folding knife.
The following is my opinion only. I don’t like thumb studs, they always seem to be the least “sure” on the opening to me. I prefer the thumb disc or thumb (Spyderco) hole over the thumb stud. But, on this knife, I don’t see how anyone could possibly utilize the thumb studs. I have no idea as to why this knife is sometimes advertised as having thumb studs for an opening system. They just take on the role of a stop pin.
“Quik Flik” is etched on the blade, which accurately describes how the knife can be opened with a little bit of practice using the top Flipper when the knife is closed.
Pocket carry is oriented tip down, here is a nice surprise, if you were to reverse the clip for tip up carry, it waves open like an Emerson Folding Knife. Due to the size of the Flipper(s), it catches easily on the pocket with no misfires whatsoever as long as the movement is performed deliberately. People who are not used to an Emerson Knife can “wave” the Cuda Maxx open easily with hardly any practice at all.
This method of opening continues to be controversial in the knife community, some people still see the Emerson Wave Opener as a gimmick. My own thoughts on this are based on a simple reality. If you are down to saving your life with a folding knife, you’re basically in dire straits anyway and you really need all the speed you can get.
Grip
The grip has a palm swell but
even with the center palm swell, the knife is very streamlined. Not a classic
palm swell like you can sculpt out of micarta, etc. But it does nicely.
Especially when you consider how large it is. It’s hard to make a folding
knife this size “streamlined.” It carries rather easily in the pocket
because it is also thin. Amazingly thin, as a matter of fact. If you get your
hands on a Cuda Maxx, you might think there is nothing “thin” about it,
understand that it is about as thick as most folding knives that are much
smaller. In that aspect, the Cuda Maxx is indeed very thin for its size.
The grip itself, how it feels
in the hand, is rather “cold” to me, metallic handles/grips tend to be that
way. It is, however, secure and in the end, that’s what matters most.
It does not matter if you
prefer blade up or down in forward grip or if you prefer reverse grip, it feels
basically the same in all of these grips because of the generic, neutral nature
of the grip. The blade is about 1.5 inches too long for my tastes to be used in
reverse grip, edge facing in, but there are other knives out there that work
better with that anyway.
It feels fine for reverse grip
edge facing out, however…
The knife moves well on the
controlled spin or flip from forward to reverse grip and back again. If this
matters to you, the way you personally use a knife.
Further Possibilities
It would be rather neat to
have a minimalist Kydex Sheath made for the Cuda Maxx that would activate the
Flipper so the knife would wave open on the draw and have that in a shoulder rig
and/or Inside Waistband (IWB) configuration.
Closing
Overall, I rate this knife
highly. It really is a nice production piece. Is it for everyone? Probably not.
Considering the size, this may put some people off; others will be drawn to it
for that reason. It is a high quality production piece in my opinion and is just
about the strongest folding knife you can get for the money. In fact, it blows
most knives away in the strength department, some costing twice as much.
When they shrink it down some,
it will probably appeal to even more people and that’s a good thing too. But
for now, I find it hard to put this Mega-Folder down on the desk…
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