Yon Xanadu YX-650 in Titanium and D2 (Review & Teardown)
Published: 3 years ago
I'm quite blown away with this thing!
A hell of a lot higher build quality than the YX-622.
I'm not sure who made these for them, but I do believe that they commission differing companies for each of their designs. The hardware is very sturdy, and it's utilizing multirow bearings which is fantastic to see..
This one has a "fire" factory anodized finish to the handles, but it also comes plain if that's a bit too gaudy. The titanium slabs have a sand/bead blast finish to them, much like the Taichung Spyderco's, so it has a lot of grip, but will easily obtain "snail trails".
There isn't any weight relief going on with the scales as the only milling on the inside done was to put steel washers in there for the bearings to interface with. That gets you some serious weight on this thing. Probably around some Medford and Hinderer designs... Not Halfbreed though.
The detent is tuned great, the flipper is fairly subdued but effective. Pocket clip is well placed and the blade is buried deep enough into the scales to not be a danger.
The thickness at the shoulder of the blade is thicker though, which might be a point of contention for some. It was purposefully designed that way for harder use, rather than focusing in on paper products that benefit from the thinner blade. I've thinned mine out to 17 degrees from the 19 that it came with and haven't had issues with binding like I did with the QSP Gavial.
Specs:
3.6" D2 blade with 4 mm stock thickness
5.97 oz / 169 gram weight
0.50" handle thickness (Ti)
Frame Lock
Ceramic multirow bearings & detent ball
A hell of a lot higher build quality than the YX-622.
I'm not sure who made these for them, but I do believe that they commission differing companies for each of their designs. The hardware is very sturdy, and it's utilizing multirow bearings which is fantastic to see..
This one has a "fire" factory anodized finish to the handles, but it also comes plain if that's a bit too gaudy. The titanium slabs have a sand/bead blast finish to them, much like the Taichung Spyderco's, so it has a lot of grip, but will easily obtain "snail trails".
There isn't any weight relief going on with the scales as the only milling on the inside done was to put steel washers in there for the bearings to interface with. That gets you some serious weight on this thing. Probably around some Medford and Hinderer designs... Not Halfbreed though.
The detent is tuned great, the flipper is fairly subdued but effective. Pocket clip is well placed and the blade is buried deep enough into the scales to not be a danger.
The thickness at the shoulder of the blade is thicker though, which might be a point of contention for some. It was purposefully designed that way for harder use, rather than focusing in on paper products that benefit from the thinner blade. I've thinned mine out to 17 degrees from the 19 that it came with and haven't had issues with binding like I did with the QSP Gavial.
Specs:
3.6" D2 blade with 4 mm stock thickness
5.97 oz / 169 gram weight
0.50" handle thickness (Ti)
Frame Lock
Ceramic multirow bearings & detent ball