Our continuing focus at Columbia River Knife & Tool has been to offer custom quality in popularly priced production knives. This effort has two main directions: innovative design and exotic materials. We've combined these two thrusts in this new knife line, and we named it the Vertex™ because that is the geometric point where two lines intersect.First, it's a striking shape submitted by one of our many outstanding designers, that places a symmetrical scale precisely at the palm swell, resulting in a secure and comfortable grip.Second, we built the Vertex line using the same materials a custom knifemaker would: premium blade steel, stainless steel liners, black hard anodized 6061 aluminum scales, and hand-shaped scale inserts of cocobolo wood or resin impregnated fiber.Vertex™ DP. The model 1040 sports a drop point blade with a high hollow grind, and black resin impregnated fiber scale inserts. It is sized for daily carry, witha four-inch handle and 3.125" blade of 8Cr14MoV stainless steel in a satin finish.Then, to add value and give instant one-hand opening, we built in our OutBurst® assisted opening with the patent-pending* Fire Safe™ mechanism. When closed, the blade is safely locked by the Fire Safe pin. It cannot be opened until the safety button on the end of the thumb stud is firmly depressed and the thumb stud is nudged outward. It is both very fast, and very safe, because simply pressing the Fire Safe button does not open the knife. You must both press down and nudge the blade outward deliberately.