The Pichi G9 is the first of its kind, combination utility blade with a unique opening method. They took it even further and wrapped this creation in premium materials. The G9 features grade 5 titanium, a full leather sheath, and SK2 blades. It's 3.14" long, .62" tall, and only weighs 1.94oz. The more I read about Pichi and their commitment to quality, the more I feel the world needs to hear about them. The G9 itself undergoes over 200 minutes of precision machining. Excuse me, what? Pichi is making these things slow and precise, rather than knocking them out and pocketing the money. This attention to detail is rare these days, and I appreciate it.
Having come from the run of the mill box cutters, this is very compact. The two titanium halves are accented by the gold-colored pivot. The pivot is great for attaching a lanyard to make retrieval a little easier. The angular shaped boxy is shaped in the right places that when in your hand if feels natural like an extension. The milled step pattern on either side makes a perfect tactile surface to slide the two halves apart. They could have used cheaper options like rubber inserts, or checkered pattern. But you can tell that with this simplest of elements had a lot of thought put into it. The titanium finish does well to resist scratches and helps keep it from being a fingerprint magnet.
On the back, there's a component Pichi calls a gear. The gear has three modes: Activate, Swap, and Lock. The Activate unlocks the G9 and makes it so the two halves open and close.
The Swap Gear allows the two halves to open more than the Activate Gear, giving access to the whole blade. For safety reasons the whole blade is never fully exposed expect for this mode.
The Lock Gear does what the name entails, ensuring things are locked and safe. Box cutters don't normally have a safety lock but it's for good reasons on the G9.
To use the G9 to move your gear to the Activate position, and this will allow the two halves to slide apart ever so slightly. This moves a pin out of the way on the top of the G9 allowing the blade to slide forward. The unique part of the G9's opening is that gravity or a gentle wrist motion is all that's needed to access the blade. Open the two halves slightly, with the end facing down. The blade will come sliding out, then let the two halves come back together. To retract the blade, point the G9 up and let gravity once again pull the blade back into the handle. This whole process is very smooth and satisfying. Addictive as well, almost like having a fidget toy with you.
Changing the blade is done by setting your gear to the Swap position. Slide the two halves apart, and let gravity move the blade forward. This time the whole blade will come forward and expose it to be swapped. With a fairly closed system like this it's a very neat way of accessing the blade.
The Locking gear is good for not only keeping things together when it's in your pocket loose, or in the included leather sheath. I also use the lock when using the G9, because the two halves slide apart so easily that you could potentially disengage the pin holding things together.
The G9 comes with Pichi branded SK02 blades. SK2 blades are well known for their edge holding ability, up to 5x compared to cheaper alternatives. Having used this every day at work for weeks now I've yet to swap out the first one that was in it. The SK2's lived up to the reviews I read, but in the end, I may use a Lennox titanium blade, or maybe a DeWalt carbide one.
The G9 is a testament to the ingenuity and precision that Pichi is becoming known for. It makes a great tool for on-the-job work or carrying along as a backup to your normal blade. It's ease of use makes it a joy to use, especially with the quick blade deployment. If your in the market for something different then say a Gerber EAB, or even Civivi's new Elementum Utility. Check out the G9 from the folks at Pichi Deigns.
