First turtles appeared at the end of Triassic-beginning of Jurassic period – that’s approximately 220 million years ago. And since the emergence of humankind they remained its steady and unobtrusive companions. In 2011, yet another turtle saw the light of day – this one, however, was made by man. As you have guessed, we are not talking about genetic engineering here, but rather about our flagship model, the F95 T-pattern. Evolution, as you know, never stands still and our turtle, just as its brethren out in the wild, continues to develop. Unlike natural selection, the evolutionary progress of our folders from generation to generation can be seen with the naked eye. So please welcome F95T Gen.4. Let’s see what is new in Gen.4, and what is the product of genetic memory of its ancestors.? As with previous generations, F95 is a flipper with a 95mm (3.74in) blade. There really isn’t much leeway here, given the name and pedigree. And as the name contains the letter T, presence of the T-pattern on the handle is another mandatory element. In case with evolutionary development things that work well tend to be retained from generation to generation. This is exactly the story with F95T Gen.4’s handle – it has the same comfortable and ergonomic shape as the previous generations of the folder. At this point we have discussed the basics that remain unchanged. Now let’s move on to evolutionary developments. The spine of the new F95T dips towards the tip of the blade, which is in line with the blade shape of our latest serial models (such as Hati Gen.3). The new blade comes with jimping and milled extracts, as well as a small swedge. This blade is more complex and with more angles than could previously be found on any serial ‘turtles’. Besides a more complex shape, the blade shrank by 0.5mm (0.2in) down to 3.5mm (0.14in) at the spine, which, combined with the high secondary bevel will make those who like slicers happy. The blade is stonewashed, which is good for a working knife, as this finish is effective at hiding small scratches which invariably will appear sooner or later when you cut through different materials. The pivot is still built around MRBS on steel underlays. But it too has undergone some evolutionary changes, as it now comes with our CPS system which prevents it from free-spinning. Another subtle advantage of the CPS which can be overlooked is that it allows for positioning of the pivot screw slit exactly as we want it thanks to the large number of fixed positions of the reciprocating screw. In case with the new turtle, the evolutionary spiral has taken an additional leap (or twist), and now the body screw also comes with a shape that prevents it from free-spinning. It’s not quite the same as CPS, as a different engineering solution is used here (with a smaller number of positions as compared to the Captive Pivot System). The pivot screw head was made bigger compared to earlier generations of the turtle. At the same time, the slit has been milled in such a way that our standard bit will still fit. By the way, notice how the T-pattern interacts with the body screw. On the front scale, it envelops the forward portion of the screw, and on the lockbar side, the rear portion of it. Main feature of the handle is undoubtedly the T-pattern. As we have mentioned earlier, you can’t have an F95T without a turtle pattern. But the pattern itself has had it shape altered a little, so that it would better match the milling in the recessed areas of the handle. Speaking of milling – it is similar to the horizontal milling of F95T CD, which we have released a little while ago. At the same time, this milling is different both in shape and color, as the serial F95T comes with scratched satin T-pattern and stonewash in recessed areas (which house the fine horizontal milled lines). Besides adding to the overall grip of the handle, this also visually underlines the main T-pattern. Pocket clip carries a pattern similar to that present in the recessed areas of the handle (no wonder, as genetics are the same). Given the fact that the clip screw is hidden, the clip forms a complete piece which organically matches the handle. At the same time, the contact point of the pocket clip and the handle is above the lockbar, so the pocket clip does not press into the latter, and thus has no impact on the action.? Next to the pocket clip is the new backspacer. It is of continuous width, but visually narrows down toward the end of the handle, as the ledge with jimping (which, by the way, is visually similar to the jimping on the spine of the blade) gets narrower. Handles around the lanyard hole have recessed areas to make attaching a lanyard easier. Evolution means improvement, and understanding of the need to cover the tip of the blade in the closed position came over time. Here, F95T has evolved together with its present-day siblings, and Gen.4’s backspacer goes down far enough to cover the tip of the blade, so that you won’t scratch your finger on it when the knife is in your pocket. So here is how the new F95T Gen.4 turned out. How do you like the new stage of evolution? Technical data: Blade length: 95mm (3.74in) Blade thickness: 3.5mm (0.14in) Handle length: 132mm (5.20in) Overall length: 222mm (8.74in) Weight: 135 gr (4.76oz) Pivot: MRBS Blade steel: M390 Handle: titanium Locking mechanism: frame lock