folding knife advice

['75Scout]

I have bought Gerber, Kershaw, CRKT, Cold Steel, Benchmade, and Spyderco. The only brand of folding knife I still own is Spyderco, except for 1 Benchmade Mini Stryker that is unused in box and I will sell for $50. I have 1 Serrated Delicia that is my work knife and is abused on a daily basis. I have been using it for 5 or 6 years in my mowing company and it's never been sharpened, but still is quite sharp. 1 more Delicia thats green with black coated blade. 1 Kiwi with Jig bone handle, 1 Mini Dyad (my favorite), 1 Jester and a Copilot (that I also wouldn't mind selling, still in box).

Although there are many quality folding knive makers out there, Spyderco has proven their products superior time and time again. They are light, easily opened with one hand, relatively inexpensive, and virtually indestructable. I will carry some model of Spyderco for the rest of my life, along with Surefire flashlights.

If anyone is interested in the two knives I want to sell just shoot me a pm.

[22-rimfire]

I own many knives. I currently carry a cheap little plastic handled Gerber knife that I bought for under $20 as my everyday knife. It literally gets used in some fashion every single day.

I have looked at the Spyderco knives and find them well made but a little too trendy for me. Can't see myself using one of them for hunting or as a skinning knife.

During deer hunts these days, I carry a Remington bullet knife, the little Gerber (because it is always in my pocket), and a fixed blade sheath knife that seems to change from year to year. This year it was a Kershaw, but have since bought another Gerber for that purpose. I own many expensive knives, but I still find myself going back to basic knives such as Case, Remington, Boker, Schrade, and Gerber. Knives are tools and although I love custom knives, I can't bring myself to actually using one to cut something.

[Eghad]

I just purchased a Cold Steel TI -Lite. can be operated one handed and comes sharp as a pimp on payday night. I alo like it because it has the guard lie a stilleto does, in fact this knife is a stilleto type knife. The guard is serrated and could rip quite a bit of skin of if used on the face or the arm with some pressure without even opening it.

[EdMan]

Ever since the 1980s when I was in Golden Colorado for for some AT&T systems training, and I stopped in a new little factory outlet knife store –- that I had never heard of -- called “Spyderco,” I have been carrying a Spyderco knife. My first Spyderco was called the WORKER and I still have it. Since then I have bought about 40 Spyderco knives for myself and for others. I like the Spyderco’s clip and its ability to be opened very quickly with one hand. They also have good steel that holds an edge and is not too difficult to sharpen. In the last 20+ years I‘ve become very proficient at quickly “deploying” my Spyderco knife with one hand. The Spyderco I now carry the most is a DELICA with a straight edge, or if I need a longer blade I carry my ENDURA.

Ed

[BigV]

Spyderco is a great knife and they stand behind them. I once gave my Spyderco to a knife sharpener at a gun show. I asked if he knew how to sharpen a serrated blade. “Of course!” he said laughing. He then proceeded to grind a 45-degree angle on both sides of the blade and ruined the knife! I sent it back to Spyderco with a letter explaining what had happened. They sent me a brand new knife with no questions asked. They also offer free knife sharpening for life as well.

[Mannlicher]

If no one has mentioned it, try looking at AG Russell's website

www.agrussell.com

Lots of candy, but some can be pricy

[kutter_1313]

Gotta agree with Dragun on this, my S&W SWAT Special Tactical is my everyday workhorse pocketknife. Mine varies in the tanto blade, half serration, and has a belt clip. It's available through MSC, so I got work to pay for 25% and it was under $50 to start with. I carried a similar S&W while in the grunts, same blade style, but all black, with thicker scales. I think it was the 'Spec Ops' or somethin. Gave it to my buddy when I left, as he was off to The 'Stan and I was off to WI. He said he still has it because it works great. Those were available at the Army PX for $36, dunno why the MC PX never carried them. Neither ever showwed any rust, despite the saltiness of Hawaii. I remember having the Spec Ops taken away in training "because a tanto blade will go through soft body armor" and some kids flip in grunt school, I guess. Come to think of it, the guy I gave it to tried to bayonet some ****bird in SOI... Issue bayonets are hard to get through a flak, but they won't let us sharpen them. Maybe 'cause we can't stop fighting amongst ourselves...

[guntotin_fool]

Smith and Wesson and Cold Steel and CRKT are not knife manufacturers, they are sellers. They buy and resell knives that they have had private labeled for themselves.

That said, Benchmade has different levels of knives, unless you buy the more expensive lines, they too are outsourced. Buckknives labeled Made in USA as well as Gerber knives similarly labeled are made by the company, but those labeled as made in china or taiwan are outsourced too. Hard to believe but true.

As far as i have been able to discover all spyderco knives labeled made in japan are in fact made by them, the less expensive knives labeled on the blade as taiwan are not.

Al Mar and SOG have a lot of trouble with counterfits. look carefully at the knife before buying, I found a counterfit Al Mar at a national store just the other day.

The key to a good blade has for more to do with temper and heat treat than with blade steel. A great piece of steel with a crappy heat treat will be a crappy blade, a decent servicable steel with a excellent appropriate heat treat will be a good blade. What made Bucks so good for years was the quality of the heat treat. It was done by eye and it was done right. Now the company has relocated and I do not know howmany of the artisans that did that heat treat moved with the company. Same with the old "Portland, USA" stamped Gerbers, those were truely great knives. But big box retailers have killed the american knife business by insisting on namebrand knives for $16 on sale. A really good knife steel is ATS 34, tough hard and long wearing, it takes and edge that will last for a long time. Buck made some that were stamped made in USA and those are to be treasured, I found a couple at Gander for $23.00 each and bought them. Buying a knife that does not come apart is not that big a deal, just drop it in boiling water and then blow dry with an air hose and then drop into a can with a little solvent and work the knife wet with solvent wrap in a paper towel adn let it sit for a hour then oil lightly. works everytime. I really like the old buck odyssey pattern and wish it was still available, I keep on the look out for the ATS 34 ones, even have bought a serrated blade model and sanded off the serrations. serrations have no purpose on a EDC knife unless you are a EMT or likely to face a lot of spectre or kevlar, otherwise, plain edge is far superior.

A good blade for trial is the ATS 34 ez out from gerber, often found for about 25 bucks. good blade, thin grips, usable clip.

[Ftom14cat]

another vote for crkt

[WhiskeyMike]

This one looks promising: American Brand, Unbeatable warranty, looks functionial, and tactiblack:

http://www.tadgear.com/edged%20tools...trider_889.htm

[oystermick]

I must be out of the loop. What the hell is "EDC"?

[The British Soldier]

Has anyone else tried the Colombia River Sampson KISS? They are compact and easily carried, but the blade has an annoying habit of collapsing because the locking system is not positive and mechanical - rather a sprung bar.

Not a bad knife for light duty applications.

[Pilot]

What the hell is "EDC"?

Every Day Carry.

[hso]

The only production folding knives in your price range that won't rust in a marine environment are the Spyderco Salt series, the Camillus Talonites http://camillusknives.com/1mainframe.htm and the David Boye Cobalt series http://www.boyeknives.com/

I'm not aware of any other production folders for marine use that won't rust up on you.

[P99fan]

I have carried the Mini-Grip for a couple of years. It's tough and comfortable in my hand. I like the plain stainless drop-point. It's not the most expensive knife out there, but it does offer value for the $.