18 months after my first pocket knife

T

thebigsalad

Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
5
Where to go from here?

I had never carried a knife. I bought a Tinkerer and Meadowlark Byrd to see if blades were for me. I used them more than I had expected. Bought my first real quality knife, a PM3 with s90v Blade HQ teal. LOVE IT.

After you all found your first real knife, did you ever buy less expensive knives for daily users to preserve the gems? Or go all in and thats why I see so many nice blades on the exchange? :)

PM3 is great for one hand and fidgeting. What other knives are very good for one handed or fidgeting?

Thanks, BladeForums, you are awesome.
 
The best part of this path is having so many options from here! Look at what you liked and didn't like in the pm3 and see what is important with another purchase. Prices range, can't afford all the fancy ones, so vary a bit between budget and higher dollar.

Imo, look at a Benchmade Griptilian, everyone should try out an axis lock.
 
Price doesn’t really affect what I carry, for the most part.
I used to have a couple of Kirshaws, CRKT, and SOGs that really appealed to me, and they were in rotation with ZTs, Spycercos, and CRKs. They would still be in rotation if i hadn’t given most of them away.

I do have special purpose knives. I have a Delica that stays around the shop, PM2 that’s a beater, a few knives for high loss environments (like rafting), and so forth. I’m willing to use whatever I’m carrying for EDC-type stuff, but if I’m expecting heavy use there’s a few that tend to stay at home.

Welcome to Bladeforums. The Para3 has a lot going for it. My first flipper (and first higher end knife) was the ZT 0450. I used to fidget the snot out of that thing. Benchmades tend to be good fidgeters, though they’re not really my thing.
Houge makes some knives with axis style locks that are supposed to be really good, but I can’t say first hand.

Depending on where you live, an OTF (out the front) auto is probably the epitome of one handedness. I bought my first about a year ago (Microtech Ultratech) and it’s pretty awesome.
 
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If you're looking for small fidgeting knives, the Zero Tolerance 0022 and the Finch 1929 are great for that. Very snappy action.
 
thebigsalad said:
After you all found your first real knife, did you ever buy less expensive knives for daily users to preserve the gems?
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Yep. Climbed the price ladder a bit, then backed down it and spread out at lower price points -- and then sold a lot of them off and settled in at the price range where I tend to find the most enjoyment.
thebigsalad said:
PM3 is great for one hand and fidgeting. What other knives are very good for one handed or fidgeting?
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Oh man, so many! If you've never tried a crossbar lock -- Axis for Benchmade, XR for SOG, Able for Hogue, etc. -- then that would be a good next step. Super solid, but also super fidget-friendly.

My hands love to fidget with flippers, so they make up most of my collection. On the budget end, CIVIVI makes excellent flippers; their action rivals and often exceeds much more expensive knives. A few steps up in price, WE (of which CIVIVI is their budget line), ZT, and Reate all make fantastic flippers.
 
I used to think I could never afford an expensive knife. Now that's almost all I use. I regularly carry my Hinderers, and those are all $400+. Spyderco Shamans... Love them, have 4, carry them all the time. Benchmades, ZTs... However I do have a few cold steels (ad10, ad15 lite, 4 max scout, sr1 lite) and they are excellent and I got them all under $100. The ad10 was used and around that price. Excellent knives!

I still have all my cheaper Kershaws (except a few I sold or gave away), etc, and I do use them occasionally, but I just figure these knives were made to use regardless of price, and I'm going to use them and enjoy them! Have my cf/s90v native chief in my pocket right now as a matter of fact!
 
I use a Benchmad/HK at work and carry a GB2 or Hogue Ritter the rest of the time. But I have an Inkosi and a matching titanium Reylight for going out and dressing up. My wife makes fun of me but I don’t care.
 
DMG said:
I use a Benchmad/HK at work and carry a GB2 or Hogue Ritter the rest of the time. But I have an Inkosi and a matching titanium Reylight for going out and dressing up. My wife makes fun of me but I don’t care.
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Just tell her it's like her having different jewelry, shoes or clothing for different occasions or moods (if she does). Not really necessary, but still fun.
 
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I carry 2 knives everyday for the exact reason you mentioned. Right now it’s a Benchmade 940-1 carbon fiber with a partially serrated edge, super lite, super fidgety, extremely capable, no blade play or wobble, been EDCing for 5 years now and it’s still AMAZING. It’s a great fidget knife and I use it for EVERYTHING, love having 1 knife on me with serrations for getting through tougher or thicker items. The other knife is usually a knife that I enjoy to fidget with but only use for work that won’t abuse the knife, right now I can’t get away from my plain Jane small Sebenza. I don’t need to say why, everyone(almost everyone) knows this is the GOAT! Also, I had no idea I could spydie flick a sebenza….game changer!!!!!!!!
 
My early knives were old knives sold to me for a penny by my father ( never give a knife away you'll be sure to cut the relationship ). @ 9 or 10 I bought my first knife from money earned working in the hay fields for the farmers in town. A Western 854 utility. I can't imagine how I would get along from day to day without a pocket knife. I have had more expensive knives yet almost 50 years latter this is the knife you will find on me most often.
 
My first knife that I remember was an older victorinox my Dad gave me that he carried in the Army. I really started getting into knives as a teenager and once I graduated from high school and started working I realized I couldn't leave home with out a pocket knife or a multitool. I've carried them so long I can't go with out one. My latest edc is a buck Stockman and a leatherman Supertool 300 combo in addition to the razor knife I carry at work I find that I spend more on utility knives as I tend to lose them or break them on jobsites
 
After having a Cub Scout knife way way back and a handful of medium SAK’s for as long as I can remember, I’m three days into owning my first real pocket knife, a Kershaw Blur S30V, and I’ve already got the bug. Shortly after ordering the blur, I ordered the cheaper Oso Sweet to be legal to carry and less concerned about getting banged up or lost; and then the other night I ordered an even cheaper Atomic Defender Mini OTF, because it looked kinda cool and I’m just impulsive.

Now I spent the better part of today between this forum and knife seller sites looking for what my next purchase might be. The only thing I know right now is that it will probably be a sub-3” blade, because I just don’t need anything bigger than that. I don’t know what kind, but at the moment I’m leaning toward something like a wharcliff or reverse tanto, because they look very functional and I already have a drop tip and (slight) recurve. I also know that I prefer a more ergonomically shaped handle, with a well defined choil and jimping, than some of the boxy shapeless stuff I’ve seen. Other than that, I still don’t know if it will be a cheaper beater, a medium-priced EDC that I’d actually carry daily, or something a little higher end that would get looked at more than used. I’ll probably go lower or middle of the road, with something higher-end being least likely, but who knows what will tickle my fancy first.

Either way, I need to resist the impulses and remind myself that I’ve got two nice, brand new blades that I need to put through their paces before I can really decide what I want most in my next knife. I’d also like to get my hands on some real examples to see their action and how they feel first hand, which is difficult because I don’t know of any knife dealers in the area other than REI and LL Bean.

On the plus side, I’ve got a crapload of music gear I haven’t used in years, and most likely won’t ever use again, that I could/need to sell that would pay for a LOT of my newest obsession and hopefully shorten my stays in the doghouse whenever a new little package arrives.
 
You might check out the Sandrin Torino Carbon Fiber with tungsten carbide blade, or the Sandrin Dellatorre for a more dressy look (black mirror polish on the tungsten carbide blade)
 
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Danny Linguini said:
After having a Cub Scout knife way way back and a handful of medium SAK’s for as long as I can remember, I’m three days into owning my first real pocket knife, a Kershaw Blur S30V, and I’ve already got the bug. Shortly after ordering the blur, I ordered the cheaper Oso Sweet to be legal to carry and less concerned about getting banged up or lost; and then the other night I ordered an even cheaper Atomic Defender Mini OTF, because it looked kinda cool and I’m just impulsive.

Now I spent the better part of today between this forum and knife seller sites looking for what my next purchase might be. The only thing I know right now is that it will probably be a sub-3” blade, because I just don’t need anything bigger than that. I don’t know what kind, but at the moment I’m leaning toward something like a wharcliff or reverse tanto, because they look very functional and I already have a drop tip and (slight) recurve. I also know that I prefer a more ergonomically shaped handle, with a well defined choil and jimping, than some of the boxy shapeless stuff I’ve seen. Other than that, I still don’t know if it will be a cheaper beater, a medium-priced EDC that I’d actually carry daily, or something a little higher end that would get looked at more than used. I’ll probably go lower or middle of the road, with something higher-end being least likely, but who knows what will tickle my fancy first.

Either way, I need to resist the impulses and remind myself that I’ve got two nice, brand new blades that I need to put through their paces before I can really decide what I want most in my next knife. I’d also like to get my hands on some real examples to see their action and how they feel first hand, which is difficult because I don’t know of any knife dealers in the area other than REI and LL Bean.

On the plus side, I’ve got a crapload of music gear I haven’t used in years, and most likely won’t ever use again, that I could/need to sell that would pay for a LOT of my newest obsession and hopefully shorten my stays in the doghouse whenever a new little package arrives.
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Aw, for some reason that makes me sad, unused music gear. Music is another of my great loves. But hey, interests change and such. I just always feel sympathetic for the gear as if it were human, "That guitar wants to be played and taken care of!"
 
Hashishiin said:
Aw, for some reason that makes me sad, unused music gear. Music is another of my great loves. But hey, interests change and such. I just always feel sympathetic for the gear as if it were human, "That guitar wants to be played and taken care of!"
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I hear ya, but at some point ya gotta step back and look at it objectively. I’m not unloading everything, just most of the live gigging stuff I’ve accumulated over the years. It’s to the point that it’s just taking up space and cluttering up my already tiny office. Pretty much just the PA speakers and a few keyboards. I’m not gigging any more, haven’t since well before the pandemic, and really don’t see myself ever going out again at this point. I just play once in awhile to keep the chops up - I don’t need a $1400 88-key rig for that. Somebody can get some like-new stuff for cheap and hopefully make good use of it. That would make me happier than seeing it all collecting dust. All I need is a cheap digital piano to bang on, and I’ll keep the studio monitors to run it through - that’s all I need. Anything else, I’ve still got more virtual instruments than I know what to do with in Garage Band.
 
Yeah, I totally feel you. Hope it is used well!


On and to the thread, being less than a year into this myself.... my tastes range all over the place. Spyderco by far dominates my collection with 25+ knives, next being Cold Steel with like seven.... but my tastes run real distinct. I love large carries, wharncliffes, reverse-S/hawkbill, leaf blades, and modified drop points, as well as trailing points. Multi-purpose knives. I want a fine cutter, a cutter for rough and fibrous materials, a gent folder, a stout fixed blade. I love Leatherman and Victorinox and want more. Opinel, Douk-Douk, MAM, Ontario, K55 Mercator, are all classics in my book. I lean to carbon steel.
 
I have been here a long time. My tastes have changed so many times along the way. If you see something you like - buy it. Don’t worry about the price!

Just remember, we are a mouse click away if you ever need us! Don’t be afraid!
 
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