AFCK vs. Spiderco Military

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Dave Hunnicutt

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I have been carrying the full size AFCK for 15 years. I have been looking at the Spiderco Military just for the heck of it.

Which do you think is the better knife?

One thing I don't like about the Military is that the liner lock tab (?) is not hidden well. When you grip the knife, you feel it. It seems like it could accidentally release under stress at the wrong angle (self defense). The AFCK hides this better in the handle. The AFCK seems stronger and better lined too.

I like the Spiderco ergonomics better though.

Any opinions?
 
Never heard of Spiderco, but I have heard of Spyderco, and the Military is an excellent knife.

Bit on the large side for me, but it's rugged and you can get it in orange G10! :D
 
I prefer the ergos and the design of the Spyderco better. Nested liners decrease weight and thickness while remaining strong. The larger opening hole and the liner cutout are designed for use with heavy gloves, and after using the millie with some very thick winter gloves, I can say it excels at that.

For a true comparison, I'd have to have them side by side. My memory on the AFCK is a bit foggy, but I believe the story goes someone contacted Spyderco about designing a "Military" specific knife, quit halfway, and started working on a similar design with Benchmade. Spyderco decided to finish up the "Military" for the sake of completion.

Correct me if I'm mistaken.
 
What stands out to me as differences for EDC between the two are:

Blade profile and grind
Lock
Steel (Coated D2 versus S30V)
Tip up versus tip down

AFCK stands for Advanced Fighting Combat Knife reportededly designed by former navy seal Chris Caracci in collaboration with Benchmade

I personally prefer the Military but no knock on the BM. The blade shape and grind, combined with the jimped finger choil and jimped thumb ramp on the Military makes it more versatile as an EDC on a daily basis for me. There are so many ways to grip the Military. I personally don't use a folder hard enough to worry about the lock method differences and the Military Liner Lock is the benchmark in LL lock strenght. I predict the liner lock on the Military is as strong or stronger than the sum of the knife's parts. I have a fixed blade in my portable BOB and my truck at all times anyway.
 
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The thing that seems wrong about the Military is the way your hand rests on the liner lock tab when you grasp it. It seems like a design flaw that could cause the lock to release in a fighting situation. No matter how you grip the AFCK, you do not stand a chance of accidentally releasing the lock if the knife twists or is hit in a fight.
 
Dave Hunnicutt said:
The thing that seems wrong about the Military is the way your hand rests on the liner lock tab when you grasp it. It seems like a design flaw that could cause the lock to release in a fighting situation. No matter how you grip the AFCK, you do not stand a chance of accidentally releasing the lock if the knife twists or is hit in a fight.
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Check out the BM 760 Ti, I just picked one up the other day and could not be happier. If your looking for a defence knife this would be it.

The millie is a great knife though and I have NEVER had any issues with the lock accidentally releasing. It does seem like more of a possibility but I don't think it would happen or at least its never happened to me.
 
No matter how hard I grip the Military and no matter how I twist my grip, I cannot make the liner lock release. It is a very strong lock. I do not think you have to worry on that account.
 
Dave Hunnicutt said:
The thing that seems wrong about the Military is the way your hand rests on the liner lock tab when you grasp it. It seems like a design flaw that could cause the lock to release in a fighting situation. No matter how you grip the AFCK, you do not stand a chance of accidentally releasing the lock if the knife twists or is hit in a fight.
Click to expand...

There is no liner lock that I can think of that doesn't have similar construction where the non-locking side is slightly more recessed than the locking side. They design knives like this so you can unlock them easier (as in get your thumb to depress the lock bar easier), not that they become more prone to accidental unlocking.

I have not once heard about anyone accidentally having their knives unlock while in use.

Personally, I do wish they would make more knives like the AFCK because I love symmetry.
 
Dave Hunnicutt said:
The thing that seems wrong about the Military is the way your hand rests on the liner lock tab when you grasp it. It seems like a design flaw that could cause the lock to release in a fighting situation. No matter how you grip the AFCK, you do not stand a chance of accidentally releasing the lock if the knife twists or is hit in a fight.
Click to expand...

That might be your own answer then :)
 
Twindog said:
No matter how hard I grip the Military and no matter how I twist my grip, I cannot make the liner lock release. It is a very strong lock. I do not think you have to worry on that account.
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Same here. I have one with me right now and I just tried it. It's pretty tough to disengage as far as liner locks go too.

As for the history:

"This model was designed as a tool that combined fairly heavy-duty cutting ability with light weight. The knife's chief venue was seen as the outdoors, and it provides for gloved use. The impetus to develop the Military Model was the result of a shadowy request from somewhere in the federal government. Explains Sal,

This model had an interesting beginning. A guy called and said he was with some secret combat dive unit. He wanted some Police Models with a liner lock, G-10 handle, and a blackened blade. He would only give us his first name and, whenever he called, he refused to let us put the call on the speaker phone at our end, so we figured he was a spook. I didn't think the C07 was the right knife for his unit because the police and the military have different needs. So I didn't want him designing the knife.

As the months went by, we started working on a design that would be right, but we lost touch with him. None of our military contacts could locate his mysterious unit. In the meanwhile, Benchmade came out with their A.F.C.K. Model and I figured our caller had bought some of them instead. He never did call back, and I now think this guy wasn't what he claimed to be. But he did get us working on what became the Military.

I decided it would be an interesting challenge, to create the all-around military cutting tool. I approached the design of this knife as though it would be the one my own son would use if he entered the military and went under extreme conditions where the toughness and performance of your knife could make the difference between living and dying.

....I don't think of the Military Model as a fighting knife: to me fighting knives have to be much larger. I think of the C36 as a cutting tool that the military person carries to use for whatever the applications of a knife may be. If you're involved in combat with somebody, your gun is a whole lot more effective than your knife. So, using it as a combat weapon wasn't part of the plan or I would have built a much larger knife.

At this point, I think this model is probably one of my better designs."

http://knife-collecting.com/interest.htm#Tactical Knives
 
"....I don't think of the Military Model as a fighting knife: to me fighting knives have to be much larger."

That is a very interesting statement. He designed this knife as a utility knife for gloved hands. However, as civilians, MANY of us carry 4" folding knives with a primary or secondary role as a fighting knife. I would agree that for a fighting knife, bigger is better. But, you just can't carry a Kabar to a wedding or grocery store.

Maybe if he would have designed it as a fighting knife, he would have designed the lock differently?

The above statement almost justifies a whole new thread... 4" fighting folders - how practical?
 
Dave Hunnicutt said:
Maybe if he would have designed it as a fighting knife, he would have designed the lock differently?
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Exactly, and later on down the line, he did. The Chinook, Yojimbo, and P'Kal are all what you might call "fighting" knives, and they use different locks.
 
Dave Hunnicutt said:
Maybe if he would have designed it as a fighting knife, he would have designed the lock differently?
Click to expand...

If he had designed it as a fighting knife it wouldnt have had a lock.

The above statement almost justifies a whole new thread... 4" fighting folders - how practical?
Click to expand...

Depends on the knife itself. A 710 is actually quite a practical knife because it carries small despite its 3.9" blade. The military is quite large (though thin) and I think it is signifigantly less carry-able than the aforementioned 710.

As for the AFCK vs the military I think this brief from the benchmade website damns the afck in my mind:

Stainless steel, G10 and AXIS® function converge into an almost immortal state of reality. Your hand tenaciously conforms to the predisposed curvature of the handle. A unique blade designs opens up to run the gamut of cutting tool utility. Its brute beauty continues to prove itself worthy of distinction.
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seriously its like they asked that movie voice over guy to write it when he was drunk.
 
Reeek said:
What stands out to me as differences for EDC between the two are:

Blade profile and grind
Lock
Steel (Coated D2 versus S30V)
Tip up versus tip down

AFCK stands for Advanced Fighting Combat Knife reportededly designed by former navy seal Chris Caracci in collaboration with Benchmade

I personally prefer the Military but no knock on the BM. The blade shape and grind, combined with the jimped finger choil and jimped thumb ramp on the Military makes it more versatile as an EDC on a daily basis for me. There are so many ways to grip the Military. I personally don't use a folder hard enough to worry about the lock method differences and the Military Liner Lock is the benchmark in LL lock strenght. I predict the liner lock on the Military is as strong or stronger than the sum of the knife's parts. I have a fixed blade in my portable BOB and my truck at all times anyway.
Click to expand...


AFCK --- Advanced Folding Combat Knife
 
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p_mcmanis said:
seriously its like they asked that movie voice over guy to write it when he was drunk.
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One of my major Benchmade irks is their use of flowery speach to describe a knife. :rolleyes:

Maybe some of their Gold class knives, but Black class? Really?
 
Hammer27 said:
A guy called and said he was with some secret combat dive unit. He wanted some Police Models with a liner lock, G-10 handle, and a blackened blade. He would only give us his first name and, whenever he called, he refused to let us put the call on the speaker phone at our end, so we figured he was a spook.

None of our military contacts could locate his mysterious unit.
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lmao. I'm glad something good came out of it, but that was a total BS artist on the phone.:D
 
The Military is made to lock in your hand and slice.
The AFCK also has an excellent handle, I think the design overall is more point orientated, compared to the Mil.
Both are very good designs, just different.
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