Another high-end

[love4steel]

from someone who has owned many high end folders (including the umnumzaan) .. i've come back to the strider sng about 5 times now. i keep looking for something better but can't find it .. yet. i suggest you check it out.. if you don't like it, simply flip it. i think your idea that the knife carries "chunky" is way off and you'll be pleasantly surprised how light weight it is and how it disappears in the pocket. it probably weighs the same as your small 21.

 

[jay2pointoh]

I would agree with most of the suggestions so far. Good choices. Also, Spyderco has a Ti millie coming out with fluted grips. Might be worth the wait. Another choice might be the Subrosa from Benchmade. S30v, Ti framelock, assisted opening, 3.76" blade. And its purdy.

 

[Dnullify]

I like the specs on that one, but it too big a knife for my tastes. i can't imagine the looks i'd get pulling that one out of my pocket... I can't say i'm a fan of any of darrel ralph's designs.

I've tried calling Strider two days now concerning local dealers that google might not be providing. Not answering their phones at all...
Unless there's someone local willing to meet up (san jose CA), i guess the only way for me to try a strider out would be to buy one.

Is the cutting surface on the SNG that much shorter than an umnumzaan?

 

[love4steel]

I like the specs on that one, but it too big a knife for my tastes. i can't imagine the looks i'd get pulling that one out of my pocket... I can't say i'm a fan of any of darrel ralph's designs.

I've tried calling Strider two days now concerning local dealers that google might not be providing. Not answering their phones at all...
Unless there's someone local willing to meet up (san jose CA), i guess the only way for me to try a strider out would be to buy one.

Is the cutting surface on the SNG that much shorter than an umnumzaan?

its plenty of cutting surface for folder tasks.. the choil is the reason for less edge length and its well worth the trade off.. the choil is one of the greatest features of the sng IMO

 

[kawr]

its plenty of cutting surface for folder tasks.. the choil is the reason for less edge length and its well worth the trade off.. the choil is one of the greatest features of the sng IMO

Yeah I agree the choil is one of the best things Striders have going for it. It's very comfortable and allows you to utilize a couple differant grips with it. The choil is like an inch long so an SNG would have like 2.5 inches of cutting surface i believe but im not sure its been awhile since i handled one. I agree the choil is worth the sacrifice of cutting surface imo.

 

[kawr]

I like the specs on that one, but it too big a knife for my tastes. i can't imagine the looks i'd get pulling that one out of my pocket... I can't say i'm a fan of any of darrel ralph's designs.

I've tried calling Strider two days now concerning local dealers that google might not be providing. Not answering their phones at all...
Unless there's someone local willing to meet up (san jose CA), i guess the only way for me to try a strider out would be to buy one.

Is the cutting surface on the SNG that much shorter than an umnumzaan?

LOL good luck getting a hold of someone at Strider.

It's about an inch of cutting surface differance between an SNG and an Umnum. Like I said in my previous post, its a worthwhile tradeoff in my eyes but thats just me and others might prefer the extra cutting surface.

 

[Dnullify]

LOL good luck getting a hold of someone at Strider.

It's about an inch of cutting surface differance between an SNG and an Umnum. Like I said in my previous post, its a worthwhile tradeoff in my eyes but thats just me and others might prefer the extra cutting surface.

Heh, Strider's not going to answer are they? well, at least strider's are tough so contacting them shouldnt happen to often.

Something important about me, i think i aught to have mentioned earlier, is i'm a fiddler. (no jokes ).
I've always had to do something with my hands. right now i've got my sebenza in front of me, and the amount i've fiddled with it, you can bet it's just about as smooth as it'll get. Other hobbies have been Yoyoing, playing card manipulation, and i've got almost every rubik's puzzle there is (and can solve them all muscle memory wise). I carried around a baliyo for a good 3 years, i never was out without it in my pocket.
I think that's the main reason i'm into the strider. the Umnumzaan, in my eyes, is the better example of craftmanship, and is likely far more than tough enough for my uses. But from all the youtube videos on the sng i've seen, it seems like more of a "fiddleable" knife.
I haven't handled the umnumzaan, so i can't say it won't be as "fiddleable" but, and it doesn't help that there are far more sng videos than umnumzaan videos. What do you think?

 

[kawr]

Heh, Strider's not going to answer are they? well, at least strider's are tough so contacting them shouldnt happen to often.

Something important about me, i think i aught to have mentioned earlier, is i'm a fiddler. (no jokes ).
I've always had to do something with my hands. right now i've got my sebenza in front of me, and the amount i've fiddled with it, you can bet it's just about as smooth as it'll get. Other hobbies have been Yoyoing, playing card manipulation, and i've got almost every rubik's puzzle there is (and can solve them all muscle memory wise). I carried around a baliyo for a good 3 years, i never was out without it in my pocket.
I think that's the main reason i'm into the strider. the Umnumzaan, in my eyes, is the better example of craftmanship, and is likely far more than tough enough for my uses. But from all the youtube videos on the sng i've seen, it seems like more of a "fiddleable" knife.
I haven't handled the umnumzaan, so i can't say it won't be as "fiddleable" but, and it doesn't help that there are far more sng videos than umnumzaan videos. What do you think?

The Strider will be more fun to mess around with in your hands. The opening hole allows for more ways to open and close it and it is easier to flick open. If getting the more fun knife between the two choices is your #1 concern than it's a pretty obvious choice to get the SNG

 

[nevermind35]

I think both the Umnummzaan and a SNG would be great choices if you're looking for a good tough, large knife. I wouldn't exactly say that the Strider is more fun to play around with as they both are manual thumb openers. One plus to the Umnumm is if you also enjoy just looking the knife over, it is the prettier knife IMO. Size, shape and blade length are all personal preference issues however fit and finish is solid fact and the CRK definately excells past Strider on that one. Like you I tend to play around with my knives a lot and if they have fit and finish issues on a knife that price they generally really bother me. If you get the CRK you can be assured that everything will be almost perfect. Centered blade, no blade play, perfect chamfering on the Ti, perfect milling on the pattern, perfect jimping. However if you get the Strider, you may notice that the jimping is a bit off with the area in between being rough, the framelock and g10 might not be flush on the outside, the lines that were cut to make the framelock may have a jagged edge here and there and may not be finished inside, the grind lines may be a tad off...

Its all up to the person buying and they have to weigh what is more important to them. I also really like Strider's folders however I really wish they would spend a bit more time in the fit and finish and quality control department.

 

[sjhong]

Chances are slim you will ever need to contact Strider Customer Service, but it's well documented that doing so through phone or email is a very tricky business. Thus, sending your knife for an eventual warranty repair is like a leap of faith (again, chances of this happening are slim). You pack it, enclose $15 (if I remember correctly) and pray that it will show up at your door one day.

And, of course, it does show up one day (20~45 days lead time would be my guess). I haven't heard of any case when the knife wasn't fixed and returned.

One thing to consider though is that while the Umnumzaan looks like a knife, the SNG looks like a killing device. The mere sight of it causes fear in the eyes of non knife people, even more than the adequate amount.

 

[ROBB]

I'm going to be the odd man out and tell you to try and find a large Pro Series JYD from Tim Galyean. An excellent knife at an excellent value and I'm sure you'd be able to find one on the foums for sale. Fit and finish is to notch, the IKBS makes for one of the smoothest opening and closing folders I've ever held, and the flat ground CPM-154 blade with Stonewash finish just screams use me. Look for one. You will never regret it.

I agree with Tony, the Galyean Pro Series are very well made. I would also recommend the new Pro Series Turbulence. F & F is as good as CRK and the IKBS pivot has to be amoung the smoothest there are.

 

[kawr]

I wouldn't exactly say that the Strider is more fun to play around with as they both are manual thumb openers.

Strider is a thumb hole opener while Umnum is a thumb lug opener. You can open knives with a thumb hole in more ways like the spyderdrop etc. No doubt in my mind the Umnumzaan is the better knife but the Strider better fits what he's looking for.

 

[love4steel]

chris reeve's thumbstuds for me are the deal breaker. no matter how much i practiced with my sebs and umnum.. i couldn't get really fast. i wish crk's had holes or more substantial thumb studs. just my thoughts on it.
sorry to get off subject.

 

[Josh K]

chris reeve's thumbstuds for me are the deal breaker. no matter how much i practiced with my sebs and umnum.. i couldn't get really fast. i wish crk's had holes or more substantial thumb studs. just my thoughts on it.
sorry to get off subject.

They aren't meant to be "fast" knives. Take it out, open it, cut something, close it, put it away. That's how it works.

 

[misterjuiceman]

chris reeve's thumbstuds for me are the deal breaker. no matter how much i practiced with my sebs and umnum.. i couldn't get really fast. i wish crk's had holes or more substantial thumb studs. just my thoughts on it.
sorry to get off subject.

it's not the thumbstuds as much as it's the grease around the pivot. swap it out with some nice oil, and it should be quicker.

 

[CL01]

There have definitely been some great suggestions. If you want a folder with more cutting edge than your small Seb & it isn't going to be an EDC, then maybe you ought to look at the Strider SMF. It's about 5" closed & has noticably more cutting edge than the SnG.

The Yuna's are nice, but I believe they have the same problem as the SnG (Relatively short cutting edge for its size). The Galyean Pro Series are very nice, too. For me, the tip-down only carry is a deal breaker, but they are nice.

DDR's are very nice, too & if you like "playing" with your knife, a flipper's a great way to go.

If you can find one, a Kershaw Volt wouldn't be a bad choice, either. Kershaw really impressed me with the F&F on this one & mine's a blem, too.

If you like your Seb, the Umnum's a great choice. IMHO, it's smoother than most Sebs (Until they get fully broken in, maybe), are more tactical looking, & an excellent design.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[SteelSnob]

Without a doubt a Galyean Pro Series. They have better f&f than even CRKs. I k ow that's blaspemy but every single one I've seen or heard about has flawless f&f where as I have seen and had CRKs with slightly offcenter blades.

 

[misterjuiceman]

Without a doubt a Galyean Pro Series. They have better f&f than even CRKs. I k ow that's blaspemy but every single one I've seen or heard about has flawless f&f where as I have seen and had CRKs with slightly offcenter blades.

I think it's hard to compare the two in terms of fit and finish. I'd say the Lahar is a much more ambitious folder---it has a handground blade, heat colored back spacers, anno-induced fake bolsters. it's great blade and it looks fantastic, BUT CRK has the edge (no pun intended) in some ares. some parts of the handle on the Lahar are kind of sharp compared to that of a CRK knife.

CRK is incredible in terms of fit and finish, and I don't think it can be beat at that price point. The Galyean Pro series I don't think is better or worse in terms of F&F, just different. For the record, none of which I've seen have flawless fit and finish (with exception to the Umnum proto, as far as I can tell). Other than that, the only other knife with flawless F&F that I've seen is a Mayo custom :thumbup:

 

[MVF]

How about a Gold Class Griptilian? Carbon fiber, M4, and the Axis lock. Plenty of edge, carries well, comfy handle and lots of fun to play with all for less $$.

 

[Dnullify]

How about a Gold Class Griptilian? Carbon fiber, M4, and the Axis lock. Plenty of edge, carries well, comfy handle and lots of fun to play with all for less $$.

I'm not much of a griptillian fan myself.

I think it's hard to compare the two in terms of fit and finish. I'd say the Lahar is a much more ambitious folder---it has a handground blade, heat colored back spacers, anno-induced fake bolsters. it's great blade and it looks fantastic, BUT CRK has the edge (no pun intended) in some ares. some parts of the handle on the Lahar are kind of sharp compared to that of a CRK knife.

CRK is incredible in terms of fit and finish, and I don't think it can be beat at that price point. The Galyean Pro series I don't think is better or worse in terms of F&F, just different. For the record, none of which I've seen have flawless fit and finish (with exception to the Umnum proto, as far as I can tell). Other than that, the only other knife with flawless F&F that I've seen is a Mayo custom :thumbup:

I don't really like any of the designs of the galyean pro series.

They aren't meant to be "fast" knives. Take it out, open it, cut something, close it, put it away. That's how it works.

this is my attitude, myself. i'm not one who requires quick opening, which is why i play with my sebenza so much, i think.


I'm looking at a used SNG, ranger green with tiger stripes... it's hard to predict resale value, so it's a bit of a gamble. but there doesn't seem to be any other way of trying one out.