Anyone miss truly "lightweight" knives?

R

RH

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Jan 31, 1999
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Back when FRN/Zytel was all the rage, and G10 was only found on high end or “tactical” blades (Emersons, AFCK, etc.), Spyderco, SOG, Cold Steel all made affordable, truly lightweight and low thickness profile knives with all-FRN handles, and all rivet construction, including the pivot pins. They sold millions of Delicas, Enduras, AutoClips, and Voyagers, because they were a revolutionary alternative to the wood/brass Buck 110 style folding knives that required a sheath to hold. (Up until a few years ago, this was part of CS’s ad copy for the Voyager line). These knives were great for slipping unobtrusively into a pocket of dress pants or a suit jacket, even clipping to a pair of shorts without worry it would pull your pants down.

Now, after many years of “improvements”, these knives are all gone. Delica, Endura, Voyager, even the Byrd FRN knives – all have removable bolster and pivot pins, and thicker FRN handles around steel or aluminum inner liners. Their strength is now the same as G10 knives, but is that an improvement, over their intended mission? Was there an issue with FRN knives failing in use, that everything is now overbuilt, and the features of light weight and slim profile are no longer valued? Now, I like G10 fine, and have more than a few in my collection, but most times a quality “lightweight” knife is all I need.

Anyone else miss the true “lightweight” lockbacks of the 90’s?
 
I recently found a new lightweight (for me) knife that I really like, it's the Benchmade 530-901. I too also have a variety of knives, but this has become my favorite; s30v blade, axis lock, zytel type handle, thin blade stock, 3 1/4 blade and it weighs less than 2 o.z. I like light knives and for the cutting I do it will last forever.
 
I hate rivets on knives and I don't miss super lightweight knives - the lightest I have right now are a couple of Skylines but I seldom carry them even when I need to.
 
res1cue said:
I don't miss riveted construction
Click to expand...

Big +1 on that, the old knives feel cheap compared to the new ones. There are still plenty of unlined FRN knives, too, look at ones like the Ka-Bar Dozier or Spyderco Salt series, or UKPK's.
 
Personally, I DO really miss riveted construction, and linerless designs, but as mentioned, there is still the Salt series, as well as a few others. I wish Cold Steel had found a way to include the Tri-Ad Lock to the Voyagers without changing anything else. Am I the only one who hates having to worry about loosened or stripped screws? And yes, I have and use Loctite, I'm just not convinced it's the best solution.
 
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I carried a Spyderco Caly3 (rivets) for a couple of yrs, but now it sits on my desk. I don't miss it, primarily because I like a longer blade. So, I normally carry a Para2 or Umnumzaan on a daily basis. And no, these are slim knives and I don't notice them at all.
I DO OBJECT to knives that are thick, however. Any knife over about .600" thick is too thick, IMO.
Note that the Para2 is 0.450" thick; the Umnumzaan is 0.465" thick.
The Emerson CQC-7V is 0.565"; the BenchMade 755 MPR is 0.605".
And my "old" Caly3 is really skinny @ 0.365" in thickness.

I can carry ANY of those knives without knowing it's clipped in my pocket.
The BenchMade 755 is right on the line, however. And there are quite a bunch of very well-known Heavy-Duty folders out there that surpass the thickness of my BenchMade 755. And I won't buy 'em. I've read any number of posts where the OP says he leaves his "_ _" folder at home because it's just too big to carry on a daily basis. Nice to chop down trees and pry out nails, but that's about it.
As usual...IMO,
Sonny
 
I have a Spyderco Snap-It in AUS-8 from the late 90's. It's got so much mileage on it the rubber texture is completely worn off. The lockup is 100% tight. If all manufacturers could make all rivet knives that good, I would gladly say goodbye to screws.
 
I carry my Spyderco C10F with most of my oversea trips, love its super lightweight, not sure about everyone else but i dont carry heavy knives anymore
 
When carried with a pocket clip I don't worry about weight. I have this big dog with aluminum scales, it is big and relatively heavy for its size, but using the clip I don't notice the weight. My EDC right now is a Spyderco Para 2 and I consider it to be very lightweight.

DSC_6621b.jpg
 
According to the spyderco catalog the delica 3, with no liners and pinned constriction weighed 1.9 ounces. The delica 4 with full nested steel liners and torx construction weighs 2.5 ounces. If you notice an additional 15 grams I'm your pocket then you are more sensitive to weight than I am. To put that in perspective, the difference in weight between a delica 3 and a delica 4 is about the same weight at 3 quarters ($0.75). Personally, ill take a knife with liners and screw construction over one without liners and with pins every single day of the week, especially if those things come at a weight increase of only 0.6 ounces...
 
I know that it isn't super modern by any means but I've realy enjoyed my Buck 426 Bucklite while these knives lack thumb studs an pocket clips they are incredibly lightweight and when carried almost forgotten. I realy like the blade profile and find it suitable for a wide array of tasks also to make it more useable and accessible I added a kwik thumb thumb stud to aid in opening it.
 
Check out the bucklite max and bantam folders. I like lightweight knives and riveted handles if they don't have blade play. Screws that require loc-tite are annoying.
 
The Gerber LST, OG Delicas/Enduras & Voyagers with the molded clips, etc. were awesome not just for being lightweight workhorses but also for their simplicity.:thumbup:
 
I think you're right on. Unfortunately, everything except flashlights seem to be on a fast track to heavier weight. You can always buy smaller, lighter knives, but larger knives are definitely going up in weight. I'm a big Voyager fan and, frankly, I'd rather have the polished VG-1 blades than the new Tri-Ad lockups. I'd also rather have the older AUS8 blades as long as the knives themselves are lighter.

Having said that, I realize the benefits of heavier knives. That's why I like Cold Steel's Spartan and Rajah knives. But I don't want to give up the other knives just to get more robust models. In the gun world, S&W and Ruger both gave up their medium-frame DA .357s to produce heavier models that are more difficult to carry in the field. Only in the flashlight world does technology allow LEDs to produce more light in smaller and easier-to-carry torches.

Why gun and knife manufacturers would want to make heavier products is beyond me. Sure, the new Voyager is more robust and heavy use. But I bought the older, thinner and lighter knives knowing their limitations.

Fortunately, I have a lot of Voyagers kicking around. And I'm going to get a few of the new models. But then, I got a few of the lighter medium frame .357s before the new ones came out, so I learn from history and trends! Would I want CS to return to the older models? Nah, not unless they put the VG-1 blades back in. But if I could get the new Voyagers with VG-1 blades, I'd be a happy camper. I've had my issues with Tri-Ad locks, too, but they were with the Spartan. I'm sure these are much easier to use.

Finally, I do hate to see the old "medium frame" [small, as in tiny] Voyager go. They felt so great in the hand and made such splendid gifts. Nutnfancy talks about the "cool" factor and admits the new knives just don't have it like the old ones. This, I think, is true. And I think the old Voyagers had a great cool factor. I don't need to baton my knives into cold, hard wood in falling snow in the Rocky Mountains in the dead of winter. And if I did, I mos assuredly wouldn't need to do it with my Voyager models. I do carry mine for cutting and yeah, self defense if I had to, so I don't think I'd take the new Voyagers out of my box and fondle them like I do the older models. I also don't slam the actions open repeatedly, and they're fine.

In the end, the consumer will make the decisions. I've bade a fond farewell before to knives I've liked, but I generally have enough of them in stock that it no longer troubles me. It's the guys where were planning to buy the knives that take a beating. Like I said, I wouldn't go back unless I could get the better steel in the blades.


ColdSteelVoyagers_1.jpg


Large knives can be difficult to carry, but Cold Steel made it easy...until recently.
Now the Tri-Ad lock system and metal liners have made them a little harder to
carry. They're now hard use knives, but we had to give up some size and weight
to get the extra strength.
 
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