Recommendation? Battle of the Ultimate User for Minh

[Minh762]

Cast your vote and help me pick my next knife. This will be a user so Ergo, Slicey-ness and Actions are all very important to me. My criteria:
1. Blade size: 3.5" to 4.0"
2.Weight: Absolutely <5 oz. Preference <4.5 oz
3. Cost: Less than $600
4. Blade steel: Better than S35VN (No exception).
So no CRK (S35vn), no Reate Jack (too dang heavy) and no Hinderer 3.5 (not slicey). My current favorite daily driver is a Benchmade Anthem

Here is the list of the candidates (you can vote up to 2). Let me know if I miss anything.
-Holt Specter at 3.6oz with a 3.6" blade
-Koenig Arius CF lw at 4.2oz with a 3.5" blade
-WE Zeta at 4.2 oz with a 3.7" blade
-Olamic 247 lw at 4.3 oz and 3.5"
-Spyderco Paysan at 4.4 oz and 3.9" blade
-Liong Mah Eraser CF at 4.5 oz and 4" blade
-Spydero Nirvana at 4.8 oz and 3.7" blade

 

[RBid]

This is downright funny to me. Some of these were my exact considerations going into Blade West. The Eraser and Arius were front runners going into the show. But, then I went by the Olamic table. Three times. I couldn’t leave without a 247 after handling so many of these options back to back to back.

I will own an Eraser eventually. Probably a Specter, as well. Certainly more from Olamic.

 

[Minh762]

This is downright funny to me. Some of these were my exact considerations going into Blade West. The Eraser and Arius were front runners going into the show. But, then I went by the Olamic table. Three times. I couldn’t leave without a 247 after handling so many of these options back to back to back.

I will own an Eraser eventually. Probably a Specter, as well. Certainly more from Olamic.

Dang lucky. I wish I could’ve made it to Blade West this year.

 

[dirc]

Cast your vote and help me pick my next knife. This will be a user so Ergo, Slicey-ness and Actions are all very important to me. My criteria:
1. Blade size: 3.5" to 4.0"
2.Weight: Absolutely <5 oz. Preference <4.5 oz
3. Cost: Less than $600
4. Blade steel: Better than S35VN (No exception).
So no CRK (S35vn), no Reate Jack (too dang heavy) and no Hinderer 3.5 (not slicey). My current favorite daily driver is a Benchmade Anthem

Here is the list of the candidates (you can vote up to 2). Let me know if I miss anything.
-Holt Specter at 3.6oz with a 3.6" blade
-Koenig Arius CF lw at 4.2oz with a 3.5" blade
-WE Zeta at 4.2 oz with a 3.7" blade
-Olamic 247 lw at 4.3 oz and 3.5"
-Spyderco Paysan at 4.4 oz and 3.9" blade
-Liong Mah Eraser CF at 4.5 oz and 4" blade
-Spydero Nirvana at 4.8 oz and 3.7" blade

You're missing the best budget value choice: m390 steel in a kershaw knockout... its 3.25 inches, which imho is close enough, esp considering it's 1/6th the price of your top end, and very slicy and lightweight

 

[Minh762]

You're missing the best budget value choice: m390 steel in a kershaw knockout... its 3.25 inches, which imho is close enough, esp considering it's 1/6th the price of your top end, and very slicy and lightweight

Hey, I had one of those. Love the Knockout but I sent it along with a few ZTs to my brother in Canada.

 

[dirc]

if you send anymore of them up to Canada, let me know (or, if your brother ever wants to sell 1) ... it's a pain to get shipping here now

 

[SteelJunkee]

Arius for me . And second, if you like more modern lines, the WE Zeta, has this slick look .

 

[Quiet]

You're missing the best budget value choice: m390 steel in a kershaw knockout... its 3.25 inches, which imho is close enough, esp considering it's 1/6th the price of your top end, and very slicy and lightweight

Something tells me the OP wants a higher end knife with a longer blade so this suggestion is probably not what he's looking for.

 

[Minh762]

if you send anymore of them up to Canada, let me know (or, if your brother ever wants to sell 1) ... it's a pain to get shipping here now

Oh man I know. I have to dissembled them prior to shipping. Such a pain. I don’t think my brother is looking at selling any of his knives but I was told that there is a lawsuit so hopefully CDN border agents will follow the law and stop their silly way.

 

[SteelJunkee]

You're missing the best budget value choice: m390 steel in a kershaw knockout... its 3.25 inches, which imho is close enough, esp considering it's 1/6th the price of your top end, and very slicy and lightweight

"Knockout"

 

[Minh762]

Something tells me the OP wants a higher end knife with a longer blade so this suggestion is probably not what he's looking for.

Thank you Quiet

 

[dirc]

kershaw needs to get a clue...

i'm no marketing exec, but a 3.5" knockout, with titanium handle for double the money would sell like hotcakes
(and meet the OP's requirement;=)

 

[Minh762]

kershaw needs to get a clue...

i'm no marketing exec, but a 3.5" knockout, with titanium handle for double the money would sell like hotcakes
(and meet the OP's requirement;=)

Well, Kai has those Ti ZTs

 

[Stumpy72]

If you want to spend the money on proven quality and an established reputation, IMO the Olamic 247 is the one. I just got my first 247 around a week ago. The ease, speed and smoothness of deployment are surprising and the PJ bottom end of the 247 range is <2/3 of your cost limit. If you want to be budget-conscious, the Kershaw Knockout is a good choice. I personally dislike the feel of the anodized aluminum scales (the feeling gives me the sensation of nails being scraped acrosss a chalkboard) and I’m leery of assisted opening flipper mechanisms, but it’s really hard to argue with an M390 knife for ~$100.

 

[dirc]

I really like olamic also, but of course they are on the higher end of prices...

this 'Halloween' stuff they're building looks too much like gas station tacticool (imho) ...

or

 

[Wowbagger]

.

 

[SharpieB]

If you can afford to drop up to $600, go with the Wayfarer IMO.

I have always wanted an Olamic, Medford or Hinderer. I own almost 100 knives and have never spend more than $200 on one until today when I finally ordered a Medford. If I did it all over again, I would likely only have a handful of knives from Medford, WE, Olamic, Hinderer, Koenig and the usual Spyderco/ZT/Benchmade.

If you can afford the Olamic, that would be my choice.

 

[Quiet]

I didn't look up all the knives in your list.


Naturally.
My suggestion would be get an old (CTS-XHP) Cold Steel Ti Lite IV and get it full flat ground.
Now THAT is a good user.
The blade is as long as a Spyderco Military by the way.
View attachment 1007330

To be fair the Spyderco Pattada comes pretty close. The super pointy tip might be a bit delicate for some uses. Killer nice user though. N690 . . . I discovered after some use . . . is no slouch !
View attachment 1007331
. . . then there are all those other knives . . . yawn. Nice to look at.

Nice knife? Heh, no, get this old busted knife and do a bunch of modification. That's the ticket.

On topic, my vote would be for the Olamic 247, but I'm biased, so grain of salt and all that.

 

[hhmoore]

I don't currently own any of the ones on your list.
I had a 247 - wasn't impressed & sold it; so I'll cross that off. (I think a Wayfarer would have been a better fit for me.)
Of the others, the only ones that appeal to me are the Koenig Arius, Liong Mah Eraser, and Holt Specter. Of the three, my choice would be dependent on availability & model specifics matching my desires. As it happens, I am currently looking; but the right knife hasn't appeared.

 

[Wowbagger]

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