Best Assited Opener under $100?

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kirkendol

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May 1, 2007
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My brother is getting ready to graduate from pharmacy school and I was wanting to get him a nice assisted opener as a gift. Can anyone steer me in the direction of a quality assisted opener for under $100? I have looked at SOG's Flash II; are they any good?
 
My friend, if your brother plans on using the knife then do him a favor and get him a Kershaw. Don't bother with the SOG. In fact, for under $100 get him a Kershaw Avalanche. S30V blade, G10 handle, pocket clip and solid lockup. The Flash II is a toy by comparison.
 
while the knives mentioned are great choices, i like some still prefer a A.O. with a flipper. To me if you buy an A.O. your trying to get into Auto territory without actually breaking any rules and having a flipper is a good bridge for that gap. but i do agree on passing on the SOG (feel & look cheap). I will admit i wanted one briefly when at the time not alot of other A.O.s were being offered by anyone else except kershaw(THATS NOT A BAD THING) check out the cyclone and tanto cyclones from kershaw.
 
if you can find a kershaw for under a hundred that you think he will like, then get it. they are all good. my recomendation is prolly the blur
 
Wow, I must be in a minority as I like my Flash. It has stood up to some abuse and has good ergonomics. That being said, I'd go with a Kershaw as well (Cyclone, Blur). The Camillus Heat is also a great knife for the money, but they are getting a little more scarce.
 
Kershaw or a Camillus Heat. Both of those are very good speed assist knives. Any Kershaw under $100 is still very good. Kevin:thumbup:
 
There is nothing wrong with the flash other than a bit of blade play in most of them.

One of my best friends has a Flash Tanto that he's had for like 3 years and beat the ever living hell out of. Still flips open and locks up fine.

You can't go wrong with a Kershaw either though.
 
Followthehollow said:
There is nothing wrong with the flash other than a bit of blade play in most of them.
Click to expand...

The bladeplay IS the problem. SOG's Flash and Trident series are notorious for bladeplay. The level of bladeplay varies from box to box. Some of them have a little wobble right out of the box, some don't, but soon develop the wobble the more you use the knife. Adjusting the pivot screw might reduce some of the play, but after some time it gets to the point where there's blade wobble no matter how one adjusts them. There are a few people who argue that a little bit of bladeplay is acceptable for an assisted opener, but I strongly disagree.

I've said it before in the SOG forum and I'll say it here. The problem with the SOG Trident and the Flash is that there isn't enough support around the pivot area to prevent excessive play. All you've got is a Zytel handle and two ultra thin washers that can easily bend and tear. Reinforce the handle with nested steel liners, add bronze washers instead of those flimsy thin plastic thingies and the Trident and Flash will be significantly stronger and free of any blade wobble. I've owned and handled assisted openers from Kershaw, CRKT, Camillus, Benchmade and Buck that have zero blade play so there's no reason why SOG can't do the same.
 
I like the Avalanche too. But with the Blur you get
many handle/color combinations to choose from if you don't want
the S30V. The majority of the Blurs are 440A except for the
S30V model which I believe is the same price as the Avalanche.

I like the My Tighe too. Just for looks alone (the Veff serr). It uses
the 1.4116 stainless me thinks in a few different styles

mike
 
For $100 bucks I'd go Camillus Heat and with the change get a Camillus Sizzle and he can have two of basically the same knife in different sizes. Plus a little collectibilty to boot.

Matador-
 
The Flash II in aluminum is a very nice knife, I don't have any experience with the Zytel version so I won't comment too much. But the aluminum version does appear to be a better alternative to the Zytel model.

The shape of the handle does set it apart from some other knives. Features like a low ride reversible clip, suitability for left handed users plus the bolt -action style lock makes it worthy of your consideration.

It cost around $65.00 - $80.00 depending on where you find it

As far as Kershaw A/O knives, I own at least a half dozen of them, but the Avalanche is my favorite . At around $75.00 (more or less) the materials used are found in knives costing much more.

Believe it or not, my next favorite Kershaw is the regular frame-lock Leek.

There are a few dealers that carry regular Leeks with MOP inserts ( on the handle ) They make a nice gift too.

Here's a picture of my SOG and Spec/Speed Bump. The Speed Bump is a good contender too.

sogker.jpg
 
I have the heat it is a great knife. I swapped out the clip for one that would give it a little bit deeper carry. I picked it up for about forty bucks at a gun show.
 
Get a Kershaw, any Ken Onion design. I have owned two SOG's, Flash I and II. Both had excessive blade play to the point that was afraid to use them for anything more than cutting string. The assisted opening worked good on both but I didn't care for the small button that had to be pushed forward to close the blade.
 
For under $100 the Ken Onion/Kershaw is a excellent choice but for a few dollars more I would suggest the BM 670, 912 or 913.
 
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