Best quality AO knife for a good price?

C

Carter80

Joined
May 16, 2008
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17
What's the cheapest and highest quality assisted opening knife I can get? Recommendations appreciated.
 
Welcome to the forums. Low priced, high quality AOs? Only one brand comes to mind: Kershaw.
 
Kershaws spring assisted knives are way too risky to carry in Canada, the lightest touch on the flipper of a leek and the blade springs open no different from a switchblade, almost flew out of my hand, which is the main reason I won't buy a damascus leek no matter how much I want one (and I want one bad). After Kershaw you might want to consider some of the Buck or SOG AOs like the sirus or flash II.
Welcome to the forums:).
 
Kershaw has a large range of AO knives, great quality great prices. But we can't recommend any until we know what specs you want and exactly how much you wanna spend :p

But I'll throw a Leek variant out there.
 
I will say KERSHAW :thumbup: They have an awsome speedsafe system !
I have a speedbump & Love it ! It's very fast for a knife of that size !
Speedbump.jpg
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Spend around $100 (or less) and get a Benchmade 913 Nitrous Stryker, which has a D2 drop point blade, either in a plain or partially serrated edge.

I own two and am very happy with them! :thumbup:
 
Blur--take this question to the Kershaw sub-forum, and there we can barrage you with a wanting for many kershaws indeed :D
Blur also comes in Tip-up or down, the Nitrous Stryker doesn't unfortunately...
I have a tanto serrated blur myself--carry it every day along with a rainbow leek.

Another choice is Sog--their Trident series.
For the money, I'd rather get an S30V blur than a Nitrous Styker, but that's just my opinion.

Good luck in choosing!
 
Not all AO's have flippers, but IMO the flipper goes very well with AO. I have a thumbstud Kershaw with AO, I like it least of the Kershaws I have but it was very cheap (MUCH less than $50) so I didn't mind taking the chance. The design is noticably... cheaper than the others I have. I really like the Mini Cyclone (Glockman, where are you? I feel like I am channelling your recommendation here) very sturdy, you can either flip or use the thumbstud to activate whichever works best for you, it's not like the flipper is going to get in the way. Try a couple and see what fits your hand, and what open and lock you like.
 
rebeltf said:
Personally I would not buy , much less use any AO without a 'flipper'.
Click to expand...

That's fine...personal preference is one of those things that makes the world go round...;)

However you make this sound like a very serious matter involving major concerns, without any qualification or explanation...what about an A/O knife requires a flipper as opposed to thumbstuds? :rolleyes:

Kershaw's Blur in it's many variations is one of the finest values in an A/O and operates just fine with just the provided thumbstuds, at least for anyone that can really use a thumbstud (i.e. properly firing the stud in a longitudinal direction parallel to the blade in the direction of the pivot as opposed to pushing out and away in a perpendicular direction, which is when people catch their thumb in the blade...besides, this particular (and only?) issue with thumbstuds is totally independent of the presence or absence of A/O, and even less likely to happen with A/O).

That said, I like flippers just fine...their only major limitation IMO is some awkwardness under circumstances where you want to pivot a blade open slowly; that's where Spyderco's Sypderhole shines...perfect opening speed control.

But to answer the OP...the best selection, value, and quality to be found in any A/O line is available from Kershaw. That's not to take anything away from their manual-openers, which are more than a cut above also! :thumbup:

Ray :)
 
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With no flipper, I'd have to agree, the Kershaw Blur is a great choice. And, if you're willing to spend a little more, you can get it with different steels. The basic ones (Since July, '07) have 13C26 Sandvik, but there's also the S30V version, & there's a SG2 version (Still plentiful, but discontinued after a limited run).

If you're willing to try a flipper, I'd say the Cyclone (& mini-Cyclone at 4 1/4" closed) are good choice, too. They have a thumb-stud & flipper. What's nice about them is that you can easily switch it from an A/O to a manual if you feel the need.

If you don't absolutely need an A/O, then I'd highly recommend either the Groove or RAM. Both are great flippers & have great ergos.

Good luck with you choice.
 
I like CRKT. They make a lot of assisted openers in what I consider a fair price range.
 
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