bradford Guardian3 alternative?

N

namhuy

Joined
Sep 28, 2015
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I'm looking for a small blade ~ 3", I already have esee izula 2 which I like alot. I'm so tempting to get the Guardian3, just wonder is there anything similar to the Guardian3. It's for fixed edc, light cutting, preferable stainless steel like m390.
 
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The Guardian is a nice design, simple but somewhat unique. Bark River has some knives in that size range that are sometimes available in stainless steel.
 
Evans knife and tool here on bladeforums makes a knife called the companion. Great blade.
 
Why not just get the Guardian3? I have one and love it. It will be hard to find something like it in a production knife and have it comparably priced. Bark River does have a lot of small knife designs. None will be M390. Some stainless. Mostly carbon. They have a lot in 3v which is amazing stuff. I have a Bravo Necker 2 in 3v which I like a lot.

If I were you I would be looking at the Custom knives section of the exchange: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/754-For-Sale-Fixed-Blades

Lots of small knives come up there on the regular. Even if you can't find one exactly the way you like you can get a sense of who does what and maybe contact them to see if they can make a knife to your liking.
 
Guardians are great knives period. Only thing I can think of comparable might be some of the Enzos. I assume you've shopped puukkos as well....?

I drool over Evans' Companion knife but I'm a fan of some of the Canadians.
 
Get the Guardian 3. Accept no alternative.

If you don't like it (you'll like it) somebody will buy it from you in a heartbeat.
 
Velitrius said:
Get the Guardian 3. Accept no alternative.

If you don't like it (you'll like it) somebody will buy it from you in a heartbeat.
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Yes indeed!

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I think the Guardian 3 is the best small FB out there. Own many small fixed blades but the G3 is my favorite.
 
Got the g3 m390 with orange handle directly from bradford. The knife feel very comfortable in my hand, light weight also which I like. The orange isn't so much orange but a bit more on red side, I'm fine with that. The only thing I'm not happy is the kydex sheath, it bites into the g10 handle too tight which left the black color on all 4 sides have contact with the sheath.

beside the kydex sheath, I'm overall I'm happy with the purchase.
 
namhuy said:
Got the g3 m390 with orange handle directly from bradford. The knife feel very comfortable in my hand, light weight also which I like. The orange isn't so much orange but a bit more on red side, I'm fine with that. The only thing I'm not happy is the kydex sheath, it bites into the g10 handle too tight which left the black color on all 4 sides have contact with the sheath.

beside the kydex sheath, I'm overall I'm happy with the purchase.
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Black kydex will do that with orange stuff. Try some soap and water to remove it. The G10 is far more hard than the kydex. It is a little more advanced but kydex is easy to manipulate. I do it regularly. In fact my kydex sheaths that came with the G3s were not tight enough for my taste so I spot heated them up and made them more tight.

Better too tight and leaving marks than too loose so you lose the knife.
 
Agreed, the "oh crap where is my knife" feeling sucks.
craytab said:
Black kydex will do that with orange stuff. Try some soap and water to remove it. The G10 is far more hard than the kydex. It is a little more advanced but kydex is easy to manipulate. I do it regularly. In fact my kydex sheaths that came with the G3s were not tight enough for my taste so I spot heated them up and made them more tight.

Better too tight and leaving marks than too loose so you lose the knife.
Click to expand...
 
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