Brian Tighe & Friends do you have one?

[Thomas Carey]

I have been thinking of upgrading the knife I carry daily. I have been running with a smaller Spyderco of some sort for about 8 years now. Before that I always carried much larger knives. I have long been a fan of Brian Tighe and his work but not could afford his custom stuff. Having said that his collab's with CRKT and such were going too far in the other direction for me. I know now there is something in between under the Brian Tighe & Friends line.

But I have not seen a whole lot out there from people that have actually purchased and used one. Can some of you that have them and use them share your thoughts on them with me? Were they worth the money or do you suggest I look elsewhere?

 

[Misanthropia]

I have been thinking of upgrading the knife I carry daily. I have been running with a smaller Spyderco of some sort for about 8 years now. Before that I always carried much larger knives. I have long been a fan of Brian Tighe and his work but not could afford his custom stuff. Having said that his collab's with CRKT and such were going too far in the other direction for me. I know now there is something in between under the Brian Tighe & Friends line.

But I have not seen a whole lot out there from people that have actually purchased and used one. Can some of you that have them and use them share your thoughts on them with me? Were they worth the money or do you suggest I look elsewhere?

The button-lock flipper concept just doesn't work due to the inherent problem of the button lock not strongly retaining the blade in the handle. Allen Elishewitz came up with a solution to this on the Hogue X-5, which you can see in videos has a genuine detent and flips well.

I've owned a custom Tighe Coon and while the fit and finish was excellent (no doubt the BT&F knives are well made also), the flipping action was nothing like a framelock/linerlock. It requires the flipper to be set really far forward and at such an angle that you can provide a ton of momentum on it, because you can't really store any kinetic energy like you can with a traditional detent.

If you don't care about flipping action, I think the prices BT&F are charging for 154CM and aluminum or G10 handles are outrageous. I like the Tighe Fighter design, but the price and lack of a detent are what would prevent me from ever buying a BT&F knife.

 

[goldie]

I agree with the above. I have 4 custom tighe coons,2 custom tighe rades,all very smooth some open faster than others.they definitely don't seem to have the power of a framelock with a detent ball.i have a freeman 451 and a Spartan pallas, same thing. the pallas is a dog in the flipping dept.even with the alpha bearing system. but using the thumb lugs its real fast. ive looked at the tighe and friends,one thing that bothers me is that huge y shaped pocket clip.it just will show too much.i too wish the materials were better,like titanium,carbon fiber or at least s35vn .I think they should be 100.00 less for the materials used.ive seen the price from one distributer come down on the large on by 35.00 but its still a bit over 300.you can always buy it and check it out, return it if you don't like it..

 

[Thomas Carey]

Thanks so much for the info. =)

 

[foofie]

The button-lock flipper concept just doesn't work due to the inherent problem of the button lock not strongly retaining the blade in the handle.

Can you explain this a bit more please? The reason I ask is that I have a Rod Olson Quick Flick - button lock flipper. There is plenty of detent without a separate ball bearing. Is it a nightmare to machine properly? Or does the detent loosen with wear?

When closed, the button/lock is partially engaged. While opening, the button is fully depressed (lock disengaged). When the blade is fully open, the button lock is fully out (ie engaged on the inside, if this makes sense).

 

[Misanthropia]

Can you explain this a bit more please? The reason I ask is that I have a Rod Olson Quick Flick - button lock flipper. There is plenty of detent without a separate ball bearing. Is it a nightmare to machine properly? Or does the detent loosen with wear?

When closed, the button/lock is partially engaged. While opening, the button is fully depressed (lock disengaged). When the blade is fully open, the button lock is fully out (ie engaged on the inside, if this makes sense).

Perhaps Rod Olson does something different, but from what I've experienced (and from what others have said) without any modification the normal button lock mechanism as found on the Hogue knives (except the X-5), the Spartan Pallas, the Freeman 451, etc. does not allow for the same amount of kinetic energy to be stored up before the blade is released. Maybe if you make the locking portion of the mechanism seat deeper into the blade in the closed position, it might provide additional retention.

If someone with a better mechanical understanding of the button lock can chime in to explain, please do! In my original post, saying "it doesn't work" might be a bit of an exaggeration - it can deploy the blade smoothly and quickly; it's just the it feels totally different than how a ball detent flipper feels, which can be less satisfying if that's what you're used to.

 

[JDRanger]

I have a Tighe Fighter (small).

It's a very good knife. The blade is 2.75" (154CM steel).

Blade shape, handle size, button lock, detent, and clip are as good as they I've seen in this price range. The blade action is near perfect.

To me, the most notable attribute is the weight. It's surprisingly light even in the size range.

The size, weight, clip, and ease of one-handed operation make the Tighe Fighter a great knife to carry.

One other aspect that others may not care about but it's an important EDC feature for me is how well they designed a way to attach a lanyard (FOB). There's a large open space at the end of the handle to easily accommodate 550 paracord, leather, or other large gauge cord.

I'm a big fan of ZT and the other well known brands but it's kind of nice to have something like the Tighe Fighter since it's not so common.

Sorry about the long-winded response.