Favorite “Gentleman’s” tactical folders

Ron Sabbagh

Ron Sabbagh

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Lots of threads on “hard use” folders…but I’m an office dweller and as much as I appreciate big badassery in a folder, I’m always looking for the gentle giants. I own traditionals but for the purpose of this thread I’m looking for something more modern. Let’s say 3.75” handle length or less and with a pocket clip. Ideally I’d like to carry in my shirt pocket.

Already searching for a Mnandi but interesting in others
 
That's an interesting classification, and I think you'll get a lot of different responses based on people's varied definitions and perceptions of "tactical" and "gentlemans" carry.

As for me, I could think of a few: CRKT CEO, Southern Grind Spider Monkey, Terzuola/massdrop/WE CTF, Benchmade Mini Griptilian and Mini Bugout and the ProTech Malibu and Magic Whiskers. Some of them are slightly larger than what you had in mind, but they're right at the intersection of what I would consider gentlemans and tactical.

I would also shout out the ProTech Harkins D/A. It's larger and a dual action auto and manual knife, but it's what I would consider to be "classy tactical" with old school lines but definitely a larger knife. I always thought it would be perfect for a super suave international agent like James Bond.
 
a kershaw leek fits your size reqs... get the carbon fibre scales if you want to fancy it up to gentleman status ;)

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Medford micro Praetorian T. Or TI even. You will need ninja grade shirt pockets for that. 🥷
 
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So IMO Gentleman’s & Tactical are kind of mutually exclusive.

The Mnandi is awesome…but I’m not sure how it could be considered tactical.
Also, what kind of shirts do you wear that’ll comfortably hold a 3.75” handled folder? 😁

Anyhow, I’m curiously following along to see what folks come up with that fills criteria that seem to oppose one another. 👍
 
And you’ve just defined the criteria for the majority of my collection, although I’ll occasionally go slightly above 3” blade length. So many good options - and I’ll throw up some pics shortly - but one that’s been seeing a lot of pocket time lately for me is the SBD mini typhoon. Great size and action.
 
Personally I think the Mnandi you are hunting is the perfect office or anywhere for that matter knife. View attachment 1731278
I’ve been a the waitlist for one of the new mnandis for almost a year. Last I checked they’re anticipating they’ll have one for me in just 18 more months!
 
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BD_01 said:
So IMO Gentleman’s & Tactical are kind of mutually exclusive.

The Mnandi is awesome…but I’m not sure how it could be considered tactical.
Also, what kind of shirts do you wear that’ll comfortably hold a 3.75” handled folder? 😁

Anyhow, I’m curiously following along to see what folks come up with that fills criteria that seem to oppose one another. 👍
Click to expand...

I should say I’m a fairly large human. I wear a size 50 jacket and 18 1/2 dress shirt. I’ve owned a Mnandi before and could comfortably carry it in my shirt pocket. I sold it before giving it it’s full consideration. With my big hands the Mnandi (and even small Sebenza) was a bit diminutive. I could not use it as a one hand folder. Now, if I change my mindset into using it as a two hand folder, I do think it would be an ideal office carry for the shirt pocket.

There are smaller knives like the Spyderco squeak & urban but despite their smaller size they’re still chunky and not quite what I’m looking for. Smaller & sleek is the name of the game.
 
Do a search on a Gayle Bradley Air. It is discontinued but a nice gentleman's knife. There is no clip on this knife.

Here is a link so you can see the knife.
www.arizonacustomknives.com

Air Folder by Gayle Bradley

www.arizonacustomknives.com www.arizonacustomknives.com

You might try to find on the secondary market.
 
Might look at zt 460 and 462. Really classy looking knives, light, can handle tougher tasks of necessary but arent probably built specifically for that. Thin and light and the prettiest knives ive beern able to acquire so far. Really want a shirogorov for that role.

The 450 and 452 are similar, not as cool a blade shape but i love them.
 
Second the 0460. Gotta love that dashing Persian-style curve. A little small for my mitts but meets the the cool, tough and lightweight office carry/shirt pocket criteria. The 0462 is sweet as well but falls more toward the “pocket sword” end of the spectrum.
 
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