favorite AO knife

J

jlee3228

Joined
May 16, 2009
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52
I am looking to get an AO knife just to play with and use wenever it happens to be in hand when a needed. I should add that the price range is 100 bucks or less and I wanna feel like a bad ass when it opens. Those are the only things I'm worried about for this one. Using a bone collector for the real work so most anything is fair game. Thanks all.
 
I would recommend the Benchmade Barrage. I own one and it is hands down the most fun assisted opener i've gotten to play with. It snaps open with a really loud snap and its pretty strong. Out of all my knife-appreciating friends, it gets the most attention when opened. I'm not going to lie, I also feel badass when I snap it open. The Mini-Barrage is also just as awesome but a bit smaller and cheaper, but if your like me and you have long fingers, the full size feels much better.

Price wise, I'm not sure if you can find it online for 100, but I found mine for 112 dollars at a brick and mortar store, so I'm pretty sure you'll find one online for the right price.

Also, a lot of people complain about the handles feeling plasticy and cheap, but they feel fine to me, and are really durable. I've been carrying mine daily for 4 months or so now, and there aren't any real dings or marks. Thing is, I also don't use it roughly or abuse it, so you might want to take that into consideration.

Finally, no wiggle or blade play in mine, combined with full skeletonized liners and manual safety for both open and closed seems like a pretty good deal to me.

Good luck with finding your new knife, hope you have fun with it.
 
Nedser said:
Not AO but the Kershaw RAM is fun. The flipper pops open the blade very nicely and it locks open with an authoritative click. Great thing about it is that it's as fun to close as it is to open since the Hawk-Lock works sort of like an Axis lock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mduE9V78hXM
Click to expand...

The RAM is great knife but the thread specifically asked about your favorite A/O knife. :confused:

@ jlee3228

The Blur and the Leek are equally great to me.
 
The blur is one of the hardest firing AOs, the scallion also pops like a demon but is much smaller.

both also happen to be great knives all around. Have fun :D
 
morrowj_98 said:
The RAM is great knife but the thread specifically asked about your favorite A/O knife. :confused:

@ jlee3228

The Blur and the Leek are equally great to me.
Click to expand...

The blade deployment of the RAM is so slick that I tend to group it with my AO knives instead of with my other manual flippers(such as the Skyline). If you're going to hold me to picking a true AO, I'd say my CRKT Heiho(Hissatsu II) then probably my Leek.
 
I like the Benchmade full size Stryker... Just all a round great knife. The pivot typically needs locktite or plumbers tape to hold it at the sweet spot, but it's a great design in my opinion. Fires hard too.
 
I personaly carry two Kershaw Blurs and an ESEE Izula every day. I like the Blur alot. It opens fast.


mlrs
 
I haven't handled the newer Kershaw designs much, but I very much like their assisted open system. In my experience with the Leek and Tyrade they are an excellent product and very inexpensive for what you get.
 
Great knife...proven track record. 13C26 or 14C28 still available. Usually can find it for under $50.

Best of luck in your search! :D
 
Well now I'm really in trouble. I want all of those now. But I'm pretty sure I now know that id like something with a narrower blade. Like the leek. But maybe with some texture to the handle. Anything like that out there? Maybe a leek that I just don't know about?
 
jlee3228 said:
Well now I'm really in trouble. I want all of those now. But I'm pretty sure I now know that id like something with a narrower blade. Like the leek. But maybe with some texture to the handle. Anything like that out there? Maybe a leek that I just don't know about?
Click to expand...

There is a Leek with an S30V blade and textured G-10 handle.
 
Get a G10/S30v Leek if you like the Leek... Very grippy. Kershaw also just came out with a 'Random Task' model with G10, assisted, etc.

***looks like MorrowJ beat me to it!
 
jlee3228 said:
Well now I'm really in trouble. I want all of those now. But I'm pretty sure I now know that id like something with a narrower blade. Like the leek. But maybe with some texture to the handle. Anything like that out there? Maybe a leek that I just don't know about?
Click to expand...

Yep, the G10 Leek.

Edit: the G10 Leek also has an S30V blade. Win-win.
 
+4 on the G10/S30V Leek! :p

006-1-3.jpg
 
i like the ZT 0350 and kershaw shallot.

the damascus variant of the shallot looks pretty cool

kershawshallotfront.jpg
 
+ 1 on the ZT0350. I got one for around 100 Bucks not too long ago. Super strong AO and just a solid knife. S30V blade is a plus. I carry mine every day even though I have more expensive knives.
 
Another +1 for the ZT0350. The Leek is nice, but it is small and civilized, and you said you want "bad ass". :cool:
 
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