Favorite budget titanium frame locks?

[LimpCroissant]

Hmmm that's the first time I've heard of Defcon, those sound pretty interesting. I might have to try one of those some day.

This 200 and below Ti framelock niche has been a pretty big part of my knife trying and collecting and I've tried a decent amount of them. The current two companies that have consistently impressed the hell out of me and given me that "Wow... How is it even possible that they can manufacture and sell these for this price" feeling have been Kizer and Twosun. They have perfected the art of having fit and finish levels that rival knives costing a lot more. The action of them has always been very smooth with fantastic lockup. They just make really good knives to put it simply. There are many other awesome manufacturers and a lot that I haven't tried and want to but as far as the knives I have bought those have impressed me the most per dollar.

 

[NG VI]

 

[Tafkaag]

If you're willing to suffer the downgrade to AUS-8, the Ontario Shikra is generally sub-$40 and right now Knifecenter has it for just under $30.

The one I have is properly centered, flies open with bearings in the pivot, and locks solidly.

 

[Hashishiin]

If you're willing to suffer the downgrade to AUS-8, the Ontario Shikra is generally sub-$40 and right now Knifecenter has it for just under $30.

The one I have is properly centered, flies open with bearings in the pivot, and locks solidly.

Ooh, that looks like a really nice one. I like that.

 

[Arathol]

Twosun knives makes some good titanium frame locks if you can find them....both of these were under $100 new....
TS-51

TS-121

 

[evltcat]

I got this Toor Merchant new for $199. A local shop carries them so I got to look through them and find a good one. View attachment 1883677View attachment 1883678

I've been eyeing Toor...
Question: The placement of the thumbstud on all the Toor knives seems too far forward to me. I've never handled one in person, how are they in reality?
Seems like you lose over 1/4" of the cutting surface.

 

[vwb563]

Hmmm that's the first time I've heard of Defcon, those sound pretty interesting. I might have to try one of those some day.

Plus they even give extra body and pivot screws. Pretty amazing knives for the money.

 

[ScarFoot]

I've been eyeing Toor...
Question: The placement of the thumbstud on all the Toor knives seems too far forward to me. I've never handled one in person, how are they in reality?
Seems like you lose over 1/4" of the cutting surface.

I haven’t had any issues with it so far but I believe it could possibly cause some difficulties while sharpening which I haven’t had to do yet. For my purposes it hasn’t caused any cutting problems. I did get one of their fixed blades today just in case though lol.

 

[evltcat]

I haven’t had any issues with it so far but I believe it could possibly cause some difficulties while sharpening which I haven’t had to do yet. For my purposes it hasn’t caused any cutting problems. I did get one of their fixed blades today just in case though lol.View attachment 1885455

Thank you for the feedback, think I may grab one and check it out!

 

[Landshark99]

WE Knive Elementum great knife for under $200 lots of titanium handle options with CPM20V blade steel

 

[LimpCroissant]

Plus they even give extra body and pivot screws. Pretty amazing knives for the money. View attachment 1885456

Nice, that's what's up! I forget who else gives extra hardware with the knife, is it Kizer? I've used Kizers warranty one time to get a new pivot and they sent me a new pivot assembly and two sets of bearings for my Guru.

 

[5DoorEstate]

Toor Chasm T for me. With a drop of oil and some break in, it’s exceptional. On the small side, it’s built like a tank. I got a great deal on it here.

 

[Lawilli2]

Another vote for the ZT 0450, here it is in CF.

 

[sgt1372]

If you can find one, I highly recommend the Real Steel Ti M390 Megalodon, which I am currently carrying, as a "budget" Ti framelock.

 

[Kirk Raptor]

Ruike M671-TZ: current production . . . very gentlemanly (3.75" closed, 2.75" blade, 4.16 oz.) . . . nicely milled on both sides . . . slick ball bearing action . . . 154CM steel . . . less than $90.

The only knives that I've seen come close are discontinued Kizers when you can find them

 

[LimpCroissant]

View attachment 1885846

Ruike M671-TZ: current production . . . very gentlemanly (3.75" closed, 2.75" blade, 4.16 oz.) . . . nicely milled on both sides . . . slick ball bearing action . . . 154CM steel . . . less than $90.

The only knives that I've seen come close are discontinued Kizers when you can find them

When I first saw that (when you bought it and posted it I suppose) the first thing that popped into my head was it has kind of a Rockstead vibe going on. And an awesome price. Pretty sweet man, I'd like to get one some day.

Edit: I just noticed that Way Of Knife (dealer/modding company) has the option to mod them to most finishes that you can come up with. However they're not in stock right now.

 

[justjed]

Just got a Ruike M105-TZ Ti frame-lock for $100. Not sure who to believe, the blade says N690, not a bad steel at all. The Ruike website says N690Co, a better steel. Not gonna complain, either way. Very smooth action, a rather attractive pattern, overall. Except for the pocket clip, which is a bit too short, and one has to twist the knife in the pocket to keep the lock-bar cut-out from grabbing the seam, and making quick extraction difficult. Still a nice knife, just not perfect, for me....

 

[HP2114B]

Just got a Ruike M105-TZ Ti frame-lock for $100. Not sure who to believe, the blade says N690, not a bad steel at all. The Ruike website says N690Co, a better steel. Not gonna complain, either way. Very smooth action, a rather attractive pattern, overall. Except for the pocket clip, which is a bit too short, and one has to twist the knife in the pocket to keep the lock-bar cut-out from grabbing the seam, and making quick extraction difficult. Still a nice knife, just not perfect, for me....

N690 and N690Co are the same steel.

 

[Lawilli2]

Also the Bestech Engine, picked this sweet little guy here at BF for a great sub 100 deal. Once opened and cleaned off the heavy grease Bestech like to use, this sucker is smooth as butter.

 

[justjed]

N690 and N690Co are the same steel.

I've heard different, that N690Co has considerably more cobalt, like 1-1.5% versus .5-ish% for N690. Like I said, I don't care either way, it's a European VG-10 analogue, and that's good enough for me.