Favorite current-production assisted knives?

POCEH KOCEB said:
Kershaw and CRKT probably. I like AO, I love my Hissatsu. I have few low end Kershaw AO knives, the one I like the most are the Shield and Ferrite, both Hinderer design.
Shield's spring broke but after I called Kershaw, they sent new-one and didn't have issues after this.
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My favorite assisted knife of all time is the Kershaw Shallot which has long been discontinued but still available in the 2ndary market. I've got a collection of 9 of them which includes every handle color/blade type variation that I know of, except for the rainbow which I do not find attractive.

I also have owned and still own many other assisted knives primarily made by Kershaw, CRKT and ZT.

Hard to say which of these are among my "favorites" but if forced to choose one from each maker, other than the Shallot, they would be the Kershaw Natrix (7007) -- the cheap version of the ZT0770/0777, the CRKT Hissatsu (2903)) and the ZT0566 (which I prefer to the 0350 based on size/blade type despite the fact that I own 3 variations of the 0350).
 
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Ontario RAT-1A
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Dadpool said:
I've owned one of those, and it's probably the strongest assist I've ever personally experienced. It fires open!
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Yes, it does ! they are widely overlooked and underrated but for the money, they are truly great designs and I love the fact that the Ferrite is completely DLC covered,
I think the Shield only have the DLC on the handle.

They fire fine, I much prefer my Hissatsu, obviously the Benchmade and the CQC7 are not AO but here they are, missing the little Heiho:

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Never got the Otanashi, didn't even know it is AO but I love some bigger size than the Hissatsu.
I have the Otanashi Noh Ken and love it, I wish it was AO too...
One interesting thing with Williams' design of all of his folders is that the distance between the finger groove in the handle
and the thumb disk on the spine of the blade is almost identical throughout the models, also the radius of the finger groove.
This distance is pretty much a known number, used by knife makers so particular model will be ergonomically feasible
but in Williams's models this segment is almost identical from the smallest Heiho to the largest Noh Ken.
He is changing the blade and handle shape and form but this segment almost always is with identical proportions.
Means, if you ever used to one of his knives, any other new knife of his line you get, it'll feel the same as the one you used to.
I had somewhere picture with the Heiho, unfortunately can't find it now...

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A Link, a Dividend, two Knockouts, three Blurs. And I gift Kershaw assisted knives to relatives upon occasion as well. Just in case, although I’ve never had to use any, I have several spare torsion bars at the ready.
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
Never got the Otanashi, didn't even know it is AO but I love some bigger size than the Hissatsu.
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You're right, the Otanashi Noh Ken is NOT assisted. Had to pull mine out to verify this. Don't know what I thought it was. Just seems so because it opens so quickly/easily. In any event, I edited my "favorites" to include the Hissatsu instead.
 
elde66 said:
A Link, a Dividend, two Knockouts, three Blurs. And I gift Kershaw assisted knives to relatives upon occasion as well. Just in case, although I’ve never had to use any, I have several spare torsion bars at the ready.
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I've got an M390 variation of the Knockout, Dividend and Link. Not my favorite AOs. Only bought them because they were made w/M390 in the USA.

Of the 3, the Knockout would be my favorite but I would not have any problem letting all of them go because they really don't fit any more in my current collection of predominantly "vintage" Kershaw knives made prior to 2000 (w/some going back to the 1st knives ever made by Kershaw in the last 1970's).

Never heard of any torsion bar "breaking" in any assisted knife but they sometimes "rattle" which I fix w/a little bit of moly grease (if I can get the scales off, which is sometimes a problem in itself).
 
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Dadpool Dadpool

If you want buddy, pm me your address and I can send you one of my torrents to play with, its actually a very nice knife and I'd be curious what you thought also.

Cheers!
 
Dergyll said:
Dadpool Dadpool

If you want buddy, pm me your address and I can send you one of my torrents to play with, its actually a very nice knife and I'd be curious what you thought also.

Cheers!
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That is super kind of you to offer, thank you!

The Torrent looks interesting, but I have to say that tip-down only on an assisted knife is a dealbreaker for me. I will kick that blade out by accident at some point. :oops: That aspect of the Torrent torpedoes what otherwise looks like a nifty knife (for me).
 
sgt1372 said:
Never heard of any torsion bar "breaking" in any assisted knife but they sometimes "rattle" which I fix w/a little bit of moly grease (if I can get the scales off, which is sometimes a problem in itself).
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I have this magical ability to break torsion bars. I've broken one in a scallion, compound, kuro, blur, and two in a leek. I have not broken one in my Link or Dividend yet, but I've seen where it's happened to others.

I stopped fidgeting with them and gave it some time between firings. I have not broken once since. I almost wonder if the rapid cycling induces failure, but I'm not a spring metallurgy expert.

They frustrate me because they rely on the torsion bar to stay closed, if that breaks you're relying on friction alone. There is no ball detent hole or lock on most models. I tolerate this issue because they are such good knives for the price and the breaks are fairly rare.

I like my 420HC Link, but there's not a lot of wear resistance there. If I were going to buy another I'd pick up the Link in 20CV.
 
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Benchmade Mini-Barrage.
Easy to open, and I don't care a bit about the closing effort...
 
MarkN86 said:
I have this magical ability to break torsion bars. I've broken one in a scallion, compound, kuro, blur, and two in a leek. I have not broken one in my Link or Dividend yet, but I've seen where it's happened to others.

I stopped fidgeting with them and gave it some time between firings. I have not broken once since. I almost wonder if the rapid cycling induces failure, but I'm not a spring metallurgy expert.

They frustrate me because they rely on the torsion bar to stay closed, if that breaks you're relying on friction alone. There is no ball detent hole or lock on most models. I tolerate this issue because they are such good knives for the price and the breaks are fairly rare.

I like my 420HC Link, but there's not a lot of wear resistance there. If I were going to buy another I'd pick up the Link in 20CV.
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Well, I guess I can't say I've never heard of a torsion bar breaking anymore.

FWIW, I don't play w/any of my knives all that much, including my autos which I would think would be more likely to break that the assisteds, if I did. This is probably is why I've never experienced a failure in any of them (yet).

Knock on wood . . . LOL! ;)
 
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Dergyll said:
Although kind of overpriced, theres also the TR5 button lock assist. Great knife, fires harder than the auto version (I kid you not), no hint of button-stick, but also takes hand muscles to close one-handed.

Hard to get though, non-auto protechs are like finding actual good black Friday deals on black friday...
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I gotta say, the more I look at the TR-5 assist, the more I like it. I didn't even know Pro-Tech made assisted knives until you mentioned this one (thank you!).

I'm a little hesitant about the peaked finger grooves on the handle. I've never kept a knife that has both a) 2+ finger grooves and b) prominent peaks between those grooves; one or the other is usually okay for my hands. I always find that they're amazing in sabre grip and so-so in hammer grip.
 
Dadpool said:
I gotta say, the more I look at the TR-5 assist, the more I like it. I didn't even know Pro-Tech made assisted knives until you mentioned this one (thank you!).

I'm a little hesitant about the peaked finger grooves on the handle. I've never kept a knife that has both a) 2+ finger grooves and b) prominent peaks between those grooves; one or the other is usually okay for my hands. I always find that they're amazing in sabre grip and so-so in hammer grip.
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It's for medium hands I would say, and skinny fingers if you want to use the forward choil. If your hand is bigger or smaller, the grooves won't fit you very good.

Do you have a boker Kalashnikov? It's like that but a little better.

240 is pretty steep for it I think lol. First batch was 154CM so maybe the pricing is due to the S35VN change...which is still a little outlandish.
 
Dergyll said:
Do you have a boker Kalashnikov? It's like that but a little better.
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Reaching back to years ago when I lived somewhere autos were legal, I did own one and I recall really liking the Kalashnikov's ergos -- and that puppy is all grooves! Thank you for the comparison, that's quite helpful. I wear a size L glove.

For a smaller company making their knives in the USA, to the level of fit and finish Pro-Tech pushes out, I don't find their knives overpriced. Not cheap, for sure. But I stack my Malibu up against more expensive knives and it comes out on par with or ahead of them. They do good work. :)
 
Dadpool said:
Reaching back to years ago when I lived somewhere autos were legal, I did own one and I recall really liking the Kalashnikov's ergos -- and that puppy is all grooves! Thank you for the comparison, that's quite helpful. I wear a size L glove.

For a smaller company making their knives in the USA, to the level of fit and finish Pro-Tech pushes out, I don't find their knives overpriced. Not cheap, for sure. But I stack my Malibu up against more expensive knives and it comes out on par with or ahead of them. They do good work. :)
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So I just saw these go back in stock for 260$, which is another 20$ more than when I bought it a few months back, which is already hiked from the original price.

If you feel like 260 is a fair price, now is the time to hit up knifecenter.
 
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