First Flipper Suggestions?

S

SCWillson

Joined
Aug 2, 2013
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I've been thinking of trying a flipper but have no idea where to start, so I thought I'd ask for some suggestions here.

My budget is $50-60.
 
Kershaw makes many fine flippers in your price range, if you like tactical style knives the Cryo is an excellent choice. For a more stream line choice I would suggust the Leek, an excellent slicer and good for light tasks. If you want something smaller the Scallion, I have three of them, I carry one as a secondary, well designed small EDC, a fav of mine.
 
Don't forget the crkt ripple in aluminium, ikbs is a beautiful thing, and 8cr13mov steel is perfectly adequate for edc tasks. You can find them all day for around $30.
 
The Kershaw Skyline is a really awesome knife, If you can find a Kershaw RAM I would highly recommend that as well, the Junkyard Dog is fantastic as well, and if you don't mind assisted openers than check out the Leek or the Knockout. Of course these are only options for Kershaw knives because quite frankly their the only flippers I own besides the ZT 0560 which is $200ish and the Tilt which is discontinued and very expensive.
 
+1 on the Skyline. I bought one a few years ago and I love it. The one problem is I'm left handed and it doesnt have tip up option for me. I've heard great things about the Buck Vantagr line too
 
I highly recommend the CRKT Ripple or Swindle. I would stay away from assisted openers for now, because manuals are twice as addicting :) CRKT really gets it right with their budget IKBS knives. Although I have no experience with them, I would bet that their Sampa and Carajas are pretty dang good too.
 
Some nice suggestions there; I'll check those all out. The only ones I'd heard of before were the Leek and Cryo.

Thanks.
 
Wow, dude there are soooooo many great flipper knives to choose from. I guess my recommendation would be the ZT 0350 (assisted) and on the unassisted end, the Spyderco Domino or Southard. All great knives. If you can wait a few months, get the Boker Plus Kwaiken production flipper. WIth the exception of the Boker Kwaiken flipper, I own all these knives mentioned and I keep coming back to the Southard as my regular EDC.
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Sorry, I just now noticed the price range. Still, spend a little more and get a great flipper.
 
That Spyderco Domino really caught my eye as I'm partial to Spydercos, but regrettably it exceeds my budget by several hundred percent. Maybe someday...
 
the Kershaw Skyline is my favorite flipper to date. its super light weight, carries very well in your pocket or waist band of shorts. its incredibly smooth specially for not having bearings or assisted opening. great blade length with hollow grind paired with the 14c28n make for a perfect slicer that sharpens up to hair popping sharp with almost no effort. the only thing I don't like about it is I don't have one in toxic green :) ...........yet
 
I think pretty much all the ones already noted would be great choices. The new kershaw thermite is also pretty nice for $35 its worth a look. Then you have money left over to add a cryo or cryo 2 to your flipper arsenal
 
The Thermite is a good assisted flipper choice coli.

Here are a few pics of mine for your amusement (right-handed, XL glove size). BTW, I would've gotten one even if the blade steel was peanut brittle as I am on a Hinderer roll the last few years. One has the clip flipped to righty, tip up and the other has the factory clip position:

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Skyline is a great place to start, but I just got a Thermite in, and it is great! But yes, if you're looking for a flipper in that price range, Kershaw is definitely the way to go. Just pick one that you like the looks of.
 
Kershaw makes a bunch at or below your price range. The link Franciscomv posted above is a list of all their current production models. The Leek and Skyline are two of my favorites.

There are several that aren't listed there as well, either because they've been discontinued or were more limited runs. There is a manual flipper version of the Zing. It's been discontinued, but it's still available for sale at several places. The OD-1 is another nice model (also discontinued). You can still find those at various resellers too. There was also another run of the Speed Bump model recently, and those are still available for about $50. It's a larger assisted-opening knife featuring the stud lock.
 
For a small flipper I second the (many) suggestions of a Kershaw Skyline or CRKT Swindle. If you want something larger, I second the idea of a Kershaw JYD or humbly suggest the CRKT Eraser. I think the Eraser is a bit more than you want to spend, though.
 
They don't get much love but for about $100 there is the benchmade 300. I just picked up a BM 300 a couple weeks ago LNIB first production run $100+tax. Really smooth knife with axis lock.
 
Kershaw foes make some fine budget flippers, what kills it for me is the ones that look the best are mostly assisted- which I can't abide. Whoever said that CRKT got it right with their budget flippers is spot on. They make several good choices in your price range that come with IKBS, the Ripple is just one good one. There's nothing like a flipper with bearings to put a smile on your face.
 
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