Folders under $250 to rotate with my Small Sebenza.

E

ebar

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Oct 24, 2014
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I am kind of new to folders (I came to them via SAKs). I want a small EDC knife to rotate with my Small Sebenza Insingo. Its a great knife but on the expensive side so I want to lessen its daily wear and tear. Its size is just fine for my urban/office (80%)/manufacturing plant (20%) environment.

I like the size and format of my Buck 347 Vantage Pro but I want something a little nicer. I have an Enzo Birk 75 CF that is almost right but is too thick to carry on my back pocket and a ZT 0770CF that it just a little too long (but thin enough). So a knife that is price-wise in between the Small Sebenza and the Buck 347 and is not too obtrusive. Something $200 tops and that is made either in USA, Europe or Japan. I've been thinking about a Fantoni HB 02 or a LionSteel TRE G-10 (both being Italian is just a coincidence). And it doesn't have to be a flipper.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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I recently picked up a LionSteel TRE G-10, and can vouch that the Small Sebenza is an excellent size comparison. Pretty much identical, actually. Fantastic build quality, great materials, but I'm kind of 'meh' on the pocket clip and the flipper deployment is below satisfactory for a bearing system pivot, imo. Good knife overall, but I'm far more impressed with the Spyderco Caly 3 (carbon fiber and ZDP-189/420J2 clad blade) that I got in the same order.

Hope this helps and good luck! :)

-Brett
 
Try a Spyderco Chaparral 1 or 2. Thin, light and great slicer. Under $200.

Fantoni HB02 is another slim profile folder but over $200.

LionSteel TRE G-10 is another great choice but over $200.

In the Inkosi range there's also Koenig Zebaida but it costs $400.
 
timberweasel said:
I recently picked up a LionSteel TRE G-10, and can vouch that the Small Sebenza is an excellent size comparison. Pretty much identical, actually. Fantastic build quality, great materials, but I'm kind of 'meh' on the pocket clip and the flipper deployment is below satisfactory for a bearing system pivot, imo. Good knife overall, but I'm far more impressed with the Spyderco Caly 3 (carbon fiber and ZDP-189/420J2 clad blade) that I got in the same order.

Hope this helps and good luck! :)

-Brett
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Thanks Brett.

The TRE clip is not an issue for me because I will remove it anyway. The flipper mechanism might. I don't have much experience with flipper but both my ZT 0770 (albeit assisted) and 0560 are fine by my standards (the Buck 347 is a joke). Do you know how do the TRE compares to them?

The Caly 3 seems to tick all the boxes but... I haven't had good luck with back locks. The once I have (old Buck 560 and Victorinox Hunter Pro) all have some blade play and can't be one-hand closed. Maybe the Caly 3 is different.
 
RamZar said:
Try a Spyderco Chaparral 1 or 2. Thin, light and great slicer. Under $200.

Fantoni HB02 is another slim profile folder but over $200.

LionSteel TRE G-10 is another great choice but over $200.

In the Inkosi range there's also Koenig Zebaida but it costs $400.
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Thanks RamZar. Call me a snob but I want to avoid knives made in Taiwan, China, India, Pakistan.

I'm sure there are some great knives made on these countries and God know I don't have anything against people form there (I don't want my first posts to offend anyone) but I rather support markets that buy form mine (Mexico).
 
Let me correct myself. I am considering knives close to (and to up to) $200. I would put $250 as my upper limit for street price.
 
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ebar said:
Thanks Brett.

The TRE clip is not an issue for me because I will remove it anyway. The flipper mechanism might. I don't have much experience with flipper but both my ZT 0770 (albeit assisted) and 0560 are fine by my standards (the Buck 347 is a joke). Do you know how do the TRE compares to them?

The Caly 3 seems to tick all the boxes but... I haven't had good luck with back locks. The once I have (old Buck 560 and Victorinox Hunter Pro) all have some blade play and can't be one-hand closed. Maybe the Caly 3 is different.
Click to expand...

I've never owned a ZT knife so I cannot vouch for them personally, but they do have a reputation for making excellent flippers. If I was in the market for a ZT, I'd look at the 0450 and maybe the 0808.

I've never owned a Buck 347 either, but I did have a Buck 340 (Small Vantage Select) briefly before gifting it away. As I recall, the flipper action was sluggish and required some wrist-action to open to a secure locked position. The TRE flips much better but it has a similar 'sluggish' feel to it; a tad disappointing since a bearing pivot blade should pop right out once it clears the detent, imo.) My TRE is still very new though, and might need some time to break-in. But even if the action does not improve, it is still a very nice knife and a welcome addition to my collection.

As for the Caly 3, it was smooth as glass right out of the box, perfectly centered, lock-up solid without any play. Pinned body but it has an adjustable pivot screw. Never had a problem one-hand closing any of my Spyderco lock backs (depress the lockbar with my thumb and use my index finger to close the blade with the Spydie hole) but the Caly 3 blade drops freely once the lockbar is disengaged. Just make sure your finger is under the choil and you won't get cut... :)

-Brett
 
Little bit longer blade, but what about a Benchmade 940-1? Thin, sleek, and fairly discreet.
 
If you like the Insingo blade shape, check out the Benchmade Mini Griptilian 555HG.
 
I'm going to play devil's advocate and say if you love it, use it. It's getting that first mark on the blade and getting over that is the toughest. Otherwise in that same size is the new mini Kwaiken, ritter mini grip, or you can get a ZDP Delica and put some spaceman (on the forum) Ti scales on it. The knives I mentioned are on my bucket list btw.

PS plenty of folks pair a Seb with an Alox Sak. It's going to be a long time before you wear out a Seb so you might as well use it though!
 
Thanks jc57 and uofaengr, if I go with a Benchmade I think I will go with a 484-1 Nakamura. The 940-1is a little to long and I don't like the Grip's scale at all (the blade shape I do like, maybe a Mini Grip with costume CF scales?).
 
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cchu518 said:
I'm going to play devil's advocate and say if you love it, use it. It's getting that first mark on the blade and getting over that is the toughest. Otherwise in that same size is the new mini Kwaiken, ritter mini grip, or you can get a ZDP Delica and put some spaceman (on the forum) Ti scales on it. The knives I mentioned are on my bucket list btw.

PS plenty of folks pair a Seb with an Alox Sak. It's going to be a long time before you wear out a Seb so you might as well use it though!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input cchu518, and I do pair my Seb with an Alox. An Electrician mod with scissors actually.
 
I run through these drills all the time in my head. Sometimes in real life the grass really is greener on the side and sometime it isn't!

I've almost pulled the trigger a half dozen times on the ag Russell gentleman's Ti Framelock. It'd 's pretty cool knife! Google it! Make sure it's the flipper version and not lockback Ti version although I like that one too!
 
cchu518 said:
I run through these drills all the time in my head. Sometimes in real life the grass really is greener on the side and sometime it isn't!

I've almost pulled the trigger a half dozen times on the ag Russell gentleman's Ti Framelock. It'd 's pretty cool knife! Google it! Make sure it's the flipper version and not lockback Ti version although I like that one too!
Click to expand...

i'll look that AG Russell up.
 
Here's four more
Southard
XM18 3.5 (more then $250)
ZT056CF
ZT0566 (less then $140)
 
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