Hard use folder recommendations

If autos are allowed for you, the Army Mod. AFO is not a bad choice.
The AF Mod. fits in a flight suit knife pocket.

The AFCK in M2 is good. I pack a MT SOCOM D/A or a custom L-UDT most of the time.

I recently made three deals for lg. sebs. before I realized that they were not my kind of people.

The knives will stand, or fall, by themselves, but I sure don`t want to be a member of that community.

 
rockspyder:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">I would love to see Cliff subject the SERE 2k to the same ... um... use that he subjected the Buck/Strider to.</font>
Click to expand...

Little chance of that happening. The handle looks insecure to me, it has a sabre grind and a swedge, leaving a thick primary grind and a thin point. The exact opposite of what I would want. And on top of that it has a liner lock - and there are many reports of problems with it.

I'll probably buy a Spyderco folder with a compression lock in the near future. Other than that I am waiting on the Busse Combat folder.

-Cliff
 
I know this is an old thread, but i am curious as to which knife was chosen and how it performed.

My vote would be for the Wegner or SERE 2000 by the way.
 
I would recommend a Nimravus Cub in M2, about $95 at Bayou Lafourche.
BUT, if you need a stong folder, I'd recommend an Emerson Commander, or the Mach-1 to be a little more PC around the sheeple. The CQC7A was mentioned earlier, good choice, too.

I don't have any experience with them, but the TOPS folders look like they're built like tanks.
 
I know this is an old thread and don't recall whether it was mentioned earlier, but if it MUST fold, the Strider AR is one of the strongest I've ever handled.
 
I also know that this is an old thread but here I go again. I would like to update my opinion.

Though I really like the Sebenza and also the BM710/M2 and I do own a SERE, the knife I more and more reach for when I expect tough use/abuse and it can not be a fixed blade (first choice), the folder I grab for is the Buck-Strider. Mine is BG-42 (spearpoint) but I doubt that the ATS-34 version oculd be that far behind.

Though I am no fan of liner locks, I was willing to tolerate it for the SERE2k; in part because of its size and beef. Well, the Buck-Strider exceeds the SRE2K in all regards and had a blade that is more up to the task for your types of anticipated uses.

Bottom line: when tough outdoor use is in the cards, a full tang/fixed blade is my choice. If it MUST be a folder abd the Busse Folder is not available, then the Buck-Strider is tough to beat, especially for the price.
 
After acquiring and trading more than a few knives, I think I have a combo that works pretty well. I eventually ended up with a Benchmade 735 and Spyderco Endura, both of which I carry daily, and when the activities permit it I have my Busse BA-E with me.

I have a few things on order right now that may replace those, but they won't be here for a while. I'm thinking about replacing the BA with a Strider MT, but I'm in no hurry to do so as the BA works quite well.
 
Al Mar SERE 2000 for sure.

A Sebenza would also be great, but I would not want to carry and use such a expensive folder in the woods, for fear of losing it. You could get 3 or 4 SERE 2000's for the price of a Sebenza. And there's absolutely nothing a Sebenza could do that a SERE 2000 couldn't also do as well.
 
The Al Mar Sere 2000 is about as superb a production liner lock you will ever find. Solid as they come.

You won't go wrong with a BM 710 in M2 steel as well.
 
TOPS CQT Magnum, smooth edge, bowie blade, 4.75" blade in 154CM, 6" heavy duty aircraft aluminum handle, toughest liner lock on the planet, holds up like a fixed blade, about 60Rc. Black-coated, stands up to rust and the elemwnts wonderfully.

I'm a fixed blade fan, but I think this knife is my favorite overall utility, survival, and defensive piece -- a folder! You can do the same amount of chopping as a 6-7" fixed blade, skinning, and all utility tasks. Cuts like...a knife! Best all-around blade for me.

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Best,

Brian.
 
I love a good folder and always have one in my pocket. These days it's a Sebenza, large or small depending on the day. BM axis locks are super.

For the woods I would never leave out a fixed blade of 7" or so. I had a large heavy duty military spec folder from a major manufacteror fail on me in a tight situation. Never again. I don't care if it is a short 5 to ten mile hike. The fixed blade goes along.
 
m, I won't name the one that failed because I don't want to step on any toes here. There are a lot of folks who realy like this knife.

Anyway I think that any folder could fail like this under extreme conditions. Not just the one I had although it was a very heavy duty folder.

I was at 10,000' in the mountains and it had rained for four days straight. It was necessary to chop down deep into wood to find something dry enough to start a fire. We needed heat. The pivot pin remained intact but the part that held the blade hard in place sheared off. Now I was at 10,000 feet with no way to cut down and get the dry wood. Bad scene!!! I only made that mistake once though. Neveer without the FB now. Hypothermia can cost lives. I would have given thousands of dollars for a fixed blade on that day. I ended up finding some pine pitch and everything turned out okay, but I keep my options more open now.

Folders are the best choice for many situations and jobs but they have not replaced a good fixed blade workhorse. Likewise the fixed blade is not the knife to have in all situations either.

These are my personal opinions and I am here to learn too. I respect the opinons of the other members very much and would like to hear of other experiences. I keep my mind open.
 
BoyNhisdog,

Go for it -- we all learn from others experiences. If you had an experience with knife failure, it's not putting down a company or other poster here. It's just the truth about what happened. Tell us what folder it was, and we can all learn! It'll save others from making the same mistakes!

All the Best,

Brian.
 
Brian I see that you are the moderator.

Let me say again that "I" believe that any folder can fail as this one did under extreme use such as hard chopping. It may not fail today but I believe that it will fail someday when it counts.

The stop that holds the blade from flopping back is only a small piece of metal that can and will shear off. It can not have the strength of a full tang FB.

Also this was a model that was made ten years ago when I had my "learning experience" that changed everything. Maybe it has been improved or changed for the better in those ten years.

I took the SERE with me into the mountains. It was a big, very sturdy folder that I thought could replace my fixed blade. After all a folder can be tucked out of the way when not in use better than a FB.

After we were hit by a raging storm at 10,000' for 24 hrs a day for days everything eventually became wet and it was hard for anyone to keep warm. This could happen at a much lower altitude too.

Fire, shelter and water are the big three in my book. Sometimes it takes fire to have safe water.

I am not knocking folders. I always have one in my pocket, always. They are my favorite EDC. I just won't be without a FB in my pack. I don't care about the weight penalty. I'll hump it a feel more secure for it.

I still own a fine folder from Al Mar. They did refund the SERE. They are stand up folks and I like their folders.

As I said before I would like to hear the experiences of others on this matter.
 
Thanks for adding that, BoyNhisdog,

The SERE blades are outstanding. It does sound like you had to put a folder through paces for which a folder is not made to do. That had to have sucked.

I always bring a big fixed blade into the woods as standard practice. My above post regarding the CQT-M was rearding it as a bug-out blade: the one I always have on me.

Ron Hood, Ray Tougas, and I all have played with the TOPS CQT M, and the Al Mar SERE 2k in the woods. They both did great. The TOPS CQT-M is way bigger and heavier than the SERE, and just about any other folder I can think of, which is why I would trust it in a survival situation. The CQT-M liner-lock is heat treated stainless steel, and the handle is stout aircraft aluminum. The pins in it are bigger, and there is no external exposure of the pivot pin -- its all safely contained within the handle. I almost don't consider this knife a folder -- it's very difernet than any others I have owned or held. A call it a folder with a fixed-blade attitude. If I had to do big chopping jobs, and terrain/environment provided me the materials, I'd make bigger tools using whatever folder I had on me, provided I had the energy.

I love the SERE 2k as well. It is a tough folder, but it doesn't sing "fixed'blade" strength to me. But if I had to rely on one regular kinda folder out of many, that would still be one of my first choices.

Your experience with weather sounds kinda like the one we had in Idaho last June, filming Ron's Volume 11 video. Snow, hail, wet, hypothermic conditions, soaked wood. We had our big blades (a variety), but our tomahawks were the tools that saved the day and did most of the chopping/shelter construction chores -- they made fast work of splitting wet wood because of the spike on the back (this was the Rogers Rangers Spike Hawk from American Tomahawk Company). We were cold, wet, slow, and low on energy, and the power of the hawks helped us to conserve what energy we had. If we only had folders, we would have had a problem. We would have survived fine, just been more miserable.

Would be interested, maybe in a separate thread, to hear more details of your experience at 10K?

Take Care,

Brian.
 
Brian, I really like those hawks! I forget the model but there are two that realy do it for me. ATC makes them just right and their new one does look nice. Gotta have one someday.

The storm that hit us was not predicted so we were somewhat caught by surprise. An experience like that gives you a wakeup call. I not only reevaluated my knife but my fire starting tools as well.

While flying mapping missions over vast streches of uninhabited terrain throughout the southwest and Mexico I have to be prepared for situations that may require these tools. My preferance is a good restaurant and a warm, dry bed however just as that storm was not predictable, neither is life in general.

I'll definately check out the CQT-M. It sounds awesome.
 
Good posts and good lessons.

Knives generally and folders specifically are designed for cutting. Once you get beyond mere cutting, it's time to go full tang fixed blade and a stout one at that.
 
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