Hard Use Folder?

[Andrew Colglazier]

Hard use folding knife? I would question your definition of hard. That Mudd knife looks pretty neat though.

Hi, are you talking to me? What's your definition of hard use?

Andy

 

[robicon]

This knife doesn't get alot of attention and I don't understand why, but the Burke Production Rockstar is defintely a hard use knife. IMO I would put it in the same class as a SnG, and Sebenza. The handle uses 2 Ti slabs, with open construction, lockup is rocksolid, and the stonewashed blade is CPM154 The action on the two I have own(ed), has been smoother than any SnG, PT or small Sebe I have had. I guess the only complaint I have would be the size of the pocket clip, but other than that this is definitely an over built harduse knife...that is worth taking a look at.

Dave

thanks DaveReb, my wife is going to kill me.

 

[ElectrikHellfire]

The Mudd is a very nice knife, I just wish the pocket clip wouldn't get stuck on the lip of my pocket - Mudd owners out there know what I'm talking about

Hmmmm....now I'll have to go look for one

I sure do! Even with a lanyard mine continued to catch. I lowered the clip about 1/8" and its much better.

 

[robicon]

The reason I ask is that it tends to factor into the opinion I give.

If the look is what you're going for, then the sky's the limit concerning price. It's just that I have found that many people (knife ppl included) are highly reluctant to actually use a $400+ knife in the field.

I'm sometimes guilty too. When I'm cutting Typar, edging, cables, tree roots I rarely (well, never) reach for my Crusader Forge Metro Tactical...and instead pull the old Benchmade Elishewitz Stryker that's clipped in my pocket.


If you have no qualms using a high-dollar knife, feel free to ignore my advice.

Otherwise, find yourself a user/LNIB/second hand ZT300 (from the list you provided) and be well-assured it'll take what you can dish out.

I had/have an SNG and a ZT302. I recently sold the SNG where it'll sit in the dark, in a safe, to be fondled on rare ocassions by its new owners.

I bought the 302 LNIB for $170 and I feel it's of equal quality to the Strider SNG. I picked it up while waiting on clip screws for the Benchmade. While it hasn't replaced the Stryker (it's like an old hat) it now serves equal time on the gun range, out working in the yard, or in my shop doing what it was designed to do.

 

[knifenut848]

Hard use folding knife? I would question your definition of hard. That Mudd knife looks pretty neat though.

My defintion of a hard use folder is something with a strong lock up, strong blade, usually large and will take whatever I throw at it (in general knife use)
I am a marine technician and carry a knife all the time. When I am looking for a knife I want it to be able to do all the things I might come across on a daily basis. I use my knives at work, camping, boating, hunting and just about anytime I need it. I will be using it for chopping small trees, batoning wood, stripping wires, cutting wire ties, scraping fiberglass, a screwdriver if I have to and whatever else I need it to do. I understand that there is a line between "hard use" and abuse, but if I need my knife to do something I want it to be able to do it. I have been using a Benchmade Griptilian on the job and it works ok, but I have broken the tip off twice now. Once cutting a wire tie against a piece of metal and the other cutting a rubber hose off a metal niple. I do not think of this as abuse, but normal use. I feel that having a stronger knife such as a strider or something this would not have happened.
Also the list that I made were just some of the folders I was looking at, to add a few more here they are.
1. Chris Reeve Umnumzaan
2. Hinderer XM-18 (If I can find one)

 

[GrinderMcgee]

No Andrew, my statement was to Knifenut. To me, there is no such thing as a hard use folder since even the best folder is not as structurally sound as a fixed blade knife. Maybe a question like "The Toughest Folder Out There?" would have made more sense to me.

 

[mmmotorcycle]

It is tough. The only thing I don't like about it is the sharpening notch, which tends to catch on fabric or cardboard or whatnot when beginning a cut.

I forgot to mention that the MUDD works very very well with gloves. It has a nice big beefy grippy handle, a nice deep finger notch, and the blade release is easy to find and use but not easy to accidentally release. It also sits very low in the pocket.

Andy

Agreed! and with the help of Tom Krein, it can be sharper than anything you could imagine!:thumbup:

 

[Peter Parker]

 

[3Guardsmen]

An RFN handled liner lock at 10% the cost will give you exactly what you pay for, regardless of the public's impression.

If you're referring to the Griptilian, which has a handle similar in composition to FRN (not RFN), it has a lock that'll outlast even your beloved SMF.

Most of those owners were raised on plastic knives, I don't believe their range of experience gives them a opinion with depth.

They're also hijacking the thread, which is a witness to their character.

Wow! You must be one of the ultra-cool people from the psychic friends network! Can I get your autograph, Miss Cleo?

By the way, go back and re-read the OP's first post! In your rush to be able comment on peoples' character, you missed the fact that the OP asked for other suggestions besides the knives he mentioned he was thinking about.

 

[Josh K]

If you're referring to the Griptilian, which has a handle similar in composition to FRN (not RFN), it has a lock that'll outlast even your beloved SMF.

Yeah, unless the little omega springs break.

 

[3Guardsmen]

Yeah, unless the little omega springs break.

It does happen, but not often, and I've never heard of both breaking at the same time.

Sorry, Josh. Axis lock > Frame lock when it comes to strength.

 

[Josh K]

It does happen, but not often, and I've never heard of both breaking at the same time.

Sorry, Josh. Axis lock > Frame lock.

I guess you haven't been reading the forums. "Broken Omega Springs, what do I do????"

I think that a complicated (more moving parts, springs, axis bar, shaped tang, liners) locking mechanism would not be preferred over the simplest locking mechanism (framelock) for a hard use folder. Increasing the complexity exponentially increases the chance that something will break or fail.

 

[3Guardsmen]

I don't at all disagree with you, Josh. I was just trying to point out to another poster that the knife he was dismissing as crap actually had a lock that could handle a bigger load than the knife he was championing.

 

[Herr_Noobien]

I guess you haven't been reading the forums. "Broken Omega Springs, what do I do????"

I think that a complicated (more moving parts, springs, axis bar, shaped tang, liners) locking mechanism would not be preferred over the simplest locking mechanism (framelock) for a hard use folder. Increasing the complexity exponentially increases the chance that something will break or fail.

+1
I tend to think less is more when it comes to a hard use knife. Axis locks tend to get really gritty if you don't clean them and they are tricky to put together if you ever have to take the knife apart when the shit hits the fan (or in this case, the lock). There is a reason Kershaw, strider, Emerson and spyderco (in the case of the military) use framelocks/liner locks on their hard use knives:
They have few moving parts to wear out, loose during dissasembly or clog up. Liner locks and frame locks will function very well even when covered in filth, blood and guts.

I also wouldn't get the sebenza if I were you. I would really hate to put it to hard use, it really is a beautiful knife.

 

[spyken]

ZT. I do not find the Striders ergonomic at all....but they are certainly grippy due to their blocky shape.

 

[tsiloics]

If you don't mind the weight, I think the ZT 030X's are tough to beat.

If you want something lighter, more refined or that cuts more efficiently, that opens things way up. For its basic purpose, the ZT is a killer, though.

 

[razorsdescent]

I guess you haven't been reading the forums. "Broken Omega Springs, what do I do????"

I think that a complicated (more moving parts, springs, axis bar, shaped tang, liners) locking mechanism would not be preferred over the simplest locking mechanism (framelock) for a hard use folder. Increasing the complexity exponentially increases the chance that something will break or fail.

I agree big time also if your outdoors mud will get into the axis and either make it gritty or stuck i had a knife that i couldnt close for a full half hour until i used my leathemans screwdriver to pry the axis lock open so that i could close the knife. frame lock is my perfered locking method for hard use and in general.

i also dont buy that the axis locking mechanism is any stronger than a frame lock or well executed lock back. its spring and moving pieces can break and be unable to be repaired in the field

Id cast my vote for strider there folders are amazing.

 

[MikeC]

3 guardsman are you serious? You start off raggin somebody else reminding them that the OP asked for additional suggestions beyond his list. The you make a comment about the axis lock being able to "outlast" a frame lock, nothing to do with lock strength or load handling but pure lifespan or durability. Then you go on to say a post or two later that you were trying to point out that the axis lock could handle the same load a framelock could? Before you respond may I suggest you go back and read over your own post.

So which is it man, is the axis lock more durable i.e. greater life span, last longer, handle being opened, engaged, locked, disengaged, closed than a frame lock or is the axis lock able to handle greater loads?

For the record I think the AXIS lock is going to fail before the framelock as a direct result of the complexity and increased number of moving parts, increase both of those things and the statistical probability that one of the parts will eventually break and fail (for whatever reason) increases exponentially over a mechanism that essentially has one moving part.

 

[Josh K]

I think that a complicated (more moving parts, springs, axis bar, shaped tang, liners) locking mechanism would not be preferred over the simplest locking mechanism (framelock) for a hard use folder. Increasing the complexity exponentially increases the chance that something will break or fail.

For the record I think the AXIS lock is going to fail before the framelock as a direct result of the complexity and increased number of moving parts, increase both of those things and the statistical probability that one of the parts will eventually break and fail (for whatever reason) increases exponentially over a mechanism that essentially has one moving part.

I have a twin???

 

[Esav Benyamin]

A triplet.

I don't collect axis locks. I have a 710 and had a Griptilian, both excellent EDC knives. But I would never take either into the dirt, I just don't trust the little parts inaccessible inside.

Best rough country mechanisms? In no particular order: framelock, balisong, slipjoint, lockback. These are almost self-cleaning, with open blade channels, easy to swab grit, grease, or gunk out with the corner of a bandanna. In fact, you can almost clean a framelock or balisong by opening and closing it a few times.