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Help making an EDC folcder buying decision?

R

RayzorSharp

Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
29
So I'm shopping for a new EDC blade and I need help making a decision on several blades.
The blades are:
-Cold Steel Code 4 3.5 Spear Point (or do you recommend the clip point)
-Boker Plus Titan Drop
-Kershaw Cryo II
-Kershaw Cryo I
-Byrd Cara Cara 2 FRN

Of course, I can't buy them all.
I like the Code 4 since it has those nice alloy handles and that strong tri-ad lock.
I have a Cold Steel Voyager Med. (second gen) and although I like that blade, the pocket clip is an absolute pocket shredder.
Alloy handles is sometime I also don't have in my collection.

The Titan is just something unique to me. I don't have a titanium handle blade and getting the Titan wold just fill in that niche. I hear the 440C blade is hard to put an edge on. I am sort of an amateur sharpener so I'm not sure.

The Cryo II/I, well I only have one spring assisted knife and it sucks. I hear great reviews of the Cryo series. I only have one frame lock knife and that is the Kershaw Barrage.
But I don't have a Hinderer lock in my collection as well. The 8CR13MoV steel is a steel I'm familiar with from the Tenacious and Meadowlark but I feel that $30 is a bit much for an 8CR steel.

The Cara Cara, the cheapest and the longest of the bunch. I have the Meadowlark2 and the thing I love about its little brother is that it has the finger choil, full flat grind, and is super light weight. The FRN and skeleton steel liners make it a wonderful light weight edc and tactical blade. However, it is long and kinda is a eye catcher. I don't want people to bat an eye taking it out (I still carry small Victorinoxs' for hose situations). I have the Tenacious which is probably a superior knife.

Tell me what you think of these knives. If you have them or not. I'd like to hear some input.
 
I personally don't like the Byrd blade hole design...and cold steel are cheap. I would never , ever recommend one.

Never owned a boker, but I have edc'd Kershaw. Kershaw makes a pretty good product, for a very reasonable price.
 
Kershaw rocks. Ive only barely been able to resist the cryo myself, as in the last month I got both the volt II ss and a black leek. The price on the cryo seems perfectly reasonable, to me, and I think Ive even seen them less expensive than what you said. I simply need to quit buying knives. I have enough for several lifetimes, I expect. And for what its worth, I like the speedsafe. It works flawlessly on mine so far. And their customer service/warranty is outstanding. Hard to go wrong, if what you want is a well built knife to last you a really long time. You can surely find "cooler" or "prettier" knives, but a kershaw will do very well all you could reasonably expect a knife of this size and style to do.
 
I've been kicking around the idea of getting a Code 4, and would probably go with the clip point rather than spear point because 1) I like the clip look better and 2) think it'd be more useful to me as a working knife. I have a Recon 1 tanto, and like it, but yeah . . . that pocket clip is pretty hellish. I also have a Cryo and it is excellent for a Chinese knife at that price point, but I just never took to it as an EDC knife. Not sure why, honestly.

Just for the sake of covering some EDC features to consider, the Kershaw RJI and SOG Salute have great deep-carry pocket clips, nice grips (not too smooth or too heavily textured) and are available with or without coated blades for around $30.
 
I think I'm leaning towards getting a Cryo or the Cara Cara since they are more affordable.
The Code is probably a great knife but I probably can't see myself abusing it even when I know the tri-ad lock is a tank. For steel heads, Code price point can get you VG10 steel from Spyderco. Albeit with less strength capabilities.
The Boker seems like a nice knife, but 440C's blade retention is what worries me.
 
Personally I probably be the Code 4 or Cryo II, leaning towards the Cryo II. I own the original Cryo and it's a great knife and usually it would fall under being the perfect size for me in terms of blade length and handle size but the flipper gets in the way and makes it feel small and I think the Cryo II would solve that and make significantly more comfortable. And don't worry about the assisted opening on it as it works pretty dang good, it has a good bias towards closure but once you get past that it springs open with some authority.
 
$30 is definitely not too much for the Cryo. I've owned one for a while and love it. I think the Chinese steel holds up fine for general EDC needs, and while the handle may be a bit small, I find it extremely comfortable. Kershaw will be banging out more variations of the Cryo 1 and 2, so I think it would be good to get acquainted with one soon.
 
So I ended up returning the Cryo.
I tried to move the pocket clip on it and it ended up striping my brand new T6 torx drive with Kershaw's T Tool.
Pretty disappointing. Kershaw needs to tone down their loctiting on their screws. They should either use allen screws, which are much less prone to stripping or use less loctite (or none at all! I can apply it myself if I desire). This is the second T6 driver I have stripped. Maybe it is just their imported knives because I've had no problem with Kershaw's other knives and other kife makers with T6 screws.
 
I've had loctite issues in the past, but I found that careful application of heat solves it 9/10 times. I do mean careful. I use a butane torch for a grand total of about 5 seconds - long enough to heat something up, but not long enough to damage most finishes - and then, while it is still heated, immediately turn the screw. I've only slightly burned G10 once in all the times I've done this.

They loctite the crap out of things because most people that buy knives in that price range do not own torx bits and will just keep using it until it breaks or falls apart.
 
We disassemblers are just a small group in the scheme of things. We just like to be able to take our knives apart and "improve" some aspects of said knife.

As far as which knife, and if you have not already bought another one, then I think the Cold Steel Code 4 would be fine. I read some reviews and they were all favorable.
 
The ka bar dozier folding hunter is a great edc blade and its cheap decent steel aus 8 fairly easy to sharpen.
i have the zombie green spare point very light weight solid lockback folder
images
not my picture but same knife
 
tobin420 said:
The ka bar dozier folding hunter is a great edc blade and its cheap decent steel aus 8 fairly easy to sharpen.
i have the zombie green spare point very light weight solid lockback folder
Click to expand...

The Dozier is a tempting knife. I like the color option Ka-Bar offers too.

Comeuppance said:
I've had loctite issues in the past, but I found that careful application of heat solves it 9/10 times. I do mean careful. I use a butane torch for a grand total of about 5 seconds - long enough to heat something up, but not long enough to damage most finishes - and then, while it is still heated, immediately turn the screw. I've only slightly burned G10 once in all the times I've done this.

They loctite the crap out of things because most people that buy knives in that price range do not own torx bits and will just keep using it until it breaks or falls apart.
Click to expand...

I noticed it was a lot harder to remove those torxs on the Cryo than my Salvo. I really wanted to love the knife. I'll probably try it again (or until I get a new T6 driver). I'll also take on your advice on heating the clip. Sounds like the loctite gets soft when heat is applied and with Cryo's steel frame, melting anything shouldn't be much of a problem.
 
This is just a thought. Boil it. I've removed hundreds of thread coated screws from auto slides and folders by immersing them in boiling water for thirty minutes. No flame damage to worry about. Now obviously you have to dry and oil but it beats putting flame to colored or micarta scales.
 
My recommendation is, buy the one you like the best. You are going to be spending your money and you will be the one carrying it. Here is my perspective on some of the things you are concerned with.
-Pocket clips can be adjusted in less than a minute. Take the clip off, slightly bend it out, replace. problem is usually solved quickly with not so much as a drop of sweat wasted.
-Part of owning knives is learning to maintain them. Sharpening is like riding a bike. The more you practice, the better you will become. Not one person I've ever met was able to sharpen their knife perfectly their very first time. No one. This is just like when you own a car, you have to change oil, rotate tires, etc. It comes with the territory.
-The price of the knives in your budget is what the knives in your budget cost. You are looking at economy folders, not gas station or Home Depot knives. Pinching pennies in this rage isn't going to get you much. If you ever get into midtechs and customs then you can freak out over the price. Remember, the price of sopme items only moves in one direction, (up). ;)
-People can and will bat an eye at everything they are not familiar with. As long as you are not breaking the law or acting in a menacing immature way, who cares what people think?
Pick the one that appeals to you the more and embrace your choice.
 
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