Help me choose... A great EDC under 3"!

The DPx Heat is nice. I forgot I had one though...

Mine is a first run with Sleipnir (sp), it is a nice steel, holds a toothy edge for quite some time on abrasive materials, I use double walled cardboard as a guage.

Sleipnir took a finer edge then my BK24 in d2 and held its working edge just as long, if not a bit longer. It also held its edge longer than my other steels (1095crovan, O1, s35vn, W1 with a 59-60hrc avg for the bunch).
-But when it was taken thinner (est. 20°-25°) it did exhibit some chipping, enough that it was visible with a naked eye. I put a steeper small bevel back on it from a thinner convex and it has resolved the issue.

It has a nice four finger grip but the thumb stud forces the knife to be opened in a similar fashion to the sebenza. If you push straight out or up, you fight the pivot and it takeseems a lot to open it, and it gets to be painful. But once you figure out the sweep to it and it becomes muscle memory, it is painless and smooth.

I haven't used the glass breaker on a window, but I did drop it on a spare tile while in my garage and it broke that easily enough. It is also sharp to the touch enough that some complain and have removed thiers or purchased/rounded theirs out by chucking it in a drill and spinning it on some SiC sandpaper and a mouse pad.

The bottle opener works as a wave, but isn't as efficient as a spyderco or emerson wave. One unintended(?) effect this has on the deployment of the blade is, if you don't want to use the wave, it doesn't open the knife, but when you want it to work, You make it work.

The pocket clip is functional and deep carry. It will bend if it gets hung up, easier than my spyderco or crk products. Prior to a few threads a month ago, I haven't thought about the ergos of it and I went through all of my knives. I found the DPx to be the most noticeable and my large 21 seb to be the second most.

But, after all of that, I still forgot I owned it... it isn't much of a standout which might work well in your case.
 
Buck 301 stockman. 3 blades (Clip point, sheepsfoot, and a spey) no one gives it (or you) a second glance when you use it.

EDIT: I missed the "self defense". For self defense, get a cane or a good walking/hiking stick/staff, and/or some 10% pepper bear spray.
 
I missed it too. But the idea of using a 3" bladed knife for self-defense is arguably laughable. All you'll do is further anger your assailant by producing it. afishhunter's got it right. "For self defense, get a cane or a good walking/hiking stick/staff, and/or some 10% pepper bear spray." I'm in the pepper spray camp myself.
 
NJBillK said:
The DPx Heat is nice. I forgot I had one though...

Mine is a first run with Sleipnir (sp), it is a nice steel, holds a toothy edge for quite some time on abrasive materials, I use double walled cardboard as a guage.

Sleipnir took a finer edge then my BK24 in d2 and held its working edge just as long, if not a bit longer. It also held its edge longer than my other steels (1095crovan, O1, s35vn, W1 with a 59-60hrc avg for the bunch).
-But when it was taken thinner (est. 20°-25°) it did exhibit some chipping, enough that it was visible with a naked eye. I put a steeper small bevel back on it from a thinner convex and it has resolved the issue.

It has a nice four finger grip but the thumb stud forces the knife to be opened in a similar fashion to the sebenza. If you push straight out or up, you fight the pivot and it takeseems a lot to open it, and it gets to be painful. But once you figure out the sweep to it and it becomes muscle memory, it is painless and smooth.

I haven't used the glass breaker on a window, but I did drop it on a spare tile while in my garage and it broke that easily enough. It is also sharp to the touch enough that some complain and have removed thiers or purchased/rounded theirs out by chucking it in a drill and spinning it on some SiC sandpaper and a mouse pad.

The bottle opener works as a wave, but isn't as efficient as a spyderco or emerson wave. One unintended(?) effect this has on the deployment of the blade is, if you don't want to use the wave, it doesn't open the knife, but when you want it to work, You make it work.

The pocket clip is functional and deep carry. It will bend if it gets hung up, easier than my spyderco or crk products. Prior to a few threads a month ago, I haven't thought about the ergos of it and I went through all of my knives. I found the DPx to be the most noticeable and my large 21 seb to be the second most.

But, after all of that, I still forgot I owned it... it isn't much of a standout which might work well in your case.
Click to expand...

Very informative! Thanks. DPx only seems to make the left handed version as d2 in OD. This doesn't bother me since I am new to collecting as well as sharpening. I think d2 will be more forgiving when sharpening. wish I could get the handle in a different color though.
 
Often times, those who aren't too familiar with sharpening don't take kindly to d2...

You will need diamond stones, or SiC sandpaper/freehand, and a steady hand at that. I am insure as to how exactly SiC will round a carbide when used with poor form.
 
This is an absolutely fantastic wealth of knowledge. I'm leaning towards 'anything with a wave' because of quick deployment, but some of the non-waved blades that have been recommended are absolutely beautiful (Small Seb especially). I'll be setting aside some time to look at every single recommendation in considerable detail, and I'll definitely drop a line back here to let everybody know the choice I went for.

The concerns about defense adaptability are absolutely well founded, but I've had a midget fixed blade get me out of a pinch before effectively, and I believe that I could adapt this as needed. I also carry pepper spray on my person.

In terms of sharpening, I've got a few DMT hones and a Sharpmaker that've worked extremely well in touching up most blades. I've found D2, for the most part, to not be wholly unapproachable, but I'll keep warnings in mind.
 
Dang that 3 inch requirement. There are so many amazing blades that ring in just over between 3.125 and 3.25. But I guess I'm probably like afishhunter, a weighted cane or walking stick would probably be a better self defense tool. For me it's a .45, and really feel fortunate to have that option as I know that's not always possible. My daughter just moved into a not-so-nice part of town and is counting down days until she is old enough to get her permit. She's been on her own since 17, but still is shy of 21. So her options are limited also. We often discuss all of her non-lethal options available. Anyhoo....

I've never had the need for a knife specifically for self defense, but would think the ability for a strong and positive grip would be almost as important as blade shape and ease of opening. I'd want it to be fat enough to lock that sucker in my fist. And for opening, I'd probably want something that had multiple options such as flipper/Spyder hole, or wave/disc etc. But still just spit balling. Here's a few I've got on my shelf.

Spyderco Domino. 3" and an amazing flipper. Fast with flipper, fast with spyderhole, or slow with spyderhole. But don't know how well the leaf blade would do in self defense.

On the cheaper side, the Kershaw Emerson cqc-5k. Liner lock with g10 slabs on both sides make it a bit fatter to grip than the frame lock versions. Opens slow with disc, or fast with wave.

Next I threw in something just a tad over the 3" mark, just in case gambling with 1/8" is an option. The ZT0808. Amazing flipper, stout modified clip point, and solid chunky titanium slabs. Of these four, would probably be my first choice if I was willing to under measure the blade. Wonder if it could be ground just a bit back at the sharpening choil to shorten the cutting edge to three even.

And last the Spyderco Delica as suggested by many. I don't have a waved version that better fits the dual use need. It's not my favorite knife I own, but a darn good one none the less.

118dl5j.jpg
 
I really appreciate my small sebenza 21, but I do not consider it suitable for self defence. it is a strong knife - no problem there, but there is very little provision to keep your hand sliding over the blade should you be actually stabbing into something else than just a cardboard box. Also the handle is on the small side for that purpose. I would rather look at some ZT or Emerson models (I do not have any experience there, just some designs look more suitable for that kind of use). The Kershaw Emerson shown above could also fit the bill while leaving most of your budget intact :)
 
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