Help me choose my everyday carry.

Visigothan · Jan 5, 2006

Greetings; I'm new to bladeforums, but I've lurked for a little.

I'm well familiar with the knife carry laws in California (Los Angeles specifically) so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for, but I need recommendations from people who have a "tried and true" folder for everyday open (belt clip) carry.

Here's what I need:

High quality steel - stronger the better
Belt clip - I need to carry openly, mostly for quick/frequent access
3" (no more, no less, if at all possible) blade - two blades preferred if possible
Locking blade(s), with a biased towards closed, but will open with a flick of the wrist (I dislike thumb studs and similar - I was considering the spring-assisted Kershaw blades).
Partial serration on the one blade, or full serration on the secondary blade

I don't have a particular brand bias, so I'm willing to consider nearly anything. I dislike tanto blades, but I could be convinced to get one if the testimonials were good enough.

Anyone have any suggestions?

cosine · Jan 5, 2006

The $40 Wal-Mart Native would fulfill a fair amount of your requirements.

stevekt · Jan 5, 2006

The clips you see on most knives are not designed to be clipped to belts. They are pocket clips similar to the clips on pens. The knife goes in the pocket with the clip on the outside of the pocket. This keeps the knife at the top of the pocket for easy access. You will likely mangle the clip if you clip the knife to your belt.

barrabas74 · Jan 5, 2006

the kershaw leek fits most of those requirements, 3 inches, spring assisted, clip, you could do better on the the steel. If you had a lil leeway on the 3 inches I would suit you up with a paramilitary(3 3/16)or a native(3 1/8) or an 80mm manix. But your post seems pretty adamint about a 3 inch blade period. If you did have leeway then you could go witht he benchmade switchback which has a 3.3 inch blade with a secondary blade at 2.1 inches. Main blade being S30v with the secondary being 440c.....But they have thumb studs and no assist open but with the axis lock still very good. CRKT makes a folder called the RON Lake, it has 3 inch blade w/o a thumb stud it has a classic fingernail cutout, with somewhat clip point blade and an aluminum frame. Then you could get a Cold Steel Medium Voyager for faily cheap it has a 3 inch blade but it has a thumb studd.

The Ron lake and the Spyderco's and the spring assist kershwas are probably your best bet if you REALLY dont like thumb studs, I am aware that the leeks/others have thumbstuds but they arent used because of the speed assist in the back. If you want two blades however the switchback would be a fantastic choice witht he S30v blade and that secondary blade but it has a thumbstud, but you could flick it open with that axis lock. And you could get it partially serrated on the large blade. That knife probably meets the most global of your requirements except it has a larger blade than you might like and it has thumbstuds.

The Camillus heat is a little larger than you would probably like but it has spring assist too. You could get partial serrations on nearly all of them I believe maybe all of them. Oh another one is the Buck strider 881 SPX with a 3 inch blade ATS-34 and bos heat treat a beast of a lil folder but so is the manix and the para. Look around the search I did for you didnt take me that long, go to www.knifecenter.com, www.newgraham.com and there are others that are set up for you too see the knives options and steel make up and price and everything.
have fun

Smudge · Jan 5, 2006

your requirements may be a little tough to match exactly. I like the Spyderco Native and Delica (the Native being 1/8" larger than 3" and the Delica being 1/8" shorter than 3"). I also like the Benchmade Mini Griptilian. The blade is 2.90" I believe. You can get that in D2 steel from Cabelas or the Ritter version in an ever higher grade steel. If I had to choose it would either be the D2 Griptilian or Ritter mini Griptilian.

KeithAM · Jan 5, 2006

If you absolutely HAVE to have 2 blades, then I'd recommend the Benchmade 921 Switchback. My son has one, and it's a beautiful knife. The axis lock is great, and you don't need to use the thimbstud to open the main blade. Keep in mind, however, that the secondary blade is a small slipjoint.

http://www.newgraham.com/bm_921switchback.htm

I'm not aware of any production knife that fits all of your requirements -- you will likely have to compromise on something.

Visigothan · Jan 5, 2006

Sweet.

Thanks for the replies! I'm going to note down these makes and models and go try some out at my local stores. I have a large military surplus store that carries a ton of tactical folders and a large cutlery store which carries a fair number of folders, multitools and straightblades both within a few miles of me.

Re: the 3" blade requirement...

Unfortunately, with the nazi cops in California (Los Angeles especially) I'm trying to stay within the legal limits of open carry. My previous daily carry was this knife, given to me as a birthday present by my brother:

Smith & Wesson SWCH400DL

I really liked this knife, except for the thumb studs. Unfortunately, this morning as I was opening it, the plastic cracked on the handle, rendering the knife useless, as part of the lockback mechanism is held in place by the plastic on the handle. Needless to say, that angered me.

I was looking for something in that vein, as it's served me well for the last two years.

silvercall · Jan 5, 2006

The knife you posted kind of reminds me of a Spyderco Dyad. Not too sure of the specs on the Dyad but I know its comes with a plain edge blade and a serrated blade. Anyways, happy hunting and i hope you find what you're looking for.

-Jay

EDITED to add: do a search on "dyad" and you'll find plenty of info here on BF. And even though it may be discontinued Im sure you could pick one up somewhere