High end flipper recommendations wanted

J

Jumbi8

Joined
Apr 1, 2018
Messages
306
Hi,

I'm super new to quality knives. I had been carrying a kershaw leek, but thought I would have a look at the higher end for my light use EDC pocket folder. I'll only use it for light duty like opening/cutting boxes and cutting sushi to split with the wife when out at dinner, no whittling, prying, hard use, etc.

I prefer a smaller knife, preferably 3" or less and a handle 3.5-4.0"ish.
That being said, I have ordered the few listed below, even though some are a bit larger because I don't know what else is available (higher quality) in my desired size.

So I have ordered and waiting to arrive:
ZT 450c
Cris Reeve small inkosi (not a flipper, but wanted to try it anyway)
Spyderco chaparral (I have the delica, which I find a tad too long, and the dragonfly 2 which I find a tad too short, was looking for something in between size) again, not flippers, but I am impressed with the feel and functionality of these)

Just yesterday I discovered Shirogorov, and would love to see a Neon ultra light in person. I did click the "notify me via email" at the Recon 1 site. That hati is just too large for my uses. I don't want to scare everyone when I flip out my knife in public, so, smaller and flying under the radar design is better for this regard and I have smaller hands (but big feet, hah)

I live in the San Francisco bay area, is there ANY store that carries these higher end knives I could go fondle? Seems I have to buy them to see them at this point...
 
Last edited:
Last time I was in San Francisco I stumbled onto a small knife shop called We Be Knives on Pier 39. I didn't see anything from CRK or Shirogorov, but they had a huge selection from a lot of brands like ZT, benchmade, Spyderco, and even brands like WE, Reate, and Olamic. One thing to note though, was that when I was there, the employee there seemed like he had better things to do than answer my questions, so I probably would have stayed longer if they had friendlier customer service. I did get to handle some great blades though that I haven't seen in the shops I've been to before.
 
Take a look at the Steel Will Intrigue. Only about $40, D2 steel; good flipper, black G10 type scales. Getting a good knife doesn't mean you have to sell a kidney. Available via mail from Knifecenter (a BF supporting dealer). Great service.
Rich
 
I just got this ZT 0609. Can't recommend it enough. Thin, light and with a blade only slightly longer than 3".

ooWJFIN.jpg
 
You made a good call with the 0450. It is very nice. Probably one of the best flippers in the around 3 inch category and coming in under $200. The one I would recommend is not really high end but sort of middle of the road. The Boos Aero Mini. It's small and compact, and the action is my favorite of all of my flippers. It's very crisp I guess I would say. And the sound is amazingggg. I have handled a lot in the 150 - 400 price range. Never handled a Shiro, but the action on this Aero Mini is wonderful for me. May just be my opinion but check it out ...
Also, you would have to get one on the secondary market right now. I did and picked one up for 185. And one more. The North Arm Skaha is supposed to be crazy good. It has a 3.3 inch blade which is big for me too but I have one on pre-order because I just had to see the hype for myself. Hope that helps. Just my two cents.
 
3 recommendations:
North Arms Skaha II (Good luck getting on their books)
451 Freeman (A little big for you, but I do like their aesthetic options)
Olamic Cutlery Busker (I think at a 3.5'' scale most people's pinkies would hang off, so I'm assuming you're fine with that)
 
Spartan Metis is another great under 3 inch flipper.
So is the Olamic busker if you like the shape, but it is a front flipper.

spartan-blades-metis-flipper-knife-s35vn-steel-frame-lock-63.png

olamic-busker-660x495.jpg
 
Bit north of SF but there is Sonoma Cutlery in Petaluma. Randomly stumbled on this place one time traveling and they had a really good selection of production and a pretty decent collection of customs.
You could always give em a call and ask about their inventory before burning the gas.
Also being in SF you should look up TAD who has a B&M. Their base model the Dauntless is thumb stud opening but a great knife. Maybe a bit larger than you are looking for but worth a look.
If you are looking at Shiro and are intrigued by the Neon you want the Hation. Neon with CF instead of full Ti. I have a Neon and it is terrific but ohh man that Hation is something else:thumbsup:
Good luck with your search.
Cheers
 
Recently got a 3" Hinderer XM-18 it's roughly the size of the Leek but not as petite. Would recommend it sweet knife
 
you are not gonna like my answer. You want a "high end" according to your post and the Shirigorov is in another league in comparison to the others.
If you can afford it do it. They are referred as the Sebensa of the flippers.
I have a Hati and is big but carries very small.
the neon will be raise the bar to perfection.

Cheers
 
I am going to try to find one at a "cough" "Decent price" There is one available (ultra lite) for $720, but I think I can do better than that so I'll look for a while.

At $600 delivered for a mint one I would say, "Shut up and take my money!"
 
The Chaparral may be a great choice for you, if you’re OK with it not being a flipper. Great fit and finish for the price, and nothing tops it as a small slicer.

If you can get one, the Massdrop Ferrum Forge Gent may meet your needs at a low cost.

At around twice the price, the Lion Steel TRE seems to have a lot of fans. I haven’t experienced it myself.

The Busker is a compelling option. I’m waiting to try one in hand to see whether it’s big enough for my hand.

The ZT 0609 really is a great high-quality flipper, although slightly bigger than you specified. It carries like a small knife and has an outstanding blade.
 
The spyderco chaparral arrived today (2.09 oz and oh soo thin at .318") and I really like it, perfect size for me so it is a keeper. I really, really like this chaparral. A bit of resistance while opening the blade, so not perfect, but definitely an A+ given the price point. What a lovely little knife.

I'm keeping the Dragonfly 2 also even though it is a tad small in the handle. I'm sending the delica back to Amazon.

I'm still on the lookout for a Shirogorov neon ultra lite at a decent price.

A ZT 0450 is arriving Saturday
A CR small inkosi is arriving Saturday
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I think I see the phrase "high end flipper" and Shiro comes to mind. I don't even own one, but I have seen endless posts about their superior flipping here. I think they are all bigger than you would like though. To me that is a pretty standard size. I've been eyeballing the python micarta F3R...

Anyway, everyone's definition of high end is different. Might help to set a cap on what you are willing to spend. Although it looks like as much as $600 based on what you said.
 
The Shiro neon ultra lite is small, only 80mm/3.15" blade and 190mm/7.48" overall, so though a tad larger than I might say is perfect for me at the moment, I think it will be close enough if it feels as good as "they" all say. From what I've read and from the videos I've seen on youtube, the Shiro neon ultra lite seems to be the most obvious choice to satisfy the "high end" flipper purchase.

At the moment, I'm hoping I can get by with just the Spyderco Chaparral for most days and the Shiro when I want to impress myself ;) so I'm willing to spend the bucks to keep my collection smaller-I said that with watches too, I was so naive...now my watch collection is down to 7. I tried many top brands to see what I liked, so I'm kind of trying the same thing here, except there appear to be many more really nice quality knives that appeal to me then there were watches. I will be selling a few in the for sale section on this forum soon as I shouldn't keep all that I ordered to try. I'm going with the buy once, cry once philosophy.

While the $3000+ custom Shiros are way way too $$$$ for me to feel comfortable using and wearing as an EDC, I'm not really capping the cost of a single knife if it could be a lifetime keeper. I'd say the neon us about the most I am willing to go at this point.

I will probably end up with a half dozen and love them all. At the moment, the Chaparral is my only knife in the "definite keeper" category.
 
Last edited:
You'll like the ZT0450. I love mine! Flips so smoothly with solid lockup.
 
The ZT0450 and Small Inkosi are 2 terrific knives but very different. The Inkosi is a hydraulically smooth thumb stud knife. The quality is top notch and it’s industrially pretty. It’s also pretty small. It will last forever. The ZT is the smoothest flipper I own. It’s not as heavy duty as the CRK but for most of us that’s a moot point. Both belong in a collection of smaller sized knives.
 
Thank you everyone for your comments, they are very helpful in orienting me to my new hobby :)

My uses will be pretty light duty, from cutting sushi rolls to zip ties and cardboard boxes at the worst, but I do enjoy the finer made items. I prefer a Spyderco or Shiro to a box cutter to cut boxes. So while I don't need anything meant to cut wire or be hammered on, I do want the finest made folder as my edc. I'll have to try a few different flavors to see what I end up keeping. I'm hoping I don't find the ZT 0450 too big because it sounds like everyone really likes these things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top