I am new to knives and looking for one to carry.

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Klein Helmer

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Hello everyone,

I am new here and this seems like an informative and quality forum. I recently decided that I would like to purchase and carry a knife. I was initially drawn to fixed blades, but soon found out that they are illegal in the cities in which I live/spend my time (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.) Then I started looking at assist opening knives, but found out that these, while not specifically outlawed in Minneapolis, are illegal in St. Paul. That struck me as strange seeing as I am allowed to carry a handgun after attending a two hour course, but I digress. As I understand it, for carrying purposes I am limited to a non spring blade folding knife of which the blade is less than four inches. I had several ideas in mind, but I found out they were all spring assisted. This is really quite frustrating and I am hoping that some people with a greater familiarity with this subject matter will be able to advise me. I need help picking a knife.

These are the attributes with which I am most concerned:

Quality - I am only interested in a knife from a tested and true maker.
Blade Length: I am looking for a blade that is four inches in length or just under.
Heft: I am looking for a heavy, sturdy knife.

To help give a more specific idea of what I am looking for, I was ready to buy the original CRKT The Natural 7085W (3.88" blade, over 10 oz in weight) until I found out that it was spring assisted.

http://www.bladehq.com/item--CRKT-The-Natural-Spring-Assisted--11412

crkt-natural-7085w.jpg


If anyone can point me in the direction of something like this that is not spring assisted I would really appreciate it.

I am sure this is a common gripe around here, but I had absolutely no idea how restrictive and nonsensical knife laws were. I cannot believe that knives are not a protected form of self defense, or at the very least, there are not permits available to allow a person to carry a knife specifically for defense.

Thank you,

- Helmer
 
Welcome to BF Helmer. You're right, this place is packed with very knowledgeable people who are always willing to help. I understand your frustrations w/ knife laws, while their intention is to help keep people safe I think they really just inhibit us knife folks.

Only question I have for you after reading your first post is what's your budget? Let us know and I'm sure suggestions will start rolling in. I look forward to having another fellow BF member around!
 
Just about anything by Spyderco, Benchmade, or Kershaw that fits your size requirements should be a good knife. Those three alone will give you a very sizable pool to choose from. Heavy duty usually means Benchmade to me, but the other 2 also have heavy duty models. Have fun!
 
fetzer85 said:
Welcome to BF Helmer. You're right, this place is packed with very knowledgeable people who are always willing to help. I understand your frustrations w/ knife laws, while their intention is to help keep people safe I think they really just inhibit us knife folks.

Only question I have for you after reading your first post is what's your budget? Let us know and I'm sure suggestions will start rolling in. I look forward to having another fellow BF member around!
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Hi, thanks for your response. I think for my first knife I would like the budget to be about three hundred dollars; although I would be willing to go a bit higher if it would make a significant difference.
 
I'd check out the Kershaw Junkyard Dog (it's a flipper and heavy duty, so it opens quick and is at about the same price as the CRKT) and the Benchmade 275 Adamas (quite possibly the strongest production folder around).
 
Spring-assisted are illegal in St. Paul?? I grew up there and recall seeing them in various sporting goods stores. Check around, if they are for sale then they are legal to own.

As to a recommendation of a "sturdy" pocket-knife, do you have a price limit? And why the insistence on weight? Lots of "heavy duty" folders available, from just about any company or maker. My "heavy duty" folders include a Benchmade Presidio 520SBK and a Gerber Propel A/O from which I removed the spring so it is even more user friendly than the AXIS-lock.
 
Is being heavy a requirement? 10 oz. Is a bit of a brick in the long run. Anyway if penetration is the main goal look for pointy knives with handles that really lock the hand in place. The pointy spydercos and benchmades would work at half or less the weight. Benchmade 710. byrd cara cara 2. Spyderco paramilitary 2. Spyderco military. Emerson persian. Double check the blade lengths.


I dont really like the brand but looking at your requirements something from cold steel would probably do the trick. Maybe the cold steel recon folder. Gerber also makes the gerber gator which has one of the best handles out there and a pointy tip, it is not so good at cutting stuff though.
 
Klein Helmer said:
These are the attributes with which I am most concerned:

Quality - I am only interested in a knife from a tested and true maker.
Blade Length: I am looking for a blade that is four inches in length or just under.
Heft: I am looking for a heavy, sturdy knife.
Click to expand...

ZT 0200 - 4" blade. 154CM steel. Manual, flipper opening. Fantastic ergos. Built like a tank (thick, heavy, solid). A beast of a knife.
ZT 0560 - 3.75" blade. Elmax steel. Manual, flipper opening. Great ergos. Hinderer design. Very sturdy and somewhat heavy, but does feel lightweight for its size (in a good way).
Benchmade 710 - 3.9" blade. D2 steel. Manual, thumbstud opening. Axis lock. Not very heavy, but plenty sturdy.

I don't have first-hand experience with the ones below, but opinions on them seem to be generally favorable:

Benchmade Contego - 4" blade. M4 steel. Manual, thumbstud opening. Axis lock. Glass breaker.
Benchmade Adamas - 3.8" blade. D2 steel. Manual, thumbstud opening. Axis lock.
 
Spyderco Millitary, Paramillitary 2 (these r tuff to find without getting gouged in the wallet) Manix 2 xl any of these should serve you well and cost you less than $150 US. Ontario rat model 1 if you are in a really tight budget is probably the best bang for your buck out there My personal fav is a benchmade AFCK. unfortunately it is long since discontinued and hard to find even on the forums. hope this helps
 
Another vote for the Benchmade Adamas. It hits all your requirements dead on for a price tag of around $125 new.
 
If you are really new to knives, I would suggest not spending your entire funds on one knife, but rather buy a couple lower-priced quality knives (Ontario Rat 1/2, Spyderco Tenacious, Endurance etc.) to find out what you like in a knife and what you don't. Its not rare that I really like a knife when I see it on the web, but after actually holding and using (very important) I might not like it as much as I though I would.

Just my 2 cents.
 
you said your budget is around 300$ and you want a heavy, sturdy knife? you want zero tolerance knives. they do have some spring assist knives (0300, 0350) so obviously you want to stay away from those. does the ordinance in st paul specifically outlaw spring assist? or autos? there's a difference in both legal terms and function.
 
oh by the way if your looking for a manual version of the crkt natural check out the crkt Crawford casper. its pretty close. its been discontinued but you can still find them online. its a whole lotta knife for 20$
 
I do not believe fixed blades are illegal to carry in Minnesota as long as blade length is under 4". I often carry them throughout MN without a problem. That said, your best bet in a first carry knife is a Spyderco Endura. I've carried mine for over 15 years. It will handle anything you'll likely throw at it.

Joe
 
MVF said:
Just about anything by Spyderco, Benchmade, or Kershaw that fits your size requirements should be a good knife. Those three alone will give you a very sizable pool to choose from. Heavy duty usually means Benchmade to me, but the other 2 also have heavy duty models. Have fun!
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I appreciate it. I have found a great candidate from Benchmade (the Adamas 275), Spyderco and Kershaw have such enormous catalogs, are there any you could suggest that are non spring assisted, heavy, and have blades in the neighborhood of (but under) four inches?
 
calvinw said:
Spyderco Endura 4, with a full flat ground (FFG).
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I appreciate the response. People here seem to have a great amount of knowledge and I'm glad I decided to join. I looked at that Spyderco, it's a beautiful knife, it's just not quite as burly as what I'm looking for.

bolmeteus6 said:
I'd check out the Kershaw Junkyard Dog (it's a flipper and heavy duty, so it opens quick and is at about the same price as the CRKT) and the Benchmade 275 Adamas (quite possibly the strongest production folder around).
Click to expand...

That Adamas is sweet! That is definitely the top contender right now. I really appreciate you bringing it to my attention.
 
Klein Helmer said:
I appreciate it. I have found a great candidate from Benchmade (the Adamas 275), Spyderco and Kershaw have such enormous catalogs, are there any you could suggest that are non spring assisted, heavy, and have blades in the neighborhood of (but under) four inches?
Click to expand...

Spyderco Gayle Bradley - heavy duty, super steel, great knife
 
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