I really am interested in getting a Skyline, but I just can't stand spear-point blades. I would love to hear somebody with Skyline experience say that the liner lock stinks on it or that the flipper is annoying to use. I don't think the knife is too lightweight for actual use. It's the SAME weight as the new Delica FFGs, and if anyone started saying that the Delica is "too light" for hard use, fire and brimstone would most likely rain down upon them for "bashing" Spyderco. Anyway, like I said, I don't have the Skyline, but I'm actually interested in what others have to say about it, especially any cons of the knife -- besides the weight haha.
So, to answer the OP's request! I can try to sell you on a Kabar Dozier.
The Kabar Dozier is the same weight. It also doesn't have liners, and you have the option of the thumbhole or the thumbstud. I kinda prefer these over flippers because on flippers, there is no "follow through," as in you just sort of shoot it off and have faith that the inertia eventually engages the lock, whereas on the thumbhole/stud, your finger can follow the entire blade all the way through to the lock.
The Kabar dozier also profits US-owned company Kabar, I believe, although the knife itself is made in Taiwan. The Kershaw Skyline is made in the US, but it's profits go to a Japanese(?) owned company (KAI), so we'll say that point is a tie.
They are basically the same size knife, and I believe that AUS-8 is a very adequate steel, just like 14c28 sandvik is.
The couple of pros that the dozier has OVER your skyline is that it is about $15 to $20 less expensive, and it has a satin finish. There have been several complaints on this forum of Kershaw's bead-blasted blades rusting fairly easily (like my father's Kershaw Blur), but take this pro with a grain of salt: I haven't seen this with 14c28 steel, only the old 440c and the 13c26. Now, the only big differences between these two knives are the price (dozier wins), the opening method (personal preference, I like thumbholes/studs more overall), and the locking mechanism (I like both mid-back-locks AND liner locks, so it's a tie for me).
Another neat thing about the dozier is that you can modify the smoothness of opening. Since it is a back-lock, when you take the knife apart, you can sand/grind down the "hook" thing on the actual back-lock lever, and that will make opening the $15 knife a LOT smoother. My father and I did it to ours, and it still has great blade retention, but we made it to where if you depress the back-lock you can just flick it open and closed, kinda like an axis lock but in a mid-back-lock form.
I hope you get one so I can say I told you so. Haha just kiddin, but I do like how your title is so daring.
Edit: Awww I just remembered the Skyline is made of G10, so if that specially-named plastic is $15 better than non-specially-named plastic to you, then I guess the Skyline is still on top.
. for a $30 folder, the ontario rat 1 and spyderco tenacious/persistence has got the skyline beat.
