I would appreciate suggestions for a hard use folder.

I

Inspectorlee

Joined
Nov 1, 2002
Messages
11
Hello all! I am new to this forum but have been a long time knife lover. I know that this topic has been beaten to death but the search hasn't been working lately. I need to buy a new folder and thought I knew which one to buy...until I came to this forum. Now, my head is spinning with the names of companys that I've never heard of before. I will list my requirements below and hope that fellow forum members can point me in the right direction. Please bear with me if I sound dumb because this is my first post here.

1. I will NOT be using the knife for combat or anything among those lines. In the past, I've used my knife to cut yards of carpet, open canned food, whittle wood, cut pvc piping, cut branches and wooden dowels, cut fabric, hammered in two small nails, and have even used it as a chef's knife in the kitchen on numerous occasions (it sees a lot of greasy work when cutting meat).

2. My current folder has a 5 inch plain blade with rubber inserts in the metal handle. Yes, it's quiet heavy. It's made by some guy called Gil Hibben if it matters. I do prefer big folders and would like the blade to be at least 4 inches if not bigger.

3. I usually carry the knife in my pocket regardless of whether it has a clip or not.

4. I am afraid that I don't know all the types of steel and their respective strengths and weaknesses. And I don't have the faintest idea about coatings either. As long as the knife can do the above tasks, I'll be happy.

5. I take my knife fishing a lot and as a result, it commonly gets wet. I shake the water out after use, wipe the blade, and then place it back in my pocket. So far no rust. I would like my new blade to be able to perform in the same manner.

6. My budget is around $200-250. The companies that I am familar with (and was considering buying from) are Cold Steel, Emerson, and TOPS. That's why I came to this forum to see what people thought of them but sadly, I can't do searches. I have not bought a knife from any of the above companies and only know of them through their websites.

7. Are there any other companies that I should considered? Please list them and the model of the knife that I should study up on.

Basically, I need a knife that can take physical abuse (hammering nails and opening canned foods) and yet can be rinsed off and thrown back in my pocket where lint and dirt will collect in the liner. If I am missing anything, please feel free to offer suggestions. Thanks in advance, and I'm glad I found this forum.

Inspectorlee
 
Sebenza would be my recommendation.

But you are not supposed to use the knife for something that's not designed for; such as, opening canned food, etc. for your own safety and your knife's.

A little of my $ 0.02
 
something that you wont mind beating to death? a greco!!!http://www.grecoknives.com/

the fixed blades and folders are build like a.....well tanks taken...let me think....urmmmmm lets just say its built tuff and made to be abused:D
 
You need to purchase two items, 1. a knife, and 2. a multitool. A big blade that is a great slicer, will fit in the pocket, and can do all the cutting you want it to do would be the Camillus Cuda MAXX. You can pick one up for under $150.00 new from online stores. That would still leave you enough to pick up a mulitool that could handle all your hammering, can opening , and such. That is my opinion!
 
I think the 5 inch cold steel voyager might be for you. YOu will not find another tough use folder that is more stainless. I really like the MOD Dieter CQD MK 1, for toughness, but its only 3.75 inches long blade. Big handle to grab onto though. Very sharp and very tough. Would meet the rest of the requirments. The tops CQT magnum might also fill the bill. Just a heads up. Milwaukee County/city have a knife ordinance that says your guilty a county charge of carrying a concealed weapon, anytime you walk around their crappy county with a blade of 3 inches or greater in length. They do prosecute you and its a fine of 300-1000 bucks if they catch you. People have been caught in all manner of non-offensive ways, like routine traffic stops and the knife is spotted in the glove box or console area etc. If they search you for any reason your busted. If your a cop......well then ignore the restriction.........as you have freedoms nobody else does. Most knife owners find out about the law when its too late. I doubt use around home or job will get you in any trouble, but driving and getting stopped for any reason will or walking around.
 
If you can wait a bit longer and save a little, get a strider folder. They are about 350 bucks new and if you can find someone willing to sell theirs you can probably get a used one for 300, maybe less. If you really need it right now I would get a buck/strider folder...someone I know has a friend who uses a buck/strider in his transmission shop for just about everything that needs to be separated (seals, bearings, etc...)

Regards,
Steve
 
Maybe two knives would be best for you.
A one-hander/tactical locking knife would be great for the typical cutting tasks, and a Swiss Army knife or multi-tool would take care of the can opening, pvc pipes, wooden dowels, ect.
If you do get a multi-tool or a SAK, get one with a saw--you will find it much better for precise cutting of dowels and such.


My recommendations:
For the one-hander/tactical: The Benchmade Griptilian or Mini-Griptilian.

For the SAK or multitool: The Gerber Pro-Scout or the Victorinox Locksmith. The Locksmith has a wood saw and a metal file/saw. The Gerber has an adaptor that lets you exchange jig-saw blades (wood or metal saw blades).

Good luck,
Allen.
 
1.) Cold Steel Voyagers or Spyderco Endura. ($50)
2.) Spyderco Military, Chinook, or Al Mar Sere ($130 range)
3.) Camillus CUDA Maxx (BIG knife, but it won't fail, around $150)

Those would be my recommendations. I personally like the Cold Steel Voyager (Large 4" blade, plain edge, clip point) for most of the tasks you described. I would not open cans with it, point is somewhat fine. But it's AUS-8 Stainless, and it gets wicked sharp. If you did lose it, replace it for around $50. I'm sure you could buy one here for less than that if you posted in the Want To Buy forum.

The Chinook (440-V) and Al Mar Sere (VG-10) are heavy knives. Super stout in all aspects. Both have stainless blades. The Military is much lighter but still a strong knife (also (440-V). You can pick up a Military here also for around $80 if you look.

I have no first-hand experience with the Maxx. I had a 5" Cold Steel Voyager that i really liked and did not find that to be too big for pocket carry. The Maxx' blade is only 1/2" longer. D-2 tool steel is "almost stainless". If you keep it dry, should not rust.

If you want to stretch your budget by about $50, you could also pick up a large Sebenza second hand. Great knife, nuff said.

Just my .02. Hope this helps. I would also recommend you pick up one of those Army Surplus can openers for your key chain, a multi-tool or a Swiss Army to go with your primary folder. You can beat the living snot out of the Swiss Army and keep the edge sharp on your larger folder to clean those fish with! Leo G.:D
 
I agree 100% with Art.

You can get a nice hard duty folder for $150 or less and still have enough left over for a nice multitool.

Figuring out which ones is the hard part...

:D
 
My suggestion is a SOG PowerLock (multi-tool), and either a SOG Tomcat or a Spyderco Chinook. All three of these are "hard use" tools.
 
Take a look at Strider Knives, the AR and DB are the folders and they have a smaller SNG coming out, but like I said it's smaller.

Buck Knives has the Strider (model 880 I think) that is the cheaper version of the above Strider AR or DB.

Camillus has the Cuda Maxx (my newest edc)

Spyderco has a couple that might be what you are looking for.

Benchmade is a well respected company.

Greco makes a cheap heavy-duty folder www.cqcknives.com (not the most intuitive name to find Greco's.

I have no experience with Tops, but people seem to like them.

CRKT (Columbia River Knife & Tool) make the Ryan model 7 and the prowler and probably a couple of others, and they are cheap.

CRK (Chris Reeves Knives) would fit the bill, but they are around $300+ and the larger "only" has a 3.5-inch blade.

Emerson Knives has the Commander.

Smith & Weson have the new FL1 and FL2 that for $4o or so, has 4-inch blade that you wouldn't mind using hard.

There are many more, go to a (multiple) Knife Selling web site and start doing searches and have fun.
 
I would get a PCKS 110 with a BG-42 blade, its got to be one of the most durable knives ever made.
 
"5. I take my knife fishing a lot and as a result, it commonly gets wet. I shake the water out after use, wipe the blade, and then place it back in my pocket. So far no rust. I would like my new blade to be able to perform in the same manner. "

Not exactly a knife suggestion, but since you mentioned this, I thought I'd suggest you pick up some tuf-cloth or tuf-glide to help resist corrosion. It's basically a compound that you apply to metal every now and then that will greatly decrease rust from moisture. If you're going to spend a hundred bucks or more for a knife, you might as well keep it rust-free for a few dollars.

Here's a link to a page with some of their products
http://www.onestopknifeshop.com/store/sentry-solutions.html

I'll second recommendations from anything from Spyderco, wide range of knives that you can consider depending on what you like.
 
I just wanted to say thanks to all who have replied so far. You guys have given me a lot of food for thought. It might take a while to make a decision (plus, I'm gonna wait for the search to work) but I'm confident now that I will be able to make a good one. Thanks again to all. Plus, I'll try to post a review of whatever I buy after I use it for a few months since I tend to abuse my knives (not on purpose but they're just so damn convenient!).

Inspectorlee
 
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