Kwaiken or Urban Trapper?

D

Dmuzzy

Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
13
Hello, I am looking at either a Kwaiken (or mini) or an Urban Trapper. Both seem to fit the design, asthetics, and price point that I am looking for.

I am looking for opinions of those that have handled both. Which did you prefer, and which would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Damon Muzzy
 
Last edited:
I bought an Urban Trapper with G10 scales today. I had originally wanted to buy the Charles Marlowe because it is extremely close to the custom Marlowe I used to have. If the blade had a polished finish, it would be close to identical (I still may buy one.) the Urban Trapper caught my eye because it is so light and thin. It flips nicely too. It reminds of the ZT 0450, and that is a very good thing!
 
I'm sorry I can't speak to the trapper, but my CF kwaiken flipper is the unquestioned jewel of my young and modest collection. I know the fit and finish on bokers can be hit and miss, but absolutely everything is immaculate and perfectly centered. I admit that mine was "gritty" in its flipping action when I got it, but after breaking it down (dear god are those bearings tiny), cleaning and reoiling, it is now just a joy to flip and a gorgeous piece. Almost certainly going to get the coco bolo trapper to add a wood-accented knife to the collection so perhaps I'll update this post then.

tl;dr: Kwaiken is awesome, you won't be disappointed.
 
Dmuzzy said:
Hello, I am looking at either a Kwaiken (or mini) or an Urban Trapper. Both seem to fit the design, asthetics, and price point that I am looking for.

I am looking for opinions of those that have handled both. Which did you prefer, and which would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Damon Muzzy
Click to expand...

Had a Kwaiken, very nice knife, didn't get any pocket time so I traded it out for something else.
Same with the Urban trapper, sort of regret getting rid of both.
The Idea of a mini Kwaiken is very exciting and I have a G10 Trapper coming in today to replace my other one
 
I have the full-size Kwaiken (Ti scales), and two Urban Trappers (the original and the new cocobolo). For me the Urban Trapper is a better design, or at least more efficient. You get essentially the same size blade in a much smaller and lighter (and in my opinion more attractive) package with the Urban Trapper. Not to mention the price difference.

That said, if you are looking for something that will hold up to heavy use, the Kwaiken is going to win that argument. The Urban Trapper is just a little too delicate for heavy cutting tasks. That is perfect for me since my normal use is light duty cutting - opening packages, cutting food, etc. YMMV
 
Let's keep it simple,

Urban trapper- great edc - it's my fancy steak knife, I also use it to cut up fruits and paper, card boards, plastic packaging and what not.

Kwaiken - will do everything the Trapper can and also capable of chopping down a small tree, if you love gardening or outdoor camping / hunting etc...

Kwaiken is beefier and heavier, they are almost 2 completely different knife even thou they have similar design cues in terms of shapes and material used.

I think the smaller baby Kwaiken that's coming out would be a home run and that's the one I would get but I already got both the Kwaiken and urban trapper and I love using both! Well.... I love using anything with a really sharp edge on it :)
 
I received the Trapper today, really nice knife, quick opening, very light but sharp;

Boker_UT.jpg~original


Boker_UT_Blade.jpg~original


Boker_UT_closed.jpg~original


G2
 
Thanks it's quite sleek and very sharp, light enough to wear in your shirt pocket too.
I thought the pic's came out nice as well ;)
G2
 
Love the Trappers, I've got 3 of them now-the titanium with holes, the Cocabola (sp?) and the carbon fiber. The CF is by far my favorite, so light and grippy. It's about the same f&f as the others, maybe just a step above. Great gents folder. Cocabola would be my second choice; might sell the other one, it can be kind of tricky to open.

I like my Kwaiken but I love my Trapper!
 
Last edited:
I can't speak for the Trapper but the Titanium Kwaiken is a home run. Possibly the trapper is more slim and easier to carry but both seem to have that straight profile which beats almost every other handle/blade shape out there when it comes to ease of carry.
 
How is the detent on the trapper? I saw in a video that it doesn't hold the blade closed very securely.
 
I don't know about the video but I've never had a problem with the detent. I think it is perfect for a flipper, not so tight that it hurts to overcome the detent, but tight enough so that it flips with authority.

Get the CF if you're thinking about one-found a great price at GP Knives.
 
Sorry to disappoint - but the quality on this product looks pretty poor. The holes don't line up with the pins, the edge bevel on the scales is uneven, and the texturing is hit and miss.
Not for me
 
Ultramontane said:
Sorry to disappoint - but the quality on this product looks pretty poor. The holes don't line up with the pins, the edge bevel on the scales is uneven, and the texturing is hit and miss.
Not for me
Click to expand...

maybe you should have done something better with your second post than this drivel?
 
And then, of course, there's something to be said for the fact that the street price for the Urban Trapper is <$70 for the G10 version and <$60 for the original scaleless version. All things considered, I'd say those are great prices for a sleek, name-brand gentleman's folder with Ti handles/liners and a VG-10 blade. Might even be a candidate for best bang-for-the-buck gentleman's folder of the year. ;)
 
Last edited:
bld522 said:
And then, of course, there's something to be said for the fact that the street price for the Urban Trapper is <$70 for the G10 version and <$60 for the original scaleless version. All things considered, I'd say those are great prices for a sleek, name-brand gentleman's folder with Ti handles/liners and a VG-10 blade. Might even be a candidate for best bang-for-the-buck gentleman's folder of the year. ;)
Click to expand...

+1
I had an original, sold it and regretted it.
I bought one of the new g10 models and absolutely love it.
It's a lot of nice knife for the price
 
Gary W. Graley said:
I received the Trapper today, really nice knife, quick opening, very light but sharp;

Boker_UT.jpg~original


Boker_UT_Blade.jpg~original


Boker_UT_closed.jpg~original


G2
Click to expand...

Too me of the blades I'm considering the Urban Trapper is the nicest looking. I was wondering your opinion as to left handed use. The only thing holding me back is it's not ambidexterious, and when I enquired in another thread someone said the flipper could possibly open on it's own in my left pocket. You seem to know knives really well so I would appreciate your input on that.
 
Well, as I don't happen to own that knife at the moment, I would always caution the carry of a right handed clip in a left pocket mode, with the blade not snuggled up against the edge of the pocket, you can run the risk of it opening but without thumbstuds I think the chances are slimmer on this particular model, but as the saying goes, anything can happen...just when you least expect it to.

G2
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top