Lightning OTF: A realistic review.

DrRollinstein · 2026-04-01T03:37:07-0400

art_Allen said:
I recently bought one of these because I wanted to see what all the hype was. I was surprised to see that it's really not worth the $34 I paid. It's a brick with very poor ergonomics. I have a a Livewire and I pulled it out to compare and it's easy to see where these extra dollars went. The lightning is simply a low quality toy. Advice is avoid the lightning and save your money for a real knife like a Livewire. HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!

The livewire is literally 10x the price of a Lightning. Its a fine knife for 30 bucks.

Also ignoring the age on this thread, its incredible to see people complaining about blade play on a 30 dollar OTF in a time long before the deadlock or ZBP Microtechs ever existed.

jfk1110 · 2026-04-02T01:00:02-0400

DrRollinstein said:
The livewire is literally 10x the price of a Lightning. Its a fine knife for 30 bucks.

Also ignoring the age on this thread, its incredible to see people complaining about blade play on a 30 dollar OTF in a time long before the deadlock or ZBP Microtechs ever existed.

My 10-12 yr old self would be ecstatic with a $30 OTF.....

.....Now not.so much....

DrRollinstein · 2026-04-02T01:45:22-0400

jfk1110 said:
My 10-12 yr old self would be ecstatic with a $30 OTF..........Now not.so much....

Cant say ive been in a rush to replace the ones i gave away, but we arent in the majority to be fair. Most people are ecstatic to play with a lightning. Fantastic gifts!