Looking for a first knife.

V

Verlante

Joined
Jul 6, 2013
Messages
5
Hello all!

Once again your general knowledge of knives must be requested, for I, a poor lost soul in this wonderful knew land of tools, weaponry and more is looking for his very first. I have selected my favorites, or at least some in my preferred price range. Now, I request that you give your honest opinion on these, and, if you feel like it a story on your first knife. It will help give me an idea on what I'm looking for. So thank you one and all for helping.

Sept you trolls. You know who you are.

Links:
SpiderCo Tenacious
http://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tenacious-Plain-Edge-Knife/dp/B00CHHF2PM/ref=pd_sim_sg_3

Kershaw Skyline
http://kershawguy.com/products-page/kershaw/skyline-1760-blem/

Benchmade Pardue
http://www.bladehq.com/item--530SBK-Benchmade-Pardue--1144

SpiderCo Delica
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Spyderco-Delica-Knife-w--8095

Benchmade 15055
http://www.benchmade.com/products/15055

Benchmade 916 Triage Rescue Knife
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Benchmade-916BK-Triage-Rescue-Knife--9940

ZT 0350
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Zero-Tolerance-0350--3651

Kershaw Tremor
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Kershaw-Knives-Tremor--8117

Kershaw RJ I
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Kershaw-RJ-I-Assisted-Opening-Knife--8391
 
A Benchmade Mini Grip is the ideal first knife IMHO. Its safe to operate since it keeps your fingers out of the way, its under $80, its got great steel that holds a good edge and is easy to sharpen, and its tough ad nails. It also has a thin edge that really rips through whatever you are cutting. Its small and weighs next to nothing. Its also backed up by a great warranty. The Mini Grip is also very smooth and easy to flick open.

Its not much of a weapon, but its pointy. But, it is one of those knives that still makes me wonder why I ever bought anything else. I own 3 now and still use them all the time even though they are much cheaper than my other favorites.
 
It depends on the price rang your looking into and if you are looking for something a bit smaller for EDC, or a beefier knife. I went ahead and grabbed the Spyderco Tenacious for my first knife and I was glad I did. It started the ball rolling for me to be as into knives as I am today. That said, I would also take a look at another great EDC blade, the Spyderco Sage 1(or 2,3 depending on your lock and material preference). Good luck in your search. I know it's a lot of knives to take in right off the bat!
 
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Thanks for the help guys. Sadly one problem makes it's way that I forgot to mention. I kind of have big hands so smaller knives feel kinda weird to me. That being said, I also found these two:

Mantis
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Mantis-Vuja-De-Blue-Balisong--15042

Ontario
http://www.bladehq.com/item--Ontario-RAT-Model-1--5023

My friend has the mantis and he thinks it's wonderful. I like it myself, and I like the blue.
Currently, my favorite so far is the Kershaws or the Benchmades. My favorite being the 15055. I like the style and it's a little bit more on the price than I would like, but, I would go that far if I really wanted it. Also my price range is about 30-120. Thought that might be important.
 
If you can find a Benchmade Adamas, its a beast of a knife and a forum favorite. Its perfect for larger hands.

Mantis Knives are garbage also. Garbage. Just awful.
 
I would go with Plain Spyderco Delica as a first knife. Reasonable price, easy to sharpen and maintain. Can you please specify what are main criteria for your first knife? EDC, outdoor, office use etc?

Thanks
 
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I'd say go the Spyderco Delica. Spyderco makes excellent knives and there is a reason why the Delica has been a staple of their business for so long. It also comes in a lot of blade/grind configurations, depending on your need. If you expect to be cutting a lot of rope, cloth etc you could consider getting partially serrated (that's my opinion - others will disagree :) ). For general use over a wide range of applications their plain edge flat grind should be awesome.

You may not hear too many nice things about Mantis knives on here; do a search for threads on that subject and you'll see why. Having said that, I've never held one, used one or seen one reviewed so I don't have an opinion on them :)

Also, if you're going to be dropping a bit of cash on a good knife it's worth dropping a bit of cash on a decent sharpening system and a cheap knife to practise on (ie ruin :) )
 
Delica without the wave. Perfect for a utilitarian pocket knife imo.
 
Chris Larrikin said:
You may not hear too many nice things about Mantis knives on here; do a search for threads on that subject and you'll see why. Having said that, I've never held one, used one or seen one reviewed so I don't have an opinion on them :)

Also, if you're going to be dropping a bit of cash on a good knife it's worth dropping a bit of cash on a decent sharpening system and a cheap knife to practise on (ie ruin :) )
Click to expand...

Mantis knives are meh but the Vuja De is quite unique and fun. I wouldn't recommend any of the other mantis knives but I love my karambit ballisong. Not to mention it's legal in my state (CA) since it is 2 inches.
 
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Delica was one of my first edc, but it's not big, it's lightweight, razor sharp. You want something nice size I would go with the zt 0350, contact kershawguy for kershaws or ZTs,great prices excellent service.
 
out of the ones listed I would say go with the delica or skyline they are 2 of the most popular knives from spyderco/Kershaw and with good reason. they are extremely well executed designs. both are very slim and light and slid nicely into any pocket and can go unnoticed. I love my delica, I have the blue FFG right now and have and orange FFG and a wave on the way and plan to get atleast a purple FFG and maybe a black DLC to blade swap. they are one of the best EDC blades as the ergonomics are superb. the only knife I have that feels better in hand is my para2 and that's mostly due to the forward choil.
 
The Delica and Skyline are both great offerings.

But for a first knife I would recommend a Benchmade Grip 551 or 550HG.

Pretty much any Griptilian is a great choice but IMO the full size is the way to go hands down.

I have grown to really love a larger knife rather than small, but it all comes down to personal preference.

I have medium sized hands and the full size fits perfectly, so if you have large hands the mini Grip will be too small.

But trust me, you can't go wrong with a Griptilian in any config.
 
As of now, my choices have changed. I eliminated the Tenacious, and a few others and added this:

Benchmade Griptilian (Non Mini)
http://www.benchmade.com/products/551

I prefer it over the mini, and size does matter a bit to me so a larger knife would be good. Not to show off, but I like the feel of a big knife in my hand.

Since I forgot and I have had a question or two about this, here is what I want in a knife. I would like it to be a bit bigger than the Griptilian mini, but it doesn't have to be a fixed blade. I wouldn't wanna get one of those as my first knife anyway. I would like it if it was either just a simple silver blade, or a black one with a black handle; I like the simplicity. Blade size, since I live in California, Id like to keep it under 4 inches; if only so it can fit in my pocket easier and cause less people to stare at me. (Also, just saying, I don't have to get one under four inches, I'm just saying that for security reasons. IF you fine a nice knife you think would be good for my first knife, and it's over 4, I'm totally fine with that.) And now for something a little bit more confusing. My friend showed me the benchmade knife creator, and so I did make my own. What got me thinking was the type of steals they had so I found the one I want; The S30v. Now you don't have to go searching for a knife with that steal, but if you find one that would be fantastic. Over all a moderatly large blade, nothing to excessive. Black is preferred but not mandatory. Thanks to everyone who's helping out with this, it really does help.
 
Verlante said:
...so I found the one I want; The S30v. Now you don't have to go searching for a knife with that steal, but if you find one that would be fantastic. Over all a moderatly large blade, nothing to excessive. Black is preferred but not mandatory.
Click to expand...

Then I would say go with Kershaw Blur Black. Hard to beat in this price-range and also will give you more insight to AO (before purchasing any from ZT).
update its Kershaw Knives Blur Knife Spring Assisted (3.375" Black Plain) 1670BLK
 
I love Benchmade, and the Griptilian is a pretty awesome, utilitarian design. Something you should be aware of (if you aren't already) is the #1 complaint about the standard model: "The handles feel cheap." The handles do in fact feel like hollow plastic (actually hollow Noryl GTX--blended polymer which feels a bit plasticky), and do not have full steel liners (last time I checked). However, the Grip is plenty strong and durable. Just thought I'd throw that in there since I've heard it repeated dozens of times.
 
I say go tenacious all the way, though i love my Benchmade i know eventually i will have to replace the omega spring in it and order new one. IMHO i say the Spyderco tenacious because it is a high value low cost knife that the only real maintenance is sharpening it, which is easy to do & you dont have to do for quite a while. this knife is also an excellent stepping stone to bigger and better knives

If you are looking for one knife and thats all I say the ZT of the delica. Both are built like tanks and are high end steels that hold a brilliant edge. Between the two I would personally pick the Delica only because I am not a huge fan of large, heavy, bulky knives.
 
Here's what I recommend.

Those are all good knives, very nice in fact, but with quite a price spread. I'd pick one of the least expensive, say the Skyline, and carry it and use for a month or two. At the end of that time you will learn what, if any, changes you want to make.
 
if you like the large griptilian and you like the make your own ones then check out warriors and wonders dot com they just got a huge stock of grips with all the handle and blade color and shape options you see on BMs site and they are all S30V steel. they are at a reduced price as well and on certain colours there is an additional discount code
 
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