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Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
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Looking for a good Assisted Opening knife
- Thread starter daedhaed
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2013
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- 191
4 inches is pretty hefty for an assisted opener; the only one close to that I could think of off the top of my head is the Kershaw Tremor, weighing in at 3.75". SOG trident, likewise, is about 3.75", I believe. A little research turns up the Darrell Ralph Madd Max and Camillus Aftermath (also by Darrell Ralph), which are massive at 5.5"... but be prepared to drop over $400 for them.
The larger the folder, the harder it is to make an effective assist for it. If you just want a big blade that isn't an auto but opens fast, get something with a wave opener. I believe the Emerson Commander is 4 inches, and of course, Cold Steel has a wave on their Espada XL, which weighs in at an absurd 7.5".
I'm not really a big knife fan, personally - the Tremor is the only one mentioned that I actually own, and I find it too large for my EDC purposes - so someone else will probably know more.
The larger the folder, the harder it is to make an effective assist for it. If you just want a big blade that isn't an auto but opens fast, get something with a wave opener. I believe the Emerson Commander is 4 inches, and of course, Cold Steel has a wave on their Espada XL, which weighs in at an absurd 7.5".
I'm not really a big knife fan, personally - the Tremor is the only one mentioned that I actually own, and I find it too large for my EDC purposes - so someone else will probably know more.
4 inch plus blade AND assisted opener? You're gonna have a really hard time finding something that meets both those requirements, it's kinda like saying you're looking to buy a semi-truck, and you want it to be competitive speed wise with a race car, there simply aren't many out there.
Apparently SOG makes one called the SlimJim XL, which is butt ugly(and also, being SOG, of questionable quality) which is slightly over 4 inches. Beyond that, the closest I can find are the ZT300-303 series, Kershaw Tremor(now discontinued, but still available at some sites), and SOG Trident, all at 3.75 inches, and the CRKT Folding Hissatsu at 3.875 inches.
Ajack60
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2013
- Messages
- 8,496
You may want to consider knives that are flippers also. The deployment on some flippers are as good as a assist open. And there's a good selection to chose from with different price ranges. I have a ZT 560 that has good detent and flips out like it is assisted. Go look at some YouTube videos to get a better idea about flippers. The ZT 0801 is also a good flipper
This is my thought.
The ZT0300 may be a good candidate although IIRC it is closer to 3.8 inches. But approaching that size, the assisted action is generally much slower than a sub-3-inch knife. For example, the assisted ZT0300 is not nearly as fast as the assisted Kershaw Leek, despite the general design principle of the assist being the same, more or less. In most cases, a flipper is going to give the fastest deployment on a knife of that size, IMO.
One time I stumbled upon a kershaw that was supposed to be a larger version of the hersaw leek but now I can't find it. I do like the CKRT Hissatsu though. It looks pretty sweet. I find ZT knives to be overpriced and I'm usually not a fan of the design of them but that could just be me.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2012
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- 798
The larger version of the Leek is called the Shallot. Still no where near a 4" blade length. From what I've seen 3.5" blade length. Great knife though. I have one and carry it on occasion and really enjoy it. Good luck on your search. Cheers
3.5 inch blade, he's looking for something over 4 inches. If 3.5 inches is acceptable that opens up a LOT more options.
The blade is a little shorter than I was looking for but as you guys have said my specs are really hard to find at affordable pricing so in hopes of finding a good, affordable knife I will drop my specs to the 3.5 to 4 inch range. I like the handle and blade on that piston. Everything on it looks really good.
3.5-4 inch definitely gives more options, at various price ranges. Here's a few options in that size range:
Kershaw Scrambler, Thermite, Tremor, Piston, Shallot, Rake, Compound
ZT 300-303 series
Benchmade Barrage and Torrent series
CRKT My Tighe
It depends on what you are looking for and what you want to do with the knife, IMO. If you are looking for a hard user and value is an important trait, it is my opinion that they are not worth the money compared to the ZT0300. The ZT0300/0301/0302/0303 is really a performance knife with very little attention to cosmetics, and with about as much capability as any folding knife on planet earth has. The DDRs are great performers, but they are generally going to have more cosmetic design.
- Joined
- May 6, 2011
- Messages
- 211
If you want to step up to the big leagues try a custom Darrel Ralph like the one and only prototype Gunhammer assisted flipper I have for sale. It has a 3.75" one of a kind wharncliffe cpm s30v blade.