Looking for a good knife! Help!

I have four S&W folders that are flat out great knives. I bought the first one about 7-8 years ago and have carried it daily every since. There is ZERO play in the blade, it is 440C steel.I convexed it and it holds the edge very well. I picked up another just like it and two that are a bit smaller. I would take them anywhere and use them with no fear. To each his own but they have been really good for me. I have many much more expensive knives but why use them when these work just as well for a tenth of the price.
 
Of the 11 S&W folders that I owned ~2 years before quality folders--I broke every single one of them with light to medium us. Some just decided to fall apart in my hand when I opened them up....

Stick with Kershaw/ZT, Benchmade, and Spyderco. :thumbup:
 
For ~$50 there are some good Spydercos and a ton of good Kershaws.

Just pick whatever one you like the best, you can't really go wrong.
 
I am glad nobody else likes the S&W. That means they will stay cheap. If i didn't like them, I wouldn't have bought 11 of them:confused: One would have been the limit. I use my EDC hard and have never been able to hurt it. I don't know how i would break one of these unless I put it in a vice and hit it with a big shop hammer.

Check out the Spyderco Endure. A good size knife at a good price.
 
Last edited:
You cannot go wrong with the Spyderco Delica. I used one for about 6 years, daily and camping/hiking. I never babied it and it was capable of every task short of those more suited for hatchets and saws.
 
The Delica and the Endura are my favorite Spyderco's by far. I have one of each right here on my desk.
 
Al Mar - Impeccably constructed knives with a rich history. Can't go wrong. Might be a bit outside your price range. A bit.

Cold Steel - Their abrasive marketing techniques scare a lot of sensible people away, but the dollar-to-knife ratio is still quite good. For the money, most of their knives are very dependable. Boy scouts should avoid the Ti-Lite models.

Colombia River Knife & Tool - Many of their knives are of a style or design that's outside the box, but only a few of these innovations are practical; most are sheer novelty. There are problems with quality of materials as well. Ask around to see what the gems are.

Emerson - Definitely worth looking at, but also definitely beyond your price range. Emerson knives are one of the most compelling embodiments of solid tactical folders.

Fallkniven - Fixed blades are legendary. Folders are solid. Can't remember how much they are, though. :S

Gerber - Any Gerber knife between $30-$100 can be equalled or bettered by another company at a better price. Haven't heard anything bad about their multitools.

Benchmade - Solid brand with good history and warranty. Can't go wrong. Look at the Griptillian series.

Spyderco - Solid brand with good history and warranty. Can't go wrong. Look at the Endura/Delica series.

Buck - The Buck model 110 folding knife is an affordable and iconic tool that would suit a boyscout well. Very simple, very sturdy design.

Ka Bar - Their fixed blades are iconic and near-indestructible; their folders are sturdy but nothing special. Look at the FIN and Mule series.

Kershaw - Solid brand with good history and warranty. Can't go wrong.

Leatherman - Multitools are among the best ever made. Folders are decent but there's better out there.

Smith & Wesson - Crap. Made in China. As a general rule, knives made by gun companies are to be avoided, except for instances like H&K who has Benchmade make their knives.

SOG - Their fixed blades and multitools are among the best out there, but you wanted a folder. SOG's folders will get the job done, but are routinely troubled by quality control problems.

TOPS Knives - Thick blades, thick handles, and thick edges. Very tough, but overpriced and often uncomfortable to use. Their marketing techniques are worse than Cold Steel's. Still, they have their gems.

Victorinox - Iconic boyscout knives. Very tough and very useful. Swiss Army knives don't have any of the negative connotations of a 'tactical' knife.

Winchester - What I said about Smith and Wesson goes double for Winchester. Made-in-China garbage.

I want to tell you all the lovely things about Chris Reeve and Mick Strider and many others, but I intuit you're aways away from them...
 
I would go with the Spyderco Delica or Endura. Great knives for an affordable price. Check em out.
 
Kershaw Lahar is quite big. Kerhsaw skyline is smaller and leaner version of Lahar with different blade steel, still excellent for the price I hear. It also has manual flipper like Kershaw Zinc ( I am my self looking Zinc and Skyline now to decide what shall be last knife I shall order from eBay this year )

IMHO manual flipper is better than speedsafe or A/O's generally. I love my Lahar, its so good but bit big. But Lahar has convinced me the goodness of Kershaw Flipper. That is why I am buying one more Kershaw Flipper this year, one that is smaller than Lahar.
 
Let's see if I can help a fellow Scout out...

I used to own the Victorinox one-hand trekker. It fits your criteria pretty well except for toughness-as to that, if you take care of it you should be fine.

The blade is partially serrated. Imagine a standard combo-edge blade in reverse; the near one-third of the blade is plain, the rest is serrated. The serrations look like a wave, sortof. They offer enough increased power to make short work of fibrous material, but they can probably be sharpened a lot more easily than, say, Cold Steel. The blade is a left-handed liner lock, which means that if you're a righty you pull on the liner, rather than push. All in all it served me very well. I found the serration style nice for whittling, since there's more control over the tang end of the blade. The other tools include a can opener, bottle opener, punch, screwdriver and saw. The saw has little bits of metal filings on it that come off with the first use and leave wicked sharp teeth. The blade has play up and down.

I carry a Spyderco Delica 4 combo-edge. It looks more weapon-like than the SAK, but the blade is an upgrade in almost all areas. Better steel, better NIB sharpness, better HT,
easier one-handed opening, better ergos, more grippy, tougher. I'd say you can't go wrong with that. If you want bigger, there's the Endura.

The Spyderco Manix2, if you can find one, is a steal. I don't have one, but here's what it has going for it:
Absolutely solid lock.Ambidextrous too.
Built like a tank.
Strong blade that's a good shallow slicer (hollow ground)
Nice ergos.
Built like a tank.
Less expensive but still premium steel.
You probably can't go wrong.

Lastly you should take a look at the Byrd Wings. Nice design, and a bit more versatile than a CE blade. Cheaper too.

YIS
KI
 
Kershaw 1415, 1416
Buck 110
Spyderco Endura 4
Spyderco Wayne Goddard.
 
Id go with something from BM or spyderco. If I had my choice id go for a
either a bm 710 or the spyderco paramili. Suprise, those are my two favorite production knives!

Another hint: you can get knives a lot cheaper online for the most part.

Good luck
 
I recommend a Swiss Army Knife. Some models even have locking blades and one hand opening blades if that's what you want. I would get one that features a woodsaw, they are pretty darn useful. Both Wenger and Victorinox are great and quite affordable.

If you want a larger knife, this particular one was voted knife of the year for 2009 by the SOSAK website members:
http://www.sosakonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=482&Itemid=35

16320_rangergrip_78.jpg
 
Last edited:
puukkoman said:
Fixed that for ya.
Click to expand...

Hrmm, I'm curious as to what you feel makes them more like Chevy? I mean, I'm no fan of Chevy is why. I think they tend to be low-middle of market (I wouldn't buy a Chevy if I had BMW money, for example), and for the comparison, Buck is pretty much... low-high end (TNT and Waimea).
 
_habit_ said:
Hrmm, I'm curious as to what you feel makes them more like Chevy? I mean, I'm no fan of Chevy is why. I think they tend to be low-middle of market (I wouldn't buy a Chevy if I had BMW money, for example), and for the comparison, Buck is pretty much... low-high end (TNT and Waimea).
Click to expand...

I think he means AMERICAN.... you know, like apple pie, baseball, Buck Knives and Chevy Trucks.... It is kinda of a nostalgic thing nothing more/ nothing less. :thumbup:

If there must be a Toyota of the knife world, I'd say it is KAI USA. Japanese ownership with mostly American made products. Just my $.02 :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top