Looking for a new carry knife

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PatrickKnight

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Jan 24, 2012
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Looking for some thoughts on my new choice in a carry knife. There are a few that i have my eye on mainly the buck vantage force pro with the half serated blade on it. Now for the run down of things i need this knife for, i am an avid outdoors man also im a cable installer and a good knife is almost as important as a ladder is to me. Now for the fun part this knife needs to be made in america, be a half serated blade, and cost under 100 dollars. If you guys could give me and other ideas on places to look or knives to consider that would be great.
 
Welcome to the Forums, Patrick!

I'd recommend that you browse through Kershaw's catalogue. They're bound to have something that appeals to you in your price range (I've heard good things about the Kershaw RAM, in particular.) You could also look at Benchmade's mini/Griptilian line.

Good luck!

ETA: As Jimmyd1982 pointed out, there are a few US made Spydercos to be had under $100. Have a look at the SE Native 1... great knife! Love dem Spydies! :D:thumbup:
 
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When I was doing cable work I was carrying a Spyderco Manix 2. Mine was plain edge but you can find a combo edge one for about $70. Makes a great work knife, very easy to open one handed even in gloves. You could also throw a zip tie through the spydie hole so you can just wave it open which is very nice when your up a pole.
 
The Buck Vantage Pro and Force Pro are great knives and I would highly recommend either. Like timberweasel said Kershaw makes many great knives under 100 that you can get serrated. There site actually has a search feature to list only USA made knives so you can see their offerings. The Leek, Blur, and Shallot are 3 of them. The RAM is also an excellent choice. It has been discontinued but I have two and love them.

Also, welcome to BF!
 
I used to carry a kershaw black out but can no longer do so as im not allowed to carry an assisted opener
will deffently look into some spydercos as i have heard nothing but great things about them
 
Patrick, does it have to be a folder? If you carry it for work (and given your line of work), I assume you have at least a small tool belt or pouch, and if that's true, maybe you could even carry a small fixed blade with your other stuff. If that's an option, I'd look at the ESEE 3, which you can get with a combo blade that you want, and includes a great sheath for about $90.

If you want to stick with a folder, I think in your price range Spyderco is a pretty good option:
* Para Military 2 (this will be pushing your $100 limit, but it can be found in this range, I just got one as a gift)
* Manix 2 in 154cm (about $79)
* Endura 4 (about $72)

Benchmade (2 good Axis lock choices):
* Griptilian (prob run about $105 for a plain black with combo edge)
* Presidio (same price)

Also, I have nothing against the Buck offerings and they are probably good, but I haven't owned any of the Vantage series and don't know much about them. I've read a FEW people giving reviews about QC issues, lack of centering, etc., but most seem to have good success if they contact Buck's customer service. You might want to try the search here on BF, search for "Buck Vantage issues" or "Buck Vantage problems", or similar strings, to get a feel for what recent owners have run into.
 
The buck warranty is amazing which is part of what had kept me going back to buck. Currently i own 3 fixed blade bucks and 2 folders and have never had a problem with any of them but the smallest one i own is my 110 folder which is to heavy for me to consider carrying around all day long. I have been looking into the manix 2 and the para 2 as you guys have suggested and liked them both but how is spydercos warranty and customer service compared to that of buck. Also it seems the steal on the manix 2 is lower quality than the steal used on the buck. One more thing is how to spydercos handle to extreme use. Now im not one to try to climb a mountain or anything but i do have a tendency to be very hard on just about everything i own and want to make sure my new knife will hold up, I know from personal experience that the bucks do.
 
The biggest difference that you will notice between s30v and 154cm is the s30v will hold an edge longer but it also takes longer to sharpen. I think when it comes to the actual sharpness it really depends on your skill at sharpening. S30v should be able to take a better edge but I can get a knife made from aus 8 as sharp as I can get a s30v blade, but I've never been able to get that hair whittling edge that some people can get.
 
Well i think im going to go head and order the manix 2 and see what happens. Ill let you guys know how it turns out thanks for all the input.
 
kat1 said:
For that price range ZT and Spyderco have some real nice choices.
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Quote for truth. You can get a partially-serrated ZT 0200 folder for a little more than 100 bucks.

If you want a do-it-all medium-size fixed blade, Scrapyard offers the 511. It meets all of your requirements except for the serrations. It costs $90, but you get super-steel, a very comfortable handle, and an awesome warranty. The only downside is that it does not come with a sheath.
 
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PatrickKnight said:
Well i think im going to go head and order the manix 2 and see what happens. Ill let you guys know how it turns out thanks for all the input.
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Patrick, note that with the Manix 2, there's the original edition I linked to, which is 154 CM, good solid steel, great knife for about $79.

However, there's a new "sprint" Manix 2 XL, which has a much longer blade (nearly 4") and s30v steel. Unfortunatley, this one isn't serrated like you want. But it's available at Knifeworks.com for $99, might want to check it out. However, if the blade size/legality might be a concern for you, or if you really want the serrations, probably better to stick with original Manix 2 I linked to, which has a blade just over 3.25".
 
One of my favorite Sub-100$ knives is the Kershaw JYDII with the composite blade it has a nice blade profile the features a nice "belly" for general use.
 
Look Into Some Non-Assisted Openers By Kershaw.
Kershaw:
JYDII.
Storm II.
Salvo
Skyline
OD-1

Spyderco:
Native
Manix 2
Para-Military 2
UKPK

Benchmade:
Griptilian - I'd Look At The 550
530
960 - You Can Get It For $90 At Knife Works. - Great Knife - Multiple Colors - Combo Edge - Sweet s30v Blade Steel.

And I Could Think Of A Hundred More.
 
I really like my Buck Vantage Pro large plain edge model. The flipper can be used with gloves on too, and I find the drop point blade very sturdy for outdoor scraping and cutting. I also have a Gerber EZ-Out with a half serrated blade. As far as I know, those are made in the USA and are priced around $25. The handle is extremely comfortable to grip, and the blade does come "EZ-Out." I think that most of these suggestions mentioned above are good, I thought I might just add the below-the-radar Gerber EZ-Out because I really like the serrations on it.
 
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