Looking for special folding EDC

H

Helipilot

Joined
Nov 11, 2011
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Hi, I just signed up for this forum as I'm interested in buying a new EDC folding knife. However, living in Germany, all AO folders are verboten (see what I did there?). Now I'm looking for a nice manual folder in the 50-100$ price range. Non-serrated blade. I realize this narrows down my choice a ton, but what can you do :(. I read somewhere that the cs recon 1 is manually deployed with thumb studs, is that right? I've heard that on some knives, removing the opening mechanism is fairly straight-forward so pointers would be great.

This being bladeforums, the SOG knives give me a massive boner everytime I look at the design (vulcan, stingray, etc) but heartbreakingly I've had to accept they are not worth the money, especially the folders (think trident). Still, I'm thinking about getting the new mini trident, provided the quality is decent. Can anyone give input on that? How abou the mini vulcans? Just in case that doesnt work out, I'd also settle with a ontario rat, ontario utilitac II, kabar dozier, american lawman (mini?) or maybe a kershaw blur.

thanks in advance
 
Can you order the knives from foreign dealers? I'm not sure how easy it is to get knives at lower prices in Germany, but the knives you mentioned are more like sub $50 knives here in America. That being said, you won't get as much for your money from SOG and Cold Steel as you will from other companies. SOG's are generally cheap feeling, and Cold Steels are a little lacking in materials, quality, and customer service for the price.

The Benchmade Griptilian or mini Griptilian might be a good option for you; BM's thumbstuds come off with a T6 driver. Most of the other popular options in that price range have welded in thumbstuds or opening holes, but if you can find a way to grind them off or if opening holes are ok there are a few good options to choose from, like the Spyderco Delica 4 FFG and Manix 2, and Kershaw RAM. I'd recommend the Skyline, but you can't take off the thumbstuds because they're also the blade stops. Maybe you can take the flipper off an OD and use that?
 
Tsujigiri said:
Can you order the knives from foreign dealers? I'm not sure how easy it is to get knives at lower prices in Germany, but the knives you mentioned are more like sub $50 knives here in America. That being said, you won't get as much for your money from SOG and Cold Steel as you will from other companies. SOG's are generally cheap feeling, and Cold Steels are a little lacking in materials, quality, and customer service for the price.

The Benchmade Griptilian or mini Griptilian might be a good option for you; BM's thumbstuds come off with a T6 driver. Most of the other popular options in that price range have welded in thumbstuds or opening holes, but if you can find a way to grind them off or if opening holes are ok there are a few good options to choose from, like the Spyderco Delica 4 FFG and Manix 2, and Kershaw RAM. I'd recommend the Skyline, but you can't take off the thumbstuds because they're also the blade stops. Maybe you can take the flipper off an OD and use that?
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Knife collecting is well established here, with tons of online outfits importing them. But it does seem like they simply take the dollar price, convert that to euros and tack on 20-40%. Then again, that applies to any imports in Germany. Didnt fully realize that I guess. I'll check out your suggestions.
 
I was under the impression that in Germany, folders had to have blades under 3" and be either a two-handed deployment or non-locking...

I've heard that many folks, in Europe especially, like the Spyderco UKPK... I'd look at a Spyderco Terzuola Slipit, personally.

Good luck (and welcome to the Forums!) :)
 
IMHO, you still haven't narrowed it down a whole lot. There must be thousands of manual-opening, non-serrated folding knives in the $50-$100 range.

I've had a few SOG folders, I was enthusiastic about each when I bought it, ended up not really trusting them, the quality just wasn't there. I doubt I'll ever consider buying another. YMMV.

Of your last choices, the Blur is assisted, and you've ruled that out. Probably most assisted-openers can be disassembled and the spring removed, but most then will not have anything holding the blade closed, since the same spring usually does that.

IMHO, the first step for any EDC is to get a really, really good handle on the local laws, or as much as is possible (local laws are often vague) AND how they're actually enforced, then work within those limits. Crossing the legal line for the sake of another half-inch of blade or half-second in opening on your EDC doesn't seem worth the risk, your chance of getting "popped" for carrying it is probably much greater than the chance of that particular attribute really making any difference.
 
Some members here are from Germany, or travel there often. The pointers they share is that iy has to be either two handers or non locking. Therefore, Spyderco UKPK (one hander but non locking) or special Falkniven PXL with nail nick (locking, two handers) are good examples.

Can't recall his name right now, but search Sanrenmu 738 review on youtube, he's the one.
 
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Sorry for being more clear. Basically I'm looking for two knives, one I can carry on a regular basis and one to fondle at home, just being realistic. Knife laws in Germany are fairly strict, but there are no special local laws, so that helps. You can carry fixed blades up to 12cm in blade length (4,7 inches). Now for folders it's a little more intricate. AO with automatically engaged locks are illegal (to spell it out, by swinging out it locks so it cant be pushed back), this also includes switch blades. Now, if the knife has no lock it can have assisted opening and vice versa. For these knives, only the 12cm blade length restriction applies. Personally, I find the manually opening knife with lock more attractive for EDC.

I'm also looking at getting an AO folder, though not for EDC. Currently eyeing the ontario utilitac II.
 
Tsujigiri said:
...and Cold Steels are a little lacking in materials, quality, and customer service for the price.
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I wouldn't pay much attention to the random Cold Steel customer service sucks posts usually made by people firmly on the hate-Cold Steel bandwagon. The brands you recommended have more reported issues out the box and the fit and finish really isn't any better in spite of often being 2-3x the price.
 
They are worth 90 bucks, not sure they are worth 2.5 times that. I don't know what stores ship international but it might be worth checking out Knifeworks.com and at least looking into having them shipped. I know there are quite a few members over seas that buy all their knives from the US.

You really can't go wrong with Benchmade, Spyderco, and Kershaw. You will get a good product from all of them. Some of the other companies are more hit or miss. I'm not a big fan of Cold Steel because the knives I have had either had a problem or the fit and finish wasn't up to par for the price. That said I finally started carrying an American Lawman I bought a year ago just to try it out. None of the liners, scales, or back spacer are flush with the others so it wasn't finished in any way really. Just put together however the pieces lined up and then boxed up. A $20 Kershaw has better fit and finish. Not real sure about the steel either. I have only used it on a bamboo cutting.board the last 3 days and it no longer shaves and appears to have a flat spot on the belly when held in the light. I will have to see how it does in the long run since I have been using 'super steels' almost exclusively, though it does seem to be doing better than AUS8 I have used in the past. That said I have never bought a SOG because I have never been impressed with the ones I've handled. They do have some nice designs though.

I did try to use the Cold Steel warranty and it was useless. They wouldn't even look at it because I didn't have a receipt though they offered to sharpen it for 15 bucks plus shipping. From what others have said recently it doesn't sound like it has gotten any better and they only have a 1 year warranty unless something has changed. I just looked at my AL box and it is still 1 year and you need the receipt. Maybe some people don't care about a warranty but I like to know a company will stand behind there product when I'm spending my money on their product. Especially one that hypes their products to be bullet proof as much as Cold Steel does. I'm sure they do have some good deals but again, in my experience they are more hit or miss.

Kershaw and Benchmade have the best warranties and if there is an issue and you send the knife in, you will be taken care of. If you do buy from a US store the better ones will look the knife over for any issues before sending it and will usually tighten the pivot if worried about customs.

Ok I'm done rambling. Didn't mean for this to get so long and turn into a mini review.
 
Helipilot said:
I'm also looking at getting an AO folder, though not for EDC. Currently eyeing the ontario utilitac II.
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For A/O, Kershaw has the best design IMO. Their torsion bar is an elegant design and works well. Personally I like the Shallot for a lower-priced A/O, but they make a lot of them to choose from.

OrdnanceBubbaUSMC said:
I wouldn't pay much attention to the random Cold Steel customer service sucks posts usually made by people firmly on the hate-Cold Steel bandwagon. The brands you recommended have more reported issues out the box and the fit and finish really isn't any better in spite of often being 2-3x the price.
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If you really can't tell the difference between their fit and finish and other companies', I envy you. That would sure make finding a knife I liked easier. And Cold Steel's customer service is a lot worse than that of other companies, that's a fact. They may work well for you, and I have nothing against that, but the problems a lot of people have with their knives are something the OP should at least know about.

Helipilot said:
The Griptilian and Mini-Presidio Ultra look pretty neat. Are they worth 90€?
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The handles feel plasticky to some, but the knives are well-made and designed. The Axis lock is so smooth that you can open it faster and more easily than an A/O or switchblade, and the steel is pretty good.

For something a lot cheaper, I've heard that the Enlan EL-01 is very well made for the price. You could just grind off the flipper to comply with your laws; I know one German said he did exactly that. Viel Glück!
 
Spyderco Para 2 or Stretch.. two of my favorites of all time.

Always used to think Spyderco's were ugly and always was a Kershaw & Benchmade guy.. once I finally got a Spyderco I realized what I had been missing.. Now that's pretty much all I own. They just work for me and the varity is second to none.
 
Fallkniven U2 or U4? might be on the smallish side, but there's no questioning their fit, finish, and quality.
 
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