Looking for the right EDC

J

Jejerusik

Joined
Apr 7, 2022
Messages
148
Hey Everyone,

This is my first post here so I will try to do my best to be as straight forward as I can. Been going through knife after knife and I always find something I like in one knife but never quite right.

Things I would like in a knife are, good steel, s30 or 35vn or 45vn. Find those easy to sharpen and maintain. Anything above is fine just don't need "the best of the best." Thumb studs, not really a flipper guy, and the spyderco hole isn't bad but it makes the knife a bit bulkier to carry. Handles I would like something metal, or very solid feeling. Pocket clip im not to picky on. Carried both don't hate or love either one. Handle around the 4 inches. I have Xl Han and under 4 gets a little tiny. Blade length between 3 and 3.3 inches. Find over 3.3 to be a bit much 3.5 is the largest I have owned and didn't feel like it was needed.

I'll list some things that I have tried, and why they did or didn't work out for me.

Benchmade bugout- pros, wicked slicey, easy to sharpen, and thumb studs. Cons, handles feel flimsy and I don't 100% trust the axis lock. Have had minor issues nothing serious but I don't see the knife lasting.

CRK Sebenza 31 in s45vn- almost perfect knife. Pros, slicey blade, handle felt great, loved the frame lock. Cons, thumb stud was left to be desired, the blade was a bit longer that I usually like, and the price. Not saying it wasn't worth th price but when you have 4 kids and the knife cost the same as your grocery bill hard to justify the price.

Toor Merchant V1 and V2- pros, metal in the blade, materials used, made in USA, thumb studs and frame lock. Cons, don't care for the blade geometry, not as slicey as I like. Cutting through cardboard had a hard time. Also a weird ergonomic feel in my hand.

Tactile knife co in magnacut- pros, love the blade metal. Slices like a dream. Thumb stud and action are nice. Liner lock feels great. Love the handles. Cons, piviot felt grimmy went to clean it and the piviot screw busted. They sent a new one, new one wouldn't fit so now it back at the shop. Don't know if I got a lemon. Blade is a bit on the smaller side and handle is a little smaller than I like.

I have had more knives that this, but these knives I felt were closest. Thank you for all help!
 
Sounds like a quiet carry waypoint or drift might be a good fit. Solidly made, nice and slicy, expensive but not quite as bad as a CRK.

The waypoint is similar to a sebenza but sized a little larger than the small. It has more 'standard' thumb studs and an even thinner hollow grind.
51554018572_b273208580_b.jpg


Drift is pretty sweet too and a bit shorter but wider.
51919675728_de799dd08c_b.jpg


I'll also throw out two excellent Laconico designs: the MBK mini old guard and WE esprit

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I rec a Cold Steel if you like those, they're robust choices. Thought about a PM2 for the S45VN or Cruwear? You can get those for the low.
 
Random Dan said:
Sounds like a quiet carry waypoint or drift might be a good fit. Solidly made, nice and slicy, expensive but not quite as bad as a CRK.

The waypoint is similar to a sebenza but sized a little larger than the small. It has more 'standard' thumb studs and an even thinner hollow grind.
51554018572_b273208580_b.jpg


Drift is pretty sweet too and a bit shorter but wider.
51919675728_de799dd08c_b.jpg


I'll also throw out two excellent Laconico designs: the MBK mini old guard and WE esprit

51726786576_9f985f49b8_b.jpg


51801536388_18fab99e32_b.jpg
Click to expand...
Holy cow!!! These are some amazing suggestions! I think th way point is what I am looking for. The we and the mbk I need to look into more!! Thank you!!
 
Hashishiin said:
I rec a Cold Steel if you like those, they're robust choices. Thought about a PM2 for the S45VN or Cruwear? You can get those for the low.
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Actually have a pm2 in s45vn. Great around the house type knife. But in the field I work in I find myself struggling with the size. I work in aerospace and some of the areas I need to manipulate and move in the pm2 gets caught up. The pm2 is one of my favorite at home users or if I need to do a harder job. Amazing knife! Also have a Para 3 and I run into similar issues. With the size and my job.
 
Have you considered doing titanium scales on a Bugout? 🤔 Flytanium crossfade ones look, feel, and work great. Also, it’ll improve the action and centering a bit, since titanium has essentially zero flex, whereas FRN and such can go places.

What’s your general budget? Below a CRK?

The WE Esprit is a great choice, but will probably be a bit hard to find in the titanium version. They went bye-bye fast.

I would also suggest another one of the WE framelocks. Pros: excellent build quality, smoothness, some cool designs, some elegant ones, and some that are just wacky, usually not super thick blades either. Maybe the WE Subjugator? (Thumbstuds) The Beacon has a fuller to reverse flick it, but it’s primarily a flipper.

On a side note, I just picked up a WE Arrakis that totally doesn’t fit your preferences, but you should definitely Google if you want to see how weird WEs can get.
 
Jejerusik said:
Holy cow!!! These are some amazing suggestions! I think th way point is what I am looking for. The we and the mbk I need to look into more!! Thank you!!
Click to expand...

I think Random Dan Random Dan picked a few winners there.

WE offers incredible quality for the price. I've had over thirty knives from them if you include their budget brands, all of which have been disassembled for close inspection. I've been using their products consistently since 2018 and they've had the largest representation within my EDC rotation since at least 2020.

Ray Laconico is one of my favorite designers and his stuff through MBK is worth checking out. They have been doing runs of the Sea Otter lately and that might be worth a look (their pic below). They make the Sea Otter in house but I think some of the MBK knives are also made by Kizer. That's another company that offers good quality on the dollar. The second pic is of my Kizer T1, which is currently out for mods. (That's another thing. Knives can be modified within reason.)

20211107_095348-01.jpeg


8lvhrIg.jpg
 
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Idk, you had some killer knives and still have a PM2 and a Para3 and those don’t work for ya?

The toughness of a Cold Steel would definitely work. But I’m thinking it will too big for your needs. In any case I like the CS American Lawman.
 
Leo Greer said:
Have you considered doing titanium scales on a Bugout? 🤔 Flytanium crossfade ones look, feel, and work great. Also, it’ll improve the action and centering a bit, since titanium has essentially zero flex, whereas FRN and such can go places.

What’s your general budget? Below a CRK?

The WE Esprit is a great choice, but will probably be a bit hard to find in the titanium version. They went bye-bye fast.

I would also suggest another one of the WE framelocks. Pros: excellent build quality, smoothness, some cool designs, some elegant ones, and some that are just wacky, usually not super thick blades either. Maybe the WE Subjugator? (Thumbstuds) The Beacon has a fuller to reverse flick it, but it’s primarily a flipper.

On a side note, I just picked up a WE Arrakis that totally doesn’t fit your preferences, but you should definitely Google if you want to see how weird WEs can get.
Click to expand...
I have owned a couple of we knives. Nice knives, but I had a beacon and didn't like it at all. The frame lock had a bunch of issues where it wouldn't close right. It would constantly get stuck and almost have like a weird double stop. I did try the bugout with different scales for a bit. Was bad, just not the biggest access lock fan. And ya im trying to keep it 300 and under if I can. I know that is a harder budget.
 
Chronovore said:
I think Random Dan Random Dan picked a few winners there.

WE offers incredible quality for the price. I've had over thirty knives from them if you include their budget brands, all of which have been disassembled for close inspection. I've been using their products consistently since 2018 and they've had the largest representation within my EDC rotation since at least 2020.

Ray Laconico is one of my favorite designers and his stuff through MBK is worth checking out. They have been doing runs of the Sea Otter lately and that might be worth a look (their pic below). They make the Sea Otter in house but I think some of the MBK knives are also made by Kizer. That's another company that offers good quality on the dollar. The second pic is of my Kizer T1, which is currently out for mods. (That's another thing. Knives can be modified within reason.)

20211107_095348-01.jpeg


8lvhrIg.jpg
Click to expand...
I tried a kizer once didn't love it. Nice knife just didn't feel right in my hand. I'm not sure how to explain it. The mbk stuff I been looking at looks killer! Have to keep my eyes open!
 
Jejerusik said:
I have owned a couple of we knives. Nice knives, but I had a beacon and didn't like it at all. The frame lock had a bunch of issues where it wouldn't close right. It would constantly get stuck and almost have like a weird double stop. I did try the bugout with different scales for a bit. Was bad, just not the biggest access lock fan. And ya im trying to keep it 300 and under if I can. I know that is a harder budget.
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Sounds like you had double clutch issues, where the lockbar gets stuck on the detent ball. That’s no bueno.

Hey, there are thousands of great knives under $300. There are some good ones over too, but I bet you can find exactly what you’re wanting if you search in the right places!
 
rampco88 said:
Idk, you had some killer knives and still have a PM2 and a Para3 and those don’t work for ya?

The toughness of a Cold Steel would definitely work. But I’m thinking it will too big for your needs. In any case I like the CS American Lawman.
Click to expand...
Ya its hard to find the right size on top of that. Just weird tighter spaces. When I tried the pm2 or Para 3 I ended up having to use the knife blade on the leatherman to do the jobs. But that then lent to not always with being able to open and close with one hand.
 
Leo Greer said:
Sounds like you had double clutch issues, where the lockbar gets stuck on the detent ball. That’s no bueno.

Hey, there are thousands of great knives under $300. There are some good ones over too, but I bet you can find exactly what you’re wanting if you search in the right places!
Click to expand...
Ya I actually cut my thumb really bad because it shut really fast from being stuck. It was like the 1st time I'm opened the knife and I always have to do it with 2 hands and it just was a pain!
 
Jejerusik said:
I have owned a couple of we knives. Nice knives, but I had a beacon and didn't like it at all. The frame lock had a bunch of issues where it wouldn't close right. It would constantly get stuck and almost have like a weird double stop. I did try the bugout with different scales for a bit. Was bad, just not the biggest access lock fan. And ya im trying to keep it 300 and under if I can. I know that is a harder budget.
Click to expand...

That's unusual for a WE. I've handled a couple of Beacons now and they were very nice. (I actually have one of those out for mods too.) Did you take it apart for inspection? I'm curious to know what was up. Without a detent ramp, there is always a little bump for the detent ball. (I prefer that though since I do the drop method for closing and don't like any rebound on the close.) I'm wondering if there was a burr or something. Also, did you contact the company?

A $300 cap isn't a big deal. However, companies like WE and Kizer are going to be major contenders in that range. If it helps, they tend to have good customer service. From the experiences I've had and talking with others, issues with those companies are relatively rare. (For instance, I've seen more complaints about Benchmade.)
 
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