Most underrated modern folder

nick21 said:
Wow that's sexy...

But that price :(
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It's sooo worth it, though. Thick, scalpel-sharp satin finished blade of Japanese VG-10 goodness. Stainless steel bolsters, Arc-Lock. Rock solid lockup with no play whatsoever. Hands down, the best production folder in SOG's product lineup. Light-years better than their flimsy assisted openers.
 
I guess my suggestion for this thread would be the Gerber Applegate-Fairbairn Covert folder. I feel like Gerber gets trashed on a lot in this forum, and honestly I'd say it's appropriate for a lot of their China made knives, but they do make some good knives. The A-F Combat and Covert are both made in the USA with 154CM steel. The Combat is a bit big to EDC in my opinion, but my Covert is my go to knife for hard duty that requires good edge retention.
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Here's a few...

The Boker Plus Epicenter.
Heavy titanium frame and VG10 blade


Fox Meskwaki



Gerber Combat Folder ( made in the USA)


CRKT M16 Big Dog in titanium

 
The spyderco gayle bradley is the most underrated knife imo. It will outperform any other folder of any price in any area. It has carbon fiber and cpm m4 steel with a hollow grind it is a slicing machine. It's extremely heavy duty and intended for serious hard use yet it wears the clothes of a gentleman's folder. I would take it as my edc over a sebenza, any benchmade, most every other spyderco including the pm2 (though my Delica 4 still sees a lot of pocket time). Imo it's the best knife one can possibly purchase for the money and I don't know of any production knives at any price that can outperform it. I'm very excited to see what the gb2 is like :)

Runner up: Kershaw thermite,
 
abbydaddy said:
I feel like Gerber gets trashed on a lot in this forum, and honestly I'd say it's appropriate for a lot of their China made knives, but they do make some good knives.
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I'm actually a big fan of my Instant, even though it's an import. It's pretty darn good for the price, and the steel has been surprisingly good. For my hand, it just feels right when using it. I think it's definitely underrated just because of its manufacturer and origin.
 
ak585479 said:
The spyderco gayle bradley is the most underrated knife imo. It will outperform any other folder of any price in any area. It has carbon fiber and cpm m4 steel with a hollow grind it is a slicing machine. It's extremely heavy duty and intended for serious hard use yet it wears the clothes of a gentleman's folder. I would take it as my edc over a sebenza, any benchmade, most every other spyderco including the pm2 (though my Delica 4 still sees a lot of pocket time). Imo it's the best knife one can possibly purchase for the money and I don't know of any production knives at any price that can outperform it. I'm very excited to see what the gb2 is like :)

Runner up: Kershaw thermite,
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The only thing keeping me from buying the GB are the carbon fiber scales...I don't like them. This is a beefy working knife that should be adorned in G10, and with three colors to choose...black, foliage green, and orange.
 
Alnamvet68 said:
The only thing keeping me from buying the GB are the carbon fiber scales...I don't like them. This is a beefy working knife that should be adorned in G10, and with three colors to choose...black, foliage green, and orange.
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A GB in G10 with multiple color options? ?? I'd be all over that :eek:
 
I think the CRKT Ignitor(t) is fairly underrated. The 8cr held up well for me and stood up admirably to my abuse. I like the "outburst" assisted opening. It's not an expensive knife, I know better materials exist, but it's one heck of a beater. I never thought twice about having it in my sand lined pockets while in a crawl space, I can't say that about my ZT0801.

If I hang out here too long,er...long enough, I'm sure I'll end up with a few sebenzas and some much more expensive "beater" knives:D
 
I don't know that the Gayle Bradley is actually underrated. It gets a lot of respect in the forums and very few who own it have any complaints (there's always one or two, of course). I agree that many knives get undervalued based on being 8Cr steel. I've had really good Spyderco, Byrd and Kershaw 8Cr knives. The knives I think get underrated about the most are the current Schrade Old Timers. They're definitely not the Old Timers of the 1950s but they're also not bad for knives in the price range. I own a couple and they're okay...certainly worth the under $20 I spent for each of them. Another off shore knife that is often overlooked due to low price and an appearance that many consider a rip-off of CRK is the SanRenMu 710--really a well built knife (again, 8Cr steel).
 
Alnamvet68 said:
The only thing keeping me from buying the GB are the carbon fiber scales...I don't like them. This is a beefy working knife that should be adorned in G10, and with three colors to choose...black, foliage green, and orange.
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I sold my GB, but the CF was very grippy and was just a thin layer over G-10.
 
JonBoy said:
I think the CRKT Ignitor(t) is fairly underrated. The 8cr held up well for me and stood up admirably to my abuse. I like the "outburst" assisted opening. It's not an expensive knife, I know better materials exist, but it's one heck of a beater. I never thought twice about having it in my sand lined pockets while in a crawl space, I can't say that about my ZT0801.

If I hang out here too long,er...long enough, I'm sure I'll end up with a few sebenzas and some much more expensive "beater" knives:D
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Pretty much foreshadowing the truth we all go through.

Here's a shot of my sebenza, just got it. Next to my $9 Rough Rider whittler in 440a edc. Both FANTASTIC in their own respects. Love 'em both. I can't really picture not ever having a little cheapie but good traditional knife with me. I can't really picture not ever having a Sebenza user either.

 
Lone Wolf Landslide and Mini Landslide. These are made from N680 steel and are highly corrosion resistant. They are so smooth in operation it is hard to believe and the Mini is only $37.

As far as a neck knife, the Outdoor Edge Wedge is largely ignored, but hunters love them. This is my favorite neck knife, and will also clip to my belt, boot, or gear. That wide curved blade really cuts. It is only $15.
 
The most underrated folders in my view are the Cold Steel Rajah II and Voyager XL line. I think their Spartan knife worked well on paper, but despite its great strength, it just doesn't have that je ne sais pas of other knives of its size and weight. That said, I don't like the new stone washed finish the new Cold Steels have. I'd rather have mine polished to a bright finish. I also like the hollow grind better than the flat grind, and that's why I tend to like their tanto offering in that series. It's an outstanding chopper.

I'm also a big fan of the Hold Out series as well. But then, I like large folding knives and Lyn Thompson is the only one who seems willing to make them.

.
 
Spyderco C144CFPE Caly 3.5 Folding Knife ZDP-189 / 420J2 Plain Blade, Carbon Fiber Handles and

Spyderco C101PDBL2 Manix2 Lightweight Folding Knife 3.37" Satin Plain S110V Blade, Dark Blue FRN Handles

Two great cutters, perfect size, great steels, fairly priced.
 
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In my humble opinion I'd second the recommendation of the Kershaw knockouts, they really are fantastic knives for the price. I'm also a big fan of the spyderco gayle Bradley but their reputations as extremely high quality are pretty known.

As for knives in the 8cr13 range, I'm not a fan. I have a crkt m16-13sf that I bought after reading how great they were on another site. After numerous knife users including myself have actually used them, they turned out to be less than ideal. Vastly underwhelming for that particular model. I can't say anything about other knives in that steel so take it fwiw.
 
I agree with 8cr being under rated. I have some exelent knives in that steel: Kershaw thermite, kershaw/Emerson CQC-6K and CQC-7K (awesome knives), Spyderco Tenacious and persistence, Byrd Cara Cara II,etc. For my needs the steel is fine.

AUS-8 gets a bad rap a lot as well. I think it is a great budget steel, and Cold Steel makes some great blades using AUS-8.

And having said all that, my vote for most under rated folder goes to...Kershaw/ Emerson CQC-6K. Can't say enough good things about this excellent design.
 
Im gonna say the Al Mar SERE 2000, amazing knife that rarely gets talked about.

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