Need a knife recomendation

R

rvadog

Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
12
Hey guys,

I'm active military (Coast Guard). I'm looking for suggestions for a middle of the road auto knife. I have always like benchmades and my father had an awesome experience with the customer service so I've leaned towards the 3550. Anything under $200ish I should look at? Thanks!
 
Does it have to be an auto?

Spring assisted or flippers are just as fast opening and it opens up so many more choices.
 
Eh, I guess it doesn't have to be. I've never owned an auto so I was leaning that direction but a nice assisted might satisfy my need for speed.
 
Microtech ludt worked for me for years. In my experience the microtech held up alittle better than benchmades autos. (I never had one but alot of my buddies did when I was in.)But Im sure benchmade customer service is better than microtechs. Autos tend to get blade play after awhile though. Semper Fi puddle pirate lol. Really though thanks for your service.
 
If autos were legal for me to own I would get the BM 3150 impel its s30v steel. it is on the slightly smaller size at just over 5'' overall length. If you want something bigger Protech makes a large variety of quality autos
 
No disrespect for bladechick the ultratech is pretty sweet had one myself but for military general use I would not recomend a out the front auto.
 
Don't hat me for this, but the CRKT M16 and M21 are stellar knives that you will be able to do pretty much anything you can imagine with. The M16 has an auto version this year. Best, you can choose from multiple sizes, handle materials, and serrations or not, and multiple styles of serrations should you want them. And best of all, they're affordable. If one goes overboard, you're not out $200.
 
I've got the Benchmade Presidio small auto (5500). Priced in your range at about $150 or so. Nice knife, nice blade, auto is effective and the safety is out of the way on the spine of the knife. The regular presidio (5000) is also under $200 most places and is a slightly larger knife (2.97" vs 3.47") but I went with the smaller version which isn't really all that small. :)

Best of luck on your decision.
 
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If you're in the Coast Guard I imagine you'd want something with corrosion resistance. Check out the Spyderco Salt series. No, they aren't assisted, but do you really need an assisted opening knife?
 
I've carried a Benchmade 551H20 Griptilian in the ocean before and the blade didn't corrode at all. The problem though, was the "stainless" liners aren't quite as tough and developed surface rust. I needed to take apart the knife and clean up those liners right away before the corrosion got worse.
 
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