New guy with a bunch of questions.

N

Nivom

Joined
Oct 13, 2015
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Hey. I'm sort of new in the knife department and I've got a bunch of questions regarding expanding my knife collection. I'll start by "showing off" my current knives, then I'll go in the "What am I looking for in a knife" direction and finish with a list of knives I've been looking into. I guess the main question here is: What do you think about all that? Here I go:


Showing off my knives

My huge collection: I only have 2 knives!
My first knife was the Victorinox Bantam, a knife given by my grandfather that eventually broke (it had some age, let me tell you!)
Second knife I got was my first "real" knife: a Cold Steel Micro Recon 1 (Tanto Point) about a year ago and I must say, I'm pretty happy with my purchase. It's been holding up and been very useful.

What am I looking for in a knife?

The general look is very important to me. I like the look of G10 (you'll see in my list of wanted knives) and small-ish knifes. I can't EDC a machete sized folding knife, I need to keep them fairly small, mostly because people look at big folders with a weird face where I live, but also because I like the look of smaller knives. Utility is also very important to me, more than self defense blades. The blade steel is not that important to me right now, mostly because I don't know nothing about steel types and sharpening (might as well give me some tip, knowledge and recommendation about that while we're at it!). The price is also important, like pretty much everywhere else! Also: I need it to be able to take a beating and I prefer folders to fixed blades, mainly because fixed blades are in a grey zone where I live.

The list of knives

Here's the list of knives I've been looking to buy. I'll be giving a reason why I am interested in the knife and everything. I'm looking for some tips, advice, recommendation and suggestions about these knifes and other knifes resembling the ones from the list.

In no particular order:

Spyderco Paramilitary 2 (Black handles, satin blade)
-Reasons: I like the profile, the handles, general look of the blade. I've heard a lot of great stuff about this knife. The satin finish doesn't make it look like too much of a "Tactical Baby Killer" and it also looks like the perfect size for EDC. The price seems reasonable and it looks like it can take a beating and do a bunch of precise work.

Cold Steel Mini Recon 1 (Spear Point)
-Reasons: Again, looks like a fine blade: I like the look of the G10, general shape of the blade, black coating to make it "Tacticool". The Triad-Lock is also a good thing, If it's as good as the one on my Micro, I'll be very happy. Looks like it can do a lot and take a beating. Looks like a good size for EDC. It also is a few bucks cheaper than the Spyderco Paramilitary 2, That's always good, right?

Cold Steel Micro Recon 1 (Spear Point)
-Reasons: Cause why not, right! I liked the Tanto Point as my EDC and I'd like to give the tiny Spear Point a shot. Could make for a good gift too if I don't like it. May replace the Tanto point, May not. Like it for the same reasons than the Mini: Good look and all.

Fox 599 Folding Karambit (with/without trainer)
-Reasons: Might as well have one self defense blade. I love the looks of karambits, especially the the Fox 599: Perfect curve of the handle and the blade, G10 handles (again!) and it also looks like it'll fit my hand perfectly. The Wave feature looks amazing, but the fact that its only a liner lock kinda scares me, but hey, I've heard mixed reviews about it. Price seems fair enough. Trainer or no trainer, that is the question! If i do get it I'm still wondering if I should invest in it.

Honshu Karambit(s) (Satin blade blade w/ booth sheath AND Black blade with shoulder harness)
-Reasons: Cause it's Stattrak! (some of you will get the joke). More seriously, it looks fine for the price. Definitely not for EDC purpose, more for a nice looking blade to put as a decoration (shiny trinkets!). Why 2? Because I'll get the two types of sheaths and I'll decide which knife I like the most and paint the other one to resemble some CS: GO skin.

Spyderco Bug
-Reasons: It's so cute! the backup to the backup, would mostly be used as keychain knife. Looks good and is still fairly cheap.

Spyderco Ladybug (Black handle, Plain edge)
-Reasons: same as the Bug, but with the knowledge of it being a bit bigger.

The multitool section!
Might not be the place to talk about that but might as well, gonna make it quick.

Leatherman Wave (2nd Gen)
Leatherman Micra
Victorinox Huntsman
Gerber Dime
Leatherman Style PS/CS

If you also have a suggestion for a good and easy to use knife sharpener, let me know!

So, yeah. That pretty much covers it all. That was a long post and if you made it through that, thnaks a lot! I'd like to hear about your personal opinion/suggestions on all the stuff I want. Thanks again!

-Nivom

P.S. If you know a quick way to learn all about steel types, I'd like to get infos on that!


EDIT:
Wow, I forgot to tell my location! Can't believe I forgot that! I live in Canada, more precisely in Québec.

Also, another question regarding G10: I think it looks great and all, but looking at reviews, the words "aggressive" and "will rip your pants" came a lot here and there. Is it that bad?

My max budget for a knife would be around 140$/150 USD for high ends knives, don't want to go higher that that, maybe even a few buck under. I won't be able to get much knives at that price too, which is why I'll keep the knives around 140$ to be my high quality knives.
 
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Nivom,

For starters welcome to the forum! You have a lot of questions and in return will probably get a lot of answers/opinions. You are just getting into knives and I commend you on a very thoughtful first post. What is next for you or what you should get are all based on what you are willing to spend and what is most important to you. Out of your list the only knife we sell and that I have personally had experience with is the Spyderco Para Military 2. It is a great knife and one of the most popular out of the knives on the market today. It sits great in the pocket, cuts very well and keeps a great edge. You can not go wrong with any Spyderco in my opinion.

Learning abut steel types is as simple as a search here or on google. There is a ton of information out there. You will get lots of opinions mixed with some facts. Steel choice can honestly come down to a personal preference based on a users own personal past experiences. In my opinion some makers just heat treat better than others.

Sharpeners. I highly recommend the Spyderco Sharp Maker. This is a great starting point. It works great on most knives and as you get better with it you can make the decision on what direction to go from there. Most knives we sharpen for customers in our shop, we use a Sharpmaker and a good quality strop. It does the trick. From there we have a bunch of other methods we use, but it took a long time to get good at any of them.

Once again, welcome to the forums. Keep asking questions, realize everyone is entitled to an opinion, and keep up the interest in knives. There are a ton of great people in this community. You never know where the road will lead you!
 
One of the big factors that will help you get some advice is your location, at least generally. City specific bylaws or state laws can vary, and there are a lot of international members if you are outside the US. Pretty much means guys can tailor the advice to your location so they don't recommend knives you can't get or own easily. Also some knives in some places don't work as well, they might be legal, but telling an officer that your karambit is a letter opener may not fly.

I would say that you are on the right track with some of your choices. the spydercos are great. I'd start with some of the smaller ones and find out if you need a larger knife, often we think we need more knife than we really do. But that said, you know your uses better than anyone.

Steel types..... just gotta do some reading. at the end of the day, don't get too bogged down in it. It more comes down to the maker than the steel in my opinion. A good steel poorly done, is still a bad knife, but even a really average steel done well can be fantastic.

Multi-tools. My suggestion would be to get a leatherman rebar, and a micra or the Style that is based around the scissors. Why? That gives you two very useful, very budget friendly tools that will let you get an idea of how you might use a multi as part of your life. Depending on your work, your hobbies, you might find you need to jump to a wave, or bigger, or maybe you want something else, like a skeletool. you'll also find out if you like just the multi on its own, or if you prefer the multi and a second folder. Or maybe you use the multi for dirty jobs and carry a clean "lunch" knife? for 50$ its an easy way to find out. plus scissors are always great to have handy.

My starter list
Letherman rebar and micra
spyderco dragonfly (between your choices of size, but I think a good starting point)
Victorinox anything. I think that the huntsman is a great choice, other good ones are the super tinker, and farmer. The corkscrew is a good option if you wear glasses, that screwdriver is handy.

sharpener, the sharpmaker is a good starter, lots of ways to get some really good results out of it, and expand its capabilities for cheap. (read up on sandpaper methods with the sharpmaker)

Last, some general buying advice. read lots, but take a lot of it with a grain of salt. If the guy doesn't compare the knife to one you know, or has a use that you don't maybe ask a few more questions. Until you know your style, hunt the exchange and grab a few used knives. you might need to work hard as you are a new member, but its worth the patience. I would say stick to stuff that is within your play budget to start, try different styles and shapes. You should be able to slowly see what works for you and what does not. There are a lot of really good 50$ knives on the market that will help you get there, and then you can find the 150$ one that ticks all the boxes. Of course the PM2 sits in that range, but I think its worth your time. sometimes the hype train is correct, and you won't loose much if you decide to send it on to someone else.
 
Nivom, nice post.

My thoughts....

STYLE
Preferences on style of knife is like preferences of styles of shoes, underwear, cars and drinks. It's very personal and, end of day, the only opinion that matters is your own. My recommendation is to limit purchase prices to under $30 for a bit and to try a bunch of different styles. Very blade length, lock style (including no lock), blade grind (flat, hollow, convex, scandi) and carry style (clip, no clip). Treat the different styles like a buffet and try a bit of each. You might be surprised and some style of knife may work for your day to day needs that you hadn't thought of before. After you get a feel for what does and doesn't work for you, then you can start to spend more money on better examples of that particular style.

Ignore any advice to "just get a X", as that's typically just a well meaning person telling you about their taste, which may not be your taste.

STEEL
Somewhere on the internutz, a steel snob's head is about to explode. Whatever...
I think of steels in 3 simple groups.

Course Carbide Steels - have large carbides in them like concrete has rocks in it. Does well cutting abrasive or fibrous materials like cardboard and rope. Examples include 440C and D2.

Fine Carbide Steels - have few and very small carbides like cement has sand in it. Takes a very keen edge and does well in wood but the edge can wear down faster. Examples include 1095 "carbon" steel, 420HC, Sandvik 12C27.

Medium Carbide Powder Steels - Expensive and the category most super steels fall into. Generally regarded as being a bit harder to sharpen.

My recommendation starting out is to get a few fine carbide steels and at least one 440C or D2 knife and see if you can feel the difference and if so, if you have a strong preference.

Note, manufacturer's heat treatment and tempering process is just as important as the base steel. Buck's 420HC is much much better (imo) than Case's version of 420HC and the difference is in the heat treat.

SHARPENING
My recommendation is to purchase a guided rod system like a Lansky with diamond stones. I found this allowed me to learn how to raise and remove a burr (the secret to sharpening), as well has how to choose among different edge angles and edge profiles. Once I got the feel of doing this with the training wheels of the guides, I've been able to maintain edges easily free hand with a DMT credit card stone. The Spyderco SharpMaker rod system is quite popular, but that makes more sense to me for touch ups and but less so for edge repair and reprofiling.

MULTI-TOOLS
I carry a Micra in my LFP with my money clip and a full sized MT in my day pack. 99% of the time, I can handle what I'm facing with the Micra. But if I'm doing chores, I grab the full sized MT. I strongly prefer the combination of a larger single blade knife and the Micra to a something like an SAK but then, that's just me and my preference. Like Miller Lite, SAKs are very popular.
 
Cold Steel's offering is great for testing different kinds and types of knives because they won't cost you an arm and a leg while still providing solid, reliable, long term use. Spyderco is a good notch up, I'd say if you really like one of their models, go for it you will hardly be disappointed regarding quality. Multitools ? I'm partial to Victorinox because quality, reliability, warranty and price not that higher than Leatherman, Mammut or others. This said, I'd go for a multitool (regardless of brand) which has only the tools I need (and that's the difficult matter...). Sharpening ? I can only recommend the Lansky system. It has its limitations but it allows to not only sharpen but also reprofile a blade (with the diamond stones, preferrably...).
 
Welcome.

If the Paramilitary is on your list, then buy it.

I'm not a fan, but TONS of people here are.

Then get a Leatherman product.

Start spending!
 
The PM2 is a great knife, though I'm not a fan of the CPM-S30V steel the standard comes with. At that price range, I recommend the Spyderco Manix 2 lightweight in CPM-S110V, which will hold its edge much longer than S30V. However, if you can afford it, the PM2 comes in S110V as well, but they are hard to find except here on the exchange. If you don't mind divulging, I would like to know your location. I would also like to know what price range you are looking at.

I have my trusty old Leatherman Wave as a multi-tool, but it is too heavy for me to carry on a daily basis. Occasionally I carry my 30 year old Wenger Nomad SAK.

Spyderco Sharpmaker is a good starting off point for those new to sharpening.
 
Wow. First things first: Thanks a lot! I was not expecting such quick replies with that much details! I'm gonna go ahead and reply to each of you guys in this thread (might get a bit bulky tho). If you want a quick situation on where I am so far: Gonna go with a Spyderco Sharpmaker or Lansky Sharpening System for, you guessed it, sharpening. I'll check for more infos on blade types on internet. I've looked a bit but found a bunch of mixed info that did not seem to be so good. On the knife side, I'll maybe give a shot to cheaper knives to get a feel on what I like and then progress from there (my list still stays the same tho!). Definitely gonna start with a Micra and/or Victorinox. Again, thanks for all the replies and tips so far and keep them coming! I like to see other peoples point of view. By the way, I edited my main post to include my region and price range.

Here comes the individual replies (I'll make it quick, at least I'll try)

whitty
Thanks for the welcome! I'll take a deeper look at the Paramilitary 2 and the Sharpmaker, everyone says they are pretty good so might as well. My only concern with infos about steel on the web is that I've only been able to find some "steel war" between some fans and no real and informative stuff. Think you got a specific link to some nice place? I'll definitely keep my interest in knives!

gadgetgeek
Region wise, I'm in Canada's East Cost. There's no city specific law to my knowledge, but the letter-oppening karambit will indeed not work as an excuse to a police officer. I'll probably do as you said: try out cheaper/smaller knives to see what I like and then upgrade to a bigger one. I,ll give the Micra/Style a shot to see how much i use them and to see if i need to upgrade to a Wave. Huntsman stays on my list tho! I've taken a quick look at the Dragonfly and I think it'll be a good starting knife.

pinnah
Giving a shot to cheaper knives to get a feel of way I like more is a very good idea. Definitely gonna do that so that i may upgrade after wise. So, on the steel side, I guess it all comes down to tempering and not that much about steel types? I like your 3 basic categories of steels. If you're feeling like it, think you could sort out the steel types from my list (only if you have some free time and nothing else to do). As mentioned in the upper part, I'll look more into the Lansky and Sharpmaker, but you're saying that "repairing" edges (re-profiling i guess) on the Sharpmaker is not something that is easily done? The Sharpmaker is a bit cheeper so i was leaning more on that side. The Micra is probably the way to go at this point.

herisson
Bonjour! Merci de ta réponse. French aside, Cold steel is a bit cheaper and I've heard a lot of good about them, which is why i want to give the Recon 1 series a shot. Maybe a little bit pricier than what I'd pay just to try out different styles, but i guess it's worth it. The Micra/Huntsman seems to have just what i would need, which is why I'm more interested in them than the bigger models. The Lansky System looks good, a few people here recommended it, but it cost a bit more than the Sharpmaker so I'll need to check that. I'll give a look at a Spyderco at some point, whether its the PM2 or the Bug, to "upgrade" my knife.

marcinek
Indeed, it seems that a lot of people like the PM2. I,ll also be sure to check out some sort of Leatherman, more precisely the Micra.

SBaker34
It does look awesome, which is why I'm so interested in it!

K.O.D.
The only problem with the Manix 2 is that I don't like the larger look that much, I prefer the more slim PS2. Also heard mixed things on the lock, but I might give it a shot someday. The PM2 with better steel looks like a good option, but I bet it's super rare and therefore super pricy, which may turn me down from that option. The Wave does look a bit heavy, which is why I'll probably stick to the Micra/Style before upgrading if the need is there. Sharpmaker does look good!
 
By far the PM2 is the most popular knife on your list. You could buy it and forget about the rest.

Cold Steel makes good products but different people have different opinions of the company and the company owner. Don't let that influence your opinions of the products themselves.
 
like em small? here's one your grandaddy would have wanted: case peanut. be sure to get one in chrome vanadium steel. take care of it for your grand child to eventually own.

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The Paramilitary is a pretty large knife and you said you wanted "smallish." It is a fantastic knife, however. The Cold Steel Mini Recon 1 is a great choice, but get the CTS-XHP version as it is more refined than the AUS8 version and has better steel. It has a full 3" blade but will fit in the watch pocket of my jeans. This is the knife you want if you need something that will take a licking and keep on kicking.
You mentioned the Cold Steel Micro Recon and that is okay but the Spyderco G10 Manbug is a lot more ergonomic. It is light years ahead of the Micro.
As for your multi tools, stay away from the Gerber. The rest are fine.
 
Since you are in canada (I'm a former westerner who headed far south for warmer winters) its really worth tracking down the canadian mail order stores(warriors and wonders, workwear and others). you will find that when the dollar is good, you may win on buying cross boarder, but dealing with shipping and customs is a pig. And with Bass Pro and Cabellas/SIR in the mix, it does help keep the others in line. And even a 5 or 10 dollar premium really doesn't matter when it comes to return policies and the like. There are plenty of canadian side retailers that are worth looking at. I love my huntsman, its been pretty key here since I can carry a SAK all the time, but other knives only when I have a "lawful excuse" luckily between work and fishing, I have plenty of excuses! You won't go wrong there. good luck in your hunting, don't worry, you'll have a box full in no time.
 
All, I am really no qualified at all to post but am happy to share my thoughts. ;) Nivom, I think your Grandfather had it right, the Victorinox Bantam. I have the Alox version and think it is great. I realize everyone has different needs, but here are my reasons for being high on the knife.

- A great EDC due to its size. Hard to find one thinner. Will not ruin pants.
- My knife goes through the wash (and dry) about every 2 months (forget to take it out of the jeans). No damage to the Alox version. Not sure how other handle types would hold up (knife is real clean though...)
- With all the micro-brew beer, you need a bottle opener. Bammm, you got one.
- I can't tell you how many times you need a screw driver, got one.
- The blade works well enough (opening letters, boxes, etc).
- You can carry with dress pants in the office, no issues.

Ok, I have shared.
 
If you ever watch/browse the marketplace section of the forum, you'll see that whenever someone posts a PM2 up for sale, its gone in a bout 5 mins. That's because the knife is probably the best EDC knife on the market today, based off the goods your getting versus the cost. S30V steel is a premium steel, the compression lock is one of the easiest/funnest locks to use (only takes a back seat to the axis lock in my opinion), comes in at under 4 oz, and the ergos of the thing are just insane! One of the best feeling knives in hand, period. You get all of that for between $100-150 for the base versions, just depends on what finishes you want and where you prefer to buy. I absolutely love mine, I'm hard pressed to find something else to put in my pocket on a daily basis (I have a rotation, but I always gravitate towards it).
 
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