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New member. Help me choose an affordable manual flipper

The Skyline is way overrated, in my opinion. They just don't flip all that well. I'd say:
Kershaw Junkyard Dog
Kershaw Chill
CRKT Eraser
Enlan EL01
Kershaw Groove
Kershaw Zing

I've had multiples of all of these and they have all been great flippers with perfect lockup.
 
Haha, that little cryo is sick! Those mods are awesome, props to the member that did that, a lot of effort but worth it. All this kershaw/hinderer watching is not making the preorder wait on my 562 any easier.
 
I'd give those new kershaw flippers a look before making any decisions, they really look good. Having said that most of the knives mentioned so far are pretty good for their price range, you'll probably be happy whichever one you choose.
 
Comeuppance said:
The Skyline is way overrated, in my opinion. They just don't flip all that well. I'd say:
Kershaw Junkyard Dog
Kershaw Chill
CRKT Eraser
Enlan EL01
Kershaw Groove
Kershaw Zing

I've had multiples of all of these and they have all been great flippers with perfect lockup.
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I respectfully disagree. I have two Skylines, a BLBW and a RDSW, and both are among my best flippers. :)
 
CJZ said:
I respectfully disagree. I have two Skylines, a BLBW and a RDSW, and both are among my best flippers. :)
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I've had 3 - a plain regular, a brown/black, and a blue. None of them flipped well. Very different personal experiences. However, my tolerances for what can be called good flipping are pretty strict - it has to flip without wrist action when held upright. All three, upon receipt, opened to about 60%. After cleaning and lubricating, they got to about 80% on average. If I was extremely deliberate, I could get them to flip open fully - but it was too much work to get a damned flipper to flip.
 
I'm gonna agree with the kershaw skyline, the ripple is a pretty knife but it has several problems: no tip-up carry (or any options at all for that matter, only tip-down right hand), the steel is lackluster, 8Cr13MoV on the liner lock, Acuto+ (which is pretty much 440c) on the frame lock version at ~$70. My wife has an Acuto+ one and even with how little she uses her own knife (cause I'm always around with 3 on me) I have to sharpen it quite often.
 
9blades said:
The Ken Onion designed kershaws, leek, shallot, scallion, and chive can't be de-assisted, they have a detent ball but no detent hole. :)

Out of the ones listed I would say skyline and a bottle of nano oil, it really improves the action.
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If you have a good set of bits and a decent drill or drill press you can add a detent hole no problem.
 
Why do they include the detente ball without the hole, just to decrease friction from the lock bar on the blade during opening?
 
If the Kershaw didn't lock open over a 180 degree straight line I'd be on it like stink on a monkey. I don't care for knives that are bent backwards but rather the opposite at an obtuse angle.
 
Unfortunately almost none of the Kershaw assisted knives can be deassisted properly (no detent hole). For that price, best flipper I have had is the Aluminium Ripple. It isn't the best, it is the only flipper in the price range I didn't hate.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I really appreciate it. I'm now primarily deciding between the skyline and the buck vantage. I have seen some reviews of the buck vantage select that say the flippers and alignment can be hit or miss. Is this true for the vantage force as well?
I will also keep an eye on the new kershaws.
Thanks again
 
Buck vantage force. Great knife, super sharp, very light and sleek, and great lock up, with extremely smooth opening and great flipping action.
 
DarkPatriot said:
Thanks for the correction 9blades. Do you know if you could disable a torsion bar on a cryo without compromising its functionality?
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Cryo can't be de-assisted, buddy. I took my torsion bar out and the blade was just flying out all over the place. There's no detent hole.

I was afraid I might slash the heck out of my hand so after about 2 days I put the torsion bar back in.
 
I only saw one other mention of it but the Enlan EL-01 is a decent knife and the samples of it I've handled have all been perfectly centered, super smooth and flipped great. For a cheap/budget flipper its a good knife and its freakin beefy.

My kershaw shallot that I de-assisted (by drilling the detent divot) flips amazingly well but the blade shape isn't for everyone, I love how thin it is, great shape/size for back pocket carry. I originally de-assisted it because the torsion bar kept cracking (the original one and the first replacement) and wouldn't open it all the way so I was quite surprised how well it worked after I de-assisted it, the detent is also very good.
 
Grownstar, you should check out the video that 9blades posted. Shows a forumite who had indeed turned a cryo into a manual flipper, among other changes. It's definitely a more involved process than simply removing the torsion bar and probably more of a project than the OP is looking for, but definitely doable. He really turned that cryo into an (even more) excellent little knife.
 
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