Recommendation? New to knives, looking for help

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Hoyle33

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Feb 27, 2019
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Hey all, I am a novice in the world of knives.

I'm looking for a spring assisted knife that has good-to-great blade steel that can be used as my EDC. I like the spring assisted style because opening/closing a knife one handed is preferred. I've seen some knives that are not spring assisted but have a bearing which is fine, as long as opening/closing is smooth. I also like opening with my index finger vs my thumb.

I do have a Microtech UTX-85 OTF, but it's too nice of a knife for me, I'd hate to scratch it up.

I usually buy cheap Kershaw knives, but figured I'd ask a forum of pointy-thing experts :D

Blade length and price are always negotiable, but I think 3-3.5" blade and $100 or under would be nice. I will consider other options for more money, but don't want to have another expensive knife that I'd be afraid to actually use.

Thanks in advance!
 
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I used to like an assisted knife and own many assisted Kershaws. I one day tried a non assisted knife for EDC and quickly changed my mind. Those Kershaws are now collecting dust.

Do you have a blade length requirement and price range?
 
I'm a huge fan of the Benchmade Vector, both the 495 and 496 models. It's a great assisted flipper with the axis lock, and a super thin blade stock, it's slicey as hell. I prefer the 496 version because of the hollow grind and the 20CV steel (and it's green!), but you can't go wrong with either one.

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Cscotttsss said:
I used to like an assisted knife and own many assisted Kershaws. I one day tried a non assisted knife for EDC and quickly changed my mind. Those Kershaws are now collecting dust.

Do you have a blade length requirement and price range?
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I updated the OP.

Blade length and price are always negotiable, but I think 3-3.5" blade and $100 or under would be nice. I will consider other options for more money, but don't want to have another expensive knife that I'd be afraid to actually use.
 
Honestly, non-assisted knives are probably easier to close one handed, so I wouldn't limit yourself there. Something like the Spyderco Para 3 lightweight would probably be ideal, or if you wanted to spring a little more for something you can easily customize to your heart's desire, the regular para 3 is hard to beat for the best knife under $150.
 
Hoyle33 said:
I updated the OP.

Blade length and price are always negotiable, but I think 3-3.5" blade and $100 or under would be nice. I will consider other options for more money, but don't want to have another expensive knife that I'd be afraid to actually use.
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Bugout or Para 3 LW
 
Kershaw is a great brand, nothing wrong with them. Kershaw Bareknuckle in 20CV is available for about $100, just do a google search and it'll come up.
 
MarkN86 said:
Kershaw is a great brand, nothing wrong with them. Kershaw Bareknuckle in 20CV is available for about $100, just do a google search and it'll come up.
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I second this. I have a standard Bareknuckle and 2 20cv Bareknuckles. They are an excellent knife. 14c28n on the standard is great, and the 20cv is even better. 70 dollars or 100-110 dollars. Can't go wrong either way.
 
Hoyle33 said:
... don't want to have another expensive knife that I'd be afraid to actually use.
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Welcome to Blade Forums. I know exactly what you mean by this. When a knife is too fancy, pretty, or expensive; I'll think twice about using it. That's not good for a regular EDC knife. It can make sense to carry a fancier knife if you're all dressed up but even then; I'm happy with knives like the Civivi Elementum, Massdrop Gent, or Kershaw's M390 Dividend. All three of those are classy everyday cutters and cost less than a hundred bucks.

Coming from the realm of budget Kershaws, it might be worth checking out Kershaw's premium steel versions of the Link, Dividend, or Bareknuckle. Personally, I like a good manual flipper on bearings. When done well, it's both easier and more fun. Civivi and Bestech make some exceptionally nice manual knives for not much more than some of the budget Kershaws. While less of a step up than M390 or S35VN, 9Cr18Mov or D2 from one of those companies will still be a big step up from Kershaw's 8Cr13Mov.

If you'd like to window shop either of those brands, here they are on BladeHQ:

https://www.bladehq.com/cat--CIVIVI--3293

https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Bestech-Folding--3235
 
DO NOT BUY any knife with the following steels: Chinese steels (9cr, 8cr,7cr and lower), any Pakistani steels, 440 steels, plain stainless crap, AUS 8, AUS 8A or below (AUS 7 etc), AUS 10, AUS10A, VG10, N690co, Non-American D2, RWL, 154cm,

Get any knife with these steels (assuming they have been heat treated properly): CPM M4, M390, CPM 20CV, CPM S90V, S110V, 10V, 3V, Elmax, American-made D2 (Greg Medford does fantastic job heat treating D2)....

The rest is easy. Steel is what defines the character and performance of the knife, it's the engine, it's the power, it's everything.
 
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Addicted_to_Knives said:
DO NOT BUY any knife with the following steels: Chinese steels (9cr, 8cr,7cr and lower), any Pakistani steels, 440 steels, plain stainless crap, AUS 8, AUS 8A or below (AUS 7 etc), AUS 10, AUS10A, VG10, N690co, Non-American D2, RWL, 154cm,

Get any knife with these steels: CPM M4, M390, CPM 20CV, CPM S90V, S110V, 10V, 3V, Elmax, American-made D2 (Greg Medford does fantastic job).....

The rest is easy. Steel is what defines the character and performance of the knife, it's the engine, it's the power, it's everything.
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Funny, I'd say heat treatment is MORE important, overall, than the steel. I suspect guys like @Larrin would agree.
Steel composition comes 2nd. :)

(Of course, this may not apply if you're talking about absolute junk steel like 3cr13 or 420j2 etc etc)
 
I beleive the Kershaw dividend is a great knife. It is available in different steels. For a manual hard to beat a spyderco. A native 5 lightweight manix 2 lightweight or para 3 lightweight. Any of those are very close to a hundred bucks.
For 55 dollars or so a little cheaper option would be a Byrd Raven 2. Good luck finding the knife you will use and not worry about messing up,hundreds of options .
 
Addicted_to_Knives said:
DO NOT BUY any knife with the following steels: Chinese steels (9cr, 8cr,7cr and lower), any Pakistani steels, 440 steels, plain stainless crap, AUS 8, AUS 8A or below (AUS 7 etc), AUS 10, AUS10A, VG10, N690co, Non-American D2, RWL, 154cm,

Get any knife with these steels: CPM M4, M390, CPM 20CV, CPM S90V, S110V, 10V, 3V, Elmax, American-made D2 (Greg Medford does fantastic job).....

The rest is easy. Steel is what defines the character and performance of the knife, it's the engine, it's the power, it's everything.
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Yeah dont listen to this guy. I genuinely cant tell if he's joking or not based on how ridiculous this post sounds.

As for your requirements, a Kershaw Blur in S30V will probably be your best bet for good steel, assisted, and price wise.
 
I would start looking at some different models from: Civivi, Kershaw, Steel Will - those would be sub $100 budget items... they will have some flippers in your price range and then try and decide what features are important... assisted or not (non assisted flippers have come a long ways and are much easier to close then assisted, but assisted is easy enough with one hand).

If you want to go up a notch, look at WE or maybe a used ZT for american made... the benchnade arcane is cool too.

Some of the massdrop Ferrum Forge/protech/WE colabs are cool too (Gent, Keen etc)... honestly, one of those used will be right about 100 and would make for an excellent user.
 
dirc said:
Funny, I'd say heat treatment is MORE important, overall, than the steel. I suspect guys like @Larrin would agree.
Steel composition comes 2nd. :)

(Of course, this may not apply if you're talking about absolute junk steel like 3cr13 or 420j2 etc etc)
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I doubt that most users could tell the difference in the field, and those that can probably wouldn’t care. Geometry, heat treatments and ergonomics are far more important than steel chemistry.

I would suggest ZT as the next step up from Kershaw.

n2s
 
Welcome! The kershaw blur is a good blade that fits your requirements. I used kershaws for about 4 years as my work knives, I dont mind the 8cr13. (Or what ever it was) You have to resharpen it a little more often but worked very well for all my needs. I really like the spring assist, I never had any trouble closing it one handed either. I ended up switching to a spyderco because I could never get the clips to stay on my kershaws for very long as well as braking 2 springs that run the assisted opening. Kershaw always took care of me though, there warranty service is the best I have ever experienced.
 
Silent H said:
Also, the new Kershaw Link in 20CV is probably one of the best values out there right now. It's an assisted flipper, which you would like, with one of the best steels on the market for around $80.
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Came here to suggest this as it sounds exactly like what the OP is looking for.
DrRollinstein said:
Yeah dont listen to this guy. I genuinely cant tell if he's joking or not based on how ridiculous this post sounds.

As for your requirements, a Kershaw Blur in S30V will probably be your best bet for good steel, assisted, and price wise.
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I second the not listening, and the Kershaw Blur in S30V is definitely another excellent option.
 
Addicted_to_Knives said:
DO NOT BUY any knife with the following steels: Chinese steels (9cr, 8cr,7cr and lower), any Pakistani steels, 440 steels, plain stainless crap, AUS 8, AUS 8A or below (AUS 7 etc), AUS 10, AUS10A, VG10, N690co ...
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DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS ADVICE. It is vague, oversimplified, and straight-up wrong with respect to a few of those steels.

Look, some of this stuff can be daunting to a newbie. So here is a good way to think about it. The type of steel is like the ingredients for a cake. That certainly matters. However, the skill of the baker and their recipe matter a lot too. For instance, 9Cr18Mov looks like an obvious step up from 8Cr13Mov. You can see an ingredient comparison here. It has a lot more chromium, which makes it much more resistant to corrosion. It has a little more carbon, which should improve edge retention. The issue is by how much. That has everything to do with how it is processed. From a company like Schrade, it's kinda "meh". From a company like Civivi, it's very good for the price.

That said, price matters. It doesn't make sense to compare the 9Cr18Mov on a $40-something Civivi to the Maxamet on a $200 Spyderco. The OP specified "under $100". In that range, steels like VG-10, N690, and AUS-10 tend to be excellent choices. I have knives in those steels as well as the others I mentioned previously. You know what I carried today? It was a $40-something Civivi Chronic in 9Cr18Mov.
 
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