Recommendation? Perfect knife.

S

Shawn Gregory

Joined
Dec 25, 2018
Messages
8
I’m on the search for my ideal knife. Looking for a top flipper tab like a smock sk23/isham zeta and with a “spydie” hole that can be used to flip it open with a thumb or underneath with a finger. I also want a deep carry pocket clip tip up and the end of the knife to be narrow as possible for ease of getting my hand in and out of my pocket past the knife. I prefer the axis style or compression locks but could settle for a frame or Liner lock on the right knife. I really like cpm-m4 but any relatively robust steel good edge retention is fine. I like canvas micarta scales but I’m not dead set on that. I also like titanium or carbon fiber. I’d prefer the blade thickness to be around .125” nothing tooo crazy thick but I do use my knives daily. I’m really looking for something made in the USA but again this is not set in stone but highly preferred. Searching on my own the closest I could find was The WE/Isham Zeta which I bought and have been EDCing for a year now but the ball bearing have started to feel a little crunchy and I’m always a little worried about the thinness of the tip of the blade. Also it’s made in China which is not the end of the world but I am a soldier in the USA army and prefer to carry American. I also have a pm2 in s110v that chipped a couple times, a ZT 0770 in M4 I left on a bed side stand in brothel in Korea(I was distracted in my defense but that’s no excuse) a 940 I still carry a lot not in uniform it’s still one of my favorite knives, a rat1 in d2, an infidel, a benchmade presidio which I like to abuse but it’s a bit bulky. Other knives I have considered are the liong mah xv the smock spyderco because I can’t afford an actual smock on the secondary market. My price range is up to $500 that’s way more than I’d like to spend but I am aware you have to pay to play. Now that I have waxed poetic for entirely too long any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Paragraphs please. Maybe bullet points or list of what you want.

And someone will tell you Sebeza just a fair warning.

Sorry if I came off as a jerk but I had a hard time following your post. Most posts from people who have served will say the expensive knives tend to grow legs while deployed when their talking to other people who are serving. Just a heads up.

Also you don't need to "pay to play" with knives. A $10 Opinel is a far better slicer than the vast majority of knives out there at ANY price point. You can also get "super steels" for under $100 and that high wear resistant blade isn't always beneficial. S110V as you have discovered can be a little chippy, if I used that in my job I'd put in so many chips in the blade it be the first knife I'd sell or just throw it away. I take 440a over it any day of the week for my uses.

If your not proficient at it invest time into sharpening and get extremely good at it. You open a lot of doors and any price point especially the lower end for what will fit your needs.

The higher end you tend to spend more on fit and finish, exclusive (limited run, not highly massed produced), hand finishes, more exotic materials. Stuff that generally doesn't affect performance so much.

To give you a gun analogy you can get a single shot shotgun for a bit over $100 with interchangeable chokes. You can also get a shotgun costing tens of thousands of dollars but fact of the matter is your still loading then up with the same shells, and their just as potent out if both guns. And your target whether it's paper, clay, bird, etc won't know the difference.
 
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o made in America
o tip up carry with narrow/tapered end
o top flipper(like a smock sk23)
o spydie hole for flicking
o micarta/titanium/carbon fiber
o axis/compression lock not set in stone
o .125” thickness
o m4/m390.... usual suspects
 
Uncle Timbo said:
Check with a maker.
Click to expand...
Any suggestions I have never really gotten into commissioning something I don’t really know who is respectable and most custom knives I have seen seem to be way over my budget. I just imagine them telling me the knife I wants cost $2k
 
I don't know which knife to recommend, other than to say that the ideal knife is the one you have with you. So if your new knife is too precious to use or is so special that you can't see its flaws, that will eventually suck the joy out of it.
That isn't to say that you won't find a knife you enjoy, but chasing perfection just leaves you broke and unhappy.
 
Shawn Gregory said:
Any suggestions I have never really gotten into commissioning something I don’t really know who is respectable and most custom knives I have seen seem to be way over my budget. I just imagine them telling me the knife I wants cost $2k
Click to expand...
Shawn - I see you still have that new member smell. Perhaps some lurking would be in order. Find a maker here and see if he's interested.
https://www.bladeforums.com/forums/for-sale-folders.753/
 
gadgetgeek said:
I don't know which knife to recommend, other than to say that the ideal knife is the one you have with you. So if your new knife is too precious to use or is so special that you can't see its flaws, that will eventually suck the joy out of it.
That isn't to say that you won't find a knife you enjoy, but chasing perfection just leaves you broke and unhappy.
Click to expand...
Could you find the perfect car? Nope. There's always gonna be a prettier, sleeker, sweeter one that you just gotta have. Give it up.
 
I can get you somewhat close...

A Benchmade 550-1 Grip with custom carbon fiber scales. You can order both from Knives Ship Free.

Made in USA, tip up carry, Spydie hole for flicking, carbon fiber scales, Axis lock, .115 thick CPM-20CV steel....

If you don't like it when you get it, somebody on the exchange sure as hell will.
 
Other question is are you willing to use an expensive knife you love?

I can't, I have a beautiful Kabar Dogshead lockback in root beer brown that I can't bring myself to use or carry. I'm afraid of ruining or losing it.
 
gadgetgeek said:
I don't know which knife to recommend, other than to say that the ideal knife is the one you have with you. So if your new knife is too precious to use or is so special that you can't see its flaws, that will eventually suck the joy out of it.
That isn't to say that you won't find a knife you enjoy, but chasing perfection just leaves you broke and unhappy.
Click to expand...

I’ve been told I’m a fool. I carry my $300 pocket knife and use it like a Ozark Trail. My soldiers will complain about being asked to use their Kerahaws to open boxes with because it will dull them but I’ll carry a knife to use a knife. Sure it is fun to show off something fancy but I have always seen it a a tool first. So I am not too worried about spending and then being afraid to use it that’s really not my way. I know there is no “perfect knife” but I am hoping someone can push me in the right direction for my next purchase. Tax season is around the corner and if I don’t find something foolish to buy I might have to spend it on something responsible
 
Velitrius said:
I can get you somewhat close...

A Benchmade 550-1 Grip with custom carbon fiber scales. You can order both from Knives Ship Free.

Made in USA, tip up carry, Spydie hole for flicking, carbon fiber scales, Axis lock, .115 thick CPM-20CV steel....

If you don't like it when you get it, somebody on the exchange sure as hell will.
Click to expand...

That’s been on my short list actually.
 
Thing is...you're looking for too many features.
Flippers, Spydie holes, Axis lock (yes, optional), are all tough to obtain in a single package. Would be nice, but still, difficult to find.
Maybe check out a Boos Blades Smoke? M390 and a flipper mech you may like?
But I think your best bet is to be patient and wait for the Spyderco Smock to drop.
Seems like a decent choice with your criteria.
 
Barman1 said:
Thing is...you're looking for too many features.
Flippers, Spydie holes, Axis lock (yes, optional), are all tough to obtain in a single package. Would be nice, but still, difficult to find.
Maybe check out a Boos Blades Smoke? M390 and a flipper mech you may like?
But I think your best bet is to be patient and wait for the Spyderco Smock to drop.
Seems like a decent choice with your criteria.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know it’s too much to ask. I’m a machinist/welder(mostly welder) I thought about trying to design and make my own it’s a tight fit and my skills are a bit short I think and the tooling I have available to me is not so small and delicate for knife making. Thank you for the suggestion.
 
Multiple savings accounts in a bank, set it funds to be deposited into a savings than into checking where it gets distributed to the others so you don't use up your 6 withdrawal limit. I use Ally online bank for this and have it done automatically.

It makes it so I can be irresponsible any time I want all year round as long as it comes from my fun money account. It's more fun being responsible part time so you can be irresponsible the rest of the time but still get everything done. Plus I don't have the patience to wait for my tax return, props to you if you do.

It's kinda like procrastination it's actually a lot of hard work and planning goes on if you want to do it right.
 
SG, seems like you know what you want but you want someone to do the research and present you with a few perfect choices.

Maybe if you offered to pay someone to research for you you’d get a more honest straightforward answer. Than again how could you ever trust anyone’s opinion you don’t really know?

I mean for a guy with 3 posts you ask an awful lot of people you don’t know and perhaps might not even trust to make the correct choice.

My recommendation is do more research on your own, then offer up your concerns and observations and ask for a consensus based on the info you’ve provided.

There are no shortcuts to finding your grail knife. It’s all a matter of research, hands on when you can, that’s why shows are great plus you can meet and befriend people near your town who are usually more than willing to help.

Till you learn what it is you really want, you won’t know what you want. When there’s no more “...either cf or micarta, axis or compression lock...”

Yea, when you know exactly what you want and can accurately describe it, the question will be moot because you’ll know exactly what you want.

Hope that helped.

Man that felt so good to get all that out.


One last thing, when you do figure out what the perfect knife is would you please let us all know?
 
It was more of a “hey maybe you know” not “go research this for me.” The this or that is because either would be acceptable to me. Maybe I titled it wrong I’m not necessarily looking for this grail knife just a knife with some peculiar feature to have on the same knife. Thanks for your input and if I find the perfect knife I am certain I’ll let the world know. No worries.
 
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