Recommendations? Searching for reasonable wood-scaled folders

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kennyj

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Feb 24, 2006
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In search of a new EDC for myself as well as a few friends whom I'm hoping to gift new knives to at my wedding. I'm trying to find something with nice wood scales, light weight, a pocket clip, and a decent lock-up... I can't stand lockbacks and I'm not crazy about the Spyderco style or part-serrated blades, but other than that I'm pretty flexible. I started out with my heart set on getting something around 154cm or better, but really I'll be happy with anything around or above 8A at this point.

Since I'm buying several of these, I'm hoping to keep the price somewhere in the vicinity of $50.

The Benchmade 40020 Lone Wolf Ridge Top was one that I found, and I do like the design and the price, but I feel like I could get something a little "nicer" looking than that (it might just be the pictures; the wood doesn't look particularly good in many examples.) The Shoki caught my attention as I was looking for images, but it's about 3x what I'm willing to pay!

The Buck 0277RWS1 Folding Alpha Hunter also caught my eye... beautiful knife, but the heavy weight and lack of a pocket clip turned me off - which is a shame, because I love the design otherwise.

Any input on these choices, or suggestions on any others?
 
I somehow only just found the Buck Vantage Avid and it sounds like an excellent choice... I think I like the dark wood finish more than the bland-looking wood on the Lone Wolf if the pictures are any indication of actual appearance, but the fact that it's close to $10 cheaper certainly doesn't hurt. Any other input you guys can offer on this versus the others would be GREATLY appreciated!
 
Check out the Boker Exskelimoor. The Bog Oak versions are reasonably priced and quite nice.
 
Foster Knives makes several variants of their 1911 knife, with wood scales that mimic the 1911 handgun. Hope I do not get another infraction or warning for posting links to this knife. Not trying to goad him into buying one, just showing him what is available. I wonder how many points it takes to get banned? ;-)

http://www.fosterknives.com/product_details;pid=1911GS;

http://www.fosterknives.com/product_details;pid=1911GC;

Mine, and below it the Lone Wolf US 45 folder. The Foster is still available, not so sure about the Lone Wolf variant.



 
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2nd the Boker Exskelimoor
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love it
 
Except for the pocket clip (?), an excellent ~$50 knife with wood handles is available from Boker. Love 'em...

The Boker Evergreen series in olive wood. They come in nice presentable boxes, excellent quality, perfect 'gentlemans' gift, and $50 or less depending on the model and dealer.

118288OL%5Bmedium%5D.jpg


They have several other wood types to choose from too, including oak beer barrel.
 
Doesn't fit all your requirements but you may want to take a look at the Ka-Bar Dozier "Big Easy", and maybe the Phat Bob (doesn't look as classy though). The Big Easy is brown micarta handle, slipjoint, and 440a steel. No where close to what your requirements were but is worth a quick glance in my opinion.
 
Buck has the Alpha Dorado, which is a smaller version of the Alpha Hunter. The Alpha Hunter and Alpha Dorado may not have a pocket clip, but come with a very nice looking leather sheath. The combo of the knife and sheath makes a great gift, in my opinion.
 
I actually ended up ordering a couple of Buck Vantage Avids last night because I found one each on Amazon and eBay for about $33, and I figured I'm not going to get that lucky very often... at that price point, it's definitely one of the best values available (it's usually a bit over $40.) One of my boys is very "old school" and will probably appreciate the slightly more old-fashioned styling on the Buck anyway, and in any case it looks to have one of the best pocket clips in this price range. The Boker Magnum looks like a good alternate, but I get the impression that the Vantage Avid might be a small step up in build quality and durability.

I might get an Exskelimoor for myself in the future... that's a damn fine knife. Can't really argue with the Vantage Avid when it drops to ~$20 cheaper though, especially when you're multiplying that a few times over! I'll be keeping an eye on it for sure in any case, looks like a nice step up from the Buck, and I might consider it instead for the next one or two I pick up if I don't get lucky with the Vantage again. A $10 increase is a lot easier to justify than a $20 one, and it does look like an appropriate step up for that price.

Foster Knives look cool but I don't see them being widely available, or anywhere near my price range! For what they're listed for, I could basically go for a Bencmade Opportunist or Megumi instead, which is much closer to my personal tastes anyway. If you can provide a link that shows them around $50, they'll be worth entertaining for me, otherwise I really don't see how they fit in here.

Not crazy about the Buck Alpha folders because of their insane weight... they're literally twice as heavy as many of the others I've been looking at!

The lack of a pocket clip on some knives is a deal-killer - I want this to be no-brainer EDC-able for everyone and that means pocket clips.
 
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