Searching for the right EDC

D

Damn_Animal

Joined
Sep 14, 2010
Messages
556
Alright just some background info on me and what I already carry and what I use my knife for and why I need a new EDC blade. I currently am in college and to help pay for it I have been working in a variouse job fields from landscaping to factory labor. I find myself frequently in need of a good strong blade that can be used to cut, poke holes through thick materials, ect in otherwords its worked hard. I currently have two case folding knives that just dont cut it the stockman and the trapper. These where given to me as gifts and I carry them because they make a great general cutting tool. I need something a little bit more though.

As far as specs go for the knife. I would like a good locking folder that is in the general ballpark of what follows.

Blade Type: A good hardworking blade after reading posts on this forum and others i find that the tanto point may not be what im looking for. Also something I did not think about till reading someone else point it out is that fact that around sheeple the tanto design is more likley to cause problems for my carry at school. So that being said im open to any hardworking blade that wll meet the requirments of the diffrent jobs and hardships ill put it through.

Grind: Flat or Hollow no chisel

Steel: This is something I dont know alot about kind of looking for help here sharpening is not a problem for me im looking for a good working knife steel

Grip: G10 or something similar would be nice

Blade Length: 3in ish-3.5in ish

Closed Lenght: 4.5in ish nothing over like 4.75

Clip: Would like Tip up carry if possible.

Warrenty: this is going to sound fickle but I do like a realy good warrenty on my knives. I own case and kershaws both have lifetimes on them. This is very prefferable.

Price range: Umm as far as pricenot a realy big deal for me atm i would like to spend 200$ or less but if its the perfect knife Im willing to make the investment or a little bit more to get the right knife.

prefferably not an A/O they kinda have more to break and I would like to avoid that. With all that info thanx for all the help ahead of time and if you would like anymore information or think you have the perfect knife i would be excited to hear about it.
 
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I came up with 3 sugestions...however none of them match ALL of your requirements.

1) Spyderco tenacious. The problem here is its not a tanto

2) Emerson CQC7. Problem here is that its chisel ground

3) Cold steel recon 1: Problem here is its a 4" blade

Im sure somebody will come up with something that match all of your requirements, but these are just some options that you may like if you wanted to broaden your requirements.
 
What exactly do you mean by tanto being the best plain blade? I would suggest one of the Cold Steel offerings, or (if it's in your price range) Spyderco's Gayle Bradley. I have the latter and it seems to suit your requirements pretty well.
 
Some things that come to mind are a Benchmade Grip or mini-Grip (they are available in tanto profiles), a Benchmade Bone Collector or mini-BC (not available in tanto), or a Hogue EX01 (more $ but available in G10 and tanto).

Cold Steel will also have some tanto offerings but I'm not familiar with their current lineup. If your main concern is a straight cutting edge rather than a tanto point, you might look at something with a wharnecliff blade profile. Several companies offer these in their lineups.
 
Regarding blade shape, I think you'll find that there are some blade designs that give you plenty of straight edge with the added benefit of some "belly" for slicing tasks (which is missing in tantos). The Benchmade Griptilian 550HG, with its modified sheepsfoot blade, would be one example of this. It doesn't have a G-10 handle, but it meets all of your other requirements and offers an excellent grip if that was your main reason for wanting G-10.

We could probably give you more confident recommendations if you told us what your preferred price range is.
 
IIRC, Cold Steel has a Recon 1 in a smaller version.

My Emerson CQC Super-7w is nice, though it's slightly tricky to sharpen. The tip tends to chip and blade play develops pretty easily(nothing that can't be fixed with Loctite). It's nice, but I feel it's more of a SD knife that you only use if you get attacked rather than a working knife.

My Spyderco Gayle Bradley is quite a work horse that seems to keep a working edge forever. Only real downside I found was the lack of any stain resistance. Other than that, I can shove it into compressed cardboard without edge rolling or chipping, and it still slices paper after going through 500 ears of corn(cutting the stalk and leaves).

My current favorite is the ZT 0301. It's big, it fills the hands nicely, it opens very smoothly, and the titanium framelock is one of the stronger locks. The recurve is tricky to sharpen, but it does make for better slicing. I know you said you didn't like AO, but I haven't really heard much about that mechanism failing in this line of knives. If you're adamant about not having an AO, you can check out the 0200 or 0500 MUDD models.
 
How about checking out a CRKT M16 model? I think they have one that would fit the bill, if you're looking for a folder.....
 
neuron said:
Regarding blade shape, I think you'll find that there are some blade designs that give you plenty of straight edge with the added benefit of some "belly" for slicing tasks (which is missing in tantos). The Benchmade Griptilian 550HG, with its modified sheepsfoot blade, would be one example of this. It doesn't have a G-10 handle, but it meets all of your other requirements and offers an excellent grip if that was your main reason for wanting G-10.

We could probably give you more confident recommendations if you told us what your preferred price range is.
Click to expand...

Alright I ment to adress these questions befor class but ran out of time so I'll do it not. The tanto blade was mainly because of what I would be using the knife for. I have used my knives from basic cleaning of fish from trout to sharks, used it in the factory to clear out crap that had rollers wedged to the point they stopped cut compressed cardboard and banding, pry shotgun slugs out of a tree, and then needed to put holes in barrels and tree basin holders when working for the landscaping company. Tanto while not providing better slicing abilities seemed to provide best overall blade strength. Once agin I could be wrong. the Whanecliff point seems to fragile but i have looked at them.

As far as G10 handle it has two purposes. First you are right its the grip, I like the firm grip that it gives compared to some others but in no way am I a plastic experct its just what Im used to. I tend to stay away from painted metals because as hard as I work the knife alum ox handles seem to lose their color and just look like crap. When im carrying in the workplace that doesnt matter as much to me but in public I like my knife to look good.

I did add a price point my prefferance is like a 100-150$ knife but like i said im willing to pay 200 or a lil more if the knife is perfect and will last me a lifetime because thats what im looking for I take realy good care of my knives even though i use them so hard so quality is very important to me.

Hope that helps
 
Resist said:
I came up with 3 sugestions...however none of them match ALL of your requirements.

1) Spyderco tenacious. The problem here is its not a tanto

2) Emerson CQC7. Problem here is that its chisel ground

3) Cold steel recon 1: Problem here is its a 4" blade

Im sure somebody will come up with something that match all of your requirements, but these are just some options that you may like if you wanted to broaden your requirements.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the double post but the Spyderco tenaciouse actualy intrests me even though it isnt a tanto style blade. I have two main questions on it. Firt how are the thumbholes compared to thumb studs never used thumb hole befor. Second The steel in the blade worrys me as its not somthing im familure with. I looked at the Spyderco Manix 2 because im more familure with that style of steel.
 
Given your description of intended use, I would go with any of the following
(In no particular order)

1. Cold Steel American Lawman
2. Cold Steel Recon 1
3. Benchmade Griptilian
4. Benchmade Bone Collector
5. Spyderco Manix 2

-nate
 
Damn_Animal said:
Sorry for the double post but the Spyderco tenaciouse actualy intrests me even though it isnt a tanto style blade. I have two main questions on it. Firt how are the thumbholes compared to thumb studs never used thumb hole befor. Second The steel in the blade worrys me as its not somthing im familure with. I looked at the Spyderco Manix 2 because im more familure with that style of steel.
Click to expand...

Thumb holes work better for me than as do thumb studs. But that's just purely subjective. It'll be a bit strange at first, but you get used to it quickly.

The steel is comparable to Aus-8. It takes a great edge, has good corrosion resistance and does not chip easily. Edge retention is below S30V, VG-10, 154CM, etc., but certainly ranks among the "good" steels. Since your focus is a tough, working knife and you can sharpen well, that's not really a problem. I suggest you give it a try. It doesn't cost much but comes with Spyderco quality.

As for the Manix 2, what more can I say? I have 7 of them in various flavors and it ranks among my all time favorite knives. There are 2 things folks have brought up recently. First, the pivot bushing system gives you a very smooth and easy opening but introduces a tiny bit of looseness that won't go away by tightening the pivot screws. The second come from a "hard use" test posted on this site where a number of over strikes caused the lock to fail. The end result is that Spyderco is tweaking the lock area to better address this form of abuse.
 
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Cold Steel only has a 1 year warranty and wouldn't even look at my knife without charging me money the one time I had a problem.

The 14255 might fit your criteria. I personally don't like tanto blades but it has one if that is what you want.
 
robot37 said:
Given your description of intended use, I would go with any of the following
(In no particular order)

1. Cold Steel American Lawman
2. Cold Steel Recon 1
3. Benchmade Griptilian
4. Benchmade Bone Collector
5. Spyderco Manix 2

-nate
Click to expand...

That would be my recommendation as well.
 
Well it seems that looking at other places on this forum that the Tanto blade is not realy found to be of any real benefit to a more traditional style. I have personaly never owned a tanto just did research on them by reading up on them on manufacture websites is nice to have taken the time to look at others opinions in every day use. With the finding of many people saying it isnt any better then a traditional blade style i think i will be opening up the requirment on blade to include any hardworking blade with a good tip on it.
Also with the mention that Coldsteal seems to not have a good warrenty on their product I belive that i will be avoiding them unless I am mistaken in this.
I like the looks of spyderco but have never actualy handled them. My frend owns an older benchmade 940 i realy like it but the blades shape doesnt realy work for my tasks seems like it would be easy to bend or break. I currently own a Kershaw leek but its way to small for my hand and i feel like i lose it and imma break it. But i like the quality of the materials it was built with.
Found one more concern on the Tenacious is that it is manufactured in china according to a review, im not a big fan of knives or anything thats produced there. Most other countries I am ok with but im very hesitant when it comes to chinese made.

Thanks for all the help guys your helping me narrow things down
 
How about a Kershaw 1735T, Tanto Zing...

or the slightly bigger 1730TBLK Tanto Groove?

Both meet all your requirements I believe



cbw
 
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