Seeking advice for a good EDC pocket knife... with a sub 2" blade...

G

GDK1

Joined
Apr 14, 2015
Messages
9
Hello all! First post!

First off, apologies if this is in the wrong place. I can't tell if this is technically a "Buying and Selling" question.




Now for my question:

I'm a college student. As a result of some recent policy changes, any knife with a 2" blade or longer is consider a weapon. So, my handy-dandy Onion Ripple needs to be put away, and I'm in need of a new knife. So I was looking to seek the expertise of this board for a new EDC knife that's got a sub 2" blade.

Here's some stuff to know:

-Price really doesn't matter. I don't want some cheapo thing, and I'm happy to pay for quality. Not that I expect a sub 2" blade to be expensive anyway.
-The easier to open with one hand, the better. There's a reason I love my Onion.
-A sub 2" knife that I'm aware is the Boker Subcom F. If it's any reference, I like it.
-You guys are awesome!


Thanks for any help y'all can give me!
 
Cold steel Mini Tuff Lite comes to mind.
Not sure if the Spyderco Dragonfly is sub 2" but that might fit the bill, if not, the Spyderco Jester or even Ladybug or Manbug.
 
Dragonflies are 2.25", so too long. Both the Ladybug and Manbug are just short of 2". All are Spyderco offerings, obviously.

There are a few neck knives at that size, but I don't know of anything else short of a traditional slipjoint folder.
 
Definitely a fan of the fact that the LadyBug is as close to illegal length as I can get away with, heh.
 
Cold Steel micro recon is right at 2 inches. I haven't used it but it seems to get a lot of positive feedback on here.
 
Looks like my best options are either the Chicago or the Mini Tuff. So as a follow up question, if any of you are brushed up on legal whatsits, would the Chicago be technically considered a 2" blade (over my limit), even thought the useable cutting edge is under that?
 
Here's my two sub-2-inch knives. The first is a Benchmade Learch California Legal Auto. Automatic knives are legal carry in in California if they are under 2inches. I carry this knife a lot.

The second is a Buck 506 lockback.

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Mike
 
EyeDog said:
The first is a Benchmade Learch California Legal Auto. Automatic knives are legal carry in in California if they are under 2inches. I carry this knife a lot.
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Nice. I have the Protech Sprint and Runt automatics with a just under 2" blades.
 
Any thoughts on the Kershaw Chive? Looks to be a smaller version of my Onion, and sits at 1.94".
 
GDK1 said:
Any thoughts on the Kershaw Chive? Looks to be a smaller version of my Onion, and sits at 1.94".
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I've never handled the Kershaw Chive. It uses the SpeedSafe Assisted Opening and has a secondary lock.

There's also the Ken Onion designed CRKT Eros 2 with a 2" blade. I have the bigger Eros with a 3" blade. Both are very light titanium frame locks with IKBS flipper and the Acuto+ steel is great.
 
GDK1 said:
Any thoughts on the Kershaw Chive? Looks to be a smaller version of my Onion, and sits at 1.94".
Click to expand...

I've handled my friend's Chive a few times (wow, that could be seriously mis-interpreted!) and I like it. The knife feels a little small in hand, but still very usable. For a secondary or an office knife, I'd probably be fine with it, but if it was my only carry knife, I'd probably look for something with a bigger handle for a better grip. Because of that, I would probably find a larger inexpensive knife that I didn't mind taking to a bench grinder to shorten the blade on. On that note, you might even be able to score a great deal on a knife that became the unfortunate victim of somebody's attempt to use it as a prybar.

Something like the Boker Nano might be worth considering too. That's a small knife with a 1 7/8" blade, but has the ergos to be able to use it for some tougher jobs.
 
There are a lot of sub 2" knives out there, most are poorly designed and end up with a knife that is hard to hold onto and control while cutting.

One of the few properly designed small folders out there is Chad Los Banos' Lava. The handle allows a full hand grip, for security and control, that works great with 1.875" blade. The knife is far more capable than most other small folders out there.

Spyderco recently did a sprint run of Japanese made G10 handled Lavas with incredible fit and finish, they're on clearance at a lot of places for around $120. Get one (or several) while you can....
 
I love my Spyderco Manbug. I tied a fob onto mine and it is extremely useful but still small and discrete. A Victorinox Rambler or MiniChamp and you would have a lot of tasks covered.
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A BladeTec Mouse or Ratel should be very close in size also.
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Alternately you can get a somewhat normal sized knife - Delica, Trance, etc - and shorten the blade down. It would look funny but might be more useful depending on what sort of cutting you expect to need to do on a routine basis.
 
My absolute favorite sub 2in folder is the Böker subcom. For a small knife it has a great comfortable grip and a nice Aus 8 blade.
 
Go traditional man. I'm on a college campus and nobody looks twice at a "grandpa knife".

Look at GEC for the best. Rough Rider for value. Queen and Case in between.
 
I agree. Love my boker subcom. One thing is the handle is small. One way I found to remedy this is to tie a thick lanyard to the end. Then grip the knife and where your hand ends tie a nice knot like a lanyard knot and then you have a reasonable grip on the knife
 
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