Sell me on a Strider

mctrinket

mctrinket

Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
616
So I've been looking for a hard-use, higher-end folder. I'd love to get a custom one, but all the customs I like are impossible to find anywhere. I looked into getting a Hinderer, etc. No luck.

So I've been looking at Striders. And I wanted to get some feedback from the forum before taking the plunge.

What concerns me is how often you see people trying to trade their Striders away. Do people sour on them quickly?

And how is the overall quality? Do they hold up? Is the fit and finish worth the cost, almost, of a custom?

I'd like to pool as much information as I can before making a decision and any and all feedback, good or bad, is welcomed.

Thank you.
 
Zero Tolerance 0560 is the hot ticket in tactical folders right now. Hinderer design.
 
My only advice is to buy a new Strider for your first one, and form your own opinion.

Don't buy someone elses beater knife and inherit their problems.

I've owned several SnGs, all bought new, and all were excellent.

SnGs2.jpg
 
5.56 said:
My only advice is to buy a new Strider for your first one, and form your own opinion.
Click to expand...
^^^This is my best advice, too. Strider knives are, to put it mildly, a rather polarizing topic on these forums, as many past threads will attest. But since you asked for opinions, here goes...

The design of the SMF/SnG/PT -- blade shape, ergos, etc. -- is one of my favorites in the knife world for its versatility, comfort, and relatively light weight given how big/tough the knives are. As for quality, I've owned a decent number of Striders -- all purchased over the last year or two -- and all of them have been of excellent quality. IMHO, a lot of the complaints about F&F come from people simply parroting things they heard from the company's earlier days when the F&F admittedly wasn't as good. They're still not a good choice for the pocket jewelry crowd who, rather than actually using their knives, would rather take macro images of them and post threads whining about aesthetic imperfections. (This is by no means exclusive to Strider -- you see the same stuff in the ZT, Spyderco, and other manufacturer's forums here.) But as a working knife that will take anything you can throw at it -- which sounds like the purpose for which you're wanting to get one -- they're a superb choice.

There are quite a few different scale, blade finish, etc. options on production Striders, so if you end up deciding to get one and want some advice on those, don't hesitate to ask.
 
neuron said:
Strider knives are, to put it mildly, a rather polarizing topic on these forums,
Click to expand...


Understatement to say the least. Just as there are biases in the media, the same is true with forums. Especially when it comes to Strider knives. You will get plenty of favorable comments here, but not nearly as meny as you will get on another board. That being said, I agree with the previous posts, buy one and decide for yourself.
 
I will now polarize the topic by recommending you look into Mickey Ray Burgers AKA Striders and Dwyers military history or rather lack thereof, and leave it to you to decide if you want to put money into their pockets.

This is purely ethics based, and not at all rooted in the functionality of the knives, which I will leave to the other member here who do.

This will be my only comment in this thread.
 
A lot of people like the Strider design and get the knife for that, but if you don't absolutely love the way it looks there isn't much of a reason to get it. I've never seen the design as anything great myself; the blade length to handle ratio is dismal and the G-10 side doesn't have a titanium liner like some more robust alternatives do. Quality doesn't come anywhere near justifying the price; it's more on the level of cheaper ZT's or Spyderco's. Striders even seem to have much more problems than the cheaper knives; thumbstuds falling out or causing the blade to crack, blade play developing very quickly, etc. There are some Chinese Strider fakes out there that a lot of owners say seem higher quality than the originals, to give you a little perspective. Customer service is much better with companies like ZT, as well. And finally, to top that all off, Mick Strider is a real scumbag that a lot of people here don't want to deal with. He did prison time for armed robbery, which a lot of people could get over. But then to prove that he is in no way reformed, he lied about his military record in an attempt to sell more knives. Now he spends most of his time trash talking everyone else, including his dealers sometimes.
 
Two posts later and my point has been proven to a T. Many here can't get past the ethics of doing business with Strider. I belong to this group. You may not.
 
I've owned an SNG for several years. I've deployed with it, use it now in my current role as an instructor, and carry it with me through my daily chores. It is an excellent piece of kit that has served me well in hard use. I've even batoned it through firewood.

A few days before my unit was set to deploy in the opening days of Enduring Freedom, Mick showed up with a couple of boxes full of sheathed knives and handed them out to the boys with a "thank you" and "good luck." I'd never even heard of Strider Knives up until that point. There are a lot of people saying a bunch of stuff, with no requirement for verification. Maybe it's true, maybe not, but I sure as hell never saw them putting steel into the hands of men departing for war asking no more than a handshake and a chance to wish them well. I'm sure a cynic can read something unpleasant into that, but I'll judge him by his actions not gossip.
 
Buy one... better yet buy two, keeping Mick and D in orange spray tan and tight Tee shirts requires a constant stream of $$$$$$
Sorry I should'nt hate :) buy one you can handle some are great some are not but I do think the designs are very cool.
 
Fanglekai said:
Get a ZT instead.
Click to expand...

I agree.

If you want a Strider then I would look into the Zero Tolerance / Strider collaboration ZT0300, 0301, or 0302. It's a tough as nails folder that's manufactured by a well respected company and it has a bit of that Strider flair. It'll save you around $200 as well. The ZT0551, 0550, 0560, and 0561 would also be great choices, but they are Hinderer collaborations.

I've owned 5 Striders and 4 out of the 5 had something wrong with it. The only exception was a PT CC I had. The only problem was that it was a bit off centered. My wife carries a PT and when she got it I had to rebevel the edge, polish the washers, and play with the lockbar so that the knife would lock up tight. Since doing the work on the knife it seems to be pretty solid, but she doesn't use it all that often.
 
Look at the Grayman SATU, My strider sits in a drawer since the SATU was delivered. Excellent materials and much tougher. The locking area alone looks to be 40% larger..

No blade wobble at all , my strider got side to side play within the first month.
 
I bought my SNG new from Knifeart. Within 6 months it developed side to side wobble. I sent it back to Strider and they repaired it. A couple of months later and it developed front to back play. I sent it back to Strider and they sent me a new knife.
 
never owned a strider but I've owned several zero tolerances and beat the hell out of them i'm actually waiting on a 551 in the mail right now., Thanks Bladefrenzy!
 
Agreed. Although I felt Strider's customer service was very good, I'd rather not of had to have sent the knife back to begin with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top