Sleeper Knives?

R

rowdy27

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What knives have you bought (or handled), that turned out to be "way better" than expected?

CRKT Partner, fixed-blade is one of my best buys.

Boker Magnum 13, dagger is a deadly "fistful" of fightin' fury!
 
I've been very pleasently surprised by my EKA Swede 82, it's like a folding mora! I love it, it has very nice bubinga wood handles, a strong lock (it's a lockback with the release lever located at the end of the handle) and very useful blade shape. IMHO, it's one of the few traditional lockbacks in the same or similar price range as a Buck 110 that is better than the old standard.

Wenger Ranger (120mm locking knives) don't seem to get a lot of attention. I bought a couple out of curiosity and I was really impressed. I like them more than Victorinox locking knives for outdoors activities.

All my other good knives weren't a surprise because I had some info on their performances.
 
Lone Wolf T-2 turned out to be a really good buy when they were having all those "handle" and QC issues, I got a good one and it was a good knife.

Kershaw Splinter, not a very pricey knife but a very nice and practical folder that I like very much.

Cold Steel small Vacquero, My friend bought it and I didnt think it would be all that great but he LOVES it and ihave used it and its a great lil knife it just doesnt seem that great.
 
"thinks it's a much bigger knife, and cuts like one"; Spyderco Cricket

generally better than expected; Kershaw Scallion
 
Xikar X1 Extreme Folder - scary sharp out of the box, light, thin and nice grippy handle scales, with a built-in flipper and a beautiful low profile clip. I bought it on clearance and it's really grown on me.

Kabar Dozier 4065(Thumbhole) Folder - bought as a beater, now usually ends up as my EDC.

Byrd Meadowlark - holds an edge and handles way better than expected. Solid lockup and useful blade shape. Definitely a winner.

Outdoor Edge Wedge - great for inverted belt carry, this thing slices like the dickens and sharpens easily.

CRKT Falcon - bought as a neck knife, now belt carry. Not a premium steel, but easy to draw and sheath, and sharpens to a wicked edge.
 
Recently, Foster Knives Weishuhn Hunter model in micarta. All it needs is to have the rather squarish scales rounded and contoured just a bit. A very useful configuration. Good for utility and for food prep. Definitely a sleeper.

www.fosterknives.com

N.
 
Ontario Spec Plus Raider Bowie SP-10 and later their Frontiersman Bowie SP-18.

Maybe I expected too little, but these are great knives for about $50 each, cheap enough to abuse.
 
Lone Wolf T2 Harsey. It is a wonderful knife and has replaced my BM 710.
 
For me, Frosts clipper carbon blade. 9.00 and it hasn't let me down. I carry it in the woods more that I do my other "higher priced" knives.
 
Darryl Ralph Knife Kits are way, way, waaaay better than I expected. With a little practice you can turn out some beautiful knives with these kits.
Spyderco Cricket
Blade-Tech Mouse II
CRKT Wasp
 
SOG Twitch XL Graphite

BullDog take apart knife
 
I've got a few...

Benchmade 921 Switchback. I bought mine, a limited edition with D2 blade and pewter-anodized handle, strictly as a "safe queen". But once I got it, I found it to be an amazing user. It's very sheeple-friendly; thin enough that I forget it's clipped to my pocket; much more comfortable in my hand than I expected; the small secondary blade is very handy for small, detail jobs; and man-o-man does that D2 wharncliff blade cut! Even though it's one of only 50 ever made, I can't resist carrying it; it's one of the most-carried knives in my EDC pool.

Fight'n Rooster Cannitler. I bought this one off eBay, mostly for it's looks; but once it arrived, it quickly became one of my favorite EDC slippies. It's slimmer than I expected, but the main blade is as thick and strong as on a "tactical" knife. That Solingen carbon steel takes a wicked edge, of course. It's like carrying a small tactical folder, but in an innocuous slipjoint package, and with two extra detail blades to boot.

Benchmade 880 Dark Star. Bought this one just to "complete the set", i.e. for the collection. But again, once I handled it, I realized it was just too sweet to leave in a drawer. Nice grippy black G-10 scales on gold-anodized titanium liners, and a gorgeous spearpoint blade. It gets EDCed a lot.

Those are the ones that come immediately to mind...
 
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