small knife collection.. what's next?

[k1ssthecook]

I have the esee 6, and it is a beauty. It has since replaced my old Kabar in my hunting pack. It is also a bit bigger than your SOG.

If you are looking at an edc knife, you aren't going to beat the Manix 2. I carry one at work and they are the tits.

Perhaps you should look at an sd folder since you memtioned that your cold steel folder is now just a really sharp paperweight (not surprised by the cold steel fail). I collect a lot of sd knives and they are some of the most interesting to me.

 

[senseless]

Opinel

I have one, a no. 7. I've had it for longer than I can remember.

I think everyone should have an Ontario RAT 1 or 2, an Opinel (#7, #8 or #9 depending on hand size, Carbon or stainless steel depending on personal taste, but the Carbon steel would be the "classic" choice This goes for the Moras as well) and a Mora ... they are great knives and just so great value for the money

I have thought about an Ontario RAT but if I'm planning on putting a knife through some heavy work I'll usually just pull out my small fixed blade... That being said I think I'll need to try out a Mora one of these days... That Scandinavian grind looks intriguing.

Get an Opinel!

In fact get whatever you want and just add the Opinel to the order as well, their cheap but offer a lot of performance.

Yeah I just remembered I have a no. 7 crammed in one of my catch all drawers. I dug through it all and managed to find it. I put it to my sharpmaker and made it sharp. Although its always been one of my sharpest... A few years of neglect and its covered in rust... Except that edge, that edge is shiny.

 

[rexromic]

Get Caly 3 ,Gayle Bradley,Techno,Benchmade 940,710…….

 

[agile_1]

Speaking strictly for folders I would take a close look at the ZT 200 or 300 series. Well built with excellent quality. Overbuilt is a word often used to describe them. Some of the newer model series are less overbuilt (550, 560, 801 etc) and do not have recurved blades which imo is a plus. Look up kershawguy.com - don't forget to ask him to email a price list. He has ZT blems for less than his normal retail if you want a hard use knife that you know will be getting dinged up.

I have had a couple benchmades, grips etc. and sold them or gave them away as I much prefer the solid feel of ZT or even a higher end Kershaw. I am particularly fond of the Kershaw Cryo II. Ontarios' Rat I is also a classic and belongs in every collection.

For fixed blades my tastes lean towards Condor machetes although I do carry a ZT 0121 in my daily backpack for emergencies. I also own a Condor Hudson Bay and a couple large Ontario choppers/machetes.

It is personal preference and need though. What you like will be individual. Others recommend what they have or like but your needs are your own. For example - I have a tatooed ladybug and several other Spyderco's and some Opinels that I use in the kitchen. Sold an SOG serrated fixed blade a while back and do not own any SOG's now. Sold every ESEE I have ever bought. Right now I am into traditional production folders. So you see we share some preferences and not others.

 

[senseless]

I have the esee 6, and it is a beauty. It has since replaced my old Kabar in my hunting pack. It is also a bit bigger than your SOG.

If you are looking at an edc knife, you aren't going to beat the Manix 2. I carry one at work and they are the tits.

Perhaps you should look at an sd folder since you memtioned that your cold steel folder is now just a really sharp paperweight (not surprised by the cold steel fail). I collect a lot of sd knives and they are some of the most interesting to me.

Yeah my manix 2 lightweight is tits.

My cold steel didn't really fail I just abused it by batoning a log a little to large for it to handle... If cold steel sells thumb discs and the screw that locks it down I can easily replace it. The threads in the blade stock are in perfect condition.




EDIT- what's an SD knife? I've never heard of it.

 

[senseless]

Get Caly 3 ,Gayle Bradley,Techno,Benchmade 940,710…….

For some reason benchmades never really appealed to me, even though I do like the reverse tanto blades on some of the Osbourne models. But in the end the way they name there products confuses/distracts me and I never end up pulling the trigger on a purchase.

 

[timberweasel]

I'd get an alox SAK. The Victorinox Pioneer is my personal favourite...

Victorinox Pioneer and Cadet

Good luck, OP!

-Brett

 

[rsngfrce]

I'd like to try some new steels, locking mechanisms, and companies. I don't want any assisted opening knives or automatics, at all. I've stayed away from 440 and liner locks because I think they are cheap. I havent gotten a benchmade griptilian because i dont think id like the plastic handle... Plus i already have two smooth knives with arc and ball-bearing locks(Basically improved axis designs to my understanding). I basically disregard Kershaw entirely. I'm not interested in custom knives, my limit on a knife is like 150 right now. Maybe 200 if I'm convinced its worth it.

I'm open minded so if you disagree with something try to convince me otherwise, I might agree.

Basically disregard Kershaw's entirely.... ARRGGG! Why? Personally, they are my favorite knives. If I had to recommend just one, it would probably be the Cryo or Cryo II, which I just love.

There have been a number of suggestions for Zero Tolerance... despite my love for Kershaw, at this point I'm not a big fan of ZT's (despite having three or four)... they are expensive and generally very heavy (although that does translate into heavy duty, but how heavy duty do you need?).

The Benchmade Gripitilian is often recommended... I have two mini's and two full size (plus one full size limited edition). In my opinion, your fear of the plastic handle is well founded. The handle on the Griptilians feels (and sounds) cheaper than ANY other knives I own at any price point and this really lets these down (unless you are willing to replace the handles with something like Wilkens Grips, which will cost more than the knife and void the warranty... I have Wilkins aluminum grips on one of my Mini's and have G10 scales coming for one of my full size). Seriously, my opinion is that Benchmade has to do SOMETHING to improve these grips... a knife like the SOG Aegis seems to using the same kind of plastic, but doesn't feel anywhere near as cheap to me. At the price that Benchmade wants these to be sold for, the excuse that the cheap handle allows them to sell the knife for a cheaper price doesn't cut it with me, I'm sure the handles could be improved for a minimal cost. (Mini rant mode off).

(And I'm not trying to start any wars here, just expressing my relatively inexperienced OPINION. )

 

[senseless]

Basically disregard Kershaw's entirely.... ARRGGG! Why? Personally, they are my favorite knives. If I had to recommend just one, it would probably be the Cryo or Cryo II, which I just love.

There have been a number of suggestions for Zero Tolerance... despite my love for Kershaw, at this point I'm not a big fan of ZT's (despite having three or four)... they are expensive and generally very heavy (although that does translate into heavy duty, but how heavy duty do you need?).

The Benchmade Gripitilian is often recommended... I have two mini's and two full size (plus one full size limited edition). In my opinion, your fear of the plastic handle is well founded. The handle on the Griptilians feels (and sounds) cheaper than ANY other knives I own at any price point and this really lets these down (unless you are willing to replace the handles with something like Wilkens Grips, which will cost more than the knife and void the warranty... I have Wilkins aluminum grips on one of my Mini's and have G10 scales coming for one of my full size). Seriously, my opinion is that Benchmade has to do SOMETHING to improve these grips... a knife like the SOG Aegis seems to using the same kind of plastic, but doesn't feel anywhere near as cheap to me. At the price that Benchmade wants these to be sold for, the excuse that the cheap handle allows them to sell the knife for a cheaper price doesn't cut it with me, I'm sure the handles could be improved for a minimal cost. (Mini rant mode off).

(And I'm not trying to start any wars here, just expressing my relatively inexperienced OPINION. )

The cryo I and II are assisted right? Would it mess with the pivot action if I de-assisted the blade? And do you think that a griptian would be worth double retail price it were offered in g10 or aluminum? Because I'm not afraid of switching some handle scales and dealing with my own blade maintenance if my warranty is void

 

[rsngfrce]

The cryo I and II are assisted right? Would it mess with the pivot action if I de-assisted the blade? And do you think that a griptian would be worth double retail price it were offered in g10 or aluminum? Because I'm not afraid of switching some handle scales and dealing with my own blade maintenance if my warranty is void

Yes, the Cryos are both assisted. I'll admit that lately I have begun to think that I prefer unassisted knives that open well (for me, the Ontario Rats spring to mind), but some do and some don't. I have never tried to de-assist and an assisted knife, but I have seen it done successfully on YouTube videos, maybe someone with some experience can jump in on this.

As far as my opinion of changing the scales on the Griptilian... I love the Axis-Lock on these knives, they feature good steel and are US made. They are, from all I see, EXTREMELY popular with a lot of people (who I have no doubt know more than I do). They are high-end knives for me, so I consider myself no sort of knife snob, but the handles are really terrible. I am much happier with the Mini-Grip that I put the aluminum scales on, but it is very difficult for me to say they are worth the price or not... honestly, I didn't look into what I could have purchased for the combined price of the knife and scales for comparison purposes. You might try purchasing a Mini-Grip or Griptilian (or check them out in a store if you have that possibility) and see what you think of the knife other than the scales and if that is positive, look in the aftermarket scale possibilities. Wilkins grips from Germany are very popular (I've purchased two sets from Kevin), Cuscadi in Germany produces scales (personally, I find their site confusing and an attempt to purchase scales from the resulted in a response that what I wanted wasn't possible) and Allen Putman in the US produces aluminum scales for the Griptilians (which is the least expensive option), BladeHQ sells these, but always seems to be out of stock. I'm sure there are others too, but I believe those are the main sources... I would post links, but don't know what the rules are regarding that and they can be Googled easily. The grips aren't too difficult to change, other than a few things you have to know, like the pivot screw has a flat side that needs to face down, there are YouTube videos.

 

[cross1178]

I really like the mini grip myself. I don't mind plastic handles as I find them more functional and grippy than the aluminum or steel handled knives especially when wet. I have noticed the handles do feel a bit more hollow on the full size grip tho than the mini. Just my opinion and ymmv.

 

[rsngfrce]

I really like the mini grip myself. I don't mind plastic handles as I find them more functional and grippy than the aluminum or steel handled knives especially when wet. I have noticed the handles do feel a bit more hollow on the full size grip tho than the mini. Just my opinion and ymmv.

You know, I don't mind the feel of the plastic handles as much as I HATE the sound of them, which would sound really weird (the way a handle sounds?) unless you have held them...

 

[senseless]

In my opinion you need a becker bk9. I do not have one but i probably will soon. The reason I suggested this is (a) you like tough users, and (b) you mentioned wood processing which the 9 is supposed to be great at. Also how do you like the izula?

The izula is nice, but its smaller than my Gerber was, both in blade and in handle.

 

[to4steh]

Do not listen to any of these mad ramblers. The obvious list is as follows, in no particular order:

Spyderco Paramilitary 2

I have gone through plenty of folder, including the high end, and this one continues to amaze me (and plenty of others) for good reason.

 

[senseless]

Yeah I know I need one of them things.. They're a little hard to find though.

 

[k1ssthecook]

Sorry, Self Defense (SD). I have a paramilitary 2 and a Benchmade Onslaught being brought in by carrier pidgeon right now. Needless to say, I'm excited.

 

[senseless]

I decided to make the safe buy and get the paramilitary 2. It presents some new features for me... The g10 handles for one, the compression lock, and the s30v blade steel.

 

[rsngfrce]

I decided to make the safe buy and get the paramilitary 2. It presents some new features for me... The g10 handles for one, the compression lock, and the s30v blade steel.

I was on the wait list for months to get my camo/black Para2 from Amazon. Came with a very stiff compression lock (which doesn't seem to be uncommon), but this can be adjusted by messing with the compression lock pin (which wouldn't be obvious to someone like me, who never had a compression lock knife before). I just put a Cuscadi black aero-carbon backspacer on mine... not sure it was worth it, doesn't really stick up enough to add much grip, but probably looks cool (meaning I haven't made up my mind yet...).

 

[jmclfrsh]

small knife collection.. what's next?

Either a big knife collection or consumer counseling. :nightmare:

 

[addylo]

Great choice!