(Small Knife Recommendations) Best small 2.5ish blade knives

Steelhog

Steelhog

Joined
Jul 2, 2009
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Hey all - what are your recommendations for best knives in that 2.5ish blade length range that fit into the 5th pocket/watch pocket in jeans? I travel a lot for work and this (mostly legal) size and carry location are ideal for my EDC needs both at home and abroad.

Some knives I like are the Victorinox cadet, the Civivi baby Banter and the Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite but would love more recommendations on your favorites. Thanks all for the help and suggestions. Open to locking and non locking. (Bonus point for suggestions that you would not be heart broken to loose if your bag gets lost )

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CPP said:
The Mnandi by Chris Reeve’s Knives. I don’t think there has been a version in blue though
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I agree about the Mnandi being a great smaller EDC knife. A few of other small knives that I have is the Spyderco Dragonfly II, Spyderco Meerkat and the Spyderco Lil’ Native.
 
CPP said:
The Mnandi by Chris Reeve’s Knives. I don’t think there has been a version in blue though
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Oh man - great suggestion for home. As much as I love Chris Reeve knives I have moved away from traveling with higher cost knives. I have had to toss/donate to the TSA 2 or 3 cadets from being in a rush and forgetting to put it in my check bag. I should update this thread to include (knifes you would not be totally heart broken to loose if your bag is lost or if your have to donate it to the TSA).
 
I don’t carry anything in my fifth pocket, but if I was to, I’d grab my Fallkniven U2.
 
Native 5, Manly Wasp -- the latter is Euro legal. Those may be a bit larger than you specify, though.
 
Civivi odium, WE Thug, Spyderco Dragonfly, spyderco techno, CRKT Pilar, mini-natrix, Fox Baby Core, CJRB Maileah...

Too many to list!

Out of these, I think I like the Odium the best.
 
Manly City.

It is a lockback so not all that fidgit friendly but if you are looking for bang for your buck it is pretty hard to beat right now. You get contoured G-10 scales and S90v steel for well under $100 right now. Not sure anywhere else on the market where you can get anything in S90v for under $100 and you are getting a pretty thin grind to boot.

I think of it as a kind of Native 5 upgrade.
 
That new Bexar thing?

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Bexar

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The Mnandi and the Baby Banter are my favorite folders in the 2.5-inch-ish range.
The BB has the advantage of a choil that allows me to get a full grip on this baby.

There's also the CJRB Maileah. It is cool, with great ergos, and has both a front- flipper and thumb studs.

Others include the TwoSuns TS158 flipper; the Jason Lundquist-designed Urban EDC Baby Barlow top- flipper; the Buck Vantage Pro Small Knife; and the Kizer Mircrolith with S35V and mine has the CF scales.

The TS 158 is roughly the size of a Mnandi with a flipper, which is not to suggest any other similarity with the pricier Chris Reeve product.

Another favorite pocket-carry is the little Sanrenmu 605.
Someone once described this as a miniature Hinderer with choil and a single thumbstud.
With only a two-inch blade, I can do 90 percent of my daily chores.
I bought a few at $6.50 each to gift. Sadly, it's now discontinued so I gifted them to me and have carried one daily.

​

 
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SCTorrero said:
Spyderco Lil Native
GM Ace Riv
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I forgot the Ace Riv -- thanks.
I like it; it's one of the relatively few GMs made by Reate. It's certainly well made but not so easy to open and close.
The much cheaper Baby Banter and the CJRB Maileah both are better fits for me and I much prefer them.
 
l1ranger said:
kizer mini begleiter
comes with color and blade style options and I carry one in my 5th pocket almost every day
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I was already a fan of the Mini Begleiter. Then maybe sometime last year, they upgraded to bearings. I got one in Micarta to check out. It's a great little knife!

Kizer started the year off by introducing a new handle variant with their "frag pattern". So far, I've seen a few N690 models in different colors and a titanium model in M390.
 
I carried the little leatherman for a while and thought it was good.

Hold up. I will look up the name.
The crater.

 
Half inch longer you got very nice and handy Delica
Strongly recommended
And I'm not Spyderco fan
 
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