Small Knife Suggestions

Lapedog said:
Spyderco kiwi 4 should donthe trick. Or a Spyderco Air if you can find one and don’t need the clip.

Kiwi 4 should be perfect though.
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I do like the Kiwi 4, but the blade height is more than 0.5"; more like .75" at it's tallest point. But very thin and easy to carry in the pocket, with or without the clip.
 
flatblackcapo said:
No clip but fits the rest. A. G Russell 3" lockback. (3" refers to the closed length.)
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Blade is wider than 1.5". It's also rather uncommon. Great knife though.
 
This is what I'd buy:
cold-steel-lucky-54vpn-cm.jpg


Cold Steel Lucky. It's listed as 2.625". If it's just company policy and not a law I'd call it close enough. If the law actually said 2.5" I'd knock the tip down on a belt grinder and call it a sheepsfoot.

20180123_232427.jpg


Forgive the crude, quick phone drawing.

It's $75, s35vn, carbon fiber, under 2oz., has a clip and 2 blades... You're not going to do any better within your parameters. You can always add a kwik stud, which work great, for one handed opening.
 
Mr. Wilson said:
Here are the company's limitations:
Blade Length - not to exceed 2.5 inches.
Blade Width - not to exceed one-half inch.
Preferences:
Locking folder
Single blade
Pocket Clip
Click to expand...

The best suggestion I can make given your parameters (and not knowing your price range) would be the Benchmade 482 Megumi:

Blade length: 2.48 inches
Blade width: 9/16 of an inch (I measured mine near the heel of the blade, this is from cutting edge to spine). Hopefully this is "good enough" for you.
Locking folder: Yes, uses the Nak-lock
Single Blade: Yes
Pocket Clip: No, but it has a small lanyard hole built into the MIM backspacer.

Not sure what other options you're considering, but this is the best I could come up with. Also of note (to myself at least), when I tried to grab a stock photo and some info from Benchmade's site, I couldn't seem to find the page for this knife (has it been discoed?) But it would seem plenty of retailers still have this guy in stock. Definitely a knife you can take with you to a lot of different places and it's made with nice materials. Mine also happens to have good F&F. Love mine!

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Benchmade 482 Megumi 1.jpg Benchmade 482 Megumi 2.jpg Benchmade 482 Megumi 3.jpg
Didn't seem like they showed up the first time 'round. Hopefully these will (also, the photos don't do the knife justice imho).
 
Under 2.5" long and .5" wide really limits the options. We're down to Case Peanut territory here. And that's what I'd suggest, actually. Or something like it.

2.5" blade means you're going to be dealing with a 3-3.5" handle. Yes, Spyderco makes/made a bunch of knives 2.5" and under, but unless there's one I'm not thinking of, all will be wider than .5". There's some other dinky knives that come to mind, but they'll all be wider than .5" too. Mostly though, companies don't design knives that small with blades that narrow that also have locks and/or clips.

I do have a couple that lock, but neither have clips. One is an A.G. Russell 2.5" lockback (the baby brother to the 3" mentioned earlier, which is 5/8" wide).

Excuse the craptactular pic.

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Unlike the 3", which was available in CF or titanium, the 2.5" was only made in titanium. No clip, or even a lanyard/keyring hole. Blade is just under 2", and is of VG-10. Very high quality, very thin knife. Very hard to find too.

The other knife I have is the Boker Titan 2. I honestly wouldn't recommend this knife outside of this scenario. The blade is indeed half an inch wide, and barely under 2.5" long. The blade to handle ratio sucks, or at least appears to (the ricasso slants towards the handle rather than the tip, meaning you lose maybe 3/8" that could be cutting edge), although the design does give you (me, anyway) a full 3 finger grip. The steel is also rather bottom-of-the-barrel at either 4034 or 440A (reports vary), and I can confirm that it is quite soft. However, it fits the parameters, minus the clip. Don't confuse this with the Titan 2 Drop. Newer knife, with a clip, but I don't think it's small/narrow enough.

I wouldn't be too sad about not having a clip with whatever knife you end up with. A knife that small fits easily in a pocket, or on a keychain. You can buy leather slip sheaths with clips too. I also wouldn't be too sad about not having a lock, like with a small slipjoint such as a Case (or other brand) peanut. Face it, you're not going to be doing anything particularly rough or (*snort*) "tactical" with a knife that small, and I'd be guessing that a job that limits personal pocket knives to that size doesn't really require anything larger or more robust either. So, a Case Peanut, Tiny Trapper, Baby Butterbean, small stockman, 3.25" medium stockman, small jack, sway back jack, etc. The Case/Bose teardrop jack is a particularly elegant knife with a 2.5" blade and a longer handle (4 fingers for me). Plus, nobody bats an eye at a traditional knife with bone or wood handles.
 
Thank-you for all your suggestions. The half-inch blade width is a real show stopper. I have a few Spydercos under 2.5" length but all measure over 1/2" width. The Buck 283 looks like it will fit but like most published specifications, width is not listed. The pocket clip is only a preference. I'll keep looking.

Thank all.

Mr. Wilson
 
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Mr. Wilson said:
Thank-you for all your suggestions. The half-inch blade width is a real show stopper. I have a few Spydercos under 2.5" length but all measure over 1/2" width. The Buck 283 looks like it will fit but like most published specifications, width is not listed. The pocket clip is only a preference. I'll keep looking.
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Using my totally scientific and accurate technique of holding a ruler up to my screen, I came up with the following:

195mm long (screen)= 1.875" (blade length) = 104mm:1" ratio
55mm wide (screen) at 104:1 ratio = .529" wide.

I think. Someone please check my math, it's been a long time since I've had to do even basic algebra. That's measured spine to edge, not at the ricasso. You could probably get away with .53" wide. Less than a millimeter. Too bad it doesn't come in funky colors like orange or neon green (people seem less scared of that for some reason). All I see is black and various camo. On a side note, why make a tiny pocket knife in camo? So you'll never find it when you drop it in the woods? Silly.
 
Maybe the olamic busker. It’s an amazing semi custom front flipper, may or if your looking for a cheaper option you could go with the CRKT pilar
 
The Buck 283, 505, and 503 are all 1/2” blade width. They meet your other criteria as well, besides the “pocket clip” requirement.
 
Boker KeyCom. It's small (1.5" blade) but fits your other requirements, including the pocket clip.
 
Hit the custom makers here and have something made exactly to spec....

Don't let company policy win, get something gorgeous that is exactly 2.5" long and .5" wide, with a clip, and dam the man trying to hold you down!
 
Mr. Wilson said:
Here are the company's limitations:
Blade Length - not to exceed 2.5 inches.
Blade Width - not to exceed one-half inch.
Preferences:
Locking folder
Single blade
Pocket Clip

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Mr. Wilson
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Take a kershaw chive, grind the back 1/8". Presto everything you asked for. Easy fix.
Edit:
The scallion is also doable but requires a bit more finesse
 
Many good suggestions here. I don't know how strict the size limits are but I rather not find out when I'm past the point of no return. Also, I'm not afraid to do some grinding as a few have suggested.

Mr. Wilson
 
Mr. Wilson said:
Many good suggestions here. I don't know how strict the size limits are but I rather not find out when I'm past the point of no return. Also, I'm not afraid to do some grinding as a few have suggested.

Mr. Wilson
Click to expand...

Seems like you have a decent amount of options now. Best of luck on finding/picking your knife, and please, let us know what you end up going with! I'm curious to see how this plays out...
 
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Meets all the criteria, yours for the asking
Edit
I meant to add that a Mel Pardue BM 855-04 ($165.00 on the bay) swashed is a really nice option, would take about 30 min on a stone to hit 1/2" other than that its spot on and a really distinctive piece.
That's only is a ground up $9.00 knife doesn't excite you.
 
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I can't seem to find any that meet all those criteria. Finding one with those specs and a blade height under 0.5" is a problem.

For now, I'd recommend carrying a Victorinox Alox Cadet or Spyderco Roadie. Both those meet the blade size requirements. After that I'd be thinking about a custom regrind of a small flipper, something like a Boker Mini Kwaiken.
 
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