Small Manual Flippers with 2.25-3.25 inch Blades

Recently I've been gravitating towards 3.25-ish inch flippers. That size seems to be a sweet spot for me. Have 4 in that size so far. (The Bull is a front flipper so I put it in there as well haha)

Left to right:
JMaiff folder
Ferrum Forge SM100 Stinger
Ferrum Forge/Chaves Veloz
Gareth Bull Shamwari
6075e9902959d814418502710bd1a464.jpg
 
gmorel1916 said:
Recently I've been gravitating towards 3.25-ish inch flippers. That size seems to be a sweet spot for me. Have 4 in that size so far. (The Bull is a front flipper so I put it in there as well haha)

Left to right:
JMaiff folder
Ferrum Forge SM100 Stinger
Ferrum Forge/Chaves Veloz
Gareth Bull Shamwari
6075e9902959d814418502710bd1a464.jpg
Click to expand...

LOOOOOVE that stinger!!
How are you liking that bad boy brother???
Joe
 
palonej said:
LOOOOOVE that stinger!!
How are you liking that bad boy brother???
Joe
Click to expand...

Loving it haha. It sees more pocket time and use than just about all of them and has the scratches and snail trails to prove it lol. The SM100 and the wizardry the Ferrum bros worked on it make for an awesome blade [emoji1303]
 
Had a feeling you'd be saying that!!!
What a sweet looking knife!!
Thanks for the quick response!
Enjoy it!
Joe
 
RamZar said:
There's also the new Kizer Guru.
Click to expand...

Turns out I was wrong about when it was arriving, it came in today (that's the problem with ordering too many knives, I get them mixed up, apparently).

I really like it so far. It's got an unnecessarily over-sized handle and the blade is too thick, but it's contoured and comfortable and feels great in hand.

Objectively, it's like a worse version of the Gemini, outside of flipping better than my Gemini, maybe. Similarly contoured slabs, but extended lengthwise on the Guru to make the knife larger in the pocket than it needs to be. The blade and overall knife are also thicker on the Guru. I usually lean towards thin and light and pocket friendly, so it should be no contest between them. Subjectively though, I love the blade shape and the way it feels and if I could only keep one I'd probably keep the Guru.
 
gmorel1916 said:
Recently I've been gravitating towards 3.25-ish inch flippers. That size seems to be a sweet spot for me. Have 4 in that size so far. (The Bull is a front flipper so I put it in there as well haha)

Left to right:
JMaiff folder
Ferrum Forge SM100 Stinger
Ferrum Forge/Chaves Veloz
Gareth Bull Shamwari
Click to expand...

Nice lineup. The picture gives you good perspective on the width of the Veloz. Dig those millings!

Also, most of the Ferrum Forge folders have a very thick blade stock.

Is that the 3" or 3.5" Gareth Bull Shamwari? Looks like a 3.5".
 
I don't have the energy to gather every knife that might apply, but here are a few of mine:

vjiN6Bh.jpg
 
evilgreg said:
Turns out I was wrong about when it was arriving, it came in today (that's the problem with ordering too many knives, I get them mixed up, apparently).

I really like it so far. It's got an unnecessarily over-sized handle and the blade is too thick, but it's contoured and comfortable and feels great in hand.

Objectively, it's like a worse version of the Gemini, outside of flipping better than my Gemini, maybe. Similarly contoured slabs, but extended lengthwise on the Guru to make the knife larger in the pocket than it needs to be. The blade and overall knife are also thicker on the Guru. I usually lean towards thin and light and pocket friendly, so it should be no contest between them. Subjectively though, I love the blade shape and the way it feels and if I could only keep one I'd probably keep the Guru.
Click to expand...

Regarding the over-sized handle of the Kizer Guru, do you mean width, thickness or length? Also, do you mean the blade stock is thicker in Guru than Gemini?

The Wharnie/Sheepsfoot blade of the Guru is probably the biggest attraction.

The flipping action and quality on the Kizers seem to be getting better and better.

Hands down, the best Kizer I have is the Mini Intrepid. Pricey at $253 but you get M390 and it's a limited edition of 500 pieces. If Kizer made a version of it with S35VN for under $200 it would sell real well.
 
RamZar said:
Regarding the over-sized handle of the Kizer Guru, do you mean width, thickness or length? Also, do you mean the blade stock is thicker in Guru than Gemini?
Click to expand...

Handle length is the biggest difference (~113mm vs 105mm). They're otherwise vary similar, width-wise the Guru is actually a little smaller than the Gemini, even, but only by a smidge. The blade is thicker, though, 3.5mm vs 3mm. The overall handle thickness difference comes entirely from the thicker blade, so the handle is also a half millimeter thicker.

It may be my new favorite small Kizer though. It takes up a little more pocket space than my 3404 or Gemini, at least in length, but I love the blade shape . . .
 
evilgreg said:
I don't have the energy to gather every knife that might apply, but here are a few of mine:
Click to expand...

Do you have a legend for these?

Looks like some have blades over 3.25" like Boker Urban Trapper (doesn't look like the Petite version) and some have assisted opening like 0770CF.

I have that Kizer Splinter in regular titanium and it's one uncomfortable and unrefined Kizer.
 
evilgreg said:
Handle length is the biggest difference (~113mm vs 105mm). They're otherwise vary similar, width-wise the Guru is actually a little smaller than the Gemini, even, but only by a smidge. The blade is thicker, though, 3.5mm vs 3mm. The overall handle thickness difference comes entirely from the thicker blade, so the handle is also a half millimeter thicker.

It may be my new favorite small Kizer though. It takes up a little more pocket space than my 3404 or Gemini, at least in length, but I love the blade shape . . .
Click to expand...

Thanks.

My 3404 and Gemini are definitely on the wider side than my Mini Intrepid and Splinter.

I'll be getting a Kizer Guru flipper without holes next month.
 
RamZar said:
Nice Shirogorov Neon. I'll have to get one eventually. My F95 flippers are great but too big.

Looks like a Ripple in there. What are the rest?
Click to expand...

Lt to Rt
Custom Wrinkle, sans AO
Midtech Ripple but it is more custom than midtech
Shiro Neon Bear Special Edition, #14
Laconico custom EZC stonwashed with FFG blade, only a few have a FFG most are hollow
 
folder geek said:
Lt to Rt
Custom Wrinkle, sans AO
Midtech Ripple but it is more custom than midtech
Shiro Neon Bear Special Edition, #14
Laconico custom EZC stonwashed with FFG blade, only a few have a FFG most are hollow
Click to expand...

Excellent!
 
A quick comparison between the Gemini and the Guru for you:

sCTafXb.jpg


oY4l5N1.jpg


The unnecessary extra handle length comes from extending the slabs beyond where they have any need to be:

orLEttw.jpg
 
Great comparison pictures between the Gemini and the Guru. Sometimes with small folders some designers purposely give it a larger handle to accommodate more user hand sizes. Personally, even with larger hands I'm okay with three fingers on the handle with the pinky sticking out a little.

When I get a chance on Monday I'll do comparison pictures of Mini Intrepid and Gemini.
 
This thread's sure got some legs, Ram--it's been around since your join year!

With my old, arthritic carpenter's hands I struggle a fair amount with smaller knives. I usually start at 3 1/2" and tend toward 4. Something does draw me back to smaller blades, though, and I keep looking for smaller knives with handle sizes and shapes I can hang onto. I work in the trades and larger knives don't draw the gasps on the job site that you'd get thwacking out a 4+" flipper in an office environment. There are certainly times, though, that a smaller knife is more appropriate, not only as regards the surrounding company but for many other smaller tasks. One the job I usually have one of my 3.75ish work carries accompanied by something in the 3ish ranch, albeit a bit of a beater.

Anyway, I just bought this Skaha over at the KnifeMakers' Market and am eager to get it in hand. S35VN is a favorite steel and the size--the quoted 3.3" being slightly over the expressed limit here--and shape seem appealing. It's kind of a tweener size for me. Having a family connection to British Columbia and being familiar with both the locality in which the knife is made (Burnaby) as well as the area of its namesake's origin (The Okanagan) makes it appealing as well. I'll post some pics of my own and my thoughts on this blade once I have it in hand.

31069175995_7c066b6ddf.jpg
 
ChazzyP said:
This thread's sure got some legs, Ram--it's been around since your join year!
Click to expand...

I got into small manual flippers nearly 4 years ago. I keep getting new ones so it keeps the thread fresh and relevant. I think my first small flipper was CRKT Titanium Eros 3" and it continues to be a favorite but mostly for when exercising.
 
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RamZar said:
I got into small manual flippers nearly 4 years ago. I keep getting new ones so it keeps the thread fresh and relative. I think my first small flipper was CRKT Titanium Eros 3" and it continues to be a favorite but mostly for when exercising.
Click to expand...

I like small flippers, but I don't have that many of them because I mostly carry knives that are around 3.5", just beyond the range you specified.

I do the same with my titanium Eros, when I can find it. The damn thing is so light I've lost it repeatedly. The Eros and Benchmade 530 are so light you can play tennis or run or whatever with them in the pocket of your gym shorts and never know they were there.
 
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