Smith and wesson vs mantis

res1cue

res1cue

Joined
Feb 2, 2010
Messages
2,138
I know. Neither.

But i have been gettin this itch to try a karambot style blade, to see if I like it. Between 200 dollar emersons and 11 dollar united cutlery, only s&w and mantis make products in the 30-50 bucks range. So given that, which is tye lesser of two evils? I am looking for a folding karqmbit, so CS and 5.11 tarani is out. There is a chad los banos tanto tipped one, but that just seems like mall ninja dumb
 
5.11 has a folding karambit around the $100 mark - it's built very stout. (Tarani CUB 2.0)
Boker Plus has folders in the $30-50 range.
 
There is also the Blackhawk! Garra II. Can be had for $80 shipped if you look around. AUS8 blade is a step up from either S&W or Mantis. But it has no finger hole.

EDIT:
511_tarani_CUB_MASTER_2.jpg

1066vik steered you right. That's S30V for under $100.
 
I got a S&W Karambit a while ago to play with the design (G10 handled one). It actually was decently constructed, comfortable and took an acceptable edge. While
I don't recommend EDC'ing it; buying one that cheap ($20 for me) was worth it to determine the pro's and cons of the design. For me it wasn't, but I do understand the design better, and I collect diversity in order to make my designs stronger. Overall I am glad I bought it.
 
My first 2 locking folders were S&W. They are decent cheap knives but more cheap than decent. They have taught me to hate 440 steel. But for a cheap knife that you might look at more than use, they're not a bad choice.
 
i say s&w. ive had one b4 and it held up fairly well, it wasnt the best folder but still. i also dislike mantis: the home of the suburban mall ninja
 
I bought the Smith a while back to see how I liked the karambit as a EDC user knife. I was quite impressed. The Smith however is just too big for my liking so I'm gonna be giving the Mantis MK 3 encore a go soon...
 
I don't know about the S&W, I've seen them, but never used them. But I've got a Mantis Cinq 3 (I think that's what it's called), and while it's fun, it's not super well built... There's a lot of play in the blade, and I haven't used it that much, just general EDC. There's a lot of empty space that shouldnt be there between the layers, and I can't get the pocket clip tight. It's also pretty hard to open, even after like two years. The circular things around the pivot point also move around a lot, and the accents are purple, not red. The blade's okay, but... I dunno. They might have changed them since I bought mine, mind you, but I wouldn't go with the Mantis.
 
My experience with S&W has been good. The steel that they use for most of their knives (440c) is a great performance steel, and for their prices from good dealers, it's just about unbeatable. The question is are you getting a karambit style to just have one, or to actually use it for some of it's specialized purposes. If you want one to just have one, know that the only way to sharpen a karambit easily is with a rod style sharpener, or a pull through. I tried to use a stone with one, it was ugly.
 
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