Smoothest inexpensive folding knife (non assisted opener)

Any CRKT on bearings. Between my ZT 0801,0562cf, and the fossil, the fossil wins hands down for smoothest. The ripple is nice too for the price as well.
 
CRKT aluminum ripple. IKBS with a light liner lock. Mine even with a very light blade drops right into the handle under the weight of the blade alone.
 
i like the ripple as well i just find it on the small side.
EVERY crkt flipper i have opens with zero wrist flick, even the ones without the IKBS bearings
i dont know how they do it but CRKTs flippers are just way better across the board then other companies. my kersha Nura 3.5 has bearing and still requires a little wrist flick where as my crkt shenanigan without bearings flips perfectly
 
rogerxd45 said:
i like the ripple as well i just find it on the small side.
EVERY crkt flipper i have opens with zero wrist flick, even the ones without the IKBS bearings
i dont know how they do it but CRKTs flippers are just way better across the board then other companies. my kersha Nura 3.5 has bearing and still requires a little wrist flick where as my crkt shenanigan without bearings flips perfectly
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its all in how they do their detents. As well as the blade finishing. They are reducing drag at critical points and its paying off. I had a foresight that was probably until a year ago the smoothest knife I had ever owned.
 
yea i have notice the detente fully seats in the recess on the blades of their knives,
I cannot reccomend CRKT knives enough. ive bought a couple of various models for friends, i actually have a crkt cruiser still in the package as a back up gift in case i forget someones birthday or something

just to give you an idea of how happy i am with their flippers here is my list of CRKT flippers i own and use
- plastic handle shenanigans (i have two of these, i saw a great deal on one ($15)so i figured i would buy a backup)
- aluminium handle shenanigan
- aluminium ripple
- Tan hammond cruiser
-Black hammond cruiser (this is my unused "backup gift")

I have also given away 1 plastic and 1 aluminium shenanigans an aluminium ripple and a Heiho (the heiho is a spring assist, but its still a great knife)

so yea i guess you could say i am a happy customer, my only complaint is i wish they would offer more knives with higher end steels like s30v Elmax, D2 ect. That being said the aus8 and 8cr14mov have performed great and by no means are they bad steels, they take a great edge and are easy to sharpen
 
The CRKT Eros SS is my smoothest opening inexpensive non-assisted folder. Reminds me of the Kershaw Leek, except more refined.
 
There are lots of good suggestions in this thread, but let me jump on the "any CRKT with IKBS" bandwagon. I have a pile of them, and there are options in just about every sort of shape, size and style you might want.

For an inexpensive, great medium-size sort of everyday carry knife I could be perfectly happy carrying the CRKT Carajas all the time. Fantastic little knife, seems almost too good for the price of the thing, really.
 
the eros is on my want list, the only thing preventing me from buying is the size. its smaller then the aluminium ripple i have which is a small knife. i find myself using my knives that are bigger then my ripple far more often however i do use the ripple as my gentlemans dress knife. im sure the eros would fit this role as well but for an everyday carry knife its just too small IMO
 
Lost Cosmonaut said:
CRKTs with IKBS is awesome, just don't ever take them apart.
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thats another reason i love the shenanigan, its just as smooth as my ripple after i short break in period and i can take it apart to give it a good clean incase i get something sticky on the inside. like one time i had to slit a deers throat after it was hit by a car and all i had was my kershaw RAM, well the blood got all over and inside the knife which gummed it up really good, i tried soaking but in the end it required a full strip and clean. thankfully the workings werent as complicated as i thought it was going to be (the ram uses a button on the side of the knife in the middle of the scales that you slide down to unlock the blade)
I was thankful i didnt have bearing to deal with
 
DShiflet said:
I have a Strobe and the CRKT Ripple. For me, Ripple tops Strobe no contest.
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i agree, the strobe i tried still required a wrist flick which is why i returned it, kershaw makes great assisted knives but their non-assist flippers just dont open without a wrist flick even the ones with the KVT ball bearing ones ive tried still need the flick to get it to lock open solidly (sometimes i can get my nura to lock open with the flipper only but thats only if i am focused on flipping it really solidly)
 
The CRKT Swindle is pretty sweet and fast too, very smooth

[video=youtube;YmFDcvfhq1I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmFDcvfhq1I&feature=gp-n-y&google_comment_id=z13medhrpwm1xt1vc22ch3jynpiax5xi d04[/video]

G2

and here's a link to my review of the Swindle
 
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I saw the Kershaw Chill mentioned above, I love that little flipper. You can find it for under $20 if you look around online. The Chill gets my vote
 
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