strider

[Cliff Stamp]

Point strength is the only real fault I can find that would make the Manix anything less than heavy duty.

Few folders have tips strong enough for significant prying, you need 3/16" steel and little taper or the tip will give readily even in woods. The Howling Rat has about the slimmest tip profile I have seen which I would call heavy duty. The Tanto series from Cold Steel are fairly robust in that regard.

...lockback handle dirt, grease, ect..?

Grease, lubricants are not a problem, however if you fill in the notch for the lock bar with dirt it can fail to engage, this is fairly obvious when it happens. A more functional issue is white knuckle releases, check the knife in your usual working grips and see if the lock can be accidently released.

Does anyone know if it can be closed with one hand?

Yes, though not as easily as liners.

-Cliff

 

[darkestthicket]

id say the thickness helped with the car door prying, fyi for anyone who wants to know why, a car flipped upside down and landed in my yard, the glass was ultra dark tint and i and my wife couldnt tell if anyone was in the car, no replies were forthcoming from yelling and pounding on the car and the door was partly open so i stuck the strider in and pried it open the rest of the way till i could get my hand in.

im sure there are other knifes that COULD withstand the stress that it took to do that, but i only had a strider with me at the time, im not big on "brand loyalty" but after that happend i know i can depend on striders not to break on me when i need them. if you could name for a comparable price a knife that would not break id be surprised, and dont dare say a sebenza. i wouldnt even try that with a sebenza and i think Chris Reeve makes good knives.


other things ive used the strider for :

prying off beer caps (the little lip before the blade is just right for that on mine, hasnt even scratched off the coating yet)

opened a stuck sliding glass door by prying with it.

cutting coke cans apart to make spittoons (gross i know) for my tobaco chewing friends...didnt mar the blade that i can notice.

wittling quite a bit, blade holds an edge nicely

cut myself out of a seatbelt that wouldnt let go

used it as a makeshift screwdriver

occasionally i use it as a thrower into a makeshift knife dartboard (hey i get board easy what can i say?)

i have and will use this folder for anything and everything, until it actually breaks (if it does) ill keep buying strider knives.

i have a fixed blade tanto that has seen a little abuse as well, i honestly dont think i could break this one without a vice grip or a herculean friend, i need to learn the letter names for the ones i have so i can post them. lol.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

if you could name for a comparable price a knife that would not break id be surprised

A cold steel voyager would be stronger, sabre ground, much more steel. The handle is only FRN, but the blade will go before the grip will. It will do all of the above as well.

-Cliff

 

[darkestthicket]

i checked out the cold steel voyager, now my opinion is only based on the pictures and one review i read, but here it is


zytel handles? no thanks, i prefer g-10.

looks like a thin blade, i dont think id try the car door stunt with it. also i like tantos.

otherwise looks like a good knife for the price.

my strider EDC is a GB tanto.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

zytel handles? no thanks, i prefer g-10.

There really isn't a strength issue with Zytel. It does look cheap, hell it is cheap, however it works just fine strength wise.

looks like a thin blade

The Strider folders are full ground 1/8" according to the spec's posted here, the Voyagers are same thickness with a sabre grind, they would be stronger.

-Cliff

 

[thombrogan]

Does anyone know if it can be closed with one hand?

The Manix can easily and safely be closed with one hand (though axis locked knives are probably the easiest and safest knives to close with one hand). Opens as quick as you want, too.

 

[durbanposion]

strider folders are 3/16ths at least. my buck striders are 3/16''s

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I just checked, several of the Strider folders are 3/16", as is the Manix. How thick is the SnG? While the Voyager is thinner, it is sabre ground which greatly increases its strength. It would be interesting to see which one is takes a set first and which one breaks first.

-Cliff

 

[dino]

The SnG blade thickness is .165".

 

[darkestthicket]

"The Strider folders are full ground 1/8" according to the spec's posted here, the Voyagers are same thickness with a sabre grind, they would be stronger."


so a sabre grind is stronger than a tanto grind? please forgive if i use improper terminology, but all things equal (blade width) i wouldnt think that to be the case? What criteria do you judge to say that? wouldnt the type of cut required change the "strength" category between two different types of blade?

my folder is 3/16th

 

[thombrogan]

so a sabre grind is stronger than a tanto grind?

The modern Strider GB's are flat ground. The earlier GB's were sabre hollow-ground. Cold Steel's Voyager, clip and tanto, are all sabre hollow-ground - same as the tanto Striders made by Buck. The sabre grind is stronger than the flat grind because more steel is left on the blade.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

wouldnt the type of cut required change the "strength" category between two different types of blade?

If you mean folders can be stronger in various aspects yes, a thick tanto tip on a 1/8" folder could be stronger in the tip than a 3/16" folder with a distal tapered tip, while the 3/16" folder would be stronger through the main body. In the above I was speaking of prying through the main body in which a sabre grind gives a lot of strength for reasons that Thom noted. Since the Manix and Strider folders are similar stock, thickness and steel, the strength would be similar between the two. There are lots of folders which are stronger than either as they are ground out of thicker stock, and/or have a heavier grind.

-Cliff

 

[dino]

Maybe this would be a good place to ask the following.
I'm in the market for a heavy use folder. I think I've narrowed it down to the following criteria.........

I ended up buying a Strider SnG. Regardless of how much it cost I am extremely happy with it. Fit and finish are near perfect. The size and weight are just right. One slab of Titanium for the liner lock and blade bump and one slab of G10 to make it ridgid as hell. I looked at the Buck/Strider and the Benchmade Skirmish. There is no comparison. I would like to have seen a Manix though.