Suggest a knife for son <2.5" lockback

C

Chewy1

Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
1,564
Hey Guys and Gals

My son's little pocket knife just came apart at the seams, literally. It was one of these:
CA156.jpg


I'm looking for a small locking knife for him, preferable lockback, easy to sharpen, and inexpensive. He tends to lose things, so brightly colored would be good, too. Oh, and I'd like it to have a nail nick. Otherwise, I'd give him my Alpha Dorado.

What's out there?

Oh, he already has a small stockman and a "my first Victorinox". Thanks!
 
I dont know the exact length, but the buck 55 comes to mind. A schrade 3OT would pretty well fill the bill also, if you can find one. But, neither of those are brightly colored.
 
Hmm. Nice suggestions so far. Maybe I could spray paint an opinel blaze orange. ha ha.

Any idea of the actual blade length on an OP6? We have tight legalities around these parts.
 
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How about a moremaker double lock back small trapper? I have one and I like it...

Working Knife - DOUBLE LOCK TRAPPER #3212DLB
1095 HC Steel Hardened to 56+/- 1 Rockwell
Both Blades lock
Yellow Delrin Handles perfect for engraving
Moore Maker warranty
5-1/2 inched opened 3 inches closed

they also have single blade small lockbacks....carbon steel goodness
 
According to the Opinel website, the No.6 has 7cm blades.
7cm (1in/2.54cm) = 2.76, or 2 3/4 in. Just a little bit over that 2.5in mark.

I believe some of those Rough Rider small lockbacks would make nice choices. However, I'm not certain on the exact blade length.
 
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Might look at a Buck 283 Nano Bantam or maybe even a Buck 525. The American flag/Eagle version is quite visible......300Bucks
 
I know this is the traditional folders and fixed blades, but I would suggest the Spyderco Ladybug. Small, Inexpensive at around $20, great steel, great quality. It has the patented spyderco hole, but on such a small blade its not really somehting you would flick out.
 
Let's please keep discussion in this forum to the traditional options.
 
How about a KA-BAR Mini Dozier Folding Hunter?
2-1/4" AUS-8 Black Plain Blade
Blaze Orange Zytel scales
Less than $20 at Knifecenter
Only problem is no nail nick, has a thumb stud.

Doug
 
I agree with Doug. The KaBar Dozier is a really great bargain for the money. I also recommend not buying an Opinel. The one I have is JUNK. And, Schrade is now just a cheap Chinese immitation of what it used to be.

I just bought a Buck 110 at Wally World for under $30. And, a Kershaw Junk Yard Dog is also a good one to consider. Also the CRKT Drifter is another option. I also like the Byrd Meadowlark for under $20.
 
I do not have any suggestions for a trad knife.

If you post this question in the General forum, I will suggest the CRKT Wrangler for $10.
My 17 year old uses it for her rough camping knife and works well
 
Blues said:
Let's please keep discussion in this forum to the traditional options.
Click to expand...

:) I felt that ^^ needed to be said again. If you really want the bright handles you could go for a sodbuster in yellow handles. Although, it does not lock. How badly does it need to have a lock?
 
peanuts said:
:) I felt that ^^ needed to be said again. If you really want the bright handles you could go for a sodbuster in yellow handles. Although, it does not lock. How badly does it need to have a lock?
Click to expand...

I gotta go with this also. The sodbuster is a heck of a rugged knife, holds a great edge, is bright yellow so its hard to loose, and will teach him good knife handling.

I know opinions are cheap, and everyone has them, but I feel starting a young man out with a lockblade is not doing him a great service. Like many people have been shot with 'unloaded' guns, many people have had serious accidents when a lock let go when they were doing something wrong, thinking the lock would protect them. News; sometimes things malfunction. A bit of lint or dirt in the lock, or some wear on the knife and some play develops. The slip joint soddie will teach proper knife handling out of need. He'll need to handle it right or it will teach him not to do that again.
 
My first suggestion would be a sodbuster, although it doesn't lock.

But if you want a locking blade knife that comes in colors, the Kershaw DWO springs to mind. AUS 6 (similar to 440A in performance.) Nice nail nick to open. Comes in bright red, brite or brite orange as well as black. 2 3/8" blade.
 
I can't remember the exact size, but the Case Mini Copperlock is a very nice little knife. It comes in different colored scales and is a backlock... It probably isn't much bigger than the Case knife he use to have...
IIRC the small version isn't available in orange, but the large version is.
 
I'd also suggest a CASE Mini-Copperlock,nice slim knife and strong too,not that cheap to buy though.

You could try a Chinese made Schrade 3 OT lockback, about 3" closed but not that good a finish,cheap though and if lost,no big tragedy.

A yellow handled CASE knife such as medium stockman or mini trapper could give your son a good intro to multi blade pocket knives.give him a choice of blades to fiddle with,not locking though,but can't lose that yellow handle on the ground. Opt for stainless, at first.
 
Just a Traditional knife comment. I think it's great that the day after July 4th, we could have a thread giving advice to someone in a calm, decent and varied way. Lots of different ideas , I enjoy seeing what other people like. This type of discussion is what the founding fathers were taking about when they wrote "by the people and for the people". The questioner can take all those opinions and make his own decision and will likely be the better for it all. Wish the whole forum and the whole country would talk about problems the way we seem to do it here in our hardy bunch of knife patriots.....

For my knife justification, I like yellow handles over bright orange. More traditional....
300Bucks
 
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