Tarani 5.11 folders for evaluation

[STR]

These two folders arrived here this morning to me in the mail and I have never seen or heard of either one of them before now so I thought it was worth talking about them.

Both are listed as 5.11 knives and one (the better of the two by far) is a back lock design with a pretty great handle actually. I'm a bit confused by this one because I looked it up after recieving it and found its about an $80 knife listed as USA made 154CM steel but the blade on this one is stamped Taiwan. It does say 154CM on it also and has some rather nice grippy G10 scales covering .040 thickness stainless steel liners. In short I like this one. I could own it and be quite happy with it I think. The clips gotta go though!

The reason this one was mailed to me was because the owner feels the action is somewhat funky. I've examined the folder and what you are experiencing my friend when opening this one is this. Its kind of 'old school' here and a bit nostalgic really because for whatever reason, most likely safety, there is a distinct 'half stop' feature built into this lockback blade. I've seen this in lockbacks from the 60s and 70s too and have a few in my collection that are built this way also.

What is happening is that half way around the rotation the blade makes a very sudden flat stop like I've shown it here in the picture attached showing it half way open ( or half way closed depending on point of view) but the point is mostly this is seen in slip joints. This is something I've always liked personally and its generally just a feature that stops the blade in rotation before the back spring can slam it shut on fingers that are not safely out of the way just yet. If you note when using the folder its grabbing more on the close than it is on the open rotation. This is by design. Its not so much funky as it is rarely seen much these days.

Consider it an added feature that is there so you can both know where the blade is in the dark and also so you can get another second or three to clear the path of the blade before snapping it shut one handed. In interviewing police officers and others that work a lot in the outdoors where the have gloved hands this feature is something they look for and like to see because it is, according to them the difference between having to take off a glove to close the blade effectively or being able to manipulate it easier without the need to take the glove off and still close it without issue. Hope that makes sense.

Now as for the second one. Well its obviously a made in China folder. Its a liner lock but the liners are stainless steel and not titanium. The lock is about midway on the contact when opened. What you are experiencing here is two fold. One the detent ball is super super strong on this one. Man does it keep this blade shut! No worries of a gravity knife here at all folks! But, the contact is hitting on the upper of the lock instead of the lower where it should be. The reason you feel the blade give when you use it is because this lock has what we call 'rocking blade issues' due to the lock contacting the blade to secure it by contacting on the wrong part of the lock to the contact interface on the blade. The area of the lock contacting the blade is by the detent ball on this lock, which is way off! It needs to be lower toward the serrations for thumb grip which is the bottom of the lock that you put your thumb on to release the lock to close the blade. Once the lock contacts the blade here it would be hitting as it should be.

Then and only then will you have the proper contact where you have two points as far away from the centerline of the pivot as possible (the stop pin on one side, the lock contact on the other) to make the lock up solid.

I can fix this but I must advise that it will probably make the lock travel in even further than it is now.

STR

 

[Ktint]

Hi Steve,
Is there any blade play on this lock back folder? Thank you for your expert review because I want to get this model. I like the safety feature on this one. As a matter of the fact, I put something like that one in my mini Manix with dermel machine. If you approve this one, I will get this one asap. I trust your expert opinion and thank you very much for all the reviews.

 

[STR]

I like this one a lot personally. In fact I like it so much that I would like to make a tactical frame lock based on this design because I admire it so much. I may have to write Steve Tarani and ask him if he is ok with that.

I detect only bare minimum movement but I'd say its not any different than my own Ocelot by Spyderco and its a lock back. Its also no different for lockbar movement than my Mini Manix. In fact it has less movement than the Mini Manix does. I feel fine about recommending it to you. Its really an impressive handle on this one.

I find the clip to bite into my hand a bit and I don't really care for it in the right hand tip up carry position it was in when it arrived here. It may feel better in tip down but I hate that mode of carry personally and find even though I have carried that way that I have trouble now going back to that after owning so many in tip up carry. I prefer tip up and if it were mine the first thing I'd do is make a new clip just like it with a different bend pattern so it doesn't stand up so high in the middle like this one does.

I also note that the clip has a slight bend in it at the end where it slides over the rim of the pocket and it bends downward like many Cold Steel folder clips do. I hate this feature personally and feel it makes it abraid your pocket that much more and also makes it difficult to slide it on and off the pocket with ease. So far I have not once managed to get this thing to slide over the rim of my pocket with one hand. Its taken both each time. The clip is the worst thing about this one in my opinion. Otherwise its a great knife that I have no problem saying I like a lot. The handle ergonomics are just great with this folder! You'll love the grip. It feels really nice in the hand and the handle fits my basketball palming hands quite well.

I have not had the pivot out but it looks bigger in size. The construction is all screw with torx wrenches needed to disassemble. The traction grooves for grip are perfect and work well. The edge is a bit thick but its profiled such that it actually slices surprisingly easy and the serrations work well on the few rags I cut up woth them just to get a feel for them. I also like the oversized ambi thumb stud and the texturing on it. Its just enough but not a thumb skin peeler and hangs out well enough for a gloved hand to operate it with ease.

Its got a fairly good looking stout lock spring in it and weighs in at 4.8 ounces. I give it high marks personally. Its not bad at all.

STR

 

[STR]

Here is a quick scan of that clip downward turn I'm talking about.

Its right at the very tip of the clip where it first contacts the pocket rim. In my opinion this is a worthless feature for a clip yet I see it all the time. What it does is that it effectively makes the space between the G10 and the clip less than the thickness of the rim of my pants fabric which means it has to be finessed to get up over the rim to slide on.

I know what you are thinking. Just bend it up right? Not so easy. In the past when I have tried this on a Dozier Thorn, a Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter, and Vaquero Grande they all snapped forcing me to make a new clip. Now I don't even bother and just make a new clip. Its much easier that way.

STR

 

[STR]

I went ahead and did up a better pocket clip for this one today while knocking out a few more things in the shop.

All these bigger jobs got put on hold for after the holidays since there is no way I can get them done before then anyway. I figured the smaller jobs needed to be in and out of here for the owners so they don't have to wait for such a small deal.

Hope you guys with outstanding orders understand. I've made it my policy to get the smaller jobs in and out within a 48 hour window for folks working on these bigger more demanding ones as I can.

Anyway, this clip is much easier to use, grabs better on the pocket and overall just looks better too but the most outstanding thing about this one is that its completely invisible in the hand unlike the factory one.

You can kind of get an idea of the side profile change in the clip here in the close up. This shows how much height the clip has lost so it now tucks away nicely in the hand unlike before.

Also its worth noting that once again I am reminded of one of the draw backs whenever you go to a China or Taiwan made folder. The screws for this factory clip stripped very easily. Fortunately having been there before I have some of the same thread screws in stock in a longer length but unfortunately they are all for a T5 torx which strips if you look at it wrong so each of them had to have a flat head slot cut in them to even get the clip on there again.

Its going to have to do I guess. They work fine though for a beater upper folder. Thanks for looking.

STR

 

[J85909266]

That clip is fantastic. I've always wished companies would make clips more like that. The clip I had on my SnG was atrocious, much like the one the Tarani had before you replaced it. It's thoughtful little touches like that that really make a knife.

That thin profile pocket clip is just what I had in mind for my Oupartor when I said I would rather avoid the low rider because of how they jut out where they fold over.

 

[STR]

Thanks.

By the way. I started the blade on your folder today but have not posted any pics since I am not anywhere near the final shape or finishing but its coming down the road. I'll probably pick up on this first thing in Jan since tomorrow and the next day are my last two days in the shop this year.

I was really hoping to have it done for you but the weather and all the power outages we got hammered with and the holidays combined to put me behind schedule.

STR

 

[J85909266]

No worries. I never expected you to finish during the ice storms, anyway.

 

[RKH]

A local gun shop here in town is carrying some of the 5.11 Tarani folders. They are liner locks and back locks and they are not cheap. The back lock is a solid feeling knife and I noticed the half stop. I own some slip joints that have the Half stop feature notably a Trapper and some Congress patterns. I kinda like the feature. I was not sure on the liner locks as I noticed how hard it was to open tight but not impossible. I do not care for the coarse bead blasting on the blades of these knifes. That type of finish interferes with the cutting ability in my opinion. And that just my opinon as I am sure others love that type of finish. BTW, the Ouperator you made for me is getting smoother as you said it would. I really like the Wharncliffe blade and this carbon steel. And your low rider clips are the best I have used. Oh, it was 70 here today and we have been running the air conditionong off and on.
RKH

 

[STR]

70s! WOW! I'm jealous although it did get up to almost 60 here today but by the time I noticed it was already cooling down again.

I am glad you like that blade. I know I go against the trend by doing carbon blades these days but you know, I grew up with slip joints like the Schrade Old Timer 8OT or a Case in CV steel and they had such nice thin blades that they worked and cut even when they were really getting dull and needing attention on the edge. I set out to give all that the old slippies offered the user but in a more modern one hand opening and closing locking type folder.

I carry a blade very similar to yours in one of my pockets most everyday and while I may have and usually do have at least one other folder on my person also when I really need a 'get after it worker' I pull that old carbon blade out.

I think this lockback Tarani is as fine a folder from Taiwan as I have handled. I like the knife a lot better now that I have fixed the one weak area I saw in it but it was usable as it came. It comes in a nice box, with a T6 torx tool also which is a nice touch.


STR