The <$60 bearing knife market

The Artisan mentioned above is pre-drilled for the pocket clip on right or left. I wish all makers would do that. Neither the Cuatro nor Atmos are pre-drilled :-(
Rich
 
no one has experience with Artisan knives (esp Tradition model)? Help/comments appreciated.
Rich
 
Rich S said:
The Artisan mentioned above is pre-drilled for the pocket clip on right or left. I wish all makers would do that. Neither the Cuatro nor Atmos are pre-drilled :-(
Rich
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No experience with that particular model, but i do have 3 Artisan knives and the quality is solid for the price point.
 
Comeuppance said:
I've spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find knives with build quality and action far outside of their price range. Here are my impressions:

Stedemon: Very fast, fluid, excellent flippers. The designs are unique and reasonably functional. Every Stedemon I've owned has had drop-shut pivot action. No appreciable warranty department, though, so my Shy IV that developed some blade play was just a loss.

Aiorosu: I've only owned one - the Tornado, with 440C steel and a MRBS system. If it were a smaller knife, I would probably have carried it and used it. It's well-made, though, and was mechanically perfect. Probably not the most utilitarian design, however, and I ended up nicknaming it the Folding Airplane Wing.

Civivi (Praxis): This is probably the most effort I've ever seen in a knife under $100. The liners are polished and anodized, the blade finish is immaculate, and the design is extremely utilitarian. Also, it came with a reasonably nice box, pouch, and microfiber cloth. The blade stock is thin enough, however, that their decision to bevel the edges of the flipper tab actually made it thin enough to be painful to flip.

Overall, if your primary concern is a balance between cost and flipping action, these are all excellent options. That said, the blade steels are what tend to suffer the most when you get into this price range. Civivi uses 9Cr18MoV, however, which is apparently comparable to VG-10, and they also use VG-10 and D2 in some of their more expensive models. The other two brands primarily use 440C, which is a fine steel... But, really, if you want that "luxury knife experience", I'd say its worth coughing up the extra cash and getting a ZT, Kizer, Reate, or WE knife.
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The Civivi Baklash, slightly smaller than the Praxis, is also impressive. I'm not sure the flipper tab is any different, but I don't find it painful to use at all.
 
a ffg d2 rat2 with carbon fibre handle is about $50 - do you really need bearings? just curious - since they can get gunked up
 
Rich S said:
I'm specifically interested in the Artisan Tradition model. Any one have any comments on it? D2 with black G10 scales, 3" blade.
Rich
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I bought one from Blade last year and my only complaint is that the detent is too strong. The shorter handle digs in your palm when flipping it open bc of the pressure applied to the tab.
 
Don’t forget the Real Steel Sea Eagle. One heck of a bearing knife that’s in the $60 price range.
 
Does anyone here have any experience with the Real Steel Griffin? Under $60 for 14c28n, plunge lock, and roller bearings sounds appealing...
 
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