This is a Lefty Thread... Factory Folder EDCs - Your honorable recommendations?

A

alan aragon

Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
438
i'm lookin for ones that are:

1) available in 100% lefty, 3.5" blade or better.
2) not customs, i hate using customs for daily thrashings - i'd rather sit and stroke my customs & admire their lines (sorry, but that's just me, & ain't too much gonna change that).
3) no axis locks. i don't mean to hurt any feelings here, but i haven't had the best experiences with a-locks.

thanks in advance for the suggestions.
 
The Spyderco FRN Endura is pretty close to being 100% lefty. It has a 4 inch blade.

The pocket-clip of the Al Mar SERE 2000 can be set up as "lefty", but it IS a "righty" liner-lock, (however, as a lefty myself, I have NO problems with the liner-lock being on the "wrong side" in the SERE 2000, as it works just fine for me). It has a 3.60 inch blade.
 
I have a lefty Mini AFCK which is actually a truly left handed knife; the Spyderco Dodo is a stellar, fully ambi knife, as are the native, delica and endura.

The dodo is what I've been carrying most lately besides my SAK alox Farmer...
 
The Spyderco A.T.R. is fully ambidextrous. The integral compression lock does not reverse, but no one seems to agree on which direction is designed for which hand. :) I carried one in my left pocket for a few days as part of a Pass-Around and it closed just as easily left-handed as right. And handedness aside, the A.T.R. is an outstanding knife.

--Bob Q
 
Spyderco CF Police, available as a true LH model in either plain or serrated, even the POLICE marking on the blade has been moved to the opposite side. Tip down carry only.

Spyderco Chinook II, plain edge model is total ambi, clip can be mounted for tip up or tip down carry either RH or LH. The part serrated does come with RH serrations only, but otherwise is also ambi.

The Spyderco Endura, the FRN version is rugged and relatively inexpensive, and can be set up for LH or RH carry. Like the Chinook I'd only call the plain edge full ambi, as the serrated is only available with RH serrations. This one is tip up carry only.
 
Hi Alan:

Speaking as another lefty, here are a few:

CRKT Grant Hawk DOG. A bolt-action lock, that is totally ambi and very solid.

Tarani Karambit. I have the Masters model, but the Journeyman has received positive reviews.

Spyderco Spyderhawk. Dropped from the 2004 lineup but NewGraham had some left.

Any full-sized Benchmade balisong.

I'd like to recommend the Spyderco Chinook II, but I don't have one yet, so no personal experience. Other forumites have liked it, however.

Best regards
 
Chris Reeve Knives makes the Sebenza in a left handed version, available in two sizes.
 
Chris Reeve Large Sebenza
Extrema Ratio Fulcrum I
Extrema Ratio Fulcrum II D
Extrema Ratio Fulcrum II T
Extrema Ratio M.P.C.
Extrema Ratio Nemesis
Spyderco ATR
Spyderco Chinook II
Spyderco Endura
Spyderco CF Police left-handed

Alan,

What's keeping you away from axis locks? That'd open you up to some really great folders (520, 550, 551, 710, 720, 722, 732, 805, 806D2) in the 3.5+" range. Also, both Benchmade and Spyderco have a ton of ambidextrous folders in shorter lengths that can open you up to a whole new world of sharp, pointy things.

Edited to add Chinook II
 
Chinook II, one tough as nials folder. Excelent fit and finish. Totally lefty friendly.
 
great feedback, everyone. i'll check out all those options.. i'm seein a lotta spydie recommendations, time to dig through their site & see if any of those models catch my eye.

thom - every time i check out an axislock @ the local knife store, it's got too much lateral blade play, and i just don't feel too comfortable with the placement of the release bar. i tend to agree with mike janich on this issue. just my own personal concern which i can't seem to shrug off.

i have yet to get my paws on a sebenza to play with it & examine its heralded fit, finish, & mechanism. it's definitely up there on my consideration list.

more more!
 
Originally posted by alan aragon
every time i check out an axislock @ the local knife store, it's got too much lateral blade play, and i just don't feel too comfortable with the placement of the release bar.
Click to expand...

You can adjust the pivot to eliminate lateral play. Even with play left on the axis lock, it's still an accurate cutter. Lateral play really only matters if it could disengage the lock, such as on a liner lock, framelock, and maybe a compression lock.

What are your and Mr. Janich's other aversions to an axis lock? That other people could disengage it or that you might accidentally disengage it? While I'm more of an Extrema fan and Spyderknut these days, I like that other people can disengage my axis locks. It makes loaning the knife out at holidays that much easier. As for accidentally disengaging one while using it, I haven't had that happen. I've used my 806D2 for poking and prying out wood, sometimes with full force and added bodyweight, and that risk never materialized.
 
Originally posted by thombrogan
What are your and Mr. Janich's other aversions to an axis lock? That other people could disengage it or that you might accidentally disengage it? While I'm more of an Extrema fan and Spyderknut these days, I like that other people can disengage my axis locks. It makes loaning the knife out at holidays that much easier. As for accidentally disengaging one while using it, I haven't had that happen. I've used my 806D2 for poking and prying out wood, sometimes with full force and added bodyweight, and that risk never materialized.
Click to expand...
axislock disengagement is only a theoretical possibility during combat where a forceful thrust/withdrawal movement occurs, since disengagement could happen after a full thrust connecting with hard tissue (ie, bone, etc) could cause enough choking up on the handle to pull the lockbar backward & disengage the blade during the withdrawal motion.

^^those are pure theoretics, granted - and VERY far-fetched, as is the lone possibility of blade combat or self-defense.. like i said, it's just a personal pref thing, but that's the theory behind the neuroticism.

nevertheless, i'd feel more comfortable using my aftershock flipper in a combat situation, because there's no chance of twisting it into disengagement (the liner isn't exposed laterally; it's flush with the machined shape of the choil), and the only way to disengage it would be to collapse the titanium liner, which is thick enough to preclude any chance of over or undersliding the blade tang. even if you did disengage it somehow, the guard/flipper would meet your finger before the blade ever could. btw, i've successfully spine-whacked the thing on solid, non-damaging surfaces upon the suggestion of BF forumites.

i promise to post some shots of it once i get a digicam. lol, i have the same obsession with my customed-custom green canvas micarta aftershock (i put a longitudinal satin finish on the hollow grinds with 1500-grit wet/dry) as glockman99 has with his cherished al mar sere :D
 
Originally posted by alan aragon
<snip/> disengagement could happen after a full thrust connecting with hard tissue (ie, bone, etc) could cause enough choking up on the handle to pull the lockbar backward & disengage the blade during the withdrawal motion.
Click to expand...

The only organic tissue my 806D2 has been in was some gourds, a block of basswood, and some potting soil. The gourds and basswood took lots of force in some cases, but I never choked up on the blade. Same for the more diminutive 705-02, but that was only used on the gourds, so less force was used.

The gourds were full of mold and my sinuses are easily irritated, so the gourds won.

My knives are tools, collector pieces, and odd bits of metal, but they are not weapons. I can't imagine those poor little cutties being locked up in a cold evidence locker without me to click them, so that's not an option for me.
 
thom - theoretically, enough sweat or blood could make your hand choke up on the handle.. lol @ your forrays with gourds! you sound like a busy guy about the garden.

i think of my knives first & foremost as weapons in need, then secondly as tools of the mundane. different strokes across the gourds i guess ;)

but keep in mind thom, i look at my own hands as weapons of mass destruction more than constructive tools, heh.. well, at least that's what my wife has lead me to believe!
 
So, in theory you thrust past the hilt, which sticks, and causes your hand do ride up past the axis lock, and then on withdrawal the blade sticks and your hand moves back over the axis bar unlocking it?

I may be off base but wouldn't you be better with a fixed blade? They are lefty friendly.

The axis has been a very good lock for me in my Left handedness. I do prefer a left handed frame lock but haven't found the productions satisfactory. I've been happy with the compromise of the axis lock. I've got a mini grip and a 520. ymmv(obviously)
 
Alan,

You'd have to get your mitts wrapped around an 806D2 to understand. I'm told the handle on the 520 is even more secure.

The gourds weren't gardening, I just wanted to start a blade-intensive hobby. Sure, professional gourd-carvers use rotary tools, such as Dremels, but I wanted an excuse to be constantly using my Benchmades. The majority of my gardening with knives was planting a few root bulbs and opening some bags of peat moss. The basswood, though, took the deep, forceful stabs and my hands never slipped.

One thing to keep in mind regarding blood is that many muggers are supporting a habit that has exposed them to a huckabucka bloodborne pathogens. I don't want to be anybody's blood brother if I don't like the guy to begin with and if being his buddy kills my lovelife and my liver. I can do that with beer on my own, thank you.
 
Originally posted by thombrogan
I don't want to be anybody's blood brother if I don't like the guy to begin with and if being his buddy kills my lovelife and my liver. I can do that with beer on my own, thank you.
Click to expand...
here here!

*raises mug*
 
Originally posted by mumbleypeg
The axis has been a very good lock for me in my Left handedness. I do prefer a left handed frame lock but haven't found the productions satisfactory.
Click to expand...
^^this explains my desire for a lefty martin avenger.. i'd probably just cuddle it instead of use it (i guess i have a $400 & up cuddle-only threshold, lol).

far as good factory framelocks go, i've read decent things about the CKT brend framelock - don't know if it's available in lefty though.
 
cheers.gif
 
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