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- Jun 1, 2008
- Messages
- 184
Saw this one today and had to snag it. What has been your experience with them?
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Thoughts on 5.11 knives??
- Thread starter watchcollector1968
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,956
Thats a fine folder for the money but personally I much prefer the Investigator lockback model over the First Responder. Now the Investigator is a great folder for the money! Its also the only one I kept. I have Waved several of the 5.11 Karambits for members and those are pretty impressive also if you like that kind of folder. To me after seeing and handling all they make I think the Investigator is the best one they offer overall. For one its big, but its small enough to make a daily carry knife. The blade is capable of doing a large amount of work from delicate to heavy duty and its thick enough to do some things with it that you probably wouldn't do on any others of the same price range that I've handled. The lock is quite strong also.
The First Responder is not a bad folder at all and the lock is certainly strong on it. The S30V blade is quite nice also. In my own handling of that one the best thing about it is the built in choil to both choke up on grip to do some finer work with the tip of the blade and also add some security in uses that could potentially defeat the lock. Its kind of hard to imagine the blade biting your fingers as easily with your index finger firmly wrapped in that choil since its there as a physical block for blade travel even if the lock did slip off the blade in hard prying jobs or self defense. Only draw back from my point of view on that one is that I don't like how big it is. Its just way more folder really than most needs anything I carry ever calls for. The Investigator is more my style.
STR
The First Responder is not a bad folder at all and the lock is certainly strong on it. The S30V blade is quite nice also. In my own handling of that one the best thing about it is the built in choil to both choke up on grip to do some finer work with the tip of the blade and also add some security in uses that could potentially defeat the lock. Its kind of hard to imagine the blade biting your fingers as easily with your index finger firmly wrapped in that choil since its there as a physical block for blade travel even if the lock did slip off the blade in hard prying jobs or self defense. Only draw back from my point of view on that one is that I don't like how big it is. Its just way more folder really than most needs anything I carry ever calls for. The Investigator is more my style.
STR
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2008
- Messages
- 1,387
most are taiwan
Caveat: I haven't handled any, just looking at the pictures on line. I agree with STR, the Investigator seems to be a better design - less redundant finger grips.
Looks like another brand trying to expand their market, like Surefire making knives, or Coleman getting into boots - or knives, which they ran into the ground. It doesn't always work out if the hired designer misses out on what professionals want vs. building market share and profits.
These look like they are worth trying to find for hands on. I have issues - the Striderlike grooves, which most civilian users will hate. They are always aggressive, uncomfortable, and can raise blisters. On an EDC, not so good. On a duty knife for soldiers commonly wearing at least fingerless gloves, ok. The grooves optimize gloved hand grip to the point barehand suffers. These are 5.11 brand, but that isn't so much a pro thing anymore.
The saber grind that barely goes halfway up the blade. Traditionally that offers more prying strength, and is a heavy duty knife trademark. It never works well in use, wedging in the cut, and actually making slicing more difficult. It's also cheap to grind compared to full flat, and if that was done, blade thickness could have increased to compensate, which also costs more. So, you're looking at a bean counter compromise.
The liner appears thin. I don't know what material it is, I hope it isn't any kind of stainless. My reference thickness is a Strider SnG, and a thick liner at the contact point in Ti has a better grip on the ramp to prevent disengagement. Ti has a lot more stiction on a stainless blade. Stainless liners don't gall as much and tend to slip off, especially one's less than half blade thickness.
The ramp angle looks suspect. Handling in real life would be a superior test.
Grips look a little over done, and a lot like the RAT folders. Nothing wrong there,, but too many finger grips and grooves will limit how you can choke up or reverse the grip. It makes it a hold it one way only design. We don't use EDC knives only one way.
Prices I saw don't look bad for the materials used. As already explained, I shy away from branded knives made to expand a market. I don't expect I'd buy Benchmade tactical jeans, Spyderco concealed carry jackets, or Cold Steel (th)underwear, although I could expect the last to be offered.
These make more sense than the gimmicky Surefire blades, and are a lot more price conscious.
Looks like another brand trying to expand their market, like Surefire making knives, or Coleman getting into boots - or knives, which they ran into the ground. It doesn't always work out if the hired designer misses out on what professionals want vs. building market share and profits.
These look like they are worth trying to find for hands on. I have issues - the Striderlike grooves, which most civilian users will hate. They are always aggressive, uncomfortable, and can raise blisters. On an EDC, not so good. On a duty knife for soldiers commonly wearing at least fingerless gloves, ok. The grooves optimize gloved hand grip to the point barehand suffers. These are 5.11 brand, but that isn't so much a pro thing anymore.
The saber grind that barely goes halfway up the blade. Traditionally that offers more prying strength, and is a heavy duty knife trademark. It never works well in use, wedging in the cut, and actually making slicing more difficult. It's also cheap to grind compared to full flat, and if that was done, blade thickness could have increased to compensate, which also costs more. So, you're looking at a bean counter compromise.
The liner appears thin. I don't know what material it is, I hope it isn't any kind of stainless. My reference thickness is a Strider SnG, and a thick liner at the contact point in Ti has a better grip on the ramp to prevent disengagement. Ti has a lot more stiction on a stainless blade. Stainless liners don't gall as much and tend to slip off, especially one's less than half blade thickness.
The ramp angle looks suspect. Handling in real life would be a superior test.
Grips look a little over done, and a lot like the RAT folders. Nothing wrong there,, but too many finger grips and grooves will limit how you can choke up or reverse the grip. It makes it a hold it one way only design. We don't use EDC knives only one way.
Prices I saw don't look bad for the materials used. As already explained, I shy away from branded knives made to expand a market. I don't expect I'd buy Benchmade tactical jeans, Spyderco concealed carry jackets, or Cold Steel (th)underwear, although I could expect the last to be offered.
These make more sense than the gimmicky Surefire blades, and are a lot more price conscious.
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2005
- Messages
- 19,834
the 5.11 knives i have handled have seemed to be of good quality.
my concern with the company is the amount of products they now market. they went from pretty much clothing last year, to many many other products this year.
we had a rep come to a training session to show off all the new stuff. at that time the knives and kydex gear were all made by bladetech and rebadged. i dont know if that is still the case, but those products were the quality products i would expect from bladetech.
i have seen qc issues with many of their newer products, mostly the nylon gear (bags, cases, etc). loose seams, sticky zippers, and stuff like that.
my concern with the company is the amount of products they now market. they went from pretty much clothing last year, to many many other products this year.
we had a rep come to a training session to show off all the new stuff. at that time the knives and kydex gear were all made by bladetech and rebadged. i dont know if that is still the case, but those products were the quality products i would expect from bladetech.
i have seen qc issues with many of their newer products, mostly the nylon gear (bags, cases, etc). loose seams, sticky zippers, and stuff like that.