toughest folder, recommendations?

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Bumppo

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Jan 27, 2006
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Looking for suggestions as to the toughest production folder. It does not matter what kind of lock, blade steel, or blade shape. It will be used as a bushcraft knife, EDC, and under much abuse. Scale material is not relevent. the only criteria I have is the blade length has to be under 4", and it has to have a pocket clip. I guess this is a question as to which lock can handle the most stress and torque, but also which manufacturer has the most durable design.
 
i think the spyderco manix is one of the tougher folders out there for the money. However everyone praises strider for their durability but I have no experience with them.
 
that's a tough one.

Definitely NOT an SAK lockblade, IMO. I love them dearly, but there's a reason I carry a fixed blade......

I'd look for steel liners and a good solid pin, for sure- I have a few tactical folders that I wouldn't put into woodcraft abuse if I could avoid it.

Seriously, the folder I'd pick out of all the ones I own would be my marlinspike rigger's knife. It's the slab sided black handled camillus. not a lockblade (the spike locks. It makes sense) but really really tough.

Of course, you'd have to put a pocket clip on it, too. I'm really curious about that as a requirement- I find that pocket clips are uncomfortable and I only leave them on if it's a edc tactical like my al-mar
 
Bumppo said:
Looking for suggestions as to the toughest production folder. It does not matter what kind of lock, blade steel, or blade shape. It will be used as a bushcraft knife, EDC, and under much abuse. Scale material is not relevent. the only criteria I have is the blade length has to be under 4", and it has to have a pocket clip. I guess this is a question as to which lock can handle the most stress and torque, but also which manufacturer has the most durable design.
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Hey Bumppo, good thread. It will be interesting to see what everybody posts.

Doc
 
I'd recomend a buck/strider 889.Also called the Strider military.They are built like tanks and can take a lot.I personally carry one to work and so does my dad.You get LOTS of knife for a lot less than a strider.
 
Spyderco Manix. built like a tank....massive lockup......indestructible G10 scales.

Spyderco quality.

BTW. the perfect sheath is at basspro. look for the sheath that says "blackie collins". This is definitely not a pocket knife!
 
I have bee seriously looking at getting a Extrema Ratio RAO it looks very tough
for a folder and I like the extra pin for locking the blade.

yhst-91324301302029_1973_253795
 
Going by toughest folder ... used as a bushcraft knife, EDC, and under much abuse ... under 4" ... have a pocket clip, I would leave out the Extrema Ratio and any tanto. Clip point, drop point, spear point would all work.

Strider SnG (framelock) or Ka-Bar Mule or Manix (lockbacks) would do the job, with the Mule performing way over its price point.

Two less obvious choices: the MOD CQD Mark I (3.75") and Mark II (3.25") are massively strong spear points with button locks.
 
+1 on the SnG. Prices are a bit salty, but tough as all get out.

I've owned both the manix and sng. Both are wonderful, but I'll give the advantage to the sng. The framelock is great and an advantage in my opinion. Also, the sng was more pocketable than the manix. By that I mean that the sng was smaller and weighed less. Finally, I like the later generation sng pivots over the manix pivot.

Now, having said that, you could just pick up three or four manix knives for the price of one sng.

Andy
 
Bumppo said:
Looking for suggestions as to the toughest production folder. It does not matter what kind of lock, blade steel, or blade shape. It will be used as a bushcraft knife, EDC, and under much abuse. Scale material is not relevent. the only criteria I have is the blade length has to be under 4", and it has to have a pocket clip. I guess this is a question as to which lock can handle the most stress and torque, but also which manufacturer has the most durable design.
Click to expand...

Given your requirements, I would really look at framelocks, axis-style locks or tradictional lockbacks. The challenge is going to be finding a stout lock with a traditional drop/spear point blade along with a handle that will be comfortable doing bushcraft tasks. My top picks would be:

-Spyderco Manix; already mentioned and a good strong folder
-Bechmade Mini-Ruckus; good design and stout lock
-Al Mar SERE (it's a liner lock, but a solid design)
-Spyderco Military (another liner lock, but it's one I can easily recommend)
-Benchmade's Ambush might be a good choice as well
-Fallkniven's little U2 is a decent lockback with a Scandi-blade design (no clip though)

I don't think you would want a sharpened prybar as that's pretty counterproductive for an outdoors bushcrafting type of knife. Let us know what you decide.

ROCK6
 
I would highly recommend the benchmade rukus or mini rukus. These are heavy duty knives and I belive the 2006 or 2007 knife of the year. The size and weight won't even be noticed as the knives are evenly balanced out. The stats on the rukus says 4.25" long, but I believe it is right at 4". As long as you don't go stabbing someone nobody is actually going to bust out a ruler and check. Don't be fooled by the name 'mini' on the mini-rukus, it is a 3.45" blade that is just as durable as the big brother. These knives are marked in the $200~$265 range, and of course they both have the axis lock which can hold up to 1000 pounds of pressure. Here are the stats for these two:

Benchmade Rukus blue class 610:

Blade Length: 4.25"
Blade Thickness: 0.150"
Blade Material: S30V Stainless Steel
Blade Hardness: 58-60HRC
Blade Style: Utility Drop-Point; Ambidextrous Dual Thumb-Studs
Weight: 7.70oz.
Clip: Black, Reversible, Tip-Up
Lock Mechanism: AXIS
Overall Length: 10.12"
Closed Length: 5.95"

Benchmade Mini-Rukus blue class 615:

Blade Length: 3.40"
Blade Thickness: 0.121"
Blade Material: S30V Premium Steel
Blade Hardness: 58-60HRC
Blade Style: Utility Drop-Point; Ambidextrous Thumb-Stud
Weight: 5.90oz.
Clip: Black, Deep Pocket, Tip-Up
Lock Mechanism: AXIS
Overall Length: 8.50"
Closed Length: 5.10"

For a more affordable folder with about the same durability, try looking up a SOG Vulcan, it is still new on the market, but believe me it is one hell of a knife! It has put up with me a lot. It is fairly thick for a folder and has the arc lock which can also be tested to 1000 pounds at the lock. This knife can be found for about a hundred dollars ($100) Here is the link for this knife, http://sogknives.com/store/VL-01.html , and here are the stats for it as well:

SOG Vulcan:

Blade 3.5" x .16"
Overall Length 8.375"
Weight 5.0 oz.
Edge Straight
Steel VG-10
Handle Zytel
Finish Satin
Includes Reversible Pocket clip

Hope this helps, J.
 
Id look into a Hinderer XM-18. I also want to say CRK Sebenza but for woodcraft i would thing something like an opinel. edc id go for a spyderco.
 
I would say the Strider PT or SNG, i have the PT and its great - small, great slicer, good edge retention and easy to put an edge on. The SNG is bigger and better for larger hands and chores but the thicker blade may not be such a great slicer.

Forgot to say the choil is wonderful for choking up on the blade.
 
Thanks for the input so far, i am going to research these, and others as more opinions come in. This is a great start. I didn't give to many details so as to not influence anybodys decisions. Good statements and questions were brought up so I will fill in some blanks.
I have and will be taking this knife into forein countries, I have spent some time in Brazil and China, and have learned that although a fixed blade knife is frowned upon, folders are given more leeway. The "four inch or less" length is set because in brazil I learned the hard way, that although the legal length of a blade is four inches, the quick measurment police use is the width of their palm. so, slightly shorter than four inches is playing it safe. In China, I have seen the palm used to measure blades as well.
The knife will be used to practice fire making skills, food gathering, and digging roots and catholes. Sometimes the handle will be used to tighten turnbuckles on cables. It will strip wire as well. I do have a myerchine rigging knife that is nearly perfect for what I want, and agree that the locking spike makes sense, but as mentioned, it does not have a pocket clip.

The pocket clip is neccessary because I also carry a flashlight and a leatherman on my belt, and I climb a mast at work, ( I am a blimp crewman) and climbing through the mast cables snag on the sheaths.

Thanks again, the answers being given are very helpfull.
 
Bumppo said:
( I am a blimp crewman)
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Fantastic! I always like to hear about some of the more exotic occupations we have represented here. :)

Just how far do you fly those things? I know seeing a few overhead here in New jersey isn't real exciting. They are just drifting by showing off the ads painted on them.
 
They pretty much are flying billboards, although they are camera beds as well, depending on the client. They have been used for flying communication towers, and for search and rescue. A few years ago, there was one deployed overseas as a "Mine Seeker". It was effective in finding land mines.
Keeping it topic related, since we live on the road, the knives we carry have to be sheeple freindly, because we spend much of our time on airports. That is why I am looking for a heavy duty folder.
 
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