What are some thin bladed, locking folders in the market today?

Thank you for the helpful replies! A reprofiled GB Air has caught my attention since I like the M4 steel, but I'll be looking into the other suggested blades.
 
a lot of people not listing the thickness of their recommendations, and recommending knives that aren't really thin.

my first mention is the spyderco Centofante 3 (or 4 if you can find it, discontinued)
2mm thick, hollow ground blade. thing is a screaming slicer.

Kershaw leek. blade is just barely thicker than 2mm. if you directly compare to the Centofante you can see the difference. probably imperceptible in use though.

I greatly prefer the handling of the spyderco, pretty much never carry the leek. the leek is in a much slimmer package with a nearly perfect blade:handle ratio if that concerns you. I'd rather have the bit more handle the spyderco offers.

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would love to see some folders come in even thinner than 2mm. I know the Air is 2, the Chaparral and Delica are 2.5, endura is 3 so not really too thin, yet it is being mentioned for some reason.

look at some traditional knives. the two forum knives I have from GEC come in about the same spine thickness as the leek, but are ground even thinner. my Case mini trapper is the same as the previous knives, and the case swayback jack matches the Centofante in thinness perfectly.

2mm seems to be the low end on production pocket knives, but spine thickness is only part of the equation, a somewhat thicker knife with better edge geometry and grind can be a better cutter than a thin knife.
 
oops, forgot the locking bit when I recommended traditional folders. I know both case and GEC make lockback folders, but I haven't handled any and it's hard to find spine thickness for them online. but I'm sure they have some nice thin ones.
 
I would recommend the Benchmade 530 - It's my top favorite, and it's a great slicer for EDC. I carry the reg. production in the left back-pocket, with the CF LE in the front, no clip.. Virtually weightless :)

Specs:

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Pics:

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What a out just going with the Opinel?

I've taken blades to the stone to thin them with good success
 
Kvaughn beat me to it. Al Mar Ultralights. Excellent slicer and excellent fit and finish.

Ric
 
dkb45 said:
AG Russell folding lock back (available in titanium, carbon fiber, and a bunch of exotic materials over titanium), Spyderco Delica (not as thin as an Opinel, but an excellent slicer).
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Come back to this post and buy one of the 2.5 or 3.0 Titanium lockbacks. Super thin and well made.
 
I have the PE composite blade Leek. Seriously great knife.

Just got in a Spyderco Centofante Memory, which is what I bought after I went looking for the same thing (and got a lot of the same knives suggested). The blade is, I think, .091 thick at the spine, which is thinner than anything tactical ever.

The Leek is a very nice knife and you can use it in company. The Memory is quite dressy even in comparison to a Leek. The light blue anodize over titanium is a winner. :)
 
mercator "kat" knife
Okapi
douk douk
svord ok , scratch that it dont lock
ok I like hi carbon over stainless , they tend to have thinner blades :) they dont need the bulk of blade to put up with the abuse in my experience
 
The low cost German Cat knife, the K55, has also caught my interest regarding thin knives... due to the fact I have spent all my money on the Gayle Bradley. Does anyone know of its cutting ability relative to those suggested?
 
If ya'll don't mind, why don't we change this discussion to the thicknesses of knives behind the edge? Since blade geometry is generally more related to cutting ability than spine thickness. Numbers would be nice :)
 
WillardCorspe said:
I was surprised that it took seven posts for someone to mention the Leek!

There are versions that come in D2, ZDP-189 and S30V, if you're not interested in the standard Sanvik...
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The S30V one is discontinued IIRC. I have one and it's one of my favorite Kershaws.
 
The mercator is easily my sharpest knife. It's very easy to sharpen and will hold an edge for a decent amount of time as long as you don't use it to break down cardboard boxes or cut zip ties. I carry either a k55 mercator or a douk douk pretty much every day to whittle or cut tape, and a quick strop from time to time keeps it cutting just fine.

I actually prefer the douk, but it doesn't lock so its up to you. They are very similar in thickness behind the edge, and the steel is very easy to reprofile. It's not going to compare to your gayle bradley, but I find myself using the k55 more than my "main" front pocket knife anyway, so just something to consider.
 
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