what to ask for Christmas?

W

wyld

Joined
Dec 17, 2006
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my wife has gotten a nice Christmas bonus and said i could have basically whatever i want and just point her to the webpage and she'd order it.

i have been EDC a cheapo S&W baby SWAT for several years now and loved it. i have been thinking about getting something nicer for quite a while and done a lot of research the past week but am still quite a newbie. im certain i don't know what i am missing. so what would i be totally impressed by over my baby SWAT?

what i have now:
SW3001B.jpg

closed length - 3.37"
blade - 2.63" 440C Black Teflon coated
black aluminum handle with rubber insert

i carry it clipped inside my right pocket and love that its small enough that i forget that its there, but large enough to be an effective utility knife. i'd like my new knife to be of higher quality all around. i have a concealed weapons permit and usually carry a concealed firearm, but this knife would have to serve as primary protection in places i cannot carry a firearm. unfortunately, those places that don't allow firearms also don't usually allow "blades for offensive or defensive purposes" so any defensive knife would have to be able to pass off as a utility knife. this is why i would prefer around 3" blade but definitely shorter than 3.5"

i enjoy my combo blade but could be convinced to go otherwise. i also would enjoy an assisted opening knife but i'm not sure its absolutely necessary. it definitely has to be a folder with a pocket clip. so far ive read good things about Spyderco, Kershaw, and Benchmade. any suggestions? pics and links welcomed! for price, i think $50-$200 is reasonable.

thanks for helping out a newbie!
 
Anything from Spyderco, Benchmade and Kershaw should be excellent. But for you in particular, since you like AO, black blades (presumably) and blades shorter than 3.5, I recommend the Kershaw Avalanche.

It's about 80 dollars online, has S30V steel (an extremely respected steel), G10 (a very grippy extraordinarily tough and quality looking/feeling material) and has assisted opening.

Kershav-Avalanche-07.jpg


The higher end Kershaw Blurs should serve you well too. Various good steels at the high end (S30V recently), grippy steel/griptec handles and AO:

image.php


I believe this one, the gray one, is S30V, but I might be mistaken. As you can tell, it comes in partially serrated...can't recall for the Boa and Avalanche.

The Kershaw boa has most of the features of these other two knives and is quite nice:

kershawBoa-A.jpg


It might be getting a little too close to 3.5 inches.

All of these knives are very well under 150. You can definitely find the Avalanche and Blur for under a hundred.

There are some great AO's in the sub 200 price range, but I think your size limitations excludes the majority of them. These will be great though.
 
thanks so much for the replies. i did get the black blade originally simply because i thought it looked cool. since i have abused the heck out of this knife on a daily basis, the coating is chipped and scratched:
swat1.jpg

swat2.jpg


does the coating serve much of a purpose besides aesthetics? do the higher quality knife coatings hold up better over time?
 
Get one of Spyderco's newest delica knives. The Benchmade Mini-Griptillian is also nice. You will probably love its AXIS lock; most people do.
 
I think the weathered coating of your baby swat is beautiful. When I look at that knife I know it has a personal history.

If you want to try assisted open but arn't sure if you'd like it, how about a kershaw mini-cyclone? You can turn the AO on or off with a switch. It comes in either plain edge or combo. Blade length is 3 3/16" I think.

I recently received a CRKT M1 Lightfoot and this one is also just over 3" in blade length. It's plain edge and coated, and opens with a flipper. I love this knife because it's compact yet beefy and sooo comfortable in my hand. It has a rounded tanto tip though - I have no clue how that would figure into a self defense situation since I'm no fighter.

I know these knives arn't as nice as some others mentioned here - they're just what came to my mind as good quality EDCs that I was impressed with recently.
 
I really appreciate all the input from everyone. after more reading and handling a few of my friends knives, im leaning towards the Benchmade Mini-Grip Doug Ritter (558). since the mini doesnt come in combo blade, im going to try something new and get the plain edge, non-black finish. these pictures are amazing:

RSK_mini-full.jpg

RSK_mini_top.jpg

RSK_2-in-the-hand.jpg
 
That sounds like a really solid choice, especially since it was mainly research that you did and YOU chose the knife, I think you will be more pleased with it in the end...
 
HAve you found the BM558 on the Web anywhere for sale, I've seen several other model numbers close, and up thru 557,,some Ritter, Some Pardue models ??

Regards
 
At the BM site it explains the #558 is the Ritter designed RSK MK1(W/S30V), available only thru Aeromedix.com. Earlier today there was one of these for sale in the sale forum area
 
I handled a Mini-Grip today @ BassPro, and it said Pardue on the blade, so not knowing alot about the BM line of knives, guess this 558 must be the Ritter version of a Mel Pardue inspired Mini-Griptilian.

Jesus, these mfg's have too many damned models and sub-models
 
Thanks for the link, looks like #552 Large Ritter Grip, #558 Ritter Mini-Grip.

So, wonder if there is a knats ass differance between the original Pardue Large and Mini Griptilian then ??
:D
 
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