What's A Good Pocket Knife for a Law Officer?

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"leatherman skeletool"

This is what every law officer truly needs.
 
Edwood7 said:
"leatherman skeletool"
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Thats a good suggestion...you can get the CX version for well under your budget. Or look into any other LM models like the MUT, wave, surge, st300, charge, etc.

Someone also mentioned a rescue cutter. I have a raker ring tool on the way which would be great for that.
 
For law enforcement or defense. I like an assisted blade. Speed is critical. A great tactical blade and one of my personal favorites is the ZT 0350. Absolute amazing. Fast deployment in a situation that could save your life, both from a flipper and a thumbstud! They are tough, the grips are comfortable and work in both grip positions well. The jimping is located just right. The knife is also not to big nor too heavy. get it in black for a more stealthy look since it is a law enforcement blade. I only have a few gripe one is it is a liner lock. But upon inspection it is one thick liner lock, so I dont believe this one will ever fail. It is not a thin steel liner lock...this is a beast! Although these are small gripes I dont really love the ken onion recruve blade. ZT needs to do a drop point in the 350 form factor. I am certain it would easily be one of their best seller! But at the moment, this is a knife that was done very well.
 
soapboxpreacher said:
For law enforcement or defense. I like an assisted blade. Speed is critical. A great tactical blade and one of my personal favorites is the ZT 0350. Absolute amazing. Fast deployment in a situation that could save your life, both from a flipper and a thumbstud! They are tough, the grips are comfortable and work in both grip positions well. The jimping is located just right. The knife is also not to big nor too heavy. get it in black for a more stealthy look since it is a law enforcement blade. I only have a few gripe one is it is a liner lock. But upon inspection it is one thick liner lock, so I dont believe this one will ever fail. It is not a thin steel liner lock...this is a beast! Although these are small gripes I dont really love the ken onion recruve blade. ZT needs to do a drop point in the 350 form factor. I am certain it would easily be one of their best seller! But at the moment, this is a knife that was done very well.
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Downside to the zt 3350 is a small handle. If your friend has large hands it's going to be to small IMO. The full ZT 030X series handles are just big enough to get my hand around and they'r 5/8" longer in the handle. :)
 
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I read all of the posts and you have an over abundance of excellent suggestions. IMHO all are excellent choices and all will do the job some a little better than others.

After looking over what everybody else said the only thing more that I can add is that I still like a Multi-tool option which most LEO's that I deal with carry and if you do choose a knife don't get something slippery. I saw the full serrated spydero mentioned. I have a fully serrated Spyderco Endura also in stainless and found it to be slick/slippery when blood or sweat was involved.

I have recently purchased the ZT0500, Kershawguy may have a blemish for sale, and this is by far my best folding knife with or without gloves due to its design.

The suggestion of the ZT0350 or any knife with a (RTF) rough texture finish will be almost a rule.

EDIT: That Skeletool is an excellent suggestion with the built in caribiner I may get one myself, easy access and no pocket involved.
 
cziv said:
Downside to the zt 3350 is a small handle. If your friend has large hands it's going to be to small IMO. The full ZT 03XX series handles are just big enough to get my hand around and they'r 5/8" longer in the handle. :)
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You really think this handle is that small? My hands are medium/Large, and I have some room. My guess is unless your/his hands are bigger then a typical large then it might be too small. But the 350 is pretty good for someone with large hands...just probably not x-large. But you are right the 03XX would be better in that case for that handle is bigger but so is the blade and the weight.
 
Hey man, I'm not putting your choice for the 0350 down. I'm speaking from owning the knives. I'm only 6' tall but have long arms & large size hands. I can't buy leather gloves in the dept. store unless they're those fuzzy kind that stretch.

I figured if you're a big guy the handle might not work out. When I grip my ZT 0301 nothing of the handle sticks out the back of my hand. I put a tight Chris Reeve style lanyard on it and my pinky goes through that and the rest of the handle is in my hand.

This is just my experience maybe not yours. I like the Spyderco Military suggestion - one size fits all! :D
 
Samael said:
Smart man. My Delica was serrated too. You're not going to use whatever knife you have for self-defense. You've got guns for that.
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However, a good folder on the non-gun side allows you to trap your gun in your holster with your gun hand if someone is grabbing for it, and draw the knife with your non-gun hand to stab or slash at the subject. So I'd recomend getting a knife that allows for left or right hand carry, and tip up or tip down carry, unless you know exactly how the person you are getting the knife for prefers to carry. It's hard to beat the Spyderco Endura 4. It has a clip that mounts in any favored carry position, the VG-10 steel is durable and easy to maintain, the lock back design is a time-tested and proven type, and the blade is long enough to handle self-defense roles. All of that for around sixty dollars, so you could get two of them and still come in under your specified price point. You might also check out Spyderco's newest Police model. I've handled one, and they are nice. A bit like an Endura 4 on steroids. And if you're looking for something bigger, SOG's Spec Elite 2 is nice, though it can't be carried tip down.
 
melt said:
Yes. As opposed to the older models that did not offer as many clip placement options.
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The Police3 G-10 is an awesome package, for carving up Thanksgiving turkey or a bad guy! I didn't want to miss out if they came out with a newer one is all. Thanks. :)
 
cziv said:
The Police3 G-10 is an awesome package, for carving up Thanksgiving turkey or a bad guy! I didn't want to miss out if they came out with a newer one is all. Thanks. :)
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Yeah, it's on my short list of knives I gotta have. I was resisting its pull until a buddy got one and let me handle it. It's both tactical and elegant at the same time.
 
karambit blades always are good self defence wepons. fox in my opinion is one of the best folding karambit makers. the use the wave feature from the emerson knives to open when it comes out of your pocket. I like the feel of the fox more then the emerson and the ring hold i like more. it has a g10 handle and its 130$ its cheaper because its and italian made brand but they are the high quailty just like the emerson.
 
Under 150?

I remember SouthNarc who's probably an anti- narcotic officer now preferred a Kershaw Talon.

Mine is a G-10 handled, Ti-liners, half-serrated ATS-34 with wharncliffe shape and top it with a bottle opener
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I'm not a police officer but i would think it's really handy to wave if you will.

Though it's hard to find now you might strike a luck on the Sale forum.
 
I carried an Endura 3 for years and recently acquired a Police 3 with the G-10 handle. Unless he wants a huge blade, the Delica is more than sufficient. Also, unless he has a higher probability than most of cutting seatbelts and such, stick with the plain edge. IF he does cut a lot of belts he may be better off with a dedicated rescue blade that is less likely to take a hunk out of the rescuee when needed.

Also, I hear a lot of officers say that they carry the knife in the weak side/support side pocket in case anyone ever makes a grab for their firearm. Unless you train hard and repeatedly with a determined adversary you might want to think twice. Are you really going to be able to lock your gun down, draw your pocket knife, open it, and deploy it effectively without doing more harm to yourself than not? Might want to invest that time in some good ground fighting techniques. Just my two cents. YMMV.
 
Finally, a voice of reason around here. I had about given up on this thread.
 
Before you make your final decision you owe it to yourself to check out the SOG Aegis. I'm a Federal Inspector and chose it for my EDC piece and absolutely love it, one of the best knives I've ever owned, light weight, very strong, and assisted opening. I got mine with the straight blade in the black Tini finish and the Digi Camo handle, comes in black too if you prefer but once you've seen the Camo you won't look back. I've never been a Camo kind of guy in the past, the two just go awesome together. As long as your getting a functional knife it might as well look awsesome too! I spent months researching before buying this knife so it wasn't a "bought on a whim" kind of purchase.
Good luck and let us know what you ended up with.
 
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