Which To Choose

O

ouc

Joined
Oct 20, 2010
Messages
35
I'm a newbie looking for an EDC, 3.5ish", straight blade, "nice looking" knife with clip. Budget is $100-200. Uses would be opening packages, slicing tomatoes or peeling apples. Self defense as last resort. Having a hard time deciding of course. I've read everything I can to learn about these on this forum, the manufacturer website, and have seen all of the reviews on you tube. My current choices are in the order of preference:

Benchmade 890 Torrent
this is my first choice, love the blade design and looks. It is very esthetically pleasing to me of all the choices. Handle looks like it lacks grip but not sure it's a big deal. Only big worry is the locking mechanism issues that I've read on this forum. Open assist is cool but not a deal maker. I like that it's 154 cm steel.

Benchmade 930 Kulgera
Very elegant but not as elegant as the Torrent to me. Blade looks unique but not as nice looking as the Torrent. Locking mechanism seems to be very good or more reliable then the liner lock above. S30V steel is probably not as good as 154 cm steel but that is probably splitting hairs. I don't necessarily understand the importance of the Osbourne design.

SOG Tomcat 3.0
A little over budget but still an option. Not sure how I feel about this one. Not sure about the recurved blade, seems more gimmicky to me. Doesn't look good for food prep. VG-10 steel is ok with me.

Emerson Gentleman Jim
This one is the least favorite from an aesthetic standpoint. Looks to tactical. Like the 154 cm steel. Overall look not very appealing to me.

I've looked at several other brands and really haven't found any other considerations, i.e. Al Mar, Gerber, Buck, Cold Steel, SpyderCo, Kershaw unless I missed one.

Please help me with your thoughts for or against, or if there are other models from manufactures that fit this bill.

In the meantime I'll keep looking.

Thanks!
 
If I were gonna choose from those Benchmade 930 Kulgera would be my first choice. I had the Benchmade 940 awhile back before it was stolen and it was by far my favorite knife I have ever owned. I love the Axis lock!
 
Spyderco caly 3.5. Very nice finish, excellent for pocket wear, very hight quality knife.
 
ouc welcome, check out the spyderco endura in vg10. vg10 is only a little less in edge endurance than the s30v & much easier to sharpen. i have just about all the alloys & think vg10 is an excellent general user.
dennis
 
samid said:
Spyderco caly 3.5. Very nice finish, excellent for pocket wear, very hight quality knife.
Click to expand...


Thank you. I actually have a police version serrated Spyderco. It was the first knife I ever bought but the serrated version is so useless to me. I looked at the 3.5 but I really dislike the hump on the back of their blades.
 
DennisStrickland said:
ouc welcome, check out the spyderco endura in vg10. vg10 is only a little less in edge endurance than the s30v & much easier to sharpen. i have just about all the alloys & think vg10 is an excellent general user.
dennis
Click to expand...

Thankyou Dennis! Love reading about all these interesting aspects of knives.

Thanks too for the suggestion but I just hate the look of Spyderco Knives. I know hate is a strong word and certainly has nothing to do with functionality, but they are not attractive to me at all and I'm alot about looks as well as function.

Thanks again!
 
I'd get whichever of those two benchmades look nicer to you, I prefer the 930 to the 890, mostly because of the axis lock over linerlock, but I would feel fine using either.
 
CID25 said:
I'd get whichever of those two benchmades look nicer to you, I prefer the 930 to the 890, mostly because of the axis lock over linerlock, but I would feel fine using either.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: It's hard to go wrong with either Benchmade.
 
I'd go with the Kulgera:

2791891545_3afb8e5ce7.jpg

(pic courtesy of TwojStary)
 
Hi ouc -

I have the 890 Torrent - I really like that knife, and it gets into my EDC rotation very regularly, in rotation with an Acies, a 3600 Volt and now a M4 Military.

The handle is very comfortable, and the assisted opening is very cool, I like the way the mechanism works.

Then blade is very thin, and it makes a great slicer. The grind is cool, and it has a very nice look to it.

It rides in the pocket very cleanly, and the clip puts it down into the pocket so that it does not stick out at all.

My knife was perfect, centered, and the lockup is excellent. No worries with this knife.

Here are pictures of my example -

http://www.iammoon.com/albums/knives/Benchmade/890 torrent NITROUS/index.html

DSC_1584.JPG


I don't have the other Benchmade that you speak of, but I do really like the axis locks on the Benchmades.

best regards -

mqqn
 
thanks guys, especially for providing large pictures! I guess I'm gonna probably have to go with the Torrent. I'll probably have to get the 930 as well next. I guess I can always rotate around. Not a bad idea. Thanks for that too.
 
I did. I went through all their offerings only came up with the Gentleman Jim as a possibility. The A-100 just seemed pretty plain to me. Plain in that it has no curves or angles. thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top