Why I Like Folders

Folders are handier for different types of dress, but I would prefer a small fixed blade.
 
mikieg said:
i have come to love the cold steel tylite. i use it for everything. we all can agree that it is designed pretty much for one thing. and i am positive that it does that job better than most. out of the pocket, it's the fastest design to get into action. when my son was 10 he used to carry one with him to boy scout summer camp. the older boys would all be poppin their latest and greatest knives. he would walk up with the tylite clipped in his pocket. the older scouts would not take him serious. until he would bet his knife against theirs that he could get his knife out of his pocket and open before they could do the same with theirs. you should see all the knives he comes home with! he said some boys will break down and cry when they have to hand theirs over. and looking at some of the brands he comes home with, i can see why. if my boy lost a $200 folder i'd beat him half to death.... twice. last year he took his little hustle to the 100 year national jamboree. after selling off all his winnings, the trip was not all that expensive!
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The Ti-lite deploys fast, but is not much of a good knife for EDC in my opinion.
 
I toyed with the idea of carrying a fixed (Izzy) and folder (usually some Spyderco model). It worked out well, but couldn't really justify carrying the Izzy. For the tasks I was doing every day, I didn't need the strength of a fixed blade. The past couple of weeks, I've been carrying a Spyderco Para only. Today, it was my brand spanking new EDC duo: Spyderco Para 2 and Lady Bug.
 
Being a semi city folk, a folder is what I carry daily. If I lived in a different area of the country, I'd like to EDC a ESEE3 or HEST, but until then, it's all about affordable folders.
 
When legal to do so, I prefer a small fixed blade just because that's what I like.

I always also carry a swiss army knife though, just to be sure I'm never caught without a bottle opener or cork screw. And those get used more than either knife. :)
 
for a folder I have been carrying an Emerson Commander since early Dec 10. I love it. American made, great design and really strong. Came razor sharp as well. I love the partial serrations, they blow through rope, straps so fast.
 
MikePerrin said:
The French Butcher does a very well put together review when he decides to look at a knife. I suspect the French are rather good at sharp things having used the guillotine a lot over the years.:)
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Yes we used the guillotine in France until 1977 (and it was a terrible mistake ! )

I always start with a basic principle: the simplest is the strongest.

I have some folders, I'm not a bear cave ! But they remain fragile and unreliable tool, I would never entrust my life to these small assemblies of steel and screws. I prefer a thousand times an old machete : can cut trees, finish a wild boar, make quickly a 4 traps series and sharpened on a simple stone ...

The folders are good for eating or opening a packet of crisps when life went smoothly ... but find yourself lost or car breakdown in the woods in winter ... good luck if you own just one folder !

just my two cents (euro :D )
 
My HEST will stay right where it is (on me at all times) until ESEE releases the 3 folder and the Izula folder (I want them both).
 
FB vs folder, this is all about preferences... Where do you live? I´m not only speaking about the local laws, but there are many places, where EDCing fixed blade would give you negative responses from other people, too. And do you really want to look like a dangerous freak when opening boxes with chocolates in the supermarket :D?
What do you expect from your knife, what chores do you use it for? If you´re working in the woods, the FB is the right choice. But in the city?
Yeah, may be for self-defense a fixed blade is better, faster. But folder can be used as kubaton as well, non-lethal weapon and that´s great advantage imho.
The FB is always stronger than folder, that´s sure. But...

... but it´s all about personal preferences ;).

I´m living in city, that´s why I put in my pocket either Large Sebenza or other folder (at this time I looking forward to Lone Wolf Longhorn G10, I should get it on Monday) every morning. I tried to carry Izula. It IS great knife, but I realised, that the fixed EDC blade isn´t really necessary for me. After two weeks I gave Izzie to my best friend. He´s a soldier and is in Afghan right now. Izula will serve him MUCH MORE than it could ever serve me.

Then I ordered custom neck-knife, it´s overall smaller than Izula (blades are even), it´s hell of knife, very well made, but... but it´s laying in my drawer again. I´m not using it, so I´m going to sell it. I´m definetly into folders, now I´m sure :).

P.S. : The strongest and most reliable folder is the well-made butterfly knife!!
 
Folders go way back. Even the Vikings made some. The ones being made today are engineering marvels. I confess to liking fixed blades a lot. If it was socially acceptable today, I'd probably carry a pretty Bowie knife on my belt in town. But times have changed. Men don't wear bowies or swords any more. I prefer my 1911 Kimber to my Kel-Tec, too. But the pocket-friendly Kel-Tec is always with me, just like my folding knife.
 
I carry either a:
Benchmade 520 Presidio - big, heavy and stout
or
Benchmade 943 - slim, trim, and light

depending on my percieved needs. Both make great EDC knives depending on the situation.
 
Great........... Thanks to you HD since I haven't owened or carried a folder in over 5 years like I said earlier, you had me lookin' at some on the net last night :mad:..........;)
 
I really like folders, but I havn't seen any lately that caught my eye. Many I see are goofy looking and too gimmicky. I just want something simple, practical and tough. When I seen the ESEE-3F proto and Izula folder prototypes they really caught my eye as a no nonsence simple folders that are tough and will get the job done.
 
The izula 1 is great for me. Disappears into your pocket and you have one tough knife there. That and a small folder is all I carried all summer- carries as well in shorts as in jeans. Izula and SK or a spyderco and I'm good.

Course this is until the izula folder lands! ;):thumbup::D
 
the only thing i would not do with my tylite is pry. but it's obvious that prying with a folder is poor judgment. when it comes to cutting, the tylite will do anything any other knife would do. and i have yet to see a knife with a lock as stout as a tylite. the lock bar engages in full contact all the way across the thickness of the blade. this is my 6th year carrying and using it everyday and i have never even came close to a lock failure.
most people who have disliked the tylite have done so purely on its appearance. it's got the lines of a stilhetto not that of a beffy modern tacti cool folder. this new rat folder looks like it might be a great knife to work with as a tool. the heart of a folder is it's lock. mr. randall might take a look at the way the tylite's lock is formed. that design would really make the new esee folder totaly reliable and stout.
even though a person can "fight" with any knife, the winning knife will be the first knife in the other guy. when it comes to speed, the tylite has no match. not even automatics. by the time they have found their button, the tilite has already done it's work.
putting aside it's looks, and how most folks dont like cold steel and lin, the two key design features that make that knife what it is is, the lock and the deployment hook on the blade. and it's ultra light weight is no slouch either.
 
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