TTEscrima

Now that I'm a civilian I still want to carry a knife but a fixed blade seems like overkill, any suggestions on a good sturdy folder? I'd like something that could be used as an impact tool when closed. No flea market specials please but I also don't want a $600.00 knife, I can buy another handgun for that kind of money. I can see paying 300-400 bucks tops for a knife, anyone got any input?

Mike Brewer

You have a great live-in source for this kind of information, to be sure, and I'll bet my recommendations are probably going to mirror his to some degree. He's far more educated than I am on the matter though, so take this with a grain of salt. I am a big fan of Ernest Emerson's knives, and I carried a Commander for many years (and much abuse) until someone absconded with the damned thing. I also like the less pricey CRKT stuff, but only if you get a knife from a few years ago before they went to lower quality steels. Their new stuff is honestly pretty rugged as well, but I am what one might call a "hater" when it comes to 400 series stainless anything.

Cold Steel makes good knives, but I hate the handles and the feel of their folders. They feel like toys and I like a better balance with more substance in the hand. I know, I know. They're tough knives and they wouldn't break, but I want them to feel like they won't break. It's a quirk.

Those are kind of my high and low brackets. I can't see paying more than Emerson charges (and most times, I can't see paying that) for a knife that's busted in the middle and pinned back together (folders ) and anything cheaper than the CRKT stuff just ends up being chintzy.

TTEscrima

Thanks for the reply. They do seem to know their knives around here but the only thing they carry I can afford is god awful ugly. I was encouraged to shop around and ask around, I looked at a few knife forums but those people seem like gear queers who buy anything the "in" makers put out.

Mike Brewer

Yeah, I'm not one to buy into the trends too quickly, and I have to be honest - I don't know the first thing about Emerson's or CRKT's current product lines. I still use the knife I bought years ago, and that's the reason I feel comfortable recommending it. It has worked, worked well, and worked consistently for many years. SOG is another knifemaker I have had a ton of good luck with. I don't own their folders, but in fixed blade varieties, I have owned the SOG bowie (lost to a greedy customs agent on a deployment to Korea - the sonofabitch), the Daggert II, and the TigerShark, which has been my workhorse since 1998. I have literally used it to level trees, butcher game, chop wood, and every other hard-use application under the sun. It's a monster, not suited for daily carry at all, but it was my solution to compressing my kit and doing away with the need to carry a knife and a machete. This one tool was more than capable of doing it all. It is surgical sharp, and I have never had to work to keep it so. My only complaint is that on one trip in a coastal area, I did not have the resources to keep it as clean as I'd have liked, and it has some pitting near the tip where seawater and blood collected in the scabbard. Hasn't affected performance one lick, though. Based on the quality of their fixed blade models, I'd be confident trusting their folders as well.

Anymore, though? I generally carry a Cold Steel SafeMaker II. It's a push dagger (which I would ordinarily have a very healthy disdain for), but it fits neatly in any pocket from suits to jeans, takes up less space overall than my folders, has two nasty-sharp edges, and has the added benefit of not relying on a pin or hinge for stability. I use it most often for cutting tape off packages and opening plastic containers, but it's a good defense option for a boxer like me, and I get two times the edge for less space.

TTEscrima

I must say I'm encouraged that no one has recommended Strider knives, nearly every gear forum I looked at advocates them. I can't understand why though because there are tons of threads by people who have problems with them, far more than any other knife, production or custom. The thing that blows me away is they built their business on false claims of being Sniper/SF and yet people who claim to be patriotic continue to blindly support them. There are plenty of makers who didn't build their reputation based on lies to give your money to instead of rewarding people proven to be liars. Based on your advice I think I'll hunt an Emerson on ebay.

Mike Brewer

If you find them anywhere at or under $150, snatch one up for yourself and then tell me where to look. I like the Commander best, although some folks don't like the "wave" opening deal. Personally, I find it faster and safer than automatic knives and it takes nearly no practice at all.

Tant01

(bad pun, eh?)

Gentlemen...

A very similar topic was started a little over 5 years ago. About a year after that Mike Brewer added a post to that thread...around page three.


"Best Knife, in my humble opinion...

For years, I searched for a knife that would fulfill all needs from tool to weapon. I finally settled on the Emerson Commander..."

Remember that Mr. B?


A year later Boarspear added a post and that thread slowly evolved into something else...

Have I mentioned I don't have much use for a folder?

I have been known to buy those for my girl friends and co-workers. Mostly so they'd quit borrowing my knives...

Whats the best brand of folding knives?

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

Mike Brewer

I didn't remember, but it's not surprising. The Emerson Commander was and is a proven, badass, hard-use knife. It may not be the very top-end best in any single category, but it is so all-around useful that it makes up for a lack of specialization. The benefits, in my mind, are fast, true one-handed operation, very positive locking, excellent grip (especially when wet or greasy - the micarta gets rougher and provides a little extra traction), and a huge curvature that increases the cutting area of the edge by about 30% over a straight edge of the same length. I also like the chisel grind, because it is sharp enough for even delicate work, and you can field sharpen it on a rock if you have to because all you need to do for a quick emergency-type edge is give the flat side a few strokes on a stone. The pin, as I recall, is a full-cut flat head, so you can tighten or loosen the action according to taste using nothing but your thumbnail. No special star-head screws or allen wrenches.

It was a well-thought-out design by an experienced knifemaker with input from Seals and other operators who know what they need. Great, great blade.

Here's a pic:
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._1995_21632243

Mike Brewer

Here's an excerpt of the type of steel used in Emerson Knives (excerpt found at a third-party site, http://www.engnath.com/public/steel.htm):

154CM was considered by many to be super-steel, if you can find some of the old production stock. The new batches are not manufactured to the standards that we've come to expect for knife steel. While excellent in use, 154CM eats up the finest hacksaw blades in one across-the-bar cut of 1-1/2". It's machining and grinding qualities are similar to 440C and won't win it any awards for ease in working. In use though, this alloy has a definite advantage in both hardness and toughness over 440C. 154 CM is not an accepted standard grade designation, rather a manufacturers trade name.

ttruscott

I've carried my dad's old pen knife, a spyderco (civilian, delica), CRTK folder, Smith and Wesson SWAT folder, and the spydy wrench for years.

I just wish there was one knife with each of the good qualities of each knife,

My thoughts about carrying a knife: About that knife in your pocket...

__________________
"Fear, not compassion, restrains the wicked."

Tant01

......No doubt. Trial and error method of learning about this stuff fairly sucks!

Good on you!

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

Mike Brewer

Good article!

I think, though, that we need to be careful not to let the pendulum swing too far toward alarmism in response to the swing in the other direction. If people fear the thought of even attempting to carry a weapon, they're ignoring what is arguably one of the most effective areas of self-protection. As you can read each month in magazines like American Rifleman, there are dozens of cases each day in which violence is prevented with the use of weapons (in their publication, it's guns but a lethal weapon is a lethal weapon in the eyes of the law), and lives to do not unravel, kids do not grow up parentless, and innocent people defending themselves are not generally seen as "bad guys." If you're irresponsible about it? Yeah, absolutely - but if you're irresponsible about it then you're being a bad guy. But the responsible training, carry, and necessary and defensible use of a weapon for self-protection is not something to fear. It's something to understand. I think if you aren't careful, the image of a gorilla following you around with its hands around your throat creates as many victims as it might have originally been intended to spare.

TTEscrima

It is a bit over the top.

DickHardman

cold steel voyager bowie. 50 bux or so, durable, large. nothing fancy, just a reliable knife at a great price.



http://www.gpknives.com/

Garland

Man...**** that shit, man...when you're as hardcore as me, you can kill EVERYONE in the room with this



hella.




In all seriousness...I like spyderco and benchmade, and I am loyal to those. Pretty fair price too, compared to something insane like custom strider or coogler or brock or whatever the hell tools.

I really...really like the shivworks stuff too. The clinch pick is up my alley.

__________________
I kick you in da neck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBHLrpn07G4
http://www.break.com/movies/englishf.html

homo homini lupus

Komm Susser Todd.

No, no...no no no...whatever you are drinking, you need much, much more...and then to sleep. - jubaji