When it comes to a pocket knife...

PT · Post by PT » Thu Jul 29, 2010 7:31 pm

I am searching for a high quality pocket knife to carry on me and perhaps do a touch of whittling with. It is not a field I am familiar with in knowing which brands/types are better quality than others.

Is anyone here willing to give me some advice? I am willing to spend up to $100 if needed.
I am currently looking at 2 or 3 blades and at brands CASE and BEAR AND SON since they are USA made. However the price on Bear and Son seems a bit low for a high quality item.

Thanks!

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:27 pm

PT
Knives have been a popular topic lately! First, how old are you and what is your experience- making PJ sandwiches with a butterknife counts!
The type of folding pocketknife you describe is a classic. And I can tell you $100 is going to buy a lot of very nice cosmetics and no more or less blade than lower price points. There is nothing at all wrong with that, if you want a pretty gentleman's folder. Your mentioned brands are called slipjoints. They have no locking mechanism when open and it is not impossible to partially close the blade on body parts- BTDT.
Arizona has a healthy schedule of gunshows. You can see a lot of knives there ( and things and people you didn't intend to) and put fingerprints all over them. Just leave your money at home and eat first. Gunshow hamburgers defy DNA testing for their source.
My older advise stands: www.ragweedforge.com and buy a french OPINEL folder cheap and learn to sharpen and handle it.

Tye · Post by **Tye** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:49 pm

For just plain ol' pocket knives try these sites:

http://www.tsaknives.com/

http://www.collectorknives.net/greateastern.html

Lots and lots to choose from.

-Tye

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:03 pm

I think the overall design of the knife (shape, size, style of blades) is the first thing you should look for. If you are not comfortable using your knife then it doesn't matter how good the steel is etc. Especially true for whittling I think.

PT · Post by PT » Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:22 am

Thanks guys. I am 36 yrs old and spent my youth in the Boy Scouts of America - so I have had some experience with knife usage (whittling, cleaning fish, cutting fingers, etc). I never have mastered honing and sharpening, but would like to do so.
I will look into the links posted.

wenestvedt · Post by **wenestvedt** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:30 am

Save time, buy a Benchmade.

They have four lines, all named for a color (Blue, Black, Red, and...uh, Gold?): each line corresponds to a price range.

I have a Griptilian in my pocket 365 days a year. Others here may have a different one they like better, but the combination of reasonable price and great features lead me to this one.

- Will
P.S. Lots of firemen & police carry Benchmade "automatic" knives (a.k.a. switchblades), but you have to be active duty or police/fire to buy one. So don't get your hopes up. :7)

Tye · Post by **Tye** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:54 am

If we're going to move beyond the regular issue pocket knife I'd suggest a Spyderco or an Emerson. I like the BM's and have a few. The HK models are my favorites.

-Tye

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:18 am

As you can see, everyone has a favourite. What a boring place if we all carried one brand of everything. Knives are very personal expressions as much as functional tools. Give it time and a few will 'talk' to you. Sharpening a knife has a learning curve like everything else. It is no great skill that cannot be mastered. You should join the two big forums; www.knifeforums.com and www.bladeforums.com for more information.
Most important, remember that as a very ancient tool knives have been made of lithic materials glued sans tang to wood or bone, copper, bronze,iron,steel and even modern ceramics. Steel has become the standard and in recent years a rennaissance in metallurgy has provided a dizzying choice of 'wunder steels' that promise much and leave the user wundering what they DO better than plain vanilla 1065 carbon. If Oetzi had been given a $8 Old Hickory kitchen knife it would be a treasure for his time.
Again, you can get an awfull lot of knife for a few dollars and learn a lot from it. A Opinel will teach sharpening and if lost a valuable lessson if the next knife is a sambar scale, damascene bladed colector in a red velvet case.Then again, some folks just use Opinels and spend the savings on cheese,bread,wine and two tickets to an outdoor concert with a pretty redhead.

Rufus · Post by **Rufus** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:29 pm

KAV wrote:PT

My older advise stands: www.ragweedforge.com and buy a french OPINEL folder cheap and learn to sharpen and handle it.

KAV, I am thinking of buying an Opinel Traditional #8 with a stainless steel blade, but was put off when I actually handled one. Compared with my other knives (Russel Canadian Belt Knife and a Corsican shepherd knife), which have wood handles, the Opinel feels flimsy. I've read many favourable reviews on the Opinel knives so I was very surprised by the feel of the #8; what am I missing? Is it more rugged and serviceable than it feels?

PT · Post by PT » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:59 pm

oooo a knife forum

Tye · Post by **Tye** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:05 pm

PT wrote:oooo a knife forum

I'm a member of both BF and KF. I think BF is easier to navigate myself.

-Tye

rgc · Post by **rgc** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:12 pm

Swiss Army Knife, model Farmer. Everything you need in a knife. If you don't want the saw blade (and this is a real cut a limb of a tree saw) then go with the Soldier model.

rgc

That said my favorite is my 1969 Case Camper in red bone.

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:31 pm

Rufus
Knifes are like women's hemlines. Current designs are up to 5/16" thick affairs. The thinking is a heavy chopper will do double duty as a axe, pry bar or shovel. A 'big knife' can do what smaller ones cannot.
Users of small knives, and the consensus is a blade @4" max and thinner stock, reply smaller blades do a multiude of tasks big ones cannot. This group also seems to possess and know the use of ;axes, prybars and shovels.
So bladestock thickness has 'inched' upward in many newer designs.
The Opinel has been around awhile. It's from a time when a knife cut cheese, whittled a spoon, butchered a rabbit, opened a package,cut rope. It did, while being easy to maintain a superb sharp edge. It's not as robust, but the users don't push the design.
Again, it's an inexpensive knife with good steel that is easy to keep feather razorblade sharp. Some folks start with Opinels or Moras and move on to other knives. Others find they work well enough.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 4:01 pm

KAV wrote:Knifes are like women's hemlines.

You mean, don't stick your fingers in there or you'll be in trouble?

jww · Post by **jww** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:25 pm

notthesharpest wrote:
KAV wrote:Knifes are like women's hemlines.
You mean, don't stick your fingers in there or you'll be in trouble?

Several years ago, while serving as a new scouter, my wife gave me a Victorinox Hunter pocket knife for Christmas. Eager to use it right away, I was using it to open some other parcels - and ended up slicing my finger --- almost to the very bone. Ended up in emergency for 8 stitches -- and received the news that I had come close to severing a tendon. So - I am extra cautious with it since.

rgc · Post by **rgc** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:13 am

jww wrote:
notthesharpest wrote:
KAV wrote:Knifes are like women's hemlines.
You mean, don't stick your fingers in there or you'll be in trouble?
Several years ago, while serving as a new scouter, my wife gave me a Victorinox Hunter pocket knife for Christmas. Eager to use it right away, I was using it to open some other parcels - and ended up slicing my finger --- almost to the very bone. Ended up in emergency for 8 stitches -- and received the news that I had come close to severing a tendon. So - I am extra cautious with it since.

And knowing you have a wife that gave you the knife I bet you are even more cautious then that when it comes to womens hemlines.

Rufus · Post by **Rufus** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:15 am

KAV wrote:Rufus
Knifes are like women's hemlines. Current designs are up to 5/16" thick affairs. The thinking is a heavy chopper will do double duty as a axe, pry bar or shovel. A 'big knife' can do what smaller ones cannot.
Users of small knives, and the consensus is a blade @4" max and thinner stock, reply smaller blades do a multiude of tasks big ones cannot. This group also seems to possess and know the use of ;axes, prybars and shovels.
So bladestock thickness has 'inched' upward in many newer designs.
The Opinel has been around awhile. It's from a time when a knife cut cheese, whittled a spoon, butchered a rabbit, opened a package,cut rope. It did, while being easy to maintain a superb sharp edge. It's not as robust, but the users don't push the design.
Again, it's an inexpensive knife with good steel that is easy to keep feather razorblade sharp. Some folks start with Opinels or Moras and move on to other knives. Others find they work well enough.

KAV, thanks. What you say makes sense so I'm going to purchase an Opinel #8 and try it for myself. At the price I won't be disappointed if I don't like it, but if I do like it it'll be excellent value.

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:18 am

You will probably get the itch for another knife anyway. Then the Opinel will go into a picnic basket and garner as many memories and appreciation.

fishgutmartyr · Post by **fishgutmartyr** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 12:42 pm

Not nearly as knowledgeable as you gents on knives, but I really like my Wenger Hiker. Can opener, bottle opener, flat and phillips drivers, file, and blade. Just enough tools to be handy to keep in the pocket day to day without creating a huge lump.

Bought mine at a flea market, so it's an older version. I like it better than the newer one I bought when I thought I lost the first one, because the file is facing away from the blade, which means no abrasions to the blade when trying to get it out. Gave the new one to my son.

I also have a Gerber fixed handled drop point, but that's more for camping/hiking.

Post by **Sam** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:32 pm

My first was about a month ago, a Spyderco Persistence. 3.3 ounces, and a 2 7/8" blade. $25.00 shipped. I wanted another one and coming any day now is a Spyderco Delica 4, with FFG blade and blue FRN handle, $$52 shipped. Try Spydieguys on ebay for great prices. I tried a Benchmade mini griptilian and loved it and it is about tied with the Delica, but the Delica is a bit thinner in the handle and lighter, and a better price. If I got the Mini Grip, I would have gotten it with the thumbhole. Easy for me to open compared to thumbstuds.

Kershaws are nice and a guy at bladeforums sells some blems cheap, his name is kershawguy. I bought my Persistence from him.