looking for a good pocket knife

[George9]

Texas Star,
Sorry for the type-o's just can't help it.. Ok small lock blade my $60 cap is off but the sky is not the limit. For a good blade that will retain a good edge for a long time is what I will be looking for now.. I live in the north of NH not that many good knife shops here.. I like to pick a knife by type,feel and look with the knife in my hand. I have not talked to anyone here that didn't say there knives are good most made in China or Pakistan.With low low prices.. I know they may be useful to some maybe kids for first knives..I already have my share of junk. My upper end junk is. I have 1 small Gerber lock back 2" blade. it may be a little better then some really cheap knives but not much.. I have a Carhartt lock back 2 1/2" that does seen to be a better knife at least a cut above the rest. I Had found a Buck knife in it's sheath years ago It's not a lock back it's 4" blade with a 3 7/8s" black handle that fits in your hand well it looks like the small version of there larger hunting knife It does say Buck USA on it but the last user used a bench grinder on the blade so it took some work to get it back to a useful knife . It don't hold a edge well IMO! Oh back of black case for it said 102 if that helps.. All my other knives are made by Frost Cutlery In fact yes the Steel Warrior I mentioned in the other post was in fact a Frost knife. I dug out it's org. box this am.. This may give you a idea on what I have and why I'm so dissatisfied with the blades.. I do use the Carhartt and the Gerber the most.. I only lost one knife but it was one that was given to me and it had a lot of sentimental value to me. One other knife somehow I tossed it my wood stove and found it when cleaning it out.. I'm 55 years old now so one would think I should be able to hold onto a pocket knife by now... My use for a pocket knife is anything and everything from wire to wood paper boxes just about anything.. I have a good Letterman that i have a scary sharp blade on and will use it like you only for emergencies. I did cut out a few fishing hooks with it already.Thank you! George

 

[carpriver]

I was looking at knifes a while back, I noticed that some of the Buck and Spyco knifes are now made in China, I ended up get a Case 3 blade, small for pocket carry daily. For yard work I have my Buck folder or my K-Bar 5 1/2 blade.

 

[peppercorn]

I just stumbled onto this thread. I would imagine that the OP has solved the quest by now but thought I would throw in my 2 cents for a fine American made knife.

I have a few Chris Reeve folders and very much appreciate them for their materials and workmanship.

The blades are either S30V or S35VN, the handles, or slabs, are titanium and the tolerances are .0005''. No, I didn't miss count my zeros.
These knives have become an industry benchmark for precision and design by which other knives are measured.


Chris is South African, moved to Idaho in 1989 and has about 12 employees located in a production facility about 4 miles from my sisters acreage.

Needless to say I have not only met him but have been to the shop on several occasions.
If you haven't ever had one and are into knives you owe it to yourself to have a look. They are spendy but, like a S&W, they are a lifetime investment.

They make a small and large version of their Sebenza, this one is a small and it is about six years old. They have a slightly different version out now but the differences are subtle.
The blade on the small is just under three inches.
Also, the slabs are bead blasted but I have used Scotchbright to give it the finish you see below.

It's hard to measure precision in a photo but I thought I would try to show where those .0005'' tolerances come into play. The knife can be disassembled and re assembled over and over and will always come back to true, blade centered and function perfectly.

 

[David LaPell]

Case knives are very tough to beat for the money and they have a great warranty. If you break it they fix it or replace it. I had a knife that I inherited that the blades were broken, an old Case from who knows when. I sent it in and explained my story, they sent me a $40 trapper brand new no questions asked, hard to beat that type of service. I wish the old Uncle Henry knives were the quality they used to be because I have had the same knife now for better than ten years. I have gutted deer, fish, birds, squirrels etc. I have used it for dozens of things, still holds an edge and has held up to everything I could ask of it. I bought it brand new for $12. You could find them on Ebay but make sure it is an older one as the new one's are made in China.

 

[timn8er]

I've got to agree with Lost Lake & scubaSig: #1 on the
Buck 110. I've got one that's 44 years old & still going
strong. It is on its 2nd sheath, though.

 

[Mule Packer]

Lots of options. I've owned Bucks, Pumas, Gerbers, Kershaws, Schrade, Case, Bokers, and several others.

In terms of steel, the S30V is pretty hard to beat. But, I'm kinda old fashioned and my daily carry is a large Case trapper with bone scales. Since Case was purchased by the Zippo lighter company many years ago, their quality has improved immeasurably. From what I understand, they brought some of their old metallurgists out of retirement and had them up the quality of the Case pocket knives.

You can get the trapper with either high carbon (chrome vanadium) blades or with what Case calls "surgical stainless," which is probably a misnomer because surgical steel is 61R and too brittle for pocket knives. Normally, I prefer a high carbon steel, but Case's surgical stainless seems to be the proverbial "best of both worlds." It's not that difficult to sharpen and it holds one heck of an edge.

 

[Jeff45]

OK, for all of you that want the absolute best, check out the traditional folding pattern knives from custom makers Tony and Reese Bose. The fit, finish, and beauty are amazing. The best is never cheap.

 

[357-RevolverGuy]

A Buck 110 is the best quality for the money. Good all around hunting, self-defense, and pocket carry knife. They even come with a quality leather belt holster...And they're made in the U.S.A.

 

[MH8675309]

Boker, Schrade, Case, Buck, Victorinox Swiss knife, Kabar. I have had good knives in every one of these brands. I have also had a few good Solingen blades. They were easier to touch up that some of the harder stainless blades and held an edge reasonably well. Good comments Gunhacker you sound like you know your steel.

 

[mbliss57]

I was at my LGS today and he showed me a single blade knife foldable knife he had just acquired. He said it was a $600-$800 knife. I will have to get the brand from him as that price is 10X what you all are quoting. I don't have any good knives just some utilitarian scout knifes and a buck knife for skinning. Is it possible he would really have a knife worth that much or was he just pulling my leg. It was pretty heavy duty about 3.5 -4" folded. It also opened from the fold by pushing on the handle. No button or anything... it was very concealed that it would do that.

I just asked him... he called it a Microtech

 

[Mule Packer]

I was at my LGS today and he showed me a single blade knife foldable knife he had just acquired. He said it was a $600-$800 knife. I will have to get the brand from him as that price is 10X what you all are quoting. I don't have any good knives just some utilitarian scout knifes and a buck knife for skinning. Is it possible he would really have a knife worth that much or was he just pulling my leg. It was pretty heavy duty about 3.5 -4" folded. It also opened from the fold by pushing on the handle. No button or anything... it was very concealed that it would do that.

I just asked him... he called it a Microtech

He's not pulling your leg. Microtech knives are on the "spendy" side, and that's conservatively speaking.

In all honesty, you have to ask yourself, "Just what the heck am I going to use this knife for?" Are you going to use it for everyday chores around the ol' homestead, i.e. cutting hay bales, opening feed sacks, etc.? Are you going to use it for everyday carry...something to open letters with, clean fingernails, sharpen pencils? Are you going to use it for camping and other outdoor chores such as skinning out an animal, making kindling, cleaning fish?

If you answer "yes" to any of the above, you probably won't need an $800 knife. A $40 or $50 knife will cover all of those tasks and then some...and do so admirably.

If you break it down to its smallest components, a knife is no more than a sharpened piece of something (steel, obsidian, ceramic, bone, etc.) usually attached to a handle of some sort.

The cost usually reflects such things as quality of steel, edge retention, sharpening ability, craftsmanship, hand-finish work, handle material, and quality of other components, i.e. bolsters, springs, pins, etc.

A good quality piece of AUS-8 or 440A steel is going to do you a good job at whatever task you put it to, short of cutting steel cable. It really doesn't matter if it has a titanium handle with genuine simulated mother-of-pearl grips with a tiger's paw inlaid in the cap.

I've seen some pretty plain-Jane-looking, high-carbon steel knives that do a heckuva job...and their cost was under fifty bucks.

Sure, you can get some handmade, custom-made, personally fitted knives for a lot of bucks, but will they do the job overwhelmingly better than a fifty- or sixty-dollar knife with a good edge? Mmmmm....probably not.

I have some beautiful and fairly expensive knives in my collection. Are they really ten times better than a knife that is one-tenth the cost? Oh, I'm sure I could rationalize and say, "But the handle fits me perfectly and it's intricately balanced...blah, blah, blah..." But when push comes to shove, and if I'm totally honest with myself, I probably paid a lot for the name and the prestige, if you can call it that.

Just my view from the saddle. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Cooter Brown]

He's not pulling your leg. Microtech knives are on the "spendy" side, and that's conservatively speaking.

In all honesty, you have to ask yourself, "Just what the heck am I going to use this knife for?" Are you going to use it for everyday chores around the ol' homestead, i.e. cutting hay bales, opening feed sacks, etc.? Are you going to use it for everyday carry...something to open letters with, clean fingernails, sharpen pencils? Are you going to use it for camping and other outdoor chores such as skinning out an animal, making kindling, cleaning fish?

If you answer "yes" to any of the above, you probably won't need an $800 knife. A $40 or $50 knife will cover all of those tasks and then some...and do so admirably.

If you break it down to its smallest components, a knife is no more than a sharpened piece of something (steel, obsidian, ceramic, bone, etc.) usually attached to a handle of some sort.

The cost usually reflects such things as quality of steel, edge retention, sharpening ability, craftsmanship, hand-finish work, handle material, and quality of other components, i.e. bolsters, springs, pins, etc.

A good quality piece of AUS-8 or 440A steel is going to do you a good job at whatever task you put it to, short of cutting steel cable. It really doesn't matter if it has a titanium handle with genuine simulated mother-of-pearl grips with a tiger's paw inlaid in the cap.

I've seen some pretty plain-Jane-looking, high-carbon steel knives that do a heckuva job...and their cost was under fifty bucks.

Sure, you can get some handmade, custom-made, personally fitted knives for a lot of bucks, but will they do the job overwhelmingly better than a fifty- or sixty-dollar knife with a good edge? Mmmmm....probably not.

I have some beautiful and fairly expensive knives in my collection. Are they really ten times better than a knife that is one-tenth the cost? Oh, I'm sure I could rationalize and say, "But the handle fits me perfectly and it's intricately balanced...blah, blah, blah..." But when push comes to shove, and if I'm totally honest with myself, I probably paid a lot for the name and the prestige, if you can call it that.

Just my view from the saddle. Your mileage may vary.

Excellent post. I've got a fair number of pocket knives I rotate. Mostly Case and GEC. Some of the GEC knives are spendy (100+ bucks for some of them depending on handle material--some are 60 or so) but a knife like Mulepacker says in his fine post is after all just a tool you use to cut something else with. Get a a decent knife that feels good in the hand made from steel that strikes a balance between ease of sharpening and edge retention and you're there. Past that it's a matter of pride of ownership and aesthetics, which both count no doubt but don't cut anything.

For what it's worth, I think the Case CV (chrome vanadium) is far better than their stainless. The CV takes a great edge.

Loves me some pocketknives.

Here's one from GEC I really like. Good old 1095 steel. I've got this one right now where you could shave with it:

 

[shawn mccarver]

what is the best pocket knife on the market and i am talking about blades that are made our of the best steel available? i like the trapper 2 blade style. i want to splurge and for once buy the best quality pocket knife i can get. any suggestions

You will probably get as many opinions on this as there are knives! So, I will just say that I have used the Cold Steel pocket knife for years without issue.

Well, that is not entirely true. Once, I sheered off a Tanto point (yes, you read that right) while prying open a locked steel box to which the key had been lost. Cold Steel replaced it, no questions asked. This was in about 1998 or so, and I have no idea if they would do that now. On the other hand, I have not abused my Cold Steel in that fashion again. Mostly, it is used in a very tactical application: to open cardboard boxes!

 

[George9]

I just picked up a kershaw knife Model Crown#3160wm had and used it long enough now to say it's a really decent inexpensive knife that's quite good looking medium sized lock blade. It does hold it's edge well over time with hard use.. I had it now for about 5 months or so and use it every day. I would not say I could shave (Never tried) with it but I would call it scary sharp. point is it holds a edge well.. Just what I was looking for for a insane low price in WalMart.. Lifetime warranty and lifetime sharping too.. you only pay one way they ship it back on there dime.. but most will do there own diamond steel sharpening my guess would be..Just another darn good looking knife that's decent at a low cost.. Guess there out there if you look for them.. George

 

[brucev]

what is the best pocket knife on the market and i am talking about blades that are made our of the best steel available? i like the trapper 2 blade style. i want to splurge and for once buy the best quality pocket knife i can get. any suggestions

There are many makers of trapper pattern knives who produce excellent products. I have a trapper pattern knife w/ stag scales made by Hen & Rooster that I bought for my father around 2000. After he passed away in 2007 it was returned to me. It is one of the smoothest nicest handling knives I've ever owned. The quality of workmanship as well as the blades is excellent. JMHO.

 

[Alnamvet68]

what is the best pocket knife on the market and i am talking about blades that are made our of the best steel available? i like the trapper 2 blade style. i want to splurge and for once buy the best quality pocket knife i can get. any suggestions

In order to help you best, you need to supply your criteria:

* How much does "splurge" mean?
* Do you want a folder or a fixed blade?
* Steel...which one did you have in mind?
* Country of Origin; does it matter where it's manufactured?
* Blade length?
* Overall length?
* If you want a folder, overall closed length?
* Handle/scale type; ie: wood, G10, Micarta, FRN, etc?
* Anthing else you want to add?

 

[eveled]

I've got to agree with Lost Lake & scubaSig: #1 on the
Buck 110. I've got one that's 44 years old & still going
strong. It is on its 2nd sheath, though.

Me too. I carry a 110 with me everywhere I go. I own three of them, one on my jeans one on my shorts and one on my work pants. I used to have three different sheaths on the three pairs of pants and move the knife, but I got tired of leaving the house with an empty knife sheath. My oldest and favorite is from the early 70's and is worn down to a stilleto, the next is from the 80's and is almost as bad, the newest is brand new and I still get startled when I flip it open and see how big the others are supposed to be! They all hold an excellent edge, and the newest has the nicest wood. None of them get babied. I've lost count of the number of sheaths I've worn out, but I'm sure it is over 10.

Best low budget knife is Opinel, really nice blades really simple handles and simple lock mechanism lots of different sizes.

Best camp knife, the 4 blade stainless steel army knife, most often seen made by Camillus, but made be many others.

Best sheath knife, Ka bar, or Pal, I prefer the shorter Navy deck knife over the longer Marine fighting knife. Ed

 

[loeman]

I've bought around 20 benchmade knives. Mostly from around 1992 to 2000. A couple of them are "collector" type knives but the rest are users. All of them lock up really tight. They are all great users but I gravitate to the Mel Pardue and Pat Crawford designs that I have. They are not cheap, but they sure don't cost as much as a nice (or even better than nice) used S&W revolver as many custom knives do.

 

[mickeyblueyes]

All very good mentions above, a trapper is a traditional style so look towards those mfgs. that make them. GEC top of the line,about $125 or so
Case very good $65-$85 depending on materials .If you want top of the line steels, then look at Spyderco or Benchmade, $100-$$300 but not real traditional styling.

 

[hangnoose]

AS ALWAYS PERSONNEL PREFFERENCE

What do you really use it for? if just opening mail or picking your teeth, then I prefer a single thin blade that is light and disappears in your pocket, an old 2 1/2" case works fine. now with modern single hand openers I more often carry a Kershaw leek. for hunting, fishing, self defense a fixed blade neck knife for me. for boating the neck knife again plus a pocket folder with a marlin spike. the multitools are awful handy. imo the old schrade/ case/ old timer/ uncle henry high carbon steels are about as close as the US came to the "Solingen" steel reffered to. like most of you no doubt, I have a drawer full also.