testtest

What Features Do You Require In A Pocket Knife

The Night Rider

The Night Rider

Professional
What features do you look for in a POCKET knife? What things are deal breakers for you?


I don't know if I have any ONE thing that's the most important but if any of the following are absent I won't buy or carry the knife.


1. Has to be a lock blade and the lock has to engage automatically. If I have to do ANYTHING to lock the blade it's a NOGO.


2. I have to be able to open it with one hand. If I can close it one handed that's a plus.


3. It has to be ambidextrous or left handed. A pocket clip isn't a requirement but if there is one it has to be ambidextrous or removable

4. I want something I can sharpen at home. No "super steels"

Everything else is negotiable.


My preference is for Back Locks or Axis locks. I don't like liner/frame locks because they don't seem sturdy to me.


I prefer made in the USA.


I don't like assisted openers. It just seems like one more moving part to malfunction to me.

It's not a deal breaker but I have to pick between 2 identical knives and one is assisted and the other is manual I'll pick the manual.

Now having said all that I have 3 knives that don't meet those parameters. I bought them as part of my "collection" but I almost NEVER carry them.
 
For any pocket knife that I plan to carry, I only require a reversible pocket clip that allows for tip-down carry in my left-front pocket for left-handed draw. There are several other features that I prefer, but I am willing to negotiate on if I really like the knife. I've gotten spoiled to Kershaw's speed-safe assisted opening, but I'll settle for an easy one-handed opening system. I also prefer American made knives.

I'm not a big knife snob, so I've carried the same $49 USA made Kershaw for years. I have a couple of smaller knives for when my EDC is too large for my wardrobe, but they are just smaller Kershaw's. I've been curious about more expensive blades from time to time, but there's never been anything that I needed to Kershaw to do that it wasn't capable of doing. I have to use my knife for work, and my EDC has held up so well that I've never gotten around to upgrading.
 
My only real requirement is no Walker locks/liner locks. Being left handed I want an ambidextrous knife and liner locks can close when used left handed. That is why Lake and Walker created the LAWKS liner lock safety. But that is too cumbersome. So no liner or frame locks. And yes, I have first hand experience with this occurring, twice, once with a Benchmade and once with an Emerson. Twice out of who knows how many uses, but still, it's too many.

And I even bent this rule for one knife, the Spyderco Cricket which i strictly use in my right hand. Simply because I have found nothing else close for my watch pocket.

Second softer rule is ambidextrous one hand opening and closing. But there are exceptions, notably my SAKS.
 
Last edited:
I've been shopping for knives the past few days. Bought two.

The only must have for me is a pocket clip so it doesn't lie crosswise in the bottom of my pocket. I prefer the tip up orientation. Of course, I have to like the way it looks. I tend to like classic, simple lines without funky angles and weird shaped blades. It would be nice if all the great knives were US made, but no. A good knife is a good knife even if it's made in China, or Taiwan, or Timbuktu.

I wanted a big, tough folder, so I went with the Cold Steel Recon 1. It was on sale at Midway. I also wanted a mild mannered "gentleman's knife." I chose the CJRB Ria in a Knifecenter exclusive model. With those, and what I already have, I have a pocket knife for just about every occasion.

Somehow, I still want more......
 
I’m old enough that the phrase “pocket knife” automatically brings to mind a Case or Old Timer, usually in the Trapper style….

But thinking on it, only a couple requirements come readily to mind for our modern knives: must be easily sharpened, and I like it flatter not fatter ! Some sort of button for one handed opening is a big plus.

My carry is a Gerber Air Ranger in matte SS. Flat, easy to open, and useful blade shape ( the serrations are very nice/useful and I’ve used them to advantage any number of times - but that wasn’t around when I was a kid so it’s not imperative).

Since you said pocket knives, I leave out anything like the good ol’ Buck knife on the belt. Had that back in the day though- and still like ‘em !)
 
I haven’t really thought about a set of requirements. And it depends on when I’m carrying the knife too. What I need from a knife I carry at work every day is I need it to stay clipped on my pocket without falling off when I jump in and out of holes, lay down on my stomach to reach something 3.5’ down in a hole, jump in and out of my tractor, etc. it needs to be disposable or at least inexpensive enough not to bother me if I lose it. It needs to be able to be quickly sharpened with a stone. It needs to be able to be opened and closed with one hand. It needs to be an auto or at least spring assisted.

Totally different things I look for in a knife I carry on my own time.
 


Actually this is the knife I carry most often.

It's a Buck Model 422, made in 1990. I bought an identical one at the Ft. Carson PX in 1992 and carried it in the ammo pouch on my LBE until it disappeared.

I found a LNIB replacement for $40 on Ebay a month or so. I think the original cost $15.

It's basically a budget 112 Ranger.
 
I call this my "Stay Away From Me " knife.9 inches total length.4 inch blade.One swipe and the partys over.I like the serated version. Its always with me
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20220308_103527.jpg
    IMG_20220308_103527.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 133
Still waiting for preemption in Ohio. :)

Until then, it's a Waved Spyderco Delica for me. Passes roadside "palm of hand" test.

I purchased a pair (plus a pair of training ones that use the ghetto-Zip-Tie trick to effect "Waved" opening) back in 2014 to replace my outgoing EDCs at the time, and they've been in my pockets ever since.

I don't really mind a good liner lock, and have carried them over the years - including having taken them through various training classes that included organic-matter cutting. I've never had one fail within that context, even though I did pull one out of my training rotation when the lock started to fail under examination. My understanding, via the likes of Mike Janich's words (regarding MBC-rated Spyderco folders), is that certain inputs on my end could cause unintentional lock-release.
 
wmg1299 said:
For any pocket knife that I plan to carry, I only require a reversible pocket clip that allows for tip-down carry in my left-front pocket for left-handed draw. There are several other features that I prefer, but I am willing to negotiate on if I really like the knife. I've gotten spoiled to Kershaw's speed-safe assisted opening, but I'll settle for an easy one-handed opening system. I also prefer American made knives.

I'm not a big knife snob, so I've carried the same $49 USA made Kershaw for years. I have a couple of smaller knives for when my EDC is too large for my wardrobe, but they are just smaller Kershaw's. I've been curious about more expensive blades from time to time, but there's never been anything that I needed to Kershaw to do that it wasn't capable of doing. I have to use my knife for work, and my EDC has held up so well that I've never gotten around to upgrading.
Click to expand...
I am also a big snob it has to be USA made or it doesn’t hang on this boys pocket I also carry a kershaw speed safe great knives I like boker knives also
 
TSiWRX said:
Still waiting for preemption in Ohio. :)

Until then, it's a Waved Spyderco Delica for me. Passes roadside "palm of hand" test.

I purchased a pair (plus a pair of training ones that use the ghetto-Zip-Tie trick to effect "Waved" opening) back in 2014 to replace my outgoing EDCs at the time, and they've been in my pockets ever since.

I don't really mind a good liner lock, and have carried them over the years - including having taken them through various training classes that included organic-matter cutting. I've never had one fail within that context, even though I did pull one out of my training rotation when the lock started to fail under examination. My understanding, via the likes of Mike Janich's words (regarding MBC-rated Spyderco folders), is that certain inputs on my end could cause unintentional lock-release.
Click to expand...
Never had a liner lock fail in my right hand, but in the left yes. If you look at the common saber grasp the pads of the fingers press against the liner in an unlocking direction when grasped tightly in the left hand. Had this occur on two occasions which allowed the blade to release.
 
^ Oh, I absolutely understand what you're talking about - I'm simply reporting that I've never had it happen (*yet), although it remains a distinct and realistic possibility. ;)

I also like to use the vocabulary/wording that Janich uses, that it's an operator-induced unintentional lock-release, as this type of release is distinctly different from the lock itself actually failing in a mechanical manner.

As a Suspect (c.2002 - "DumboRAT"), I had long favored collecting -and carried- larger frame-locks (examples include Strider's AR/BGs, the Extrema Ratio MPC, RJ Martin's Avenger and Devastator, Rick Hinderer's Hellfire, ECA HMMV-K, various Terzuolas/collabs, a Warlock by Peter Atwood, Elishewitz/Priela Helix, Lightfoot's Full Contact Fighter [which won its division at the Vegas Classic that year], and also productions like the CRK Sebenza, Benchmade AFCK, and Al Mar SERE2000). Despite local ordinances against such blade-lengths, I'd actually never encountered any direct enforcement attempts or even other push-back. It wasn't until I came to legal concealed carry close to a decade later that I started paying more mind to the folder, as the legal repercussions carries implications for licensure.
 
A pocket knife for me is a tool not a defensive weapon. I'm much more likely to quarter an apple, cut bailing twine, clean truck/tractor battery terminals, gut trout, etc. than I am facing a hoard of............... I don't need or care for one hand or assisted opening but the one must have is I need to be able to pinch it open. Preferably without taking off my gloves or mittens.
 
bc22wm said:
A pocket knife for me is a tool not a defensive weapon. I'm much more likely to quarter an apple, cut bailing twine, clean truck/tractor battery terminals, gut trout, etc. than I am facing a hoard of............... I don't need or care for one hand or assisted opening but the one must have is I need to be able to pinch it open. Preferably without taking off my gloves or mittens.
Click to expand...
One hand opening is not just for a weapon, I cannot count the times I am holding something with one hand and opening a knife with the other. I find it to be very handy.
 
Sld1959 said:
One hand opening is not just for a weapon, I cannot count the times I am holding something with one hand and opening a knife with the other. I find it to be very handy.
Click to expand...
Correctimundo, Sld…

I doubt my little Gerber Air Ranger would be the same without the little thumb button… though it’d still have appeal with its flat, rough texture handle slabs.
 

Attachments

  • 6DE66176-1C5E-4CF2-AAB4-06FDB41F02D2.jpeg
    6DE66176-1C5E-4CF2-AAB4-06FDB41F02D2.jpeg
    2.6 MB · Views: 137
  • 5E080641-C492-46B8-83F9-72D5B5C6E14B.jpeg
    5E080641-C492-46B8-83F9-72D5B5C6E14B.jpeg
    2.8 MB · Views: 149
TSiWRX said:
As a Suspect (c.2002 - "DumboRAT"), I had long favored collecting -and carried- larger frame-locks (examples include Strider's AR/BGs, the Extrema Ratio MPC, RJ Martin's Avenger and Devastator, Rick Hinderer's Hellfire, ECA HMMV-K, various Terzuolas/collabs, a Warlock by Peter Atwood, Elishewitz/Priela Helix, Lightfoot's Full Contact Fighter [which won its division at the Vegas Classic that year], and also productions like the CRK Sebenza, Benchmade AFCK, and Al Mar SERE2000).
Click to expand...

^ Just realized earlier tonight that I started lumping in there many of my larger folders, instead of only the ones with frame-locks. :giggle: 😅
 
wmg1299 said:
For any pocket knife that I plan to carry, I only require a reversible pocket clip that allows for tip-down carry in my left-front pocket for left-handed draw. There are several other features that I prefer, but I am willing to negotiate on if I really like the knife. I've gotten spoiled to Kershaw's speed-safe assisted opening, but I'll settle for an easy one-handed opening system. I also prefer American made knives.

I'm not a big knife snob, so I've carried the same $49 USA made Kershaw for years. I have a couple of smaller knives for when my EDC is too large for my wardrobe, but they are just smaller Kershaw's. I've been curious about more expensive blades from time to time, but there's never been anything that I needed to Kershaw to do that it wasn't capable of doing. I have to use my knife for work, and my EDC has held up so well that I've never gotten around to upgrading.
Click to expand...
TOPS and OKC are what meets my needs when it comes to folders and IMO they are what ever you pay for them, the prices I paid are far less than what I paid years ago and TOPS need care. My folders are TOPS CSAR-T and OKC -1, they will get the job done no question
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top