Best locking single handed opening knife?

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BestDrugDoc
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Best locking single handed opening knife?

#1 Post by BestDrugDoc »

Hello All
Looking for recommendations as my previous one has disappeared - I fear I have thrown it out in the rubbish by mistake.
Its for general purpose use.
Needs to be locking and openable with one hand.
Up to around £100.
Many thanks.

bigteeth
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#2 Post by Airbrush »

If you can find a second hand one go for a Zero Tolerance 0566 or splash the cash on a new one. Assisted opening but you can remove the spring & open one handed with the thumb stud or flick it open.

Brilliant knife & built like a tank.
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#3 Post by DaveB »

My absolute go-to knives are from Benchmade. I have a half-dozen of their folders and have never had any issues. I prefer the Axis-lock system, though they have other more traditional locking mechanisms. They are available in the UK though they may be a bit over your GBP 100 mark. I had a quick look and I did see a bunch on knivesandtools.co.uk for right around GBP120.
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#4 Post by Whizzbang »

I've gone full circle on knives, having previously collected, reviewed and made them. Had all sorts from Rocksteads to SAK, Benchmade to Busse, Farid to Zackerty.
Blades made from Third gen PM steels with crazy carbide content, dendritic cast, bainite, basic tool steel blades, ceramics, flint-knapping, Obsidian, etc.

Once I got near the bottom of the rabbit hole, I had a bit of an epiphany and remembered that a knife is a basic cutting tool.

I realised the best "real world" knives I used were not the expensive exotica but simple, proven designs which utilise rather mundane steels.

These steels do not excel in lab tests like the oft-quoted CATRA figures but they generally are less prone to micro-chipping the high carbide super steels. Furthermore, they are quick to resharpen.

I still have a few super-hard, abrasion-resistant examples- often knives I made or handled, using sexy alloys like CPM-Rex121 (eats grinding belts), K294, M390 etc. Also a few in serrated H1 as I live next to the sea so sometimes corrosion resistance is important.

All the others were sold several years back (excluding task-specific items like wood carving knives and a few UK-compliant non-lockers.)

The one locking folder I decided to keep as my go-to, one-handed opener was a Spyderco Resilience in humble 8Cr13MoV and black G10. It's a big folder but they do a smaller Persistence and Tenacious, too. Mine has been thoroughly abused, daily, and has survived being dropped point first onto tiled floor (tile chipped), taken saltwater kayak fishing, processed game, carved wood, harvested mushrooms, open beers, shaved kindling, hammered nails, prepped food, cleared stiles etc.
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One I didn't eat:
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It is open-backed and strippable, so easy to clean. The G10 scales are grippy but non-porous and so blood cleans out hygienically. The stainless steel frame is skeletonised to keep weight down and keep balance forward. The phosphor-bronze washers ensure slick opening (not IKBS-frictionless but a fraction of the cost). The lock-up is solid with no "lock-rock" and disengagement is easy for RIGHT-handers. Like all liner-locks, closure is not very ambidextrous, though opening is. The design is slim, with a multi-position clip (I favour tip-down for long blades like this) and it has a sizeable lanyard hole. The slim design carries well in a pocket but the trade-off is less comfort than a thicker-scaled knife when using the knife for heavy tasks over long periods (carving wood for a few hours will give me hot-spots but I normally carve with fixed blades tools anyway.) The full-flat grind cuts efficiently in most substrate without binding; I run mine with 30deg bevel and 40deg microbevel (though it is fine at lower angles but I don't need that in this knife.)

I bought this years ago, at which time it was £45. I don't worry about losing it, breaking it or lending it. It owes me nothing.It is one of the cheapest knives I have owned, short of Moras and SAKs fornteaching and kids to use/lose.

If I finally kill it, I will buy another, currently just under £60. They are cheaper than the US, Japanese, Italian and Taiwanese Spydercos because they are made in China. If that bothers you you can spend more on a full-flat grind Endura (back-lock) or more still on a Military (liner lock, choil) to get a similar design.

You can pay vastly more than this on a knife and while it's nice to have nice things you certainly don't have to spend more than £60 to get a highly capable tool.

Of course, you might not like liner-locks, or flat grinds, or Spyderco's styling, or thin scales, or "basic" steel (though I would take this over the so-called super steels, perhaps with the exception of CPM-3V, which I rather like), in which case try a few in the hand if you can. As above, Benchmade make great knives, as do many others. Pop over to UK-based Heinnie.com if you want to be spoiled for choice and good service (there is always a discount code around, too.)

Don't be seduced by hype and gimmicks (fussy locks that gum-up with pocket lint or blood, silly blade shapes and impractical super steels...) its mostly been marketing since the Iron Age :D
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#5 Post by DaveB »

I cannot disagree with anything Whizzbang said, but we each have our preferences. I dislike liner locks generally, as I had one fail on me once - painful. Spyderco designs never did much for me. Just on general principles, I really try not to buy knives made in China.

Here's my favourite folding knife: an Elishewitz-designed Ares 730 from Benchmade. I bought my first one 20 years ago, and liked it so much I bought a second. So I have this one with half-serrated blade (in ATS34 steel), and my original one with a plain edge (in 154CM). Both are spear-point blades 3.6 in (91mm for you Metrificated types) in length and the handles are G10 - and are very comfortable. As I said earlier, I really like the Axis-lock mechanism - I have a half-dozen different folding knives with this mechanism and never any problems. This one has been opening boxes, so forgive the adhesive residue on the blade. Sadly I believe that the 730-series knives are no longer available.
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BestDrugDoc
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#6 Post by BestDrugDoc »

Well - many thanks to everyone for your comments and pics.

Once again the forum turns up interesting and expert opinion!
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#7 Post by Sim G »

Oh my I have to chip in here! Got my First Spyderco in the late 80s, followed by my first Benchmade. Then collected as well as used the buggers! Stopped collecting and went back to using! Still got a couple of Spyderco and Benchmade that get swapped about. My current favourite carry is a Chris Reeves Umnumzan, but they are a little more than a 100 quid!

Benchmade Griptillan are a fantastic tool and around 100 quid new. A secondhand Spyderco Paramilitary would be another good shout. Boker and Boker Plus offer some interesting pieces as does Lionsteel of Italy. Heinnie Haynes is probably the best U.K. knife source these days and their customer service is outstanding!
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#8 Post by daman »

I'll throw a few in for consideration, two of which are multitools:

If you're prone to losing them no point spending a lot of money. The BDS has a super cheap one handed folder thats really grippy for only a tenner:
https://www.bds.org.uk/index.php?option ... uct_id=425
(I love it, but have not yet used it in anger - seems nice though)

More traditionally Victorinox covers all the bases (again one hand): https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/pt/ ... -black.htm (I do use this and like it.)

My everyday carry one handed tool is the Leatherman Free T4 - everything you need with remarkable ease of use single handed:
https://www.multi-tool-store.co.uk/mult ... e-t4-p1571

atb

Daman
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#9 Post by DaveB »

Sim G wrote: My current favourite carry is a Chris Reeves Umnumzan, but they are a little more than a 100 quid!

I am a big fan of Chris Reeve knives. I have a number of his one-piece hollow-handled knives (made from a single piece of A2 tool steel - so no weak point between the handle and the blade like cheap 'survival knives'). I have a Mountaineer (4") Mark IV (5.5"), Project I and a Jeroboam (both 9" blades). All but one of mine date from the period when he was still serial numbering his knives. When he stopped making the one-piece range in 2009, I had to console myself with one of the Green Beret knives (7" blade). If you are ever in need of a heavy-duty fixed blade knife, you cannot go wrong with the Green Beret.

Oddly enough I have never owned one of his folders.
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Re: Best locking single handed opening knife?

#10 Post by bradaz11 »

You can't go wrong with ganzos for the price. Almost all are sub £40 and are excellent knives for the price, especially for users. I've got a few at home I don't need any longer if interested?

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