Looking at a new folding knife

[Cool Breeze]

Great question - Easy answer - the Buck is by far the best value for the money of these 3. You get S30V steel (better than the steel in either Benchmade or the Kershaw) and you get G10 handles. I love knives and in my opinion to find a sub $90 knife in S30V is a great deal. I think you should def get that one. As far as buying a second one. The Benchmade has a cult following But I think it is overpriced. I would pick a spyderco endura over the Kershaw for the same price due to the better steel, thumb ramp, and jimping. For the price of the benchmade, you can get a ton of great knives in the spyderco line up such as the Para military 2. Back a few years ago when Benchmade Osborne 942 were sub 130 bucks I would have said jump all over that; that knife is the fastest non-assisted manual opening knife I own. It is awesome. All in all, I would probably get the Benchmade grip if I had to pick from the 2. I think it is cooler and it has better steel.


edited to add...I totally forgot to say that a Spyderco Stretch in either vg-10 or zdp-189 would also beat out the benchmade or the kershaw. I have carried one for 6 years and its my favorite all time knife. It is great for edc and flexes nicely into lightweight tactical. It is also much faster for me than the endura.

[Suvorov]

I'm far from a knife dude. That said, I couldn't be more happy with the drop point non-serrated Kershaw Blur that I have. It may lack the cool guy factor that my Benchmade has, but for an every day companion - it wins hands down.

[Chefdog]

Great question - Easy answer - the Buck is by far the best value for the money of these 3. You get S30V steel (better than the steel in either Benchmade or the Kershaw) and you get G10 handles. I love knives and in my opinion to find a sub $90 knife in S30V is a great deal. I think you should def get that one. As far as buying a second one. The Benchmade has a cult following But I think it is overpriced. I would pick a spyderco endura over the Kershaw for the same price due to the better steel, thumb ramp, and jimping. For the price of the benchmade, you can get a ton of great knives in the spyderco line up such as the Para military 2. Back a few years ago when Benchmade Osborne 942 were sub 130 bucks I would have said jump all over that; that knife is the fastest non-assisted manual opening knife I own. It is awesome. All in all, I would probably get the Benchmade grip if I had to pick from the 2. I think it is cooler and it has better steel.




edited to add...I totally forgot to say that a Spyderco Stretch in either vg-10 or zdp-189 would also beat out the benchmade or the kershaw. I have carried one for 6 years and its my favorite all time knife. It is great for edc and flexes nicely into lightweight tactical. It is also much faster for me than the endura.

For the OP, who admits to not being a knife guy, I would advise not to get too wound up over the "best" steel. Just like when choosing a pistol, the "best" steel will be different for different users and their needs. If you're not willing to delve into the individual properties of the specific steels (which can vary greatly depending on the quality of the heat treatment) to determine how to sharpen that particular knife to extract the best performance for your needs, then don't even worry about it. Pick based on all other factors first. The fact is that for a basic pocket knife from any of the brands mentioned, most of the common steels used will get the job done. If you're cutting lots of rope or abrasive things like cardboard, look for something in D2, otherwise don't sweat it.

Here's a good primer on some basic knife steel info:
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml

[BobLoblaw]

I've had a ton of knives over the years from Kershaw Blurs to Benchmades to Spydies. I used the Blur for the longest but the assisted opening system has a relatively short lifespan and the sandpaper-like grips chewed up my pockets as did most of G10 handles. These days I carry a Spyderco Delica 4 in ZDP-189 ($80 on Amazon, $150 MSRP) and it holds an edge like nothing I've ever seen (just touch it up once every couple of months), not to mention is lightweight for its size. For heavy duty/hard use pocket knives, it's hard to beat the Zero Tolerance 300 series. Kershawguy.com has some pretty good prices for them on occasion.

Edit: I also carry a Spyderco/Shivworks collaboration P'Kal on occasion. It's got the Manix version lock and hawk beak blade design but the G10 eats up the pockets.

[Irelander]

I'm another Benchmade mini Griptilian fan. Had one for many years and still loving it.

I just recently got into Spyderco knives and I am now a believer. I doubt I will ever buy a knife without the hole in the blade for opening. Far superior to a stud IMO. I wanted something different so I went with the Ulize. Can't say enough about it. Top shelf quality and super elegant looking. Its my EDC. Take a look:



I am kind of interested in the ESEE Izula folder that should be coming out soon because it is just a damn fine looking knife. I also EDC an Izula II and really like it.

I'd also recommend the Spyderco Sharpmaker for sharpening your knife.

[Dolemite]

I'm no expert, but I have a decent small collection. I own a Griptilian and think it's a great knife. However, my favorite out of all them is the Spyderco Para 2. I'm an XL glove size the ergos on the Para 2 are superior to any other knife i've held. Very easy to open and close one handed.

BladeHQ is a solid company. GPKnives, another solid company, currently has a Para 2 in stock.

[LtDave]

I really like the Benchmade 890 Torrent with assisted opening. I have a lot of folders, but this is the one I carry most of the time.
A couple of vendors I've been pleased with are KnivesShipFree and Moore Cutlery. A.G. Russell is also very dependable in my experience.

[SeriousStudent]

New Graham Knives is also a very reliable knife vendor. I have ordered from them for over 10 years and never had an issue.

[Jared]

Thanks for all the advice. I am going to order the Benchmade for sure in a couple days. After I get it and see how I like it, I'll probably order the second knife, even if it is just a duplicate. Still there's more stuff on my radar now thanks to all of you guys. The Benchmade seems to have such a wide following that I can't help but feel that it will be a very solid choice to begin with.

[tanner]

I'm far from a knife dude. That said, I couldn't be more happy with the drop point non-serrated Kershaw Blur that I have. It may lack the cool guy factor that my Benchmade has, but for an every day companion - it wins hands down.

And I just got one shipped to my door for $38 bucks...