Looking for recommendations from you as options for me to buy a medium sized pocket-knife with a combo blade
Preferred features
- Combo blade – prefer something like a 1/3 or 30% serrated
- Lightweight with sturdy clip
- Sharp point strongly preferred
- Blade height ~20mm or about 1/4 of blade length
- Blade length ~60-80mm (nothing shorter)
- Not automatic, but assisted would be OK
Exduct doesn’t seem to have many combo blades . . I have a Spyderco that is all serrated and a good bit taller which I like except that the grip makes the knife much too heavy when I don’t have a very sturdy belt. I have an inexpensive SEXTS that is an automatic, would like something similar which is not auto (ideally a bit shorter, and with less serrated blade).
Keep the recommendations coming, but that’s got good reviews and is close and cheap enough that it is ordered to try it out. (Along with a SRM 605 to go with my 604 - I didn’t need much encouragement.)
The upper handle profile is somewhat close to my Benchmade Panther, which is comfortable for me. I’m guessing this will be somewhat bigger in all dimensions than my ideal, though it is a good size and looks to be well built and a serious knife. Looks to be one I will carry at times.
It seems to be bigger and heavier than the Kershaw Mini Cyclone which I never carry (but my son only carries his copy so he’ll get mine). The Bee is over 6oz, the Kershaw is 5+oz, so I’m thinking perhaps 3-4 oz as a target. The SETX is listed different places at 2 or 2.5 oz.
That Enlan is going to be much heavier than any Spyderco. If you are looking for lit weight, you just bought the wrong knife in the Enlan. It is a PIG. Well made knife but very heavy.
I have the full serrated version and besides being heavy like most budget lights, it is well made. If I had access to a drill press, I would drill out most of my Chinese knife liners to reduce some weight.
One of the major flaws with budget Chinese knives is they tend to be heavy. They tend to use thicker metal in the blades and liners. Where a Spyderco Delica will use a skelontonized nested 1.5mm liner, a Chinese knife will use a 2mm slab that is never nested so it is mated to a thick slab of G-10. Makes the knife heavier and thicker.
Such is the price of budget. You have to give up something when you buy a knife for $5-20 that would cost $40-100 otherwise. The good thing about SRM and others is that you don’t give up much actual quality, just refinement. They make a knife that tends to work well.
Yeah, but I think worth the $9 since I was looking for an excuse to ship the $4 605 anyway. It sure looks beefy, which is fine when I will want a good working knife for heavy use. It’s very similar to 3 others I have in my cars for emergencies but looks to be better made.
I really like the 604, it’s so lightweight I forget I have it. I can clip it at the top of a pocket and it stays put there completely out of the way. I’d like a version with 15-20mm of added serrated blade length while maintaining its current strengths. I love the look of the 604 (that tip is SHARP), but the 605 will probably have the more usable blade given their current size.
The SEXTS replacement is primarily for light duty use (packages, etc.). Apparently they also came as a conversion to auto where a spring wasn’t installed, so I’ve been wondering if it might work as an axis lock if unconverted. I’m tempted to look for another cheap somewhere.
It’s in the right weight neighborhood. Not too wide if that includes the clip. The non-skelatonized version is aluminum grip and 1/2 oz heavier, so this is probably also. SS grade unknown? Measurements:
15 cm x 2.4 cm x 1.4 cm 82 g
5.91 in x 0.94 in x 0.55 in 2.89 oz
Will look for reviews since what little I’ve heard about the flashlight vendors knife stock hasn’t been good, though Manafont may be better than others. First couple reviews for the brand linked below are mixed. I’ve held off on ordering from Manafont and if I do this it will be costly in wish list items (starting with that awesome UV drop-in). THANKS!
I personally don't like serrations, because they are very difficult to resharpen, but the Enlan EL01A and the Ontario RAT 1 deliver outstanding value for the money
Looks like a great knife for the money and I like the serrated proportion. Lots of good reviews at Amazon. Probably will go on my gift list but for now I’m still looking for something solid but lighter.
I looked for my SRM 604 (always forget when I have it on) to see what makes it so light (65 grams) and had forgotten it has full liners inside the G10 grips. It only has 3 screws holding the sides together (including pivot), but it’s so small it doesn’t need many.
The SRM 600 series is really tiny and light, it's best to search for size comparisons with already known knives to get a better idea of the real physical dimensions. My budget knife recommendations can be found here.
Tell me about these: SRM 718 and SRM 681. I guess the 718 may be hard to find, but Exduct has a couple of the 681 left. (Neither has serration, and I think the 681 will be too short, also looks fat but that probably makes it more comfortable to hold a small knife.)
681 is a great knife imho. I bought one and liked it so much that I bought 2 more... way better than the 605 and 604 imho, because the blade is much longer than on the 605 and 604 and the clip tension is way better. Great knife overall, but it is really small ... so be sure that it's not too small for the intended purpose... it's a "3 finger" knife. Came arm hair shaving sharp out of the box and absolutely no blade play on all 3 of them. It's the only knife I bought 3 pieces of, great giveaway too. If I had to start my Collection new, than the 681, 707 (got rid of the clip), L02 (really great clip), (909 if it weren't so expensive), K507 (big SRM 710/sebenza), were my "must haves".
GottaZoom, are you in the U.S.? The 681 is available from LazyLizard in the U.S. so you receive the knife in several days.
I haven’t gotten that one just because of the lockback rather than a liner lock but it looks like a nice knife. I like the 605/604’s because of their small size and the choil which lets you put all of your fingers on the knife.
You should check out the SRM 1602G (which I just received). It’s about the size of the 681 I believe but you can get all of your fingers on the handle.
On the 681 you trade the additional blade length for the additional finger choil on the 605. But I like 50/50 ratio knives better overall. On the 605/604 two thirds of the overall length is grip/handles. The 605 is only better in one area... and that's one handed opening and closing, but with knives this small that's way too fiddly for my large hands anyways... so I mostly open/close them two handed and in that department the 681 clearly wins. The SRM 718 can still be bought from this German seller,(at least for Europeans), but there seem to be 2 versions - with FFG and hollow grind. (I have both ;-) ) On British blades are several informative threads about this knife.
Didn’t see the 681 on LL but the T01a looks very promising. Bit fat, but the size and weight should be fine, deep carry is good. Haven’t been a big fan of the safety knives, but this one might be the one. And under $8 on Exduct.
Also, if I’m not mistaken the back end of the blade when in the closed position is exposed. I’m not fond of that style. Just something that is easy to overlook if anyone else feels the same way.
I’ve ordered knives like that before not realizing what they look like in the closed position.
Which knife? I can see every edge of the 604 when closed, too.
Looking at the T01a in the LL video I didn’t see the knife of my dreams, but it didn’t put me off especially, either. $10 and change shipped is a an easy risk . . if I don’t like it I’ll take my Sypderco back from my wife’s ash tray and find someone else who likes that to more than pay for it.
Plus I’ll have another chance to win in the next Exduct drawing! :party:
