LAPG TBFK got an upgrade?

dkb45

dkb45

Joined
Dec 16, 2012
Messages
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We've all heard of this knife, the super cheap LA Police Gear S35VN flipper. I stumbled across the site one day and they had a 20℅ off sale, so I figured no better time to buy.

We all know the biggest downside of this knife, the tip down only clip. Well, mine just came in, and apparently LAPG listened, because it now has a tip up deep carry clip! Sadly not a lefty clip, but I can live for like $37 shipped.

No disassembly pics. This knife is very hard to get apart, and I plainly forgot to take pictures. Note that if you buy one there is a fair bit of threadlock on all screws.
 
Last edited:
Pics or it didn't happen!
dkb45 said:
We've all heard of this knife, the super cheap LA Police Gear S35VN flipper. I stumbled across the site one day and they had a 20℅ off sale, so I figured no better time to buy.

We all know the biggest downside of this knife, the tip down only clip. Well, mine just came in, and apparently LAPG listened, because it now has a tip up deep carry clip! Sadly not a lefty clip, but I can live for like $37 shipped.

No disassembly pics. This knife is very hard to get apart, and I plainly forgot to take pictures. Note that if you buy one there is a fair bit of threadlock on all screws.
Click to expand...
 
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to upload a picture. I tried a raw picture and a screenshot of said picture, and the files are too large.
 
Just checked the site, and the current picture of the tbfk has a tip up clip. No lanyard hole though. If i didn't have one of the old versions, the new one would be a real steal.
 
dkb45 said:
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to upload a picture. I tried a raw picture and a screenshot of said picture, and the files are too large.
Click to expand...

Take the picture from a little bit further away and crop it. Then the file size should be fine. Works for me.
 
dkb45 said:
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to upload a picture. I tried a raw picture and a screenshot of said picture, and the files are too large.
Click to expand...
Your camera is probably set to its maximum quality and size settings. Change the settings to a lower quality and resolution. Else just use imgurl or postimg etc. And hotlink the image.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Looks kind of like a Kershaw whirlwind knockoff.
Click to expand...
Definitely not a knockoff. There's some design similarities, but that's where it ends. I find the TBFK a lot better. Its cheaper, better steel, not assisted, G10, not assisted, sturdier design, and best of all not assisted.
 
How are the thumbstuds on it? The previous version had some rather large ones.
 
dkb45 said:
Definitely not a knockoff. There's some design similarities, but that's where it ends. I find the TBFK a lot better. Its cheaper, better steel, not assisted, G10, not assisted, sturdier design, and best of all not assisted.
Click to expand...

I'm going to write them to tell them we all would like it to be assisted from now on.
 
Putting what I can figure is a roughly 15° edge on it, I just barely touched the thumb studs. They are a little large, but they aren't terrible. They could have been scaled down a little, though. Work perfectly either way.
skwave said:
How are the thumbstuds on it? The previous version had some rather large ones.
Click to expand...
 
I bought the Gen 1 tip down carry knife. I found two problems with the knife that I fixed myself. Its part of a 4 knife rotation for EDC and it typically wins the choice each morning.

Pros
S35VN steel is for real
Butter smooth pivot
Handle shape is great
Blade shape and thickness
Deep clip

Cons
Tip down only carry - small gripe
Thumb stud catches on pocket lip
Smooth handle

The thumb stud issue happened to me. When I put the knife into my pocket the stub caught the lip of the pocket and opened the blade enough to cut the pocket and draw some blood. To fix the problem I cut the stud almost all the way off on the clip side. The non clip stud is the screw on part. Problem solved.

Smooth handle wasnt really a big deal either, but I decided to have some fun with new drill bits and my drill press. See pics.

Overall I love this knife. Will buy another if not more.

AF1QipM-0Xlpc7YdOcoQ2VJftkwIQiEf0lXhfdOJKoY1


AF1QipNBkE5DKlJuKhaH2L0yDabMnNwJo_MHWKIOOyAw
 
boludaso said:
I bought the Gen 1 tip down carry knife. I found two problems with the knife that I fixed myself. Its part of a 4 knife rotation for EDC and it typically wins the choice each morning.

Pros
S35VN steel is for real
Butter smooth pivot
Handle shape is great
Blade shape and thickness
Deep clip

Cons
Tip down only carry - small gripe
Thumb stud catches on pocket lip
Smooth handle

The thumb stud issue happened to me. When I put the knife into my pocket the stub caught the lip of the pocket and opened the blade enough to cut the pocket and draw some blood. To fix the problem I cut the stud almost all the way off on the clip side. The non clip stud is the screw on part. Problem solved.

Smooth handle wasnt really a big deal either, but I decided to have some fun with new drill bits and my drill press. See pics.

Overall I love this knife. Will buy another if not more.

AF1QipM-0Xlpc7YdOcoQ2VJftkwIQiEf0lXhfdOJKoY1


AF1QipNBkE5DKlJuKhaH2L0yDabMnNwJo_MHWKIOOyAw
Click to expand...
Its too bad they let such a knife out of prototype phase with the clearly obvious flaw of stabbing the user in the leg. Very un safe. Clearly the company didn't care. Gotta get that $
 
John_0917 said:
Can you wave it with the huge thumb studs?
Click to expand...
I don't know. I would think the thumb stub hole would be too small. I was not able to unscrew the thumb stubs, thus the fix of just cutting the stud down as close to the blade as possible.
 
Mo2 said:
0O4wYYU.gif

one in 440c and the other two tested in low 50 hrc's. obviously not good. itll probably be a good pry bar.
Click to expand...
I saw that as well. Mine holds an edge around where I expect S35VN to, so I don't think mine is that low, but that means at best their quality control is pretty subpar.
 
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