Looking for brands of folding knives using bronze bearing only.

A

alan0354

Joined
Oct 21, 2022
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Hi

I want to find out what other brands of folding knives do NOT use ball bearings, using bronze bearings. I have Steel Will and very familiar with it. I do NOT like Cold Steel knives at all. I do not like their design. Other than these two, I don't know of any other brand that have good quality knives. Of cause I don't mean dirt cheap ones that don't use ball bearings.

Thanks

Alan
 
Get to the Point said:
Many of Spydercos knives run on bronze.
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They are way way too expensive. I am not looking for name brand, just decent quality ones like Steel will equivalent. Thanks

Funny that I never realize folding knives are treated like women designer handbags that the name is more important than anything else. How can you justify over $100 for a little utility knife? It's not something you can pull out and show off. To me, $10 to $20 is too cheap. Somewhere from $40 to $60 is about as good as it gets for real qualities(not names)

Sorry for the ranting.

Thanks
 
Outside of Real Steel ( have a Terra in 14C28N from them, nice knife ) the only other knives I can think of are the made in Taiwan Spartan Talos and Astor in CTS XHP for around 80- 90 bucks. Mind you my experience is a bit limited. I don't mind the rant, we all have different things that burn our cheese.
 
Going from memory here and I have not taken apart these knives in a while, but I seem to recall that QSP Knives use bronze washers. I own a Parrot and a Penguin and the action/deployment is smooth and well-designed. Not the biggest fan of QSP thumb studs, they are tricky to open based on the placement of the thumb stud relative to the pivot. But still a good value at around $30-$50.
 
If you can find a discontinued Civivi Governor, you ll find a very nice knife with bronze washers in your price range. I currently have one in my edc/work rotation and it s well made.
 
Look at the seki city line of spydercos. The k390 dragonfly, delica, endela, endurance, police 4, stretch 2, manbug, ladybug are probably one of the best values out there. They have one of the best steels at very fair prices and are bronze washers
 
Get to the Point said:
Outside of Real Steel ( have a Terra in 14C28N from them, nice knife ) the only other knives I can think of are the made in Taiwan Spartan Talos and Astor in CTS XHP for around 80- 90 bucks. Mind you my experience is a bit limited. I don't mind the rant, we all have different things that burn our cheese.
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I had a Spartan Astor, it was a smooth action, sharp bladed knife. Used a Teflon and bronze washer on each side. I took mine apart and cleaned and regreassed with TW25, made it super smooth.
 
elevator man said:
Look at the seki city line of spydercos. The k390 dragonfly, delica, endela, endurance, police 4, stretch 2, manbug, ladybug are probably one of the best values out there. They have one of the best steels at very fair prices and are bronze washers
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Thanks for the great information. E MAN
 
Your welcome. It just so happened a k390 delica ended up under my tree yesterday. I have to say, I am HIGHLY impressed. The fit and finish on this knife is incredible. I have loathed lockbacks my whole life. This knife the action is awesome! It snaps open with a thumb flick like any other folder, it has absolutey zero blade play either way open. The lockbar is easy to get to and easy to push and the blade literally falls and swings like a pendulum. No idea how they got it so easy to swing but no side to side play, but I love it. The size and ergonomics are great, blade thickness is really good, I think this knife is going to cut like a laser vs my previous thick knives, seems like it so far with the little I've cut. It is so easy to close this knife one handed, I really don't think I loath lockbacks (from spyderco) anymore. And If this k390 is anything like everyone says it is I will most certainly be buying a dragonfly 2 and maybe even a backup delica. Also I've always loathed plastic handles. But these handles are actually quite nice. I can't even believe I like them to be honest, but I do. They feel great, that two way texture stuff is not a gimmick, that knife aint coming out of your hand, but it ain't rough. I don't think I'd be ok with just plastic handles, but this knife has full steel liners for strength under the plastic handles, and its Incredibly light.

The fact spyderco is offering this knife at the price its at (just over 100 dollars) made with the premium steel is nothing short of amazing.
 
elevator man said:
Look at the seki city line of spydercos. The k390 dragonfly, delica, endela, endurance, police 4, stretch 2, manbug, ladybug are probably one of the best values out there. They have one of the best steels at very fair prices and are bronze washers
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I didn't care much for the k390 and how easily it rusted in close-to-the-body carry in the hot summer, but one of my Seki City VG10 Delicas, one with a full flat grind, took a nose dive off the top of my jeep at about 60mph a few weeks ago. The only damage was a little scuffing in the grivory and slight flattening of the tip. I was so impressed I went back and bought a saberground version just to have as a spare. both were priced under $100

Some of the less expensive Chinese made knives, in the OP's stated price range, in the case may have bronze washers, I'll look and see tomorrow. I stopped looking when I saw the steel was 8Cr13MoV and lost interest.

I have no use for bearings for my type of knife use, and I like bronze washers myself. The Benchmades I carry have them as well and that's one of the reasons I have them. But I won't go any further on that with them being so far above the OPs target price range.
 
alan0354 said:
They are way way too expensive. I am not looking for name brand, just decent quality ones like Steel will equivalent. Thanks

Funny that I never realize folding knives are treated like women designer handbags that the name is more important than anything else. How can you justify over $100 for a little utility knife? It's not something you can pull out and show off. To me, $10 to $20 is too cheap. Somewhere from $40 to $60 is about as good as it gets for real qualities(not names)

Sorry for the ranting.

Thanks
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...what are you doing here then? Buy any *generic chinese folder* in your stated "best ever price range. Of which anything above is a designer handbag" and be good. Big river site is FULL of em. Im sure a used bugout will be in your pricerange, and i see them for that often. I also see hogue deka around 80 new, so 60 used is certainly do-able. Those are both quality knives from manufacturers using good materials and American manufacturing. Otherwise, first suggestion applies (check big river or auction site). Final follow up- asking for suggestions and then getting confrontational when options are offered are generally in poor taste.
 
Regarding price, a 100-150 dollar Golden/Taichung Spyderco will last an entire lifetime, whereas a cheapo, made in China blade with some cheap steel, will not. In the end, buying one, mid-grade knife will likely end up being cheaper in the long run. My PM2 is 15 years old and has been cutting ridiculous stuff for that time, and only functions better now than it did out of box.

Buy once, cry once, no designer hype here.
 
I loathe bearings in folders and miss the days when bronze washers were the norm. They might be nice in the high end knives, but they aren’t for me and gimmicky IMO in most folders, an unnecessary complication, these days I mostly carry traditional folders so don’t have to worry about it, but the Sebenza takes the cake for me for a knife that runs on washers with an excellent action.
 
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