My Impressions of Strider

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SeppukuSamurai

SeppukuSamurai

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Aug 19, 2014
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Hey guys,

I've been buying a lot of Strider lately. A LOT. Too much in fact. Having had a number of these knives pass through my hands as of recently I thought that I would take a moment on my lunch break to clear up some of the stigma surrounding these tools.

I'll start out by stating what I've heard:

Great warranty with bad communication and customer service.

Unwillingness to go outside of warranty work.

Shoddy fit and finish.

Blade play, centering issues and lock stick.

Not saying that I've only read only bad things but I have read a lot.

Of the 7 models I've had come my way, 5 have been of the most recent generation and 2 were of the older generations. The two older models exhibited many of the issues stated above. Little blade play, lock stick, less than perfect fit and finish. Nothing horrible but if they were my only experience I probably wouldn't have come back for more.

Now for the 5 models that are of the recent generation (all 2015 or newer) I can't say anything but great things. Every single one of them has been perfect. Centered, early lock up, smooth as butter and little to no stick at all and that's prior to being broke in. Truly one of my favorite designs period. I have actually compared these guys (mostly SMFs but two SNGs as well) head to head with some of their biggest competitors and in my opinion, Strider comes out on top. I have been thoroughly impressed with the new generations of Striders and I think that if you have a bad taste left in your mouth from the previous productions, c'mon and rinse it out!!

Now for the warranty -
The two older models needed a spa treatment so I decided to send them in. One of them had an aftermarket scale on it and was sold to me without the original included. Basically everyone I asked informed me that I was essentially boned when it came to Strider working on that knife.

Luckily, boned I am not.

After sending Josh (warranty guy at Strider) an email and waiting for a bit (little longer than I'd prefer, but not a big deal for a busy company) I received an email back stating that they'd be happy to refurbish the knives at no cost (save for return shipping) and replace the scale for a small charge. I was really elated with how easy it was all wrapped up and even more that my knife would be returned to factory and I wouldn't be stuck with a $300 paperweight (the aftermarket scales were not working for me.)

Overall I'm very happy with the knives and the customer service. If you haven't given Strider a try or you were left wanting more previously, I think you'll be impressed with how things have changed. Definitely for the better.
 
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Thank you for sharing. My recents Striders have all been excellent as well. Good to know that you've also had a great warranty experience.
 
Spinny said:
Thank you for sharing. My recents Striders have all been excellent as well. Good to know that you've also had a great warranty experience.
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Gotta give credit where credit is due man. Appreciate your input as well. They seem to have really kicked it into gear.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience, especially them warrantying the modified scale knife. That is contrary to all the info I had ever heard, so it was good news to an owner of a SnG with a modified scale. I also had been always told that scale replacements were super expensive. I believe both of these contradictions came from Josh at one time, so they may have changed their policy.
 
I have to agree with everything in your post from my personal experience's with Strider knives...

I think a lot of what you read about them in this forum (and I am in no way trying to say that they are perfect) comes from either someone who heard something from someone, or from the glamor of taking shots at the past.

Either way, Strider is an easy target. Some deserved, most of it not......
 
Three months ago I picked up a Smf cc with black g10 and striped blade. It exhibits solid ergonomics and feels like it was made for my hand. The style and attitude are there but so is lock stick. The lock stick is not a big deal for me. While the knife is not a flipper, the detent is extremely weak. I have mixed feelings about the knife and will probably contact them about the detent. The only other knife that I own in this price range is a Xm-24 and it is a perfect specimen. I like my Strider, I just don't love it.
 
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Peter Hartwig said:
Thanks for sharing your experience, especially them warrantying the modified scale knife. That is contrary to all the info I had ever heard, so it was good news to an owner of a SnG with a modified scale. I also had been always told that scale replacements were super expensive. I believe both of these contradictions came from Josh at one time, so they may have changed their policy.
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No problem at all Peter. I was really disheartened after receiving the custom scale SnG and being told that I had no recourse in terms of having it refurbished/fixed (I was told even with out of pocket expense the outlook was bleak). So much so that I almost swore off of Striders entirely. Needless to say the email from Josh was a welcomed surprise. I'm not saying the scale was free but it's along the lines of what you would pay if you bought a scale on the secondary market which was fine with me.

Real smooth/easy correspondence as well. Didn't make it seem like a hassle at all and would have even given me my pick of colors if they had any color other than green in stock at the time!
 
JR88FAN said:
I have to agree with everything in your post from my personal experience's with Strider knives...

I think a lot of what you read about them in this forum (and I am in no way trying to say that they are perfect) comes from either someone who heard something from someone, or from the glamor of taking shots at the past.

Either way, Strider is an easy target. Some deserved, most of it not......
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I would agree.

It seems like there's a lot of e-opinions of this company thrown around and that's why I wanted to throw out my actual real life experience. Glad your experience has been good as well.

I personally will not base my entire opinion of a company that supports many individuals livelihoods on the mistakes of the past. Everyone has gotten a second chance before. Most of us have gotten hundreds.
 
DJC72 said:
Three months ago I picked up a Smf cc with black g10 and striped blade. It exhibits solid ergonomics and feels like it was made for my hand. The style and attitude are there but so is lock stick. The lock stick is not a big deal for me. While the knife is not a flipper, the detent is extremely weak. I have mixed feelings about the knife and will probably contact them about the detent. The only other knife that I own in this price range is a Xm-24 and it is a perfect specimen. I like my Strider, I just don't love it.
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Sorry to hear that, bro

Shoot Josh an email. I'll post the working one up here later on tonight. I ended up finding three emails for warranty work and only one works.

For the lock stick try some graphite or sharpie, that'll usually do it.

Detent is on the weaker side on mine as well but not to the degree where it's deploying in my pocket. I actually prefer a weaker detent on my Striders. They fly open with authority and sound off with a "thwack". I love it. Smooth as butter too.
 
Good post. I have always been curious about striders. I will most likely get one even though it won't be a daily driver.
 
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I have no experience with the new generations. With the old generations I have had about a dozen striders (folders). 3 with severe wobble issues. After break in. Lockup on my striders was 50%. I like the design on the SnG's. No problem with finish. Fixed blades were all very good. Customer service was not good. You cant reach anyone. Again this was approximately 10 years ago. For the price of a strider I would go with another maker.
 
I've owned and sold a Lego and CC SnG, neither one a bad example. The grinds are excellent, and the lockup on both felt more secure than my XM-18s though one had bad lock stick. However, I could never make the ergos work for me, and the G10 of the CC is way too slick for me and feels like plastic. A little texturing would've been nice because I always felt like I was going to drop it. I didn't buy either new and wouldn't ever; for whatever reason, resale value is awful, and I just didn't feel like the CC, for example, was a $495 knife. They are good knives though and YMMV.
 
ChrisKnife said:
Gotta give credit where credit is due man. Appreciate your input as well. They seem to have really kicked it into gear.
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People's issue with strider is that he's a liar. He completely fabricates his military history making it sound like he was "spec ops" when he never even saw combat. Not to mention he's a felon for armed carjacking, but he says that was part of a secret mission. His lies are a spit in the face too all of our service members.

but enjoy your knives.
 
stonproject said:
Some people aren't aware who they're supporting when buying a strider,
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Most people do though.

There's also the question of his employees; they're just people going to a job to support their families.
Should they be penalized because you don't like the owner?
Think real hard on that one.
 
stabman said:
Most people do though.

There's also the question of his employees; they're just people going to a job to support their families.
Should they be penalized because you don't like the owner?
Think real hard on that one.
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Not to get too far off topic, but that argument can be made about any company that's done anything ever. Why don't we think of the poor employees at Quartermaster?
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Not to get too far off topic, but that argument can be made about any company that's done anything ever. Why don't we think of the poor employees at Quartermaster?
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If the quality was there, and I liked the designs, I might just think of those Chinese folks making the knives. ;)

The owners of many companies rather suck as human beings, but I buy the products I want or need regardless.
Is it nice when the owner is awesome, cool, and an example to all?
Of course it is...but it's awesome mainly because so many others suck.
We just generally don't hear about the various ways in which they suck, so people don't get upset by it.
 
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