Working Man's Folding Knife

P

Pragmatic Priest

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Jun 5, 2011
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I'm new to the forums, and I need some suggestions on my next knife purchase. I work outdoors mostly, (doing various yard work and such) and I wanted some ideas for a better clip on folding knife. I have a GERBER Vallotton Fine Edge Knife with Assisted Opening, and by all accounts it works pretty well. It is good for most things, but I kind of want something beefier and more rugged for work use. Assisted opening is nice, but not necessary. What are some thoughts?
 
Well the Spyderco Endura is nice, has some tough steel and a good clip. If you're willing to spend a bit more then you could go for the Doug Ritter Griptilian, which includes the Axis lock, strong pocket clip and a great blade shape and steel. If you have a low budget, then I'd recommend going for the Ontario RAT-1. Great all-around blade to be had for about $30.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the Zero Tolerance knives. If you want big and tough, those are your ticket. Absolutely can't go wrong with them. Most (all?) have assisted opening and sound exactly like what you're looking for.
 
Spyderco Para 2, Endura 4, Gayle Bradley.

CS American Lawman, Recon 1

Buck Vantage Pro

And a lot more choices depending on what you personal likes are and Price range.
 
A few suggestions: Spyderco Para-Military 2, Kershaw Blur (note: the clip isn't that great), Ontario RAT-1, practically anything from Kershaw's Zero Tolerance line-up.

If you want something low-maintenance for a moisture rich environment (ie. rust resistance,) perhaps look at a Spyderco Salt series in H1. The serrations have been getting some very positive reviews...
 
If you like assisted opening, you might want to check out Zero Tolerance knives. They make a few extremely beefy, hard-use assisted openers that might suit your needs (although they can get pretty costly).

If assisted opening isn't a must, I strongly recommend a Spyderco Manix 2 at around 70-80$. Very sturdy construction, doesn't seem to get gummed up with sand and such very easily. Very good steel, nice lock, easy to operate while wearing thick gloves. An excellent knife for the price, imho.

You can also probably find a Kershaw Cyclone for relatively cheap on a well known auction site, which has selectable on/off assisted opening and makes quite a good work knife imho. It has sturdy aluminum handles which can take one hell of a beating and keep on going.
 
For a work knife I'd go to exduct.com or ebay and get an Enlan - EL02 for $14. I prefer the micarta version to the g10 version. These things are tough and if you break it or loose it just order another for $14! I've had just about every decent folder you can think of for under $1K and I carry one of these as my throw away knife and have been very impressed with it's toughness. It would have to be an emergency for me to pull out an $800 Sebenza and pry something with the tip because I care about the knife but I do this stuff all the time with my EL02. Last year someone told me that a CRKT M16 was tough and cheap so I bought half a dozen and broke 3 within the first month; large chip out of blade, lock failure & bent tip. They are cheap junk but I've had 2 EL02's for 5 months and I'm still on my first one. The only draw back is that 8Cr13mov is pretty mediocre steel so it dulls quick but at the same time it sharpens up quick...what do you expect for $14. lol
 
I guess u should tell us more about size of the blade, and price range, otherwise the range of blades will be very wide.
Meanwhile, to stay cheap until u tell us we can push u to spend more, my +1 goes for the Ontario RAT 1.
:cool:
 
If I ever got back into doing landscape construction, I can tell you I'd go for one of Spyderco's Salt series of knives (literally rust proof) and I'd go with the fully serrated edge.

And I'm the guy who really doesn't like serrations at all for EDC, and has preached about how well a plain edge can outcut a serrated edge. But if you need to snag off a few branches real quick, plain edge doesn't do too well compared to serrations. And I'd go H1 steel just because you can put it away completely muddy and it will never rust.
 
The standard blur is a great working knife. No rust issues, strong blade, the mild recurve really lets it bite into things while still being easy to sharpen, Tracktech inserts (simply amazing for grip), clip is great in my experience snug enough not to let go but flexible enough to clip onto carhartt pants.

Another less expensive but non assisted and not quite as beefy suggestion would be the Salvo, mostly for its tracktech inserts and low cost.

That said no one has ever gone wrong with a Spyderco delica or endura, gotta love full SE for rough work.
 
The Para Military 2 offers about all you could ever hope for and is a significant step up in quality and performance from what you've been carrying. All at a very affordable price for such a premium folder. This would be my first choice if I were in your shoes. I own two of these Para 2 models, one of the original first run S30V versions which I use and carry quite often and a minty new S90V Carbon Fiber model tucked away in my safe. To me at this writing the regular S30V model knife offered by Spyderco is the knife to own for anyone wanting and shopping for a $100 to $175 folder.
 
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