My two new favorite knives... got any?
 

Has anybody seen the new Ken Onion Blur and/or the new S&W Border Guard? they both have nice big blades and handles too, very nice for the bigger had. The Speed Safe design is great on the the Kershaw but the S&W looks too damn kewl. These two knives are the mutt's nuts imho... but what do you knife guys like/think?

Honestly, I've been less than impressed with the S&W blades. The finish and materials just doesn't seem up to par. I haven't paid any attention to 'em for a coupla years though, so they may have fixed the problems I had with 'em.

Seen pics of the Blur, never handled one. Looks neat in the pics.

Glock model 82...
Big... with a blade strong enough to use as a crowbar.

Well, if the one I recieved last Christmas is any indicator of quality, then I would steer clear of S&W. I threw mine away! :eek:

My two favorite knives right now would have to be my R.W. Clark Pelamus and my "Wild Bill" Hearndon Bowie:

http://www.photobucket.com/albums/08...t/27fca49b.jpg

http://www.photobucket.com/albums/08...t/46f6d1e3.jpg

http://www.photobucket.com/albums/08...t/caa4a1ec.jpg

smith and wesson is a mixed bag- their cheap blades are just that, fit and finish leaves something to be desired- however, their higher end blades are exceptional in quality. In particular i have had very good reviews on their special tactical folder- a navy welder that I know has used one daily for the last year and a half, after breaking everything else he tried, including bucks, gerbers and kershaws.. the same good review on that model came to me from an EMT who also abuses the hell out of his cutlery. I also get good reviews on their HRT3 from cops and sherrifs deputies... Conversely their cutting horse line is likely to have problems- if you get a good one you will love it, but if not the liner lock may be iffy, the blade might have tension probs, ect. also stay away from their promo line- ie the patriotic picture handles, the john deere art handled ones ect- as with any knife its better to check the blade before you buy, especialy the liner lock- as for blade temper, even on the cheap ones everyone i've sold one to seems to agree they hold a good edge

as to my favorites, I like my spyderco spydercard

I bought one of their earlier EMT knives for a friend of mine who was a Medic in the Army and an EMT when he got out. I hated the knife. It was ugly, loose, the lock was poor, etc. He loves it and still carries to this day, years later. I guess my problem with them is fit/finish based while all he cares about is pure functionality.

Yeah- I also tend to rate blades for function above all else- when I started my company it was partly because of people selling crap knives as if they were solid gold- dont get me wrong, I still sell LOTS of low cost knives, and low price realy does'nt have to mean low quality, but I have found the easiest indicator of value in a knife is how long/well it holds up to use in a less than ideal situation, not abuse par se, any blade will fail if you work at it, but rather how well it holds up to regular hard use...

Hmmm, previous post gave improper impression of how I buy knives. I don't own a single "pretty" knife (well, I do own a Blackjack Applegate-Fairbairn that I think is pretty neat looking, but that is about it). I own a lot of different knives for different purposes, and my favorites are always the functional ones.

I cannot like a knife when the lock fails to engage due to poor craftsmanship. He didn't mind because the blade was serrated and thus not sharp. It was designed to cut seatbelts, not flesh. To me, that ain't safe, and it ain't functional.

Overall, my favorite knives tend to be folders with partially serrated blades, and I tend toward Cold Steel. I carry a Beretta Airweight right now because I tend to wear very lightweight dress pants and I don't want the knife to print. Were I able, I'd buy another Cold Steel Voyager (I broke the lock on my old one after YEARS of hard use)

Among factory knives I currently like the Microtech Ultratech 6 (DA OTF auto) and the good old Benchmade AFCK - an excellent all-around knife for the money.