BORELLI CONSULTING: Tactical Equipment Reviews

Everyday Folding Lockblades
By: Frank Borelli, 16 May 2005

Everyday when I come home, I empty out my pockets onto a set of shelves in my office. Every morning before I go out anywhere, I load my pockets back up. Those who know me think I'm a little weird because I almost always have at least two folding lockblade knives on my person if I'm away from home: one in my left side pocket and one in my right. Why? Well, the one on the right is because I'm right handed. The one on the left is because I also carry a gun and if I'm using my right hand to keep it in the holster during a struggle, I can deploy the left-side knife with my left hand.

This week I thought I'd take a look at various lockblade knives from those manufacturers represented in my choices each day. They include: Benchmade, Buck/Strider, CRKT, Emerson, MOD, SOG, Spyderco and TSSI. As I go through, I'll specify which are set up for right or left handed carry and if there is any specific design detail that makes them more suitable (in my opinion) for that side.

Benchmade Griptilian
I've been carrying Benchmade knives on and off for the past twelve years. This Griptilian is a perfectly sized nicely designed pocket tool. Although I know a man who suggests that a two-inch blade is all anyone will ever need, the Griptilian's 3.4-inch blade seems ideal to me. It's long enough to perform cutting chores with relative ease but no so long as to make the knife (when folded) uncomfortable in my pocket. The blade thickness is just over 1/10th of an inch and is made of 440C steel. My Griptilian sports a blade that has a mixed edge: about an inch of serrations and the rest plain edge. This knife is the first I've had equipped with an Axis lock and it took me some getting used to. However, once I handled it enough (several dozen openings and closings) I got used to manipulating the lock and using gravity to help with operation. Designed by Mel Pardue, the Griptilian's handle fits my palm nicely with ridges in the grips and steel liners for thumb placement and where my index finger rides in a saber grip. The handles are slightly slippery when wet, but not so much that I felt like the knife was in danger of flying out of my hand. The clip is reversible so you can set the knife up for carry on either side, and it carries pivot down. This is optimum for me in my hand positioning as I draw the knife from my pocket. If I carried in my waistband or shirt pocket I'd prefer a pivot-up carry. My T&E Griptilian is also equipped with a lanyard hole - an available option that I would certainly use in any maritime environment. I have mine set up for a left side carry and this knife is frequently in my left hip pocket. It's not so thick as to be ungainly, but you definitely will know it's there. I like the completely ambidextrous capability and function of the Axis lock for the weak-side carry. Further, because I do worry about the knife being slippery when wet, I prefer to carry it on the left because I don't end up using it that much for chores. It's there mostly so I can deploy it if I'm ever in a fight to retain my pistol - which is almost always in a pancake holster on my right hip.

Buck Strider Tarani

Anyone who has ever handled a Strider knife knows how beefy they are. They are extremely strong and built to take abuse without failing. My Buck Strider Tarani feels almost as hefty in my hand as the Strider EB fixed blade. The 3.5" blade has 3/4" of serrations under the remaining plain edge. Made of ATS-34, the drop point blade is stippled above the bevel so that if your thumb slips out of the opening-hole you can still complete the draw stroke thanks to the heightened friction on the blade surface. The glass-reinforced nylon handles are secured to the steel liners with four rivets. I'm sure the handles are very secure, but I'd prefer common hardware here. If the knife ever needs disassembly for cleaning it'll have to go back to the factory. I'm not sure if that was intentional on Buck's part, but I'd much prefer some philips-head screws in place of those rivets. Yeah, it's a pain to keep them tight sometimes, but it also makes maintenance easier. I really like the shape of the handle(s) because of the finger groove and the deep wide ridges along the spine of the blade and the handles where they meet. The clip on this knife is also reversible but I prefer to carry it on my right side because of its size / thickness which is just under 5/8"! The blade locks out via a liner lock that is very positive in its engagement of the blade. While some liner locks barely engage the steel end of the blade, this one slides over to center on the back end. Further, Buck / Strider designed the liner lock to be easily disengaged by your thumb: how? They formed the liner lock curve so that it sits just a bit higher than the finger groove cut out of the grip handles. That little bit makes it easier for your thumb to engage and push over the liner lock. Remember, it's the little things that count.

CRKT M16

My wife gave me my CRKT M16-14 as a birthday gift a few years ago and it's frequently ridden my pocket since then. With a closed length of almost 5.5" and an open length of 9.25", this is not a little knife. The chisel-ground Tanto-style blade sports an inch of serrations below another 2.875" of plain edge. The "Carson flipper" design makes the knife easy to open and renders the thumb-stud almost useless. I've never used it to open this knife. Once the knife is locked open, the Carson flipper serves as a hilt of sorts, preventing your hand from easily slipping up the slick metal handles onto the blade. The clip is not reversible and is set at the pivot end of the knife. Therefore, while I have carried this knife clipped in my pocket, my preferred method of carry for it is in my waistband. To help reduce the weight of this all-metal knife, CRKT skeletonized the grips / handles with four big holes and eleven smaller holes on each side. The M16-14 weighs 5.4 ounces - heavier than the above Buck Strider Tarani by 7/10ths of an ounce. Admittedly the blade of the M16-14 is slightly longer, but the weight difference really shows the biggest benefit of the nylon grip handles used by so many manufacturers.

Emerson Commander

Long one of my favorite folding lockblades, I've had this Commander since early in 2000 when I received it for test and evaluation. I've carried and used it so much that the black coating on the single-bevel chisel-ground blade is showing distinct signs of wear. This knife really stands out in my mind as - above all else - comfortable. The handles / grips are ergonomically shaped to conform to my palm when I hold it with a deep finger groove for my index finger and a nice rise on the spine of the blade for my thumb. Of course, that rise is the result of Emerson's "wave" opening design feature. As you can see in the below photo, the wave hook catches on your pocket as you draw the knife, opening the blade on your draw stroke. The result is a locked-open knife in your hand as soon as you've cleared your pocket. If you prefer not to use that method for whatever reason, the thumb-disk that is mounted to the blade-spine is easy to index and push even with gloves on.

The blade itself is made of 154-CM steel and measures 3.75" overall with 1.25" of serrations in the belly of the soft S-curve. I've pulled this blade across plenty of materials for general cutting, and once those serrations have bitten, the rest of the cut is easy and deep. All of the hardware is common - philips or slotted screws and there is a lanyard hole for those of us who tend to drop things (don't we all?). I've had this knife completely stripped to pieces for cleaning and had no issues putting it back together. With an overall thickness of almost exactly 1/2", this knife rides comfortably in my right pocket. The clip is not reversible and is mounted at the tip end of the knife - away from the pivot end. And as a final observation, this is not meant to be an ambidextrous knife. Emerson mills the grip handles differently so that the liner lock is easily accessible through a more deeply recessed right-side grip handle (as you hold the knife point away edge up). This makes the liner lock easier to disengage. And speaking of engagement, the liner lock itself positively engages the back end of the blade, moving more than half way across the thickness of the blade itself before locking in.

MOD 685

The Masters of Defense STT-685 is a handy little auto-opener with lots of details of value. The 2.9" Tanto-style blade is available plain or with a partially serrated edge. The opening and locking system is doubled up - always a good idea. There is a sliding lock on the back of the knife: pushed toward the blade it locks the plunger assembly so you can neither open nor close the knife. Pulled back away from the blade, the sliding lock allows you to operate the plunger assembly. Given that the handles are a squeak over 4" long, they still feel comfortable in the hand. The shape is grooved for your index finger, middle and ring finger together, and your pinky on the end slope. MOD's wingwalk inserts (feel like grip tape) add to the secure feeling of your grip. The clip is not reversible as this knife isn't meant to be ambidextrous, and is fixed at the pivot end. As small as this knife is, carrying it in a shirt pocket might be ideal. I've carried it in my hip pocket on occasion, but don't want to stick it into my waistband because of the wingwalk material in the handle (it would be constantly rubbing my shirt on the belly side). This is a very good knife if a smaller folder is what you're after.

SOG Trident Desert Camo

The SOG Trident is a folding lock blade that they sent me, and it too is a handy knife. SOG also makes a fixed blade Trident, and I guess we can call this the little brother. The 3.75" blade opens easily thanks to SOG's patented S.A.T. = SOG Assisted Technology. We are all familiar with this type of technology: you start the blade opening and it's pushed the rest of the way by spring power. Because SOG knows that none of us ever want a folding knife to open in our pocket (ouch) they have designed a safety lock into this knife. It locks the blade shut and you have to take the safety off to open the blade. The SOG Trident has what SOG refers to as a "Groove" (trade marked) in the handle / grips. It allows the user to cut paracord, string, etc, without having to open the blade. The grips are shaped well and the clip is positioned to allow a deep-pocket carry of the knife. Formerly available with black handles, the Trident is now available in three-color desert camouflage.

Spyderco Native

My first-generation Spyderco Native sports a blade length just over 2.5", and although it is available in a serrated or partially serrated configuration, mine is plain edge the whole length. Measuring 3/8" thick and with an overall folded length of under 4", the Native is very easy to carry. The clip is reversible and mine is set up for left handed carry. At the center of the screw that holds on the clip is a lanyard hole - again for that extra peace of mind. If the above mentioned Griptilian isn't in my left side pocket, this Native is. This knife is the only one I carry that has a traditional lock-back system. The locking system I had on my first Buck knife some 25 years ago is what's still in use on these Spyderco folders. The blade material is 440A Stainless Steel and the whole knife is riveted together. With a cost of less than $25 (searched online) I can forgive Spyderco for making this knife in such a way as to mandate return to them if something happens to its structure.

TSSI Rescue Knife

Our last knife. Tactical & Survival Specialties Inc. is a company headquartered in Virginia that is primarily a tactical equipment retail company. At a trade show I was discussing folding knives with one of their reps, and he pulled out their own TacOps Rescue Knife. The blade is clearly stamped "Made in Germany" but I figured I should be open-minded and give it a shot. The TSSI Rescue Knife is made to be a right handed tool. The grip handles are grooved appropriately to allow the right thumb easier access to the liner lock, and the clip is not reversible. Further, the thumb stud for opening protrudes to grant leverage to the right thumb, but no equal protrusion exists on the other side. My T&E sample has a 3.25" blade, with almost 1.5" of that serrated. The blade is Tanto-style conventional v-grind. The sharpened edge isn't very deep and I'd hate to try to resharpen the blade myself. If you get the angle wrong by much at all, you're going to ruin more than improve the edge. The handle sports two handy features if you're in public safety work: first is the utility blade that allows you to cut cord, string, webbing, etc. without having to open the knife. The published material about this knife says the auxiliary blade is replaceable, but I can't see how to do it. The knife is held together with allen-head screws and you'd have to remove one grip handle, plus the blade pivot (from what I can tell) to replace that auxiliary blade. Second is the window punch that is built into the back of the knife. Finally, there is also a lanyard hole provided for that extra security in wet or unsteady conditions. These knives are priced so as to make them a good option for rescue work - but recognize them for what they are: cost effective options to higher-dollar knives with the same features but more costly materials and (in my opinion) more efficient design. If you don't want to spend a couple hundred dollars to get these features, you can get the TSSI Rescue Knife for less than $80 (searched online).

Be sure to check out this week's Training/Operations Article on Police Department Knife Regulations & Policies.

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