2" or Less Blade Folders?

[ugaarguy]

I'm preparing to write a group of knife reviews for an up and coming website, and one of the first sets of reviews will be of 2" or less blade length folders. The 2" blade length is to assure legality for carry on school campuses in the State of Georgia, and in many restrictive jurisdictions across the US. I'm going to focus on quality locking blade knives that meet the blade length restriction, but are still large enough to provide more utility than a key ring knife. I'm trying to cover a variety of manufacturers, lock mechanisms, styles, materials, and price points. So far the knives I've purchased to review are:

Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite: lock back, $20-$30
Boker Plus Subcom Titan: frame lock, $30-$40
Spyderco Meerkat: exotic lock, $70+

I'm planning to buy a Spyderco Chicago soon to cover the liner lock mechanism, and $40-$50 price point. That would give me four knives, across three manufacturers; with a variety of locks, materials, and styles. The Meerkat is likely to be the only knife over $50 for this set of reviews. I'd like to focus on the sub $40 range to keep the majority of knives reviewed within the budget of most college students, and even folks well into their careers who aren't knife aficionados like myself and many of you here.

Are there any other knives meeting the above criteria that you folks think I should be looking at?

 

[JShirley]

The Spyderco Ambitious is in your price range, but 2.25". Where is the 2" standard from?

 

[Shadow 7D]

I really like the CRT KISS
the mini bucks are good and you can usually find them for nothing

 

[kynwatch]

5.11 Tactical has a few with a cutting edge less than 2". I have a few DRT spearpoints that I use and abuse at work. They are cheap enough to be easily replace if lost or broken.

 

[joeschmoe]

My daily carry for years has been the Spyderco Dragonfly. All purpose utility knife. I don't leave home without it.

 

[ugaarguy]

Where is the 2" standard from?

OCGA 16-11-127.1 - http://www.police.uga.edu/documents/O.C.G.A_16-11-127.1.pdf

Unfortunately the code section above does not differentiate between blade length and cutting edge. So, the 5.11 DRT is out; and even the 2.25" blade CRKT KISS, Spyderco Dragonfly, and Spyderco Ambitious are also out.

Any other ideas?

 

[joeschmoe]

Spyderco Ladybug/Manbug

 

[DNS]

Yeah, the Mini Buck is great. Hard to believe you can still get a great American made blade with lifetime warranty for $8 at Academy.

 

[glistam]

888 Pro Wrightknife
http://www.888professional.com/wright_OOS.html

Super small but interesting design and very well made. I have the CopTool and S.O.L. (one of the very few double-edged folders on the market).

Another is the Boker Urban Survival. Looks like a pen in the pocket, but unlike most "pen with hidden knives," it's a folder.

 

[tubeshooter]

I like the MIni Buck, and have a couple floating around. It is actually almost too comfortable; it's pretty easy to not notice that it's not in your pocket.


I also like the Buck Nano Bantam, which would qualify with the under-2" blade requirement. The handle is slightly bigger, so it's not as easy to miss. It's not bigger by much, but for bigger hands I could see it being a welcome thing. Also a little more widely carried by the major sporting goods stores, so it's a bit easier to find/replace (again, not by much).

 

[ugaarguy]

Folks, thanks for the suggestions so far. The 888 Pro Wright Knife looks pretty interesting. I'm going to exclude the Buck MiniBuck and the Spyderco Ladybug / Manbug. Those three are truly key ring knives, and I'm seeking things that have more substantial grips. This is also why I excluded the Cold Steel Micro Recon.

I played with a Spyderco Chicago last year at blade, and it's much more substantial than the Ladybug or Manbug even though it has essentially the same blade length. The Chicago with G10 scales also sells for only a few dollars more than the Lady Bug or Manbug with FRN handles.

I'm looking for, as Spyderco calls them, Little Big Knives. I've ordered a Chicago, and a Boker Plus JC1. The JC1 has a very Subcom like 2" blade with a bit more handle. Last night I read some comments on either Blade forums or EDC forums where Chad Los Banos said the JC1 was supposed to have a thumb stud like some of his larger designs. The blade does have three holes, and Mr. Los Banos even noted that he put the thumb stud from one of his larger Boker Plus knives onto his copy of the JC1. Others on one of those forums mentioned using a small zip tie on the JC1 to make a poor man's wave opener. I'll try a few different things once it gets here.

Again, I appreciate all the suggestions, and I know I'm asking for some rather uncommon knives.

 

[308win]

Kershaw Chive - 1&15\16

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Buck.

 

[ugaarguy]

Deltaboy, is there a particular Buck model that's larger than keyring size with a 2" blade that I'm overlooking?

 

[TimboKhan]

Uga,

Probably to small for your purposes and not the right style of knife, but my favorite small edc blade is by far and away the spyderco kiwi. I like them so much I have a spare still in the box in case I lose the one I normally carry.

It fails yiur requirements because it is a slipjoint, but the way the handle is designed, its a very safe slipjoint.

Maybe I should write a long term review on it!

sent from my Galaxy Note II.

 

[hmphargh]

Al Mar Osprey, Benchmade Benchmite/Benchmite II/Harley Davison Money Clip Knife, and Benchmade Impel

 

[p35]

Kershaw DWO.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I wonder if this isn't maybe a god time to revise your reviews to take in TSA's new rules coming to allow 2.36- inch blades on aircraft?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-05/tsa-will-permit-knives-golf-clubs-on-u-s-planes.html

 

[zxcvbob]

I wonder if this isn't maybe a god time to revise your reviews to take in TSA's new rules coming to allow 2.36- inch blades on aircraft?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...-s-planes.html

Opinel 5 is about the largest knife allowed. (smallest Opinel I own is a 6 )

 

[ugaarguy]

Todd, thanks for that heads up. That certainly adds a little leeway on blade length to expand the reviews. Thankfully these 2" blade campus legal knives will still meet the new TSA allowance. The 58mm blade on the Spyderco Dragonfly meets the criteria, but the 62mm blades on the Byrd Robin, and Spyderco Cat exceed the regs by 2mm. The Spyderco Chicago, which is nearly identical to the Cat, but with a 51mm (2 inch) blade would be permitted. I wonder if manufacturers will start reducing blade lengths by a couple of mm to meet the new TSA regs on their knives that are close. If Spyderco dropped the blade length from 63 to 60 mm on the Salsa and reintroduced it I think it would be quite popular.

 

[JShirley]

Looks like TSA won't allow locking knives.

 

[ugaarguy]

It also looks like blades wider than 1/2" are out. The Spyderco Kiwi is looking like one of the better TSA compliant options. It's a start at least.

 

[Speedo66]

Nope, it has what they consider a "molded grip". Here's their regs http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/03/tsa-prohibited-items-list-changing_5.html

I think Swiss Army wrote the regs.