The Perfect EDC Knife

[Briar Lee]

Almost thirty years ago at a party where I was singing hillbilly boy’s blues a friend showed me the first modern “flipper” knife I’d ever seen.

He was so proud of it he said it was a prototype he’d bought someplace in Arkansas for $200. I can remember looking it all over and thinking that Kershaw was indeed the ultimate everyday pocket knife.

I’ve bought my sons modern “flipper” knives but until today I’d not bought my own.

I don’t like the name Doom Blade, but for $13.50 I have the perfect everyday carry pocket knife.

But only an Arkansawyer could be proud of how it looks:.

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[RustiePyles CPG]

One of my favorite EDC knives is a ball bearing flipper. Buck Executive with micarta handle.

 

[Briar Lee]

Why is this cheap Chinese import the perfect EDC knife?

The first reason is size. Most states have an “ordinary pocketknife” exception to their deadly weapons statutes for knives with handles no more than five inches and blades no longer than four inches. This one is comfortably legal to carry.

The second is it’s solid as a fixed blade. Zero play when opened. When use loosens the blade Torx screws on both sides can be adjusted to return it to new.

The third is no thumb stud, no springs to assist the opening, and a removable clip.
A good stout spring holds it closed. A flip opens it. Take off the clip and it’s a true pocket knife that won’t come open in your pocket.

Fourth, it has a D2 tool steel blade. It should stay sharp a long time and modern Diamond sharpeners will make it sharp again.

Fifth, it has G-10 handles. My friend in 1994 talked about his prototype flipper having “circuit board” scales. G-10 is the ultimate in synthetic scales.

Like pipes, I have too many knives to count.

But this one or one like it, is the only one anybody really needs.

 

[Scottmi]

If that is really D2 steel, I am very impressed at the price!

 

[Sobrbiker]

If that is really D2 steel, I am very impressed at the price!

I’m almost temped to buy a couple to give one to my ABS knife smith buddy to destruction test to see.

….almost.

 

[shanez]

Mine:

 

[SBC]

My EDC is a Case Trapper, mainly because few things are more iconic than a Case Trapper.

I just inherited my grandfather's EDC when he passed away a couple months ago -- an equal end spearpoint Boker from way back in the authentic Solingen days (Boker has largely sold out since then).

For me the classic symmetry of an equal end spearpoint rings a special bell, visually.

But I like many traditional slipjoints.
Lockbacks are functional, no argument there, but for me they just don't have the magic of a traditional slipjoint.

 

[bullet08]

US made with M390 steel. US made custom G10 scales. Easy opening with one hand. Simple closure with one hand. Easy to sharpen with diamond sharpener. Daily carry. Benchmade Doug Ritter MK1.

 

[Briar Lee]

I’m so old I consider my 1974 Queen folder with 440C to be a super steel.

440C was a super steel, in 1974.

Today there are many super steels.

—-

Böhler M390 steel: what is it and why is it so popular?​

Böhler M390 is one of the most popular types of steel at the moment. It is praised for its excellent sharpness retention. But where did this superstar in the knife world come from? And why is M390 so popular? Knivesandtools explains!

Where does Böhler M390 come from?​

Böhler M390 comes from the Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG factory in Kapfenberg, Austria. This manufacturer produces types of steel that are incredibly wear and tear resistant. The so-called 'specialty steels'. It might come as quite the surprise, but almost all types of steel as we know them today were not developed as knife steel. Many types of steel were developed for ball bearings or parts in jet engines. The same applies to Böhler M390.

Even though Böhler M390 is one of the most popular and best performing types of steel on the market, Böhler developed it to be used in moulds for the injection moulding industry. When you look at the Böhler datasheet you can still see that it is listed as the primary purpose. The fact that it is also great for use in knives is considered to be an alternative purpose.
For these moulds the steel also needs to be extremely wear and tear resistant. If you want to be able to take the same shape from one mould approx. 10.000 times, it shouldn't wear out between casting it the first or the 10.000th time. That is why these moulds are made from top-quality types of steel.

It is therefore not that surprising that M390 is used as steel for moulds. The industrial market is, after all, much bigger. Böhler can sell a lot more kilos of steel to this industry than the knife industry where you are talking about relatively small and light-weight sheets of steel.

——

If you gave the Chinese factory a sheet of 390 they’d make the same knife as my $13.50 Doom Blades D2 flipper.

The cost would be higher not just because 390 is more expensive than D2, but 390 would wear out the tooling cutters quicker.

The frame of my cheapie Doom brand knife is milled, or laser cut, probably from 440A steel. It also has stainless screws. The scales are molded from circuit board grade G10. That knife frame will last as long as the pyramids of Egypt.

Today a new fad is knife frames with replaceable blades.

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My Queen is still as good as it was in 1974.

Every big folder I’ve bought since has been just another toy in the box.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Today a new fad is knife frames with replaceable blades.

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Responsible for more stitches in hunters’ hands than any knives previously!

 

[PaulRVA]

I’ve been using a Zero Tolerance as a flipper for a few years now and have been pleased. Microtec and Buck automatics have also been great.

 

[troutface]

If that is really D2 steel, I am very impressed at the price!

I'd be skeptical of the heat treat, but I've never owned one.

 

[Briar Lee]

One thing I’ve noticed about my new Doom flipper knife is by some kind of unseen magic a strong spring action holds the blade inside the frame. This won’t come open in your pocket.

And that same spring grabs the blade at the last little boy before it’s open and KaaaSsssNaaapp she locks open. This won’t close up on your fingers.

Somebody a helluva lot more mechanical than I am figured that all out.

I also noticed little guide slots for the two screws cast into the scales. Those are probably for a machine to assemble it.


The entire fit of the knife is so cookie cutter perfect I’ll bet the entire line is 100-% automated.

If you ordered a thousand I’d guess the factory would stamp any brand you liked, and make them in any color they could buy G10.

Just amazing.

The perfect folding knife, for an hour’s wages for a teenager.

I had to work 20 hours at a $1.25 an hour to buy my $25 Queen.

 

[Briar Lee]

I'd be skeptical of the heat treat, but I've never owned one.

It came wickedly sharp.

I’d say who ever had thd talent to set up a line to make these jewelry quality factory knives also had a huge electric furnace with computers heat treating the blades.

One production advantage D2 has is you can machine it while annealed and then air harden it.

—-

D2 steel is an air hardening, high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel. It has high wear and abrasion resistant properties. It is heat treatable and will offer a hardness in the range 55-62 HRC, and is machinable in the annealed condition. D2 steel shows little distortion on correct hardening.

D2 Steel Properties

D2 steel is an air hardening, high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel. D2 has high wear and abrasion resistant properties.

www.steelexpress.co.uk

——

 

[troutface]

D2 is still a good steel, even though it's been around for something like 100 years if I'm not mistaken. It got a black eye from the crappy Chinese companies that weren't doing it right. There are serious Chinese companies that do a great job with it though. Let us know how it performs over time.

 

[gamzultovah]

Kershaw Tanto with the Emerson Wave instant opening feature.

 

[troutface]

My Harvey King bird and trout in D2. Love this knife. I'm not a D2 hater.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

My EDC is a Case Trapper, mainly because few things are more iconic than a Case Trapper.

I just inherited my grandfather's EDC when he passed away a couple months ago -- an equal end spearpoint Boker from way back in the authentic Solingen days (Boker has largely sold out since then).

For me the classic symmetry of an equal end spearpoint rings a special bell, visually.

But I like many traditional slipjoints.
Lockbacks are functional, no argument there, but for me they just don't have the magic of a traditional slipjoint.

Case Trapperlock is one of my favorites hands down, classic styling with a pocket clip and a thumb stud. It’s truly a one of a kind knife. I would be devastated if I lost mine.

 

[Briar Lee]

D2 is still a good steel, even though it's been around for something like 100 years if I'm not mistaken. It got a black eye from the crappy Chinese companies that weren't doing it right. There are serious Chinese companies that do a great job with it though. Let us know how it performs over time.

The more I look at this thing the more I fall in love with the design of the frame.

My 1974 Queen Folding Hunter had everything but locking blades.

It was and is about as big a pocket knife as you’d want to carry in a jeans pocket, with snazzy (or so I thought) winter bottom Delrin scales and a clip and spey blade. When it gets loose put it on a bench and whack the bolsters with a rubber mallet. The 440C mirror polished blades were a little harder to sharpen than chrome vanadium blades but haven’t rusted any in a half century.

But it’s a big moose of a knife. It’s for hunting deer or bigger game.

This new flipper is a medium thickness 3 1/2 inch clip blade with a frame around it that’s perfectly minimalist. The G10 scales are thin and beveled to minimize pocket wear. There’s a lanyard hole if you want to wear it around your neck. It snaps open and snaps shut, and how I can’t figure out.

And except for the removable clip not one geegaw or foofraw anywhere to sell it to a customer, no springs or studs, just a pure tool.

This is the best designed single blade medium sized pocket knife I’ve ever picked up, at any price.

You could carry this knife a lifetime and not hurt it.

If these are a copy of a better knife I’d like to know what of.

 

[Briar Lee]

One of the best articles I’ve seen about knife steels:

Guide to the Best Knife Steel

Check out our essential guide to knife steel as we discuss the most popular steels and the key factors to consider in choosing the best steel for your knife.

knifeinformer.com

Mostly there’s so many knife steels to give us an excuse to try all of them.

There’s really nothing wrong with 1095, except it rusts.

The 420 HC that Buck and Case have used for ages is more than adequate.

And since diamond sharpeners became commonplace, the “super steels” start at D2.