John's Folding Knives Collection

Most of the gun enthusiasts I know, also have a tender place in their hearts, for other fighting instruments, such as knives. So do I. A good knife can attract my sight as strongly as a nice M-1911 can. Since however I like to see the practical sides of life, as much as I love fixed blade knives, my heart is sold to the small fighting folders, which one can carry concealed on his body, without any discomfort and which are (in the hands of a skilled person) equally effective, if not more so.

With this as an introduction, I would like to share with you my experiences with those lovely folders. Select one of the links below for more:

- My first folder, a Smith & Wesson SWAT 3000
- My second folder, an Emerson CQC-7B
- My experience dealing with Emerson Knives Inc.
- My third folder, a Smith & Wesson SWAT 2000
- My fourth folder, a Smith & Wesson SWAT 3000G10
- Modifications to the Smith & Wesson SWAT 2000
- My Smith & Wesson SWAT Tactical
- My Smith & Wesson family
- My Cold Steel Voyager
- My Cold Steel Recon 1
- My SOG AutoClip
- My Cold Steel Tuff-Lite
- My mundane chores knives
- My Lightfoot 458 Magnum Millenium Tanto
- My Benchmade Mel Pardue 721
- My MoD Tempest (tested by Brownie, with remarks from me, opens in new window)
- My MoD Trident (tested by me, opens in new window)
- My Microtech Lightfoot LCC (tested by me, opens in new window)
- My Benchmade Griptilian 550 (tested by me, opens in new window)
- My Spyderco Delica Lightweight (tested by me, opens in new window)
- My Benchmade Presidio 520 SBT (tested by me, opens in new window)
- My full collection so far
- My experiences with knife-related companies
- My latest dream

Below you can see a summary table with my impressions about the above folders.

Folder Initial Impression Current Impression

SW-3000 Very Good (didn't know better) Good

CQC-7B Excellent (didn't know better) Very Good (my next CQC-7 will have no serrations and no black coated blade)

SW-2000 Good Good (if I could only reverse its clip)

SW-3000 G10 Good Very Good (with the mods applied)

SW Tactical Good Good

Voyager Good Good (if only they had a 3.5" blade one, instead only 3" or 4")

Recon 1 Good Good (same as above)

Lightfoot 458 Excellent Excellent (after a trip back to Mr. Lightfoot's workshop)

Benchmade 721 Very Good Very Good

M.o.D. Tempest Very Good Excellent

M.o.D. Trident Very Good Excellent

Microtech Lightfoot LCC Excellent Excellent

Benchmade Griptilian 550 Very Good Too early to tell

Now, if you are really interested to read what I like in a folder these days, here is the list:

Blade style Classical tanto (like the one in the 458 or Brad's Duncan Whiplashes), drop-point or clip-point in that order.

Blade material Stellite or any good stainless steel (BG-42 etc.).

Blade length My ideal is 3.5-3.75". Anything less is too small for me, anything longer is excessive.

Blade grind Hollow ground.

Blade coating No coating, brushed metal is fine with me. Coatings get scratched and become ugly.

Handles material G10 or other plastic materials. G10 can have a rough, non-slippery surface, which I found helpfull. Plain carbon fiber is normally too slippery for a tactical folder, hard to get the knife out of your pocket, unless you have some cord attached at the rear.

Bolsters material Anything, preferably titanium.

Liners material Stainless steel or titanium.

Locking mechanism Liner-lock is fine if a snap-back action is implemented, else lockback or other methods (like Axis-Lock).

Clip orientation Tip-up.

Opening facilities Single-side thumb stud, the same height (or a little less) as the thickness of the handle.

Hardware Plain hex screws, allen screws, torx screws (in that order).

Peculiarities The blade should snap back to its closed position by itself, during the last few degrees of its travel.
I do not like cuts or finger grooves in the handles. A small one for easier access to the thumb stud is enough.
I do not like curved handles, I prefer straight lines there.
I do not like edges in the bolsters, which are supposed to act as guards.

In short, the Lightfoot 458 Magnum would be an ideal knife for me, if:

- It was a little longer (maybe by .5").
- The blade snapped back to its closed position with some more authority.
- Had shorter and single-sided thumb stud (like I modified it).
- Had non-slippery handles.

Oh well, there is no such a thing as the perfect knife! But the Masters of Defense Tempest comes very close to being one.

Folder	Initial Impression	Current Impression
SW-3000	Very Good (didn't know better)	Good
CQC-7B	Excellent (didn't know better)	Very Good (my next CQC-7 will have no serrations and no black coated blade)
SW-2000	Good	Good (if I could only reverse its clip)
SW-3000 G10	Good	Very Good (with the mods applied)
SW Tactical	Good	Good
Voyager	Good	Good (if only they had a 3.5" blade one, instead only 3" or 4")
Recon 1	Good	Good (same as above)
Lightfoot 458	Excellent	Excellent (after a trip back to Mr. Lightfoot's workshop)
Benchmade 721	Very Good	Very Good
M.o.D. Tempest	Very Good	Excellent
M.o.D. Trident	Very Good	Excellent
Microtech Lightfoot LCC	Excellent	Excellent
Benchmade Griptilian 550	Very Good	Too early to tell

Blade style	Classical tanto (like the one in the 458 or Brad's Duncan Whiplashes), drop-point or clip-point in that order.
Blade material	Stellite or any good stainless steel (BG-42 etc.).
Blade length	My ideal is 3.5-3.75". Anything less is too small for me, anything longer is excessive.
Blade grind	Hollow ground.
Blade coating	No coating, brushed metal is fine with me. Coatings get scratched and become ugly.
Handles material	G10 or other plastic materials. G10 can have a rough, non-slippery surface, which I found helpfull. Plain carbon fiber is normally too slippery for a tactical folder, hard to get the knife out of your pocket, unless you have some cord attached at the rear.
Bolsters material	Anything, preferably titanium.
Liners material	Stainless steel or titanium.
Locking mechanism	Liner-lock is fine if a snap-back action is implemented, else lockback or other methods (like Axis-Lock).
Clip orientation	Tip-up.
Opening facilities	Single-side thumb stud, the same height (or a little less) as the thickness of the handle.
Hardware	Plain hex screws, allen screws, torx screws (in that order).
Peculiarities	The blade should snap back to its closed position by itself, during the last few degrees of its travel. I do not like cuts or finger grooves in the handles. A small one for easier access to the thumb stud is enough. I do not like curved handles, I prefer straight lines there. I do not like edges in the bolsters, which are supposed to act as guards.