I LOVE knives with flippers. I'm itching for a new flipper but I'm at a loss. Here's the models I've consider/owned/held/etc. and I'll entertain your suggestions as well. Kershaw Chill - Love this knife. RJ Martin makes my favorite flipper design. This is a cheap knife, however, and doesn't quite curb my craving. ZT0560 - Great, smooth, flipper. Was quite big though. Sold it. Loved it however. Hinderer XM-18 - Later down the road. Expensive for the moment and further down on my life of wants. Kinda beefy. BM300SN - Handled. Don't like the action. Not very aesthetic. Chunky. Nope. CRKT Ripple - Handled before it went in the EDCF GAW. Not bad. Too alien-looking, not my style. Kershaw Volt 3600 - I love this knife. Only thing, their hard to find and their expensive. Someday, I'll get my hands on this one. Spyderco Southard - Expensive for what it is, IMO, but a great knife. Not sure if I like the design much. Kershaw Cryo - Don't like SS frames. Kind of small. Eh. Hit me up with your suggestions, pics are appreciated. Thanks!
How about the Kershaw Cryo? I like it, but I am definitely in the newbie category. People have said it is heavy and steel if not top notch. Regardless, I'm a fan and it opens quickly!
I've got a note on it at the end of the 1st post. I don't really like all SS knives. It's kind of small. I've handled it a few times. Not my thing. Thanks for the suggestion though.
I don't own any of these but I have been interested in them... Curtiss Knives Cruze Mini, Cruze Flipper and Cruze XL Todd Begg Bodega Eddleman Knives Flipper
Talk to sam he is a awesome guy!! I have a Eddleman Flipper being made for me, he really works with you in building your dream knife. All of the expensive flippers I have liked so far, I love my brous blades Silent Solider Flipper and the hinderer is flawless, the southard has a rubbish pocket clip and if your not carefull could probly poke/cut yourself pretty good with the tip of the blade in your pocket since the knife really does have a 1:1 ratio with the blade and handle. The cryo is a really nice knife for the money but you better like heavy knives because it might be small but it is stout. You can also look at the Sog Twitch series of knives. I have a david curtiss F3 on order and he is also a really nice guy to deal with and talk too about them. Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr
Of the listed above, I vote for the Southard - quality piece My experience is that I pretty much need to sample the knife in my own hands to know if it will be a good fit, and since flipper's seem to all have a certain "action" of their own, it's best IMO to go for what you like aesthetically and get it in hand to see how it flips.
I really like the flipper action on the big ZT 200. My ZT200 flips open considerably better than my XM-18 3.5" (although the XM works really well with the thumb stud). In some cases, I think you need a stronger detent on the flipper to built up force. That is why some of the custom makers produce models with a thumbstud or a flipper but not both. I spoke with at least one custom maker who says he has to tune them for the type of deployment.
Kershaw Skyline: Made in USA, non assisted, G10 and steel framelock AND there are a ton of variations. I've been looking for one myself, it's hard to find it at a decent price in Canada.
If you loosen the pivot on the xm-18 just a hair it flys open. I had a little trouble using the flipper at first easily but if you just barely turn the pivot it makes a world of difference.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm not a fan of Kershaw's knives. I like the Chill because of it's design. I've owned a Skyline, sold it. I'm not keen about CRKT M16s and all its variations. Not a fan of the lock or the aesthetic. All the knives that catch my attention are in the $500+ range. The Southard looks like the closest thing to what I want, but I'm not quite sure about it yet. Anyway, thanks! Keep the pics comin!
