After carrying a Benchmade AFO for years, I decided to go to a smaller, lighter knife. My EDC knife use consists mostly of opening boxes, cutting thin plastic, etc. Just general stuff, but the knife gets opened 20-30 times a day on average. This post isn't to trash any maker or blade, but may make some of you think about your choice for an EDC blade given the cost of a quality OTF.

First the good: They are very light and you hardly notice them in your pocket. This will spoil you when you try to go back to a folding knife.

Now the rest of the story:

Started out with an Ultratech Spartan with a tri-grip textured handle. This lasted all of 2 weeks because it was shredding my pockets and the blade was pretty useless at cutting anything more than an envelope. I'm not knocking the Elmax steel or the factory sharpness of the blade, it just doesn't have any belly and a double edge blade not only felt weak, but wouldn't allow you to choke up on it if you had to cut something thick.

Changed to a Benchmade Phaeton. Single edge, somewhat drop point blade, S30V. It was light, had enough texture to get a good grip on it, and S30V isn't hard to sharpen and holds an edge well.

The knife was pretty tight at first with very little blade play. After about 2 years, I started noticing vertical play when I would cut anything heavy. This got progressively worse as time went on. Finally, and fortunately while I was at home, I opened the knife and the blade stuck. The steel blade is obviously harder than the aluminum handle material and had finally beat it to the point the spring couldn't overcome the internal damage that years of use caused. I couldn't get the knife disassembled until I hammered the blade back in with a rubber hammer. It took a little creative dremel and file work to get it functioning again. Yes, I know I could have sent it back to Benchmade, but that's a pain in the ass with their policy on warranty work for auto knives when you aren't LEO or military.

I was able to get the knife functioning reliably again, but have decided light weight OTFs don't make good EDC blades when you use them regularly.

How often did you service it?

otf is dumb. a cool toy is all.

I purposely didn't to see how long it would last.

I agree, it's a novelty to an extent. It was ok for light daily use like opening boxes but I wouldn't consider it for anything else. Even with this knife in my pocket, I kept the AFO with me every day waiting for this one to crater.

Why choose a "Spartan" blade profile?  Wouldn't a "SE" profile fit your needs better?  Or better yet, a box cutter (yes, not cool looking)?  
Gimmicky?  It serves a purpose.  

I've carried a "TE" profile since 2015 as an EDC and it works fine.  But, I'm not you.  
 

I also carried a non tanto AFO and AFO II for years.  Large fat knife.  Took up a lot of real estate pocket opening wise.

Why choose a "Spartan" blade profile?  Wouldn't a "SE" profile fit your needs better?  Or better yet, a box cutter (yes, not cool looking)?  
Gimmicky?  It serves a purpose.

Local gun shop was going out of business. I picked up the Microtech and some tritium sights for one of my Benelli M4's for $150 out the door. It was the last day they were open and the owner was taking offers on the remaining stock.

So yes, a SE profile would have been better but the option wasn't there. Had it not been cheap, I wouldn't have bought it. I got a pretty decent price on the Phaeton too, but at a different shop.

I'm of the same opinion.  Fun to sit on the couch and "snick-snick" while watching your favorite reruns.  

I've carried an OTF microtech and after a year or so pocket lint had collected inside and prevented it from locking open.  I blasted it out, lightly lubed it, and had it happen again after another ~4 months.

I bought a small sebenza 13 years ago and haven't bothered carrying anything else since then.  

They make sense for Double Edge carry, as a defensive weapon / emergency cutting tool.

Other then a butterfly knife, OTF is the only real way to have a blade like this in a pocket knife:



It's what I'd imagine James Bond would carry on a mission as a pocket knife. Plane edge for fine work, serrated for cutting ropes and seatblets, pointy end for social work, and glass breaker for escaping cars.

For those who dont primarily use their knives for escaping from submerged vehicles or stabbing sentries, a Spyderco is much more practical.

Weird. I’ll have to tell my $30 Lightning OTFs this. They are beat to sh*t, used for everything from opening boxes to cutting tar paper for roofing.. and everything in between. They keep on trucking.

I also disagree completely on OTF being a novelty. The ability to quickly deploy and just as quickly, with one hand, retract the blade is very helpful. While I’m glad I didn’t buy any expensive OTFs, I rarely find myself using a standard folder anymore and don’t like carrying them either.

I love my Lightnings. People have carried them for years with no issues. Smoothest action and best lock up of any DA OTF I’ve tried even.

The Lightning’s really are an anomaly. Boring reliable, doesn’t matter if I lose it, but I do wish they had better blade steel. Definitely better than the normal 420 or 440A equivalents most use, but still below 9CR even.

Mine seems to take an edge really well on a Ken Onion Worksharp but does need touched up from time to time. Better blade steel would be cool.. but for $30 I won’t complain.

Attached File

Almost exactly the reason I EDC a Combat Troodon. but half serrated on each side. I've got a glass breaker, seatbelt cutter, and medium length sword in my pocket all the time

If I'm at my desk I use a letter opener. If I'm home I use a fixed blade. If I'm camping I carry a mora or similar. But for a social occasion knife that may be put to light EDC use on a rare occasion? none better than a good OTF

This is my EXACT experience.  

I got a Lightning for the novelty and now I carry it everyday at work' as a utility knife.  I'm a 95% office guy but I open and close it all day long - string, letters, boxes, plastics, boredom.

I think where OTF's shine is as a weak-hand, secondary pocket knife.  I don't usually carry one as a primary, but for one-handed (weak-hand) use, they excel for those odd tasks.

ROCK6