Buck 110 or Gerber Multi-Tool.

I've never needed any more than those.

Gerber covert everyday, Benchmade for hunting and fishing

Quoted: The Ken Onion Blackout by Kershaw. I lose or break too many knives to spend more than 50 bucks for one to use on duty. files.upl.silentwhisper.net/upload0/a1550st.jpg

+1.  Not a pro, but I USE my knives.  I have carried, used, and abused one for 6 years or so.  Great blade, holds an edge, and sturdy.  I lost it today.  :-(

The assisted opening is great for cutting a seatbelt in a hurry.  It's the highest quality and most easily deployed tactical style folder for the money.  Again, just my opinion.

Quoted: A $15 cheapie I got years ago. Saw blade for cutting line. EVERY SINGLE ESPENSIVE KNIFE I HAVE EVER BROUGHT TO WORK ENDS UP GOING OVER THE SIDE!!!

Lanyards are good for the clumsy piccolo!

If you want to know what sells the best

The cheap chinese and Pakistan sells the best.

If you want a good knife you need to look at the following in no particular order.


Cold Steel, Sog, Benchmade/Emerson, Kershaw, Gerber, CRKT, Masters Of Defense, Spyderco.  

I used to be in the knife business and pretty much all of these that I listed are decent "tactical" knives.  

(I hate the word tactical but they aren't exactly your Case, Buck, and Winchester style knives).  

I prefer Emersons, but for knives that I cut stuff with, Benchmade, and Spyderco are the hands down winners.(I carry the Emersons not for mundane cutting tasks.)  Of course, I'm not a professional anymore.

Benchmade folder and Leatherman Wave - Don't leave the US without them.

I use a benchmade folder.  

Cold Steel..... the best knives I've ever used hands down... big bucks but worth it.

Some Examples

-JIM-

A a JBT I carry a Leatherman Wave.   Yeah, yeah I know their political stance.  My son got me the Leatherman long before the last elections.  I carry it because my son got it for me.  Not because of politics.  

For the record I prefer Gerbers.  

I don't plan on using the knife for self defense.  That's what the guns on my hip and ankle and the AR in the passenger seat are for.

Quoted: Howdy. One of my clients sells supplies to CSI units around the US. Recently they started adding knives to their stock. The thing is, their distributer sells EVERYTHING From KABAR to SOG to Spyderco to Paul Chen swords, to United Cutlery crap. Now, they selected a few things, and I have suggested a few items. But I know there are a lot of Cops/EMT/Fire etc here. Maybe there is even some CSI. But they put me in charge of picking out some other knives that I think would sell. I want to ask - what knives do you use? We want a range, from a $150 thumb opener, to a $15 pocket knife. FUNCTIONALITY is what we need. Something that will apeal to CSIs. I know that Police/Fire/EMTs etc have a different job than CSIs, but you should encounter similar situations and I am hoping the tools will be similar. Please dont be silly and recomend a USMC Kabar (though at the dealer price, I might pick me up one).  But any help you can give me would be great.

To determine the knife you need, you need to figure out what uses it will be put to. Is this designed to be a combat knife? A survival knife?

Odds are that crime scene folks will need something like a multi-tool with a good blade on it. SOG's multi-tools are pretty stout, and Leatherman's new Charge line has a 154CM main blade that holds an edge pretty well. (The other leatherman models have softer stainless blades that don't stand up well to hard use...)

If you get a standard knife as opposed to a multi-tool, stick with plain edges for knives that will see a lot of box opening and general cutting duties, as they are easier to re-sharpen.

I carry a Leatherman Charge XTI as my daily pocket type knife, and an old model Cold Steel Recon 1 made before they changed to using crappy steel in them for serious "social" applications.

For a standard blade general use knife that is durable and high quality at a reasonable price, I reccomend one of the Cold Steel clip-point Voyagers. AUS 8A stainless steel blades and a pretty tough locking mechanism.

They can be had for less than 40 dollars. Most who have any familiarity with them refer to them as one of the best bargains in the modern knife market....

Quoted: As a professional couch potato, my blade of choice is the CRKT M16-14LE. I like it because it is slim and very sharp. Not the best steel, or the best lock. It's not a Benchmade or an Emerson, but it does the job and if I lose it, I can replace it for around $60.

+1

I carry an SOG PE everyday, along with their power pliers. I also have a CRKT m16 and a SOG Flash 2. I like them too, but hink I might get a new Benchmade 5000 I was ogling at SHOT.

Strider SnG and SOG multi-tool in my turnout gear.

We already have a selection of mutli tools entered. We thought they would most likely need multi tools. But we do get some cross sell with police supply companies and regular police.

Thanks again for all the replys! I have a handful we can sell.

Remember to K.I.S,S

Spyderco makes some great knives with awesome steel. I prefer VG-10, holds one scary sharp edge for a long time.

Cold Steel has some good fixed blades and many of thier folders are pretty good beaters.

Kershaw has some great little knives. Thier Spec Bump is next on my list.

Benchmade and Emerson make great knives, nuff said.


Nothing wrong with a large fixed blade like a kabar. Many large knives will do small tasks, few small knives can do large tasks.