Looking for the best of the Best of the BEST!  Who make the BEST pocket knife and why?

"Uncle Henry"(life time replacement Guarntee)

Benchmade.

For single blade I love my (2 3/4" blade)Ken Onion Kershaw. Liner lock, quick opening, strong blade.
For swiss army, I have a 2 1/2" Wenger with blade, file, and scissors.
These meet my needs, but I have been looking for 3" Wenger with no luck.

ByteTheBullet (-:

I'm guessing there are better custom knife makers & one or two other companies in the running BUT  I'm a huge Benchmade fan!
[url]www.benchmade.com[/url]

I usually window shop here
[url]www.knifecenter.com[/url]

and buy here
[url]www.discountknives.com[/url]

Spyderco

Because they gave me some for free!

And they are damn good knives

The question is way too open ended.

What kind of pocket knife are you looking for?

Camp/utility :Swiss Army Knives from either Victorinox or Wenger are real hard to beat here.  My favorite group of blades/tools includes a 2.5 inch blade, a 1 inch blade, an awl, a saw, a corkscrew, a file, a bottle opener/screwdriver, can opener, and a phillips head screw driver. The knife blades on these are real easy to re-sharpen and are plenty handy for routine chores.

Hunting/Fishing: Schrade or Buck. but in reality fixed blades are better here.

Defensive:  I'm partial to Emerson knives myself.  Super rugged, well built and the warranty doesn't get voided if you want to take it apart to clean crud out of the nooks and crannies...do that with a Benchmade and the warranty is voided. Good steel, good edge geometry, good choice of finishes.

Pocket tools: Leatherman Wave..Good tools, good designs, good workmanship.  I also like the Gerber pocket tool.

Don't forget Gerber

My forever favorite: Chris Reeves Sebenza

The liner lock gets tighter in use, can't accidentally close up and slice your fingers off during use.

Way cool.

I went to lowe's one day to by a set of small punches.

I look over to my right, and I saw a Old Timer, that came with carry pouch, oiling and sharping kit all for $15. Blade is 470T and has decent sharpness to it. Best bang for buck IMHO.

Have Benchmade, Spydeco, ect. ,but have also had several Case Knives since I was a Kid (I'm 53) and still carry them. Tree brand is a good old one as well.

Chalk up another one for a Chris Reeve Sebenza.  I have never carried anything better.

Microtech, Robbie Dalton, they don't get any better than that.

The Chris Reeve Sebenza is, hands down, the best folding knife in the world.  I had the pleasure of Meeting Mr. Reeve and his wife this past weekend at the Blade Show.  Example after example of his flawless folders each revealed an aspect of burly exquisiteness.  They are now being offered with CPM S30V steel, which he helped develop.  This is THE new steel that the custom guys are scrambling to get.  I have two and walked out with my third!
   Truely the Rolex equivalent in knives.

If you are looking for the classic "Swiss Army"-type pocket knife, then Victorinox has no equal. Period.

Yeah, I know the Wegner people will say I'm full of it, but that's only because Wegner and Victorinox are like the Red Sox and the Yankees. You love one and HATE the other.

I've had more Victorinoxes than I can remember. I still have my first one, which is now almost 25 years old. Never had a glich. Those that I no longer have got lost, not broken. Those that required service were fixed for free. I love those guys.

One thing, though. If you are looking for a multi-tool, nothing, NOTHING, beats the Leatherman Wave. I remember scoffing at the original leatherman, prefering a Gerber multi-plier or a SuperChamp, but after trying the Wave, all bets are off. I'll carry the Victorinox in my glovebox, but the Wave on my belt!

If what you want is a folding knife, I only recommend Bucks and Gerbers. The new tactical knives (like MicroTech) are super-cool, super-good, but also super-expensive.

Oh, well. Just my .223. Sorry for the long shpeel... [:)]

My AR15.com tactical folder feels pretty good in the pocket and the cool factor is damn fine....

[size=6][red]Cold Steel[/red][/size=6]
Guarantee, patented steel, edge holding, strongest locks, once techniques are learned fast as an auto to open.

Mike

[size=6]COLD STEEL[/SIZE=6]

Having worked at a knife store for several years for "gun money" I had m pick of a lot of good knives for low prices.  I bought many Benchmades, and bought several othre brands as well.  However, Case knives always appealed to me.  My father always carried a Case, and I knew they were made well.  I now own several Case knives, and even though I usually carry a Benchmade mini-AFCK, I'd prefer to carry a Case.  I'm trying to get Case to repair one of my dad's old knives (blades are sharpened to nubs) but keep the scales.  I hope they'll do it for me.

I have both a Kershaw Ken Onion Whirlwind, and an Emerson blade (I forget the model Emerson)...I use the Kershaw as my work blade, and the Emerson when I'm not going to work ;)

They're both great. Apparently a lot of military folks carry Emersons...supposedly, anyway.

Ed

If ya want a pocket knife that you can hand down to the son or grandkids, you can't beat a Case. Those knives are just made sooo well. As far as the Swiss Army knife goes, Victorinox beats the shit out of Wegner. I own both, and it's like comparing, say, a Buck (high side) to a Schrade (lower side). Both are good knives, will get the job done, but there's a visible difference in that "quality feel". Other than that, I have a couple of SOG folding lockblades that are really impressing me. I'm one of those people that has WAY more knives than a sane individual requires. I'm still looking for a really nice, affordable sheath knife. (lost the last one, it was a G96) [peep]

In terms of folding lock blades, I like the classic Buck 110. Check out the blade, it is probably 50% thicker than the any of typical blades from Benchmade, Sypderco etc; and to boot when it costed something like $35. Of course the 110 also weighs a LOT more. I think it may also be illegal to carry in the pocket in some localities since the blade is well over 4". It come with a leather sheath.

I still like the swiss army

I've destroyed both Spydercos and a Gerber in use.  THe Spyderco Delica lived up to it's name.  I snapped the tip right off and later actually managed to break the handle when I was prying with the stub of the blade.  Yeah I know, I was abusing the knife, but abuse is normal in emergencies.  The blade bent something wicked prior to the handle splitting open.  Lucky I didn't cut my hand open.  The Gerber EZ Out's blade held up fine, but the handle quit on that one too, not completely, but bad enough for the lock to release on me.

Now I prefer a knife with good, solid metal liners, preferably titanium to save a touch of weight.

CPM steels are Crucible Powdered Metals.  They are serious stuff.  Using powdered metals allows the metallurgist to precisely control the alloy composition and crystal size. Exceptional stuff.  The perfect blade would be CPM steel alloy monocrystalline cast then differentially tempered...of course that would cost major money to set up production of the blanks and then a lot of hand work to complete.

Aloha,
Best of the best huh?,,,,hmmmm that opens up a lot of possibilities and opinions. Here is my 2 cents:
For productions folders....the Chris Reeve Sebenza just is hard to beat. Simple, ugly, hard to beat. The frame lock is simple, and bullet proof. Compare liner locks from the popular brands and with the Sebenza...its a no brainer which is better. The Sebenza also comes in a lefty version also, and will absolutely ruin a lefty knife owner for life.

Strider AR or GB. Strider now has the lock on bullet proof folders. It is way over built. It has a 4 inch blade that is 1/8 inch thick (I think) It is a liner lock, but locks with a solid "chunk" sound. It does fit in your pocket, but its a handfull. Both closed and open it makes those old big Bucks look like a sissy blade. Until the Busse guys come out with their folder, it leads the pack as far as hard use folders go.

Mayo TNT. Made by Tom Mayo here in Hawaii, (and who links this forum on his web site) TNT stands for Titanium N Talonite. He makes most of them with Stellite now. Handmade, they come wicked sharp (scary sharp in knife parlance) with the talonite/stellite blade and a titanium frame. These knives are also frame locks. Tom takes all the best features of the Sebenza, and improves it. Talonite and Stellite are non ferrous alloys...the advantage is that they do not and can not rust. Neither the blade or the frame (titanium). Mayo has several models from small to large with a variety of blade types. Expect a bit of a wait if you really want a custom. The fit and finish of Mayos knives are legend in the contemporary knife world.

Me, I have a  big mix of knives. My daily carry is usually a Strider AR, a Chris Reeve Sebenza, sometimes a Microtech SOCOM or an Emerson. Hard use folders all.

I would advise you, and anyone who is interested to read Bladeforums.com, knifeforums.com or Usualsuspect.net There's opinions and lively discussions just as  here in the AR15 forum. You can do a search of the sites for any of the knives mentioned or that you are interested in, or go to the specific forums for the brands you are interested in and get a consensus of opinions.
The Spydercos, Benchmades, Case, Bucks are all very good knives, and I have a bundle of them too. You asked for the best....and those that I have mentioned are a definite cut above the rest. It is up to you to decide what features you want and how you want to use it. For each of those factors....there is a knife for you out there.
Happy Hunting

wabi

Damn. I didn't know anbody else even carried these things.
I carry my dad's Buck 110 around with me (since my SOG is 12 inches long and a bit big off the belt). Mine only has a 2-1/4 inch blade but the blade is thick as hell. Cool thing is the knife was bought back in the sixties or so and it still is flawless except for the fact that my dad didn't sharpen it from the mid seventies on, so I'm debating giving up with my stone and taking it somewhere for somebody with a machine to sharpen the damn thing for me. It's a great knife, and takes a lot of abuse.

OOPS I WAS WRONG!. Out of curiosity, I measured the blade thickness of my 110, it is 0.120"; and my Benchmade/Elizhewitz 910 Stryker & Benchmade/Emerson 975 are both 0.125".