Folding Knives

Featured review by D Williams

In the 1980s, Opinel folding knives were a camping store fad in North America, and I fell for them hook line and sinker. Since then, I've always had at least one. While Opinel's U.S. distribution has been spotty through the years, Coghlan's, the Canadian supplier of small camping gear has offered them, blister packed on their familiar green cardboard. Opinels, whether sold by Opinel or Coghlan's, are inexpensive workhorses and because they don't cost a mint, if your knife gets lost or beat up, it's not the end of the world.

Read more: Opinel No.08 Carbon Steel Folding Knife reviews (6)

Featured review by Joe

Custom Mini-Griptilian (S30V): Well constructed, factory sharp knife. Handle gives good grip, and the opening hole (Pardue) is more comfortable than any other design.

Purchased this through Benchmade's "custom" ordering process. The order was easy to specify precisely what blade, steel, and grips I wanted. Overall, the knife is light but well put together. It's sharp and the S30V steel will keep its edge longer over other steels. My only complaint is that the handle is not "open" to allow dust and lint to fall through. I think this would have been an easy design change. 

Read more: Benchmade Mini Griptilian Family reviews (6)

Featured review by Lester M

Light, small, tough, and available. The blade you may find you need, at a price you definitely can afford.

A simple design—one sharp, thin (1mm), pointy blade, which folds into a thinly finished beech handle. A chromed, spring steel lock ring, at the riveted pivot point, is a wonderful low-tech way to keep the knife open-or closed—until you change your mind. Available in many lengths; the seven centimetre blade works, for me. It weighs a negligible 27 grammes . If your daily life involves building wilderness shelters, batoning firewood, or rope access, at industrial sites, you'll need a different product.

Read more: Opinel No. 6 Folding Knife reviews (4)

Featured review by PRodacy

I've owned and used this knife as an EDC for nearly four years. It's been used camping, backpacking, and everything else I needed a knife for. I even abuse it by cutting cardboard once in a while.

I also have three Benchmade knives, a Gerber fixed blade, and a Boker knife. This Kershaw doesn't hold an edge as well as the Benchmade knives, but it's fairly easy to sharpen. The blade appears to be pretty strong. Even though the tip is pretty fine, I've never had a problem with breakage, but I wouldn't try prying with it (and you shouldn't—with any knife). The mechanisms still work well after probably thousands of actuations (it's a fun knife to just flick open—sort of addictive), and there doesn't appear to be any wear.

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Featured review by Blacklabpupp

This folding knife has been around for a long time. Not to many have lasted as long as this one.  This knife has a classic shape and classic looks. The brass and wood make for a lot of eye appeal. Folded up it comes in around 4 inches. The blade has a nice point to it, it goes by different names, clip, pointer, drop point, etc.  The blade is stainless, which seems to be the standard for store bought knives now.   The wood handle feels good in your hand when it is cold out. Unlike a plastic or metal handles.

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Featured review by Herdingcats

The 940BK is my EDC and is one of the finest blades I have ever seen or used. I have the blade sharpened to 25° and it's only needed to be sharpened once in all the time I have owned it.

The first Osborn I owned was the 943SBK.  It was an outstanding knife that I used every day for about 7 or 8 years. I was so bummed when I lost it at a football game... really, really bummed.  But there were two things about the blade that I didn't like, so I fixed it when I bought this 940BK. The 943 blade is more of a very cool looking stiletto style.  While the steel is crazy strong, the thin steel at the tip of the blade creates a weak point that I was constantly being careful of (though it never did break).

Read more: Benchmade 940/943 Osborne Family reviews (2)

Reviewed by Wade In The Water

The best pocketknife I've ever owned...drops mic, walks away.

My Old and New Barrage knives I received my Benchmade Barrage knife as a Christmas gift from my wife 8 or 9 years ago and loved it. I carried it in my pocket every day and used it at least once on most of those days... seriously. When traveling I'd have to pack it in my checked bags and I always felt naked without it. So why the past tense you ask? Because it managed to find its way across a bank of batteries and was destroyed by the arc-flash. Long story. That one was so loved that I purchased a new, custom Barrage 580 to replace it, because nothing else would do.

Read more: Benchmade Barrage Family review (1)

Featured review by A. Partridge

The Opinel No. 9 is a highly utilitarian, customizable knife that is perfect for the camper, hiker, hunter, backwoods cook, and farmer alike.

Opinel has been making the same pocket knives with very few changes since 1890. It is a testament to the design that it has not only been around that long, but is one of the most popular knives in the world. The No. 8 is the most popular, but I am a fan of the No. 9 because that extra centimeter in the blade and the handle make it ideal for a man's hands. The Opinel No. 9 comes in two different steel options: Inox (stainless) and Carbone (carbon). Personally, I prefer non-stainless, high-carbon steels in a knife because of the greater utilitarian properties and they aren't so brittle as stainless blades are.

Read more: Opinel No. 9 Folding Knife reviews (3)

Reviewed by JMTx13

Small, very light, very sharp and all you really need––in my opinion, so far...we'll see.

Let’s talk about knives and cutting things, or maybe just my knives and the things, I cut, while out on the trail. And let’s brag just a little. On my first John Muir Trail I went all-out heavy. I paid a lot of money for a burly Dana Designs Astralplane Overkill, that my inexperience carelessly stuffed with all things cotton, not to mention a pair of useless ski pants, that I never wore, in spite of there being a lot of snow on the ground in July of ’96. I also didn’t think to send in any re-supply drops until I got to Vermilion Valley Resort, or even buy dehydrated meals, so you can imagine just how heavy my sack ‘o food (pre-bear canister) was.

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Featured review by Second Gear

This is a simple, light, straightforward blade. A decent knife, it is fine most most hiking and backpacking needs.

For the money, I have been very happy with this knife. It is a good, reliable blade that I feel comfortable taking deep into the woods, but it is inexpensive enough, that if I lost it, I would not be out a ton of money. I believe that this knife has struck a nice balance of cost to quality. The knife is the model of simplicity. It is easy to open. The thumb stud and a wrist flick open it one handed. I have never had to work my knives hard, but the knife has been consistent warm or cold. The knife is 440 steel, and the handle is aluminum.

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