EDC SD Knife Suggestions

[D.B. Cooper]

I'm looking for a fighting knife I can carry fully concealed as a substitute for a firearm. (Yeah, I know...smh...don't ask.) So, probably a folder. Budget of around $100. Good quality-not junk. (If that's possible at $100.)

Ready, set, GO!

 

[hso]

Are you willing to carry IWB? That will put you into a fixed blade pretty easily at that price.

You say "fighting" and then SD. Are you looking for a knife to get someone off of you if jumped or something more lethal? A simple TDI will get someone off of you, but you're more likely to kill an attacker with a larger blade like a Cold Steel Recon tanto.

How much training with martial knife use do you have or are you willing to get?

 

[theotherwaldo]

Carry two.
Two is one, one is none.
I carry a Kershaw Blur and one other knife, which rotates depending on what I am doing at the time.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Are you willing to carry IWB? That will put you into a fixed blade pretty easily at that price.

You say "fighting" and then SD. Are you looking for a knife to get someone off of you if jumped or something more lethal? A simple TDI will get someone off of you, but you're more likely to kill an attacker with a larger blade like a Cold Steel Recon tanto.

How much training with martial knife use do you have or are you willing to get?

Probably not. I have the same problem with IWB with my sidearm. I tuck my shirts in, so there is nothing to conceal the grips/handles etc. Full concealment is critical here.

 

[hso]

Do you wear a jacket or vest that would cover it?

 

[WrongHanded]

If you're going to carry a folder for SD, the most important thing is that you can get it out and opened reliably and quickly. That is far more important than size, blade geometry, steel, or anything else.

Personally, I'd go for a fixed blade AIWB (or somewhere around midline) if that is a legal option. If not, I'd prefer an assisted or auto opener. If I couldn't do either of those, I'd take an axis lock like a Benchmade Griptilian or similar, and a can of pepper spray with whatever knife I chose.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Do you wear a jacket or vest that would cover it?

No. Polo/golf shirt tucked into dockers.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

If you're going to carry a folder for SD, the most important thing is that you can get it out and opened reliably and quickly. That is far more important than size, blade geometry, steel, or anything else.

Personally, I'd go for a fixed blade AIWB (or somewhere around midline) if that is a legal option. If not, I'd prefer an assisted or auto opener. If I couldn't do either of those, I'd take an axis lock like a Benchmade Griptilian or similar, and a can of pepper spray with whatever knife I chose.

I'm already there with the pepper spray. Yeah, I'll have to learn some new skill sets with the knife.

Griptillian is a bit out of reach for me right now. Is there something about 40-60 or so dollars less that is comparable?

 

[WrongHanded]

I'm already there with the pepper spray. Yeah, I'll have to learn some new skill sets with the knife.

Griptillian is a bit out of reach for me right now. Is there something about 40-60 or so dollars less that is comparable?

I actually don't know for sure, but Buck Knife may still be making a similar axis lock design.

 

[Buzznrose]

For a decent folder, look at Kershaw. They make some nice knives at reasonable prices.

Another option I’ve been considering:

https://www.skallywagtactical.com/collections/folders

 

[Bazoo]

Buck 684 is suitable for many tasks and will double for self defense on the cheap. It also won’t draw attention like a dagger will should it get seen. Could pocket carry it with a suitable sheath.

 

[Bazoo]

Also, with a tucked in shirt, consider making a tuckable sheath, like what is available for guns. I carried a 1911 in a funeral as a pallbearer, iwb under my tucked shirt, in a desantis dual carry II. I removed the thumb snap on mine. Anyways. It worked well.

 

[Armored farmer]

Here's what I have been carrying:
Cobratech otf.
Lifetime guarantee.
Deep carry clip.
$100.00.
Glass breaker
D2 steel
Made in Tx.
I bought three of these in 2022. Two as gifts to college grads....one for myself. All three have been 100% satisfaction. The back one is mine
I gifted two patriots

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...cQFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3xu8nMAr2fobc8bfT5p_mh

 

[ugaarguy]

Yeah, I'll have to learn some new skill sets with the knife.

With a $100 budget? Kershaw Emerson Collab CQC-6K and CQC-6T will give you a knife live knife and an identically sized and balanced trainer within your budget, combined.

 

[Kingcreek]

I think I paid about $100 for a gerber auto with S30V steel.
But if I thought there was a real chance of needing to fight with a knife (shudder I hope to never be in a knife fight) I would find a way to carry a fixed blade.
AND I would get serious training in knife fighting.
The thing about knife fighting is this- you want to win, and you want to win FAST. Nobody can last long in a slash fest.

 

[rust collector]

I have no experience, but would lean toward an Emerson design that deploys when withdrawn from the pocket, or an automatic. https://www.amazon.com/Kershaw-KS60...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584207589800345&psc=1 or https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Boker-Strike--2108

 

[Armored farmer]

Mr rust collector's pist reminded me that the cobratech knives in my post above do have a safety feature that keeps the blade from deploying if something is touching the front of the knife. They demonstrated at my lgs with a piece of cardboard, and the blade failed to deploy. Retracting the blade resets the mechanism.
I have never had it happen.

 

[hso]

an automatic.

I love automatic knives, but instead carry a neck knife and a manual opener that is ambidextrous.

Autos generally have the "button" on the side for "righties" such that you need to carry to the right of midline to use the button limiting you in how they're drawn and presented. They also can be interfered with on opening and not lock (any knife can be interfered with opening, but autos without thumb studs give you little option to get them locked open if they "stall"). I've seen too many hard hitting autos "helicopter" out of hands if people don't have a solid grip on them (many funny stories on that). An OTF with a spine mounted push switch is ambidextrous, but will stall opening with about any blade interference. That makes autos fun, but unreliable for SD in my opinion.

I've posted enough auto photos I think my love for them is obvious and I've had a lot of knife training, but I don't carry any of my autos for SD. Instead I carry a fixed necker and ambi manual folder when I don't have an IWB fixed SD knife.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

...if I thought there was a real chance of needing to fight with a knife...I would find a way to carry a fixed blade.

I don't really understand the common preference for fixed blade over folding knives. Yeah, I get that they're more durable ver the long haul, but if the intended use is to open the blade and stick it into soft tissue, (whether in SD or processing game) I don't see how a folder is inferior; it's not like I'm going to be trying to baton firewood with it.

I actually prefer a folder over fixed blade for everything, but especially in this context of concealment being the priority. If I'm not carrying a knife at all because I can't hide it, that fixed blade isn't very useful.

 

[rust collector]

How often do things go according to plan? A fixed blade will always be sturdier, especially against lateral forces. If in a good sheath, it will be quickly available, no switches to find, and if there is to be any deterrent value, "That's not a knife. This is a knife"~ Paul Hogan. Plus, they are easier to clean grime and gore from after use.

 

[Coyote3855]

In a folder, most anything by Buck in a size you are comfortable with. I carry a Spyderco Endura clipped in my waistband as a get off me blade. Readily available with a plain blade for under $100. Unfortunately the trainer is also $95.

 

[JERRY]

Ka-bar TDI

 

[SharpDog]

Kershaw Autos start right at $100 ranging up to the new Magnacuts at 2x that

This is a smoking deal on a Launch One:



https://www.opticsplanet.com/kershaw-knives-a-launch-1-blackwash.html

https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Kershaw-Auto--278

https://knife-depot.com/collections/kershaw-knives

If you need a deep carry clip, you can get them at MXG Gear

https://mxggear.com/collections/custom-pocket-clip

 

[Bazoo]

The Kershaw blur looks like a nice one. I don’t have one myself as I’d never carry the type. But for $60 and USA made. That’s where I’d look.

The buck 345 I have is okay. But.... it never gets carried. I carry a traditional knife for knife work and a fixed blade or buck 110 for a belt knife. The fixed blade could be a weapon if needed. I mostly keep it cause it fills the no gun but a knife is okay spot. A folder like that isn’t seen as a weapon as much as a switchblade or fixed blade is.

At once time I carried a benchmade 3310. It was a sweet knife. The 3300 of course would be ambi. I swapped it off after a few years.

 

[Mk-211]

Last year I picked up a Spyderco Matriarch/Civilian and posted it here. I also posted a video of it being demonstrated by a highly trained instructor.

That design is made for one thing, to decimate an attacker! Just the blade design screams "BACK OFF"! It also made me realize that I never want to be in a knife fight, EVER!



If you can CCW a pistol, that's the best route. If you need a back up, buy something that will destroy your attacker!