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The Spyderco Native – A Great Drop Point Knife

The Spyderco Native – A Great Drop Point Knife

Guess What I Found!

I was trolling around a Goodwill Thift Store one sunny summer afternoon. I was just about to go to a job interview and so I needed a pair of pants before I interviewed. So, after I found a pair of pants I strolled by the glass cased section and this beauty crossed my eyes. Yep, a Spyderco Native in S30V!

spyderco native drop point example

Forgive me for the blurry photos, my phone has a potato as a camera, but I was super stoked to have found this gem. Now you are probably wondering… Okay, great knife, how much – drum roll please…….  $4.98! As for the job, I didn’t get it. But, just getting the knife made the trip worth while. It was up in the gorgeous city of Chico, California. Beautiful city, super green with tons of trees.

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Lovely S30V Steel Blade

So, naturally after the job interview I started whittling on pieces of wood and making mini spears. I must say, the knife was kept in incredible condition. I managed to chip the blade though on a piece of oak wood. It was on a knot in the wood, but for $4.98, I wanted to test how far S30V could push.

s30v steel blade spyderco native

Turns out, this steel is pretty tough. I went HARD on the knife in a short amount of time and only managed to chip two small parts, which is much better than something I would expect from a 440C or an AUS8.

Any Other Blade Updates?

Unfortunately, this is all I’ve got for today, but I’ll let you know how this knife resharpens once I get the chips out of the blade and strop it to a razors edge. The next knife purchase that I have had my eye on is the Cold Steel American Lawman knife. I LOVE that black on black look. Maybe soon, but not today.

folding knife spyderco drop point native

 

Kershaw Brawler Tanto Review

Kershaw Brawler Tanto Review

The BEST Affordable Assisted Tanto Folder.

Yes, I’ll admit it. I’ve had many knives pass through my hands over the years and Kershaw has been hit or miss for me. However, the Kershaw Brawler *cough cough* excuse me… I meant to say the Kershaw TANTO Brawler is the BEST affordable assisted folder with a tanto tip that I have ever purchased.

kershaw brawler tanto knife

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Let’s start off with my absolute favorite thing about this knife – the blade length. The Brawler has the PERFECT amount of blade as well as not a sharp tanto angle, but a bit of a curved edge making it not only have the awesome tanto look.

The Grip Design

Another huge factor in my decision to name this as the best affordable tanto folder that I have is the grip. Not only is the design really cool, but it also allows for a great grip. There are shallow grooves within the grip which allow your hands to still dig in without slipping even when they are sweaty.

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The knife comes with the clip positioned in a tip down position on the grip straight out of the box. However, I always prefer my knives to be tip up and luckily the Kershaw Brawler tanto allows for a 4 way repositioning.

The Flipper

The flipper is well designed, but it falls a tad short in my opinion. I wish that Kershaw would have extended the flipper slightly more and made the edge a bit more rigid instead of smoothed over. However, it is a small price to pay for the overall great design of the knife.

kershaw knife with tanto tip

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I also love how deep the knife sits in the pocket. It isn’t a deep carry knife, but the knife does carry pretty deeply in the pocket regardless. Also, I love how Kershaw has been making all blacked-out knives lately instead of their typical black handle, grey blade models. The all black looks much better in my opinion.

 

Boker Besh Wedge Review

Boker Besh Wedge Review

Finally! A Neck Knife With A Besh Wedge!

Thank you Boker, finally someone in the knife industry decided to make a neck knife with a besh wedge! Boker was kind enough to create a beautiful blade with 4.25 inches worth of cutting edge. Most neck knives are so small that I can barely fit my large sized hands comfortably on them. However, Boker stepped their game up and made a knife that I can actually grip. I was so excited to get my hands on this knife when it first came out, and I am glad that I bought it. With that being said, there are some things that could be changed about this knife, but overall, it is a great knife. If you want to skip my besh wedge review and just go buy the knife, click the picture below. However, if you want to hear about all the nitty-gritty then keep on reading.

besh wedge review

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Slick Besh Wedge Design By Brent Beshara

Brent Beshara was the original designer of this besh wedge knife and I think that he did a great job. He hails from Canada, where it is so cold you need a knife just to cut through your frozen food. The knife looks slick overall. I understand that it is a neck knife, and being a neck knife it does have quite a bit of handle grip.

boker besh wedge knife

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However, I would have extended the handle a little further out, but I have bigger hands than the average person, so your opinion of the knife may be slightly different from mine. A person who wears medium sized gloves should find no issue with the size of the handle.

 

Kydex Sheath Included

One of the main reasons that I bought the Boker besh wedge neck knife is because of the fact that they included a Kydex sheath in the mix. I love Kydex. It is much better than your typical cheap plastic sheath that you get with most Chinese knives.

kydex sheath besh wedge blade

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Kydex is actually heat formed to make a better fit to the actual blade resting inside of it. I actually don’t know if I would have originally bought the blade had they not included the Kydex sheath. It was a major plus to the overall package.

Boker Besh Wedge Bottomline

In conclusion, I would buy the knife again if I didn’t already have one. I might gift a couple during the holidays to my friends and my nephew. While this knife isn’t a complete homerun for me, it has most of the features that I look for in a knife. However, I am a tad bias about this besh wedge review. I am bias because I have never really been a huge fan of neck knives. I get that there is a huge community of neck knife owners that swear by them. However, for me, I prefer to have a folding knife in my pocket. Having something around my neck gets annoying after a while. But that may just be me. If you personally love neck knives, then I recommend you pick one of these up.

 

The Ultimate Sailing Knife With A Folding Marlin Spike Tool

The Ultimate Sailing Knife With A Folding Marlin Spike Tool

The Best Boating Knife With A Marlin Spike

I always have wanted to have a sailing knife with a marlin spike attached to it so I finally decided to pull the trigger on the Camillus boating knife. They have two versions, but I am glad that I went with the bamboo version, because I heard that the other model has a slippery grip.

sailing knife marlin spike

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You definitely don’t want to have a slippery grip with a boating knife because… well… you are on a boat surrounded by water. Water tends to make boat knives that are slippery even more slippery. Also, the last thing that you want is to cut yourself while you are in the middle of the ocean miles away from medical help. The Camillus Ti Marlin Spike has a dual locking system that allows for both the blade and spike to be locked into place.

 

Marlin Spike Boat Knife Cutting Area

The cutting area is only 7cm long, but it is plenty for cutting rope and lines, as long as they are under an inch in diameter. If you are worried about your blade rusting while out at sea, then don’t worry, this blade has a very tough coating that will keep it from rusting even after hard use. The only other blade I have seen with such a tough resistance to rusting can be found in my Cold Steel Finn Wolf review. The Finn Wolf seems to never rust, even when I bury it with snow.

 

nautical blade with folding marlin spike

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Before we received the knife here at I Luv Knives, I was worried that the marlin spike would be flimsy and break on me because I have never seen a folding version before. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how sturdy this sailing knife marlin spike was in practice.

 

Small Folding Marlin Spike Tool Market

Unfortunately, the boating knife market is a very small niche inside of the very large knife community. It is especially rare to find knife manufacturers making blades with a folding marlin spike tool attached. While it may be a great nautical knife, definitely don’t use it as a throwing knife because it won’t work very well. It has a clear and defined purpose and it is only good for that purpose, nothing else.

small boat knife folder

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I have a feeling that they aren’t a hot ticket item that will be around for too long. So, if you are looking for a boat knife, then I suggest you pick this one up before it becomes discontinued.

Kershaw Throwing Knives

Kershaw Throwing Knives

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Kershaw Ion Throwing Knives Make For A Fun Time

I thought that when I bought the Ion Throwing Knife Set made by Kershaw that I would be wasting money on a cheap set of throwing knives. When I actually had the knives in hand I was pleasantly surprised with how well balanced they were. I was also surprised with the quality of the stonewash finish in the knives. The blades feel really nice in hand, the only thing that annoys me is the metal “O” at the end of the handle. I get that Kershaw made it for balance, but it is difficult to grab adequately while throwing and they are just plain awesome knives. I wish that they would have just made the end of the handle a more solid piece that was flared, but overall, the knife throws well.

 

Test Throws From 15 Feet Into Wood

I threw this set of knives at exactly 15 feet away from a wooden board target 50 different times. I managed to make the knives stick in the wood 28 times out of the 50 throws. Now, I am not a professional knife thrower, just a knife collector. I have to say that I was impressed with myself to be throwing successfully at over a 50 percent success rate.

 

kershaw knives throwing ion blade

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Are These Throwing Knives By Kershaw Worth The Money?

Everyone is different, but for me it was definitely worth the money. These knives may get tucked away in the closet some day, but when I first received them, I definitely got my money’s worth of use from them. They are almost as much bang for your buck as the best cheap folding knives that I reviewed a while back. I banged the knives up so badly that you can barely tell they were originally stonewashed. I also had some fun throwing them into a piece of sheet-metal that I nailed to a piece of plywood. The tips came extremely sharp straight out of the box, however, the edges were pretty dull and I had to sharpen them up a bit with a strop. All in all, if you are looking for a decent pair of knives to throw, then you can’t go wrong with these Kershaw throwing knives.

Tanto Blade Advantages

Tanto Blade Advantages

Tanto Blades

-Advantages and Disadvantages-

*Pros & Cons of the Tanto Shape*

       Yes, I am a sucker for the tanto shape and I’m sure many others are as well.  That sexy triangular tipped steel can make a knife look quite awesome and deadly. However, there are some definite tanto blade advantages over say, a spear-point or drop-point edged knife. Unfortunately, due to that triangular shape, tanto blades have some disadvantages as well. While there are more than six advantages and disadvantages, I am going to hit the big three points for each. If you need more information on actual blade geometries of tanto knives, head over to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade#Geometry.

tanto blade example

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Tanto Blade Advantages

1. Tip Strength – This one should be pretty obvious, but due to the triangular shape leading to the tip, the tip has much more reinforcement behind it than a drop-point or spear-point. Unless you plan on regularly stabbing through car doors or using your knife as a shovel, this really shouldn’t play a huge factor. However, if you are using a knife in unorthodox fashion, then a tanto knife is for you. The tanto shape leads well to stab and pry, making it useful for numerous other tasks that most knives probably couldn’t handle. Tanto blades definitely make the cut when it comes to usefulness, ba-dum-tsss…

Gerber Prodigy Tanto Blade

Tanto Edged Knife Case for Gerber Prodigy

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2. Japanese Design – Alright, I have to give a shout out to the Japanese when it comes to knives. Japan manufactures some of the coolest looking knives that I have ever seen. Don’t believe me? Check out this knife and be amazed. The Japanese are also well known for their excellent steels. There are tanto knives made from VG-10 with amazing heat treatments from Japan that are absolutely incredible out there for sale today. Japan also makes a good AUS-8 steel. However, China is quickly joining the globe for the best knife production out there. While there may be excellent knives made everywhere, China has made production so inexpensive and quality to such an impressive value that it will be fun to see who can make the best knives in the near future. In my opinion, Japan is still making the best knives in the game. Tanto blades have pros and cons but most tanto shaped knife advantages are practical. If Al Mar made a tanto shaped knife in VG-10 then I think I would be in heaven. I have a spear point made by Al Mar and it is near perfect. A tanto blade would have made it absolutely perfect, but I can’t complain.

tanto knife by kershaw inc

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3. In The Field Serviceability – Since Tanto blades tend to have two flat edges without much curve, it is easier to sharpen a workable edge if you are in the field and don’t have sharpening equipment with you. This is one of the biggest tanto blade advantages even though they tend get a bad reputation for being impractical. However, this definitely doesn’t mean that sharpening a tanto edged knife is easy as you will see in the disadvantages below. You can sharpen a knife in the field using the edge of your cars glass windows or by bringing a sharpening stone with you. You could also find a flat stone out in the field that could be adequate for sharpening to a working edge.

Tanto Blade Disadvantages

1. Sharpening is a Pain – Since you have two separate bevels, instead of just sharpening one continuous edge, it feels like you are sharpening two knives since you have to switch between which bevel you are sharpening from time to time. However, it is a pretty simple to get a consistent edge on most tanto knives since they don’t tend to have much of a recurve in the blade.

2. Slicing Tasks Can Be More Difficult – Due to the fact that a tanto has two flat edges and almost no belly if you are slicing through a rough material then you probably aren’t going to have as easy of a time as you would with a drop-point or spear-point

.Tanto Blade Advantages

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3. Tanto Blades are Impractical – This goes back to point number one on the tanto blade advantages. If you aren’t planning on stabbing anything or anyone, a different style of blade with better slicing capabilities is much more practical for every day uses. While stabbing into your daily orange at lunch may be fun, slicing it with a drop point knife at the same sharpness would be much easier.

Bottomline

Tanto blades are awesome, but they aren’t very practical for every day uses. However, at I Luv Knives, we get it. You just like showing your knife off to friends while you do little daily tasks like opening letters, cutting meat, or slicing fruit, then a tanto blade will easily manage to complete these tasks. In fact, some of the best budget folding knives tend to have tanto edges. One of the best things about a tanto knife is how versatile they are for most tasks. While they are really made for piercing, using a knife blade shape such as the tanto can really make for a great overall experience.

History Behind The Tanto Edge

The tanto was originally created as a weapon, but throughout the years, it has evolved into a quite versatile knife. While the knife was designed for piercing, stabbing, and slashing, new versions of the tanto knife are great for every day carry. While there tends to be a sharp angle in a tanto edged blade, there are some manufacturers that have taken the liberty of modifying the angle to more of a drop point/tanto blade shape. While the best cheap pocket knife might not have a tanto edge, the blade shape is definitely noteworthy.

benchmade knife with tanto tip advantage

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Typical Uses Of A Tanto Blade

Tanto knives have all sorts of different uses. While many people today use them for every day carry, they have other practical uses as well. Many survival knives use a tanto point. Also, many tactical and fighting blades use a tanto edge as well. In fact, they are one of the types of blades that are most manufactured to date. They have a huge fan base that has developed over the years. Whether you are a fan of tanto blades or not, they are here to stay.

Sheepsfoot Blade Advantages

Sheepsfoot Blade Advantages

Why Would Anyone Want To Buy A Sheepsfoot or Wharncliffe Style Knife?

Short answer: They are Very Practical for Everyday Uses. Sheepsfoot blades have quite a few job-related uses and wharncliffe blades are great for many boating activities. While there are definitely sheepsfoot blade advantages, there are also some disadvantages to this bladeshape that will be discussed as well.

sheepsfoot blade advantages

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Sheepsfoot Blade Advantages

 

They Are Great For Carving Tasks

Have you ever been bored and had a knife on you with a stick nearby? Chances are, at one point you decided to carve that stick into a spear or other wooden creation. Well, many wharncliffe and sheepsfoot blades have a large belly portion that doesn’t curve upward to a pointy tip, allowing for a knife with excellent carving capabilities. Some wharncliffe knives have recurves built into them in order to allow for better slicing.

It’s Difficult To Accidentally Pierce Yourself

This is definitely one of the biggest sheepsfoot blade advantages. Anyone who uses a knife daily has most likely accidentally either stabbed or cut themselves. Well, since there isn’t a menacing tip on the end of a sheepsfoot or wharncliffe knife, badly stabbing yourself is pretty difficult to accomplish. There are some wharncliffe and sheepsfoot blades that do have sharp tips, but they are usually modified. A traditional sheepsfoot knife does not have a very sharp tip because of the smooth curve that transitions into the tip.

Works Perfectly Rescue Situations

Since there usually isn’t much of a tip, if any at all, sheepsfoot/wharncliffe blades are perfect for rescue/emergency situations. For example, if an EMT needed to cut an article of clothing off of someone in order to save their life, a sheepsfoot blade could cut through the clothing without much risk of accidentally stabbing the person.

sheepsfoot and wharncliffe knife

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Sheepsfoot Blade Disadvantages

1. Most sheepsfoot/wharncliffe style knives don’t have much of a tip. If you regularly need to pierce and cut different materials, these styles of knives probably aren’t going to be the best options. However, there are exceptions to every rule, take this knife or perhaps this one for example. Those knives are modified wharncliffe-style blades with very devastating-looking tips.

2. The sheepsfoot shape does not lend itself to being the greatest at cutting food. Since most blades curve up to a tip, you can have your knife at a slight angle and rock the knife from tip to handle as you are cutting food. This is difficult with a sheepsfoot or wharncliffe because you have to have the blade relatively flat against a material in order to slice it.

3. Many Models Seem More Tacti-cool, rather than practical. For example, this knife. If tacti-cool/mall ninja status is what you are going for, well, you’re welcome. If not, then stick to a more classical wharncliffe or sheepsfoot blade like the image below and steer clear of the modified ones.

benefits of a sheepsfoot knife

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Bottomline

Both sheepsfoot and wharncliffe blades usually don’t have much of a tip and can be very useful for carving, slicing, and rescue activities. They are very practical for most everyday uses. There are much more sheepsfoot blade advantages as opposed to disadvantages in our own personal opinions here at I Luv Knives.

Best Cheap Pocket Knife

Best Cheap Pocket Knife

The Absolute Best Affordable Pocket Knife

Now, before you get your panties in a bunch. Yes, I get that there will be a ton of knife nuts that come here while playing with their $1000 S30V Custom Auto Folding Knife and say, That isnt even close to the best knife ever made! Calm down, read the title again, and then continue. The knife below is what I believe to be the absolute best cheap pocket knife that you can have for under $15. No, it doesnt have a super steel. No, it isnt made in the United States. Yes, it does look like a blatant rip-off of a Chris Reeves Sebenza. All of that aside, this is hands-down, the best cheap pocket knife under $15. I present to you, the Sanrenmu 710.

best cheap pocket knife

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This knife is wonderful for the money. As of today, June 4th 2016, this knife can be purchased on Amazon for $12.99. It is worth every single penny that I paid for it and I paid even more. For those who arent in the knife collecting community, Sanrenmu is a Chinese knife producer that has been around for a while now.

Definitely The Best Cheap Pocket Knife

I heard somewhere that they are actually the manufacturers of the Spyderco Tenacious, one of the best EDC (every day carry) knives out there, but that is just a rumor and I dont actually know if it is true or not. Either way, the quality to price ratio for this particular knife is outstanding. I actually own three (and bought 2 more that I have away as gifts), simply because they are such good knives for the money.

sanrenmu 710 knife review

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The knife weighs 3.1 oz and has a blade length of 2.8 inches, which is perfect for EDC. This knife has an 8Cr13Mov blade steel. It feels virtually weightless in your pocket. The tolerances are quite incredible for how inexpensive it is. The frame lock that this knife sports is quite hefty, despite the relatively light weight. I cant think of another blade that has all of these features at this price-point (except maybe the Cold Steel Finn Wolf), and for that reason alone, I believe that it is the best affordable pocket knife on the market today.

Awesome Blades & Unique Looking Knives

Awesome Blades & Unique Looking Knives

Here Are Five of the Most Awesome Blades and Unique Looking Knives That Man Has Ever Created. (Also They Are Completely Mall-Ninja Knives)

 

1. Edge of Sanity Full Tang Knife

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Ever needed a knife with a handguard, glass breaker, serrations, and a saw all at the same time? No? Me either. But, dont get me wrong, this thing looks awesome. With an overall length of 14.50 inches and a blade length of 8.25 inches, this thing is essentially a small sword. While this knife looks completely useless, it is quite fun to take out into the woods and practice splitting wood and other soft materials. I wouldnt recommend this knife for anyone who is looking for the utmost quality, but this list is mostly just for fun, so dont take any of the knives on this list as serious contenders for an every day carry knife. I couldnt think of anyone who would want to carry this big chunk of steel around every day anyway.

2. Golden Assisted Stiletto

golden stiletto

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Here is another mall-ninja type of knife. This is definitely a unique blade. It is supposed to be a Scarface knife, but I doubt you will be scaring anyone up with this guy. This thing looks and feels awesome, but has the most flimsy liner-lock that I have ever witnessed. I have almost cut myself with this item numerous amounts of times. Beware, if you decide to get one of these awesome blades, you will have the urge to stab things, but I warn you not to. The blade will fold up on you if you apply too much pressure on the lock. The gold coat doesnt wear off easily though and this would be an awesome blade to have underneath a glass case.

3. TAC Force Chain Knife

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No awesome mall-ninja knife list would be complete without putting a TAC Force knife into it. TAC Force makes some of the most awesome blades that tons of people buy and the quality is always hit or miss. With this knife in particular, I was actually surprised by the quality. I would actually carry this blade on a day to day basis. It definitely wouldnt last as long as my other, higher quality knives, but the construction is quite solid for a TAC Force knife. Also, this knife is bound to get some compliments if your friends are into knives. The Faux-chain on the back of the knife looks quite nice and the handle is actually decently comfortable to hold. Good job on this one TAC Force, maybe some day you can get your other knives up to this quality.

4. Spear Point Assisted Knife

awesome knife

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I couldnt think of a more pointless knife, I mean, this knife only has a point. If making a useless knife wasnt enough, the manufacturer of this knife also decided to add assisted opening to it. Just like as with the above stiletto, this knife also has an absolutely terrible liner-lock. Terrible quality, completely useless, and totally awesome, this item has mall-ninja written all over it. Awesome blades unique looking knives it definitely is. The blade is so small, I dont know if I can legally consider it to be a knife. Bottom line, if you like wasting money, then you will love this knife.

5. CRKT Heiho

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Alright, alright, I can see serious knife nuts cringing at this list So I decided to add one completely bad-ass and high quality knife. The CRKT Heiho comes razor sharp straight out of the box. The polished G10 handle looks great and feels amazing in your hand. I love this knife. CRKT has a custom locking system called LAWKS, which makes it a lot more difficult for the knife to accidentally close on you. If you like stabbing into lots of random items around the house, then you will love this knife. My favorite thing about these awesome blades is the clip. The clip is super low profile and sits really deep in your pocket, so nobody will know that you are carrying a knife. If you have the money, then the CRKT Heiho is worth every penny.