# For knives, the 'best' of the 'best'?



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

I get asked this question a lot. The problem is two-fold. New knives replete with new alloys roll of the assembly line almost daily, and these items outclass knives from just last season. Two, I have my own prejudices.

Here's my list:

Best defensive knife--That was simple, it's a 9-inch, "Frank B" Sicilian stiletto. By 9-inch I mean a switchblade with a four inch blade with a five inch handle. For my money--and I've spent a lot finding the best example--a Frank B is the best made, the one with the best lock-up, the most dependable spring, and the sharpest point of any defensive tool I've owned. It's not a good slicer, but it will get you home unscathed.

Sharpest knife--Tough call, but it became easier as I searched. The best in this category is a collaborative knife. It has an all aluminum handle ala' Ernest Emerson, with a CM154 blade by Pro-Tech. Yeah, CM154 can be tough to hone, but the result is worth your time.

Best switchblade--Easy call. That would be the Boker Automat Kalashnikov 74. The blade gets sharp and is easy for a home-smith to touch up, The coil drive is like a muskrat trap, and I've never had one fail for reason or age. I believe all soldiers and police officers should be issued this folder.

Best value--That would be an obscure assisted folder known only as the Kershaw 3450BW. I paid 16 bucks for my first one, loved it and bought three more. If I'm going to the mall and I don't know what to carry, this folder resides in my right front pants pocket. It engages and fires with the touch of your thumb, locks up very tight, and any stone on an Edge Pro produces a scary sharp edge. Buy a few, hide them all over.

Now, that's my personal list. I'll admit, as a salesman I can afford to buy what I like when I like. But of all the knives I've used in almost 40 years, these are the ones I kept for my own use. I love them for a myriad of reason, and I rotate them often. Yesterday I went to Cabela's because my wife wanted muskrat scent for her live-trap. While there, a salesman sharpened his knife on a mechanical sharpener. I bet him twenty bucks that my knife--sharpened more than a week ago--was keener than his right off the stone. Three more salesmen gathered, and these are guys who spend more time on the tops of a tree stand than on top of their wives. The polished edge baffled them all.

Get an Edge Pro and load it with Schwartz waterstones.


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## Denver (Nov 16, 2012)

Is this the Boker you were talking about? 
With the new Buck auto at 125.00 to 175.00 this seemed to good to be true. Less than 50.00 with shipping!
I enjoy all your posts about blades and polishing.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

You're really close to the profile of my knives. Their handles and springs are identical, and they seem to take a myriad of blade styles. Mine are spear-points and 'Bowie' shaped. The alloy is the same.

The stilettos I use come from northern Italy. Most buyers claim their Italian switchblades come from Sicily, which has the undeserved reputation as being the murder capitol of the entire world.

The truth is that these Italians made knives during WWII. The Germans tramped over their country going north, and the allies beat them back going both north and south. Lots of these vets brought home automatic stilettos, hence the knifes' routine appearance on 1950s juvenile delinquent movies.

Vic Morrow (of "Combat" TV fame) played one of these teenagers in a really bad "B" movie...


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Double post.


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