Pocket Check: Folders

 Pocket Power Rankings, main pocket folders

1. Swiss Army Alox Farmer - classic budget pocket knife, this one features a saw blade as one of the secondary tools, which is sweet. If I have to replace this, I will get a Farmer X to get the scissors as well. Made with pedestrian materials, this is nonetheless a classic for good reason. Also, no one freaks when you pull it out of your pocket, so it goes almost anywhere.
2. Spyderco Manix 2 Cru-Carta - brushed Cru-Wear blade paired with unfinished brown burlap Micarta scales backed by full sized liners - a balanced knife which locks into your hand a myriad of ways. Useful and casually elegant, it is a bit big & aggressive to pull out in some situations.
3. Benchmade Bugout - the archetypal lightweight folder in the classic 20V/blue grivory format. Super light with a yeoman drop point blade and the revolutionary axis lock, it pretty much goes everywhere though, at 3.25 inches, the blade is not small.
4. QSP Penguin - brass handle/black stonewashed D2 blade with a liner lock, this budget workhorse is very effective with its slicey-but-solid sheepsfoot blade. Simple, understated design, and the brass scales develop a beautiful patina.
5. Spyderco Endura 4 - a big work knife (fully serrated 3.75" VG10 drop point blade, black FRN scales), this one has the characteristic Spyderco multi-grip lockup, and will cut through damn near anything.
6. Spyderco Native 5 - another classic Sypderco leaf blade model, in most ways a smaller version of the Manix 2 (street-legal 3" blade). This version also has a Cru-wear blade, this time with a DLC coating to protect the less-than-stainless blade, along with black G-10 scales sanded smooth. Like the Manix 2 the Native 5 attracts a little attention when it comes out.
7. Ontario Rat - the basic budget model (Aus-8, tan nylon handle and full stainless liner), this thing is a big workhorse beater. If knives were trucks, this would be a 1978 3/4 ton Silverado with a 454 V8. And it would burn oil.
8. Benchmade Mini Griptillian - a small street-legal knife with some heft. I could use a little more length on the handle, but it's a solid three-finger grip with room to choke up. This is a blackout model in S30V.
9. Benchmade Shootout - a lightweight out-the-front automatic, this feels a little less tactical and a little more EDC than your average Microtech OTF dagger. The Cru-wear black DLC blade shoots out solidly and reliably, but the knife remains suprisingly lightweight. And, though it may not scream "tactical" (especially with the seafoam green grivory handles), it still has some attitude and will raise eyebrows when it makes an appearance in most spaces.
10. Spyderco Watu - Spyderco tribute to traditional Central/Southern African blades & useful (if eccentric) EDC. Even Syderco's simplest handle shapes fit into the hand beautifully.

Also in rotation: CIVIVI Sokoke, CIVIVI Vision, Bestech Swordfish, Boker Kalashnikov Auto, Ruike P-801 SF. Opinel #8.