EDC knife

An Army Ranger’s Preferred Folding Knife | Benchmade Griptilian

Someone asked me the other day what knife I brought with me to Ranger school. I completed Ranger school back in 2012 and with me, I had a Benchmade Griptilian. The criteria of a solid knife in school is pretty limited. First Is it light enough that you would be willing to carry it? This rules out any fixed blade or a folder with a heavy handle.

I picked the Benchmade Griptilian because it has a light plastic handle that will still provide some traction when wet or wearing gloves. Next, you need to be able to open a MRE. Besides slicing open your favorite brown bag meal, all you will be doing with your knife is cutting tie downs or stabbing trees as you walk by. Lastly, will it rust? In school you are going to be soaking your uniform in salty sweat and in Florida you will be chest high in swamps. The Benchmade Griptilian uses 154CM as its blade steel. I never experienced pitting or rust as long as I kept up with minimal cleaning. The last thing I appreciate is the hole for connecting a lanyard too. In school there is a reason you tie everything down; because stuff gets lost.

When you are the only guy with a sharp knife it seems everyone wants to borrow it, so attaching it to your belt along with a clip prevents it from walking away. I also recommend attaching a small sharpener to the lanyard to maintain your edge.

Author – William Hoyt is a former Army Ranger of 1/75. He is now pursuing his bachelors in psychology and coaching swimming.

Zero Tolerance 0470 folding knife

I first saw Zero Tolerance in 2007 at Grey Group Training in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I was immediately attracted to the look of their knives. But their price point turned me off. So when I got the chance to review the 0470 model, I jumped on it.

Designed by Dimitri Sinkevitch and coming in at just over 3 ounces for a 3.4-inch bladed knife, this knife naturally falls into an EDC role. The weight is unnoticeable. This is due to the lightweight, but strong, construction materials.

The handle features a carbon fiber inlay giving the knife a very sleek, high-class look. The action is silky smooth and easy to activate.

I was once turned off on more expensive pocket knives. A few weeks with the Zero Tolerance 0470 in my pocket changed that. I’ve already ordered another ZT. Plus, as I say in the video below… if you’re gonna possibly bet your life on a 3 1/2 inch blade, you might wanna make sure that blade is worth a little something.

<br />

Author – Seth Lewis served as a reconnaissance infantryman in the 82nd Airborne with two deployments to Iraq as well as 18 months in Afghanistan doing High Threat Protection for the Department of State. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and is currently working as a security contractor for DHS and a firearms instructor

The new Kershaw Boilmaker EDC knife

Two things stood out to me when I first saw the new Kershaw Boilermaker folding knife. The modified drop point blade, the finish of the knife and how sterile it was. The first two are obvious, but you may be wondering what I mean by sterile. What I mean is the lack of markings and branding. Aside from saying Kershaw on the pocket clip and some very small markings on one side of the blade, there is nothing else interfering with the aesthetics of the knife.

Overall this has got to by one of my favorites by Kershaw and will surely enter the rotation of knives I use for EDC. Check out the following video for a closer look.

Boilermakers are known for their skill at metalwork. So Kershaw and Les George took inspiration from their craftsmanship to build the new Boilermaker. This all-stainless-steel folder is designed to perform well in the hands of any tradesman—and anyone else who wants a distinctive, yet practical, pocketknife. – Kershaw

Hoback Knives OSF Hero Series

Jake Hoback, of Hoback Knives, makes some absolutely fantastic knives. These are high end, premium grade blades for EDC. These are the kind of knives you can take to hell and back. The OSF, or open source folder, is one of the most popular. The knife is a simple design, but a very effective one. The OSF Hero series is at its core an OSF knife, but they’ve been designed to honor the men and women in the military, as well as first responders. As one of two Marines who write for the Loadout Room, I was quite honored to receive the Marine variant of the OSF Hero series.

The Blade

The OSF Hero has a 3.5-inch blade made from CPM-S35VN stainless steel. S35VN is a material improvement on S30. It is a steel that can get extremely sharp and the OSF Hero comes very, very sharp from the factory. This steel is also extremely corrosion resistant and very strong. It’s a thick .1875 inches. This thing looks more like a pry bar in the back than a knife. The steel is also heat treated to blend in with the handle.

The blade uses a modified sheep’s foot blade that looks a little like a Wharncliffe to me, but I’m not a knife maker. The tip is less for stabbing and combined with the generous belly of the blade you get a solid slicing and cutting blade. The unconventional tip will allow you to stab when necessary, but it’s not the most conventional stabbing tool. It’s great for working in situations where you want to avoid accidentally stabbing when cutting.

It slices through meat, paper, cordage, rope, and more with ease. It just glides through cardboard to the point where it’s almost cathartic to cut with this knife.

The Handle

The OSF knives, and by extension the OSF Hero series use titanium frames and full thick handles. As you can see on the Marine variant of the OSF Hero the handles feature a worn cerakote finish of scarlet and gold, the USMC’s official colors. The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor in the middle are laser etched and incredibly detailed. It looks absolutely gorgeous.

In practical terms, the handle fills the hands and allows an excellent blade to handle ratio. The rear backspacer is large enough to allow safe and effective use of the knife but is compact so I get a nice sized handle. The handle is smooth and lacks any kind of stippling, but the large grip makes it easy to hold.

The OSF Hero – A Treasure or an EDC?

A knife like this is hard to classify. It’s made to last and to work as a tool. Without a doubt the craftsmanship and engineering put into this knife makes it one helluva great EDC knife. At the same time its tough to classify when you are looking at something dedicated to the finest fighting force in the world. The color, the laser engraving make it easy to classify this knife as a collector’s item. However, cerakote is tough and laser engraving isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The OSF Hero is a mighty fine knife. Something that walks the line between beautiful form and perfect functionality. The OSF Hero is an amazing knife and one that shows that craftsmanship is still alive in 2019.

Zero Tolerance 0562 titanium handled knife | A titan among men

One of my favorite parts of SHOT show is always the Kershaw booth. Kershaw and Zero Tolerance are both owned by KAI Group and international cutlery organization. As such, both as shown off in the Kershaw booth. We walk in, exchange pleasantries then down opens the hidden shelf display to reveal this years line-up of Kershaw and ZT blades. We spend the next thirty minutes checking out each knife, one-by-one. It’s such a condensed and efficient meeting, and it leaves myself and my fellow writers talking about our favorites from the bunch for the rest of the day. Among those favorites was ZT’s 0562 ti, a titanium-handled knife that was made in collaboration with custom knifemaker Rick Hinderer.

Let’s check the tale of the tape before digging into how the 0562 ti has performed. As per ZT’s website:

Made in the USA
KVT ball-bearing opening system
Flipper
Reversible deep-carry clip (left/right, tip-up)
Frame lock, lockbar stabilizer
Steel: CPM 20CV, stonewashed flats, machine-satin grinds
Handle: Titanium, stonewashed finish
Blade Length: 3.5 in. (8.9 cm)
Blade Thickness: 0.156 in. (0.396 cm)
Closed Length: 4.8 in. (12.2 cm)
Overall Length: 8.3 in. (21.1 cm)
Weight: 5.3 oz. (152 g)

It’s always nice to review American-made products over foreign ones, and even nicer when those products are made just down the street. In this case, Zero Tolerance’s factory is just a quick drive down the road to Tualitin, Oregon.

While the blade is the beating heart of any cutting platform, ZT is clearly interested in using more exotic metals in the handles as we’ve seen more and more titanium, carbon fiber and G10 being used recently. I think it’s pretty clear that whenever possible discerning end users want stronger, lighter and less maintenance on half of their knife. Titanium definitely delivers in that respect, keeping the 0562 ti’s weight down. This feels like a strong, mid-sized pocket folder when you’re using it. It just doesn’t feel like one when you’re carrying it in your pocket.

Regarding the blade, the 0562 ti uses CPM 20CV steel. I’m no metallurgist, so I like reading up an expert synopsis (like this one found on Bladeops.com) to know what is expected of certain steel. Some rust easily, some dull quickly but can be honed to a razor’s edge. The CPM-20CV is considered an excellent choice, providing a good hardness rating (HRC ~60), good corrosion resistance and fantastic wear resistance.

In my time with the 0562 ti, the above statements have been absolutely true. I have abused the blade, but it has kept a very good edge throughout. Diminished from its factory state, yes, but still very sharp. When I took a few minutes to polish up that edge, it took very little time to get back into arm-shaving range.

The ball-bearing opening system is incredibly smooth. It takes lost a bit on initial force to overcome the resistance of the lock bar, then the blade glides out into place. Far fewer “three quarter-open” incidents with this knife than any other EDC blade in recent memory.

The locking system is spot-on. I’ve found it impossible to intentionally “over-lock” the 0562 ti. Overlock occurs when the blade is opened more forcefully than designed, so the locking bar engages the angled portion of the blade base further inboard than intended. When this happens, it’s unreasonably difficult to unlock the blade to fold it back up. I slam this thing open with as much force as I can muster (short of using hand tools) and the frame lock disengages just as smoothly as ever. Another neat feature is shown when you’re releasing the blade to be folded back into the frame. A small spring-loaded ball bearing catches the blade just after unlocking and requires a little force to overcome. Considering how smoothly the 0562 ti’s blade swings open, it’s nice to have this little safety stop to ensure the freshly unlocked blade doesn’t just swing shut on any fingers that haven’t been rotated out of the way yet.

Zero Tolerance 0562 titanium handled knife | A titan among men — Top, ZT’s solid lock. Bottom, overlock

The pocket clip is perfectly functional, if not a little overzealous in strength from the factory. I’ve had to bend mine out just a bit to reduce wear-and-tear to my pants pocket. While it reverses for right- or left-hand carry, it came in right-hand, tip-up more like I prefer.

So far, it’s been all roses with the 0562ti right? It’s easy to be impressed with this pocket folder. There is one this that wasn’t aces for me, and that’s a design decision less than a manufacturing shortcoming. It’s in the titanium handle. Rather than machine in any texturing, the 0562ti is left featureless. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “slippery”, but it is very smooth. During normal use, it’s not an issue. I’ve had no troubles using this for my EDC blade while testing gear and working in the shop. I am hesitant however to carry this as a defensive blade when I’m heading into the city. The slick grip is just not grippy enough to give me the warm and fuzzies for use in a life-or-death situation.

The 0562ti is a fantastic pocket folder, combining lightweight, excellent blade and fine attention to detail with regards to the locking system and opening system. The 0562 ti is listed by ZT at $350. If you’re in the market for a high-performing, extremely durable pocket folder, definitely check this one out.

Rex Nanorum

@Rexnanorum

Zero Tolerance 0460TI: An ergonomic folder

I recently acquired this Zero Tolerance 0460TI and was immediately drawn to its pronounced ergonomic design. Similar to the original 0460 by ZT the folder fits neatly into the hollow of your hand, giving you a comfortable and secure grip on the tool. Unlike the original 0460, this knife is all titanium; built for toughness the whole way through with a CPM 20CV blade and a titanium frame lock. CPM 20CV is fairly new to the market but is becoming popular among top knife brands. It is a tool steel that combines impressive wear resistance and edge retention with the added benefit of being highly corrosion resistant due to high levels of chromium.

The 0460TI has partial 3D machining on the handle which adds dimensionality and increases grip while the stonewashed finish and machine satin grinds give a handsome and clean look. The contrast of the matte black backspacer, black hardware and reversible, black pocket clip is well executed. For a simple color scheme, this blade has a sneaky sex appeal.

ZT is well known in the knife community and I believe they have stood up to their name with this new design. I always love buying products made in the USA and you can’t go wrong with a solid folding knife. This one is an EDC contender that won’t let you down. Unlike their little brother Kershaw, ZT blades run a bit more. However, you get what you pay for and quality is not cheap.

<br />