why aren't there more knives like this...

Tactical Gear Tactical Lights, Lasers & Knives
1

http://www.benchmade.com/products/810

the benchmade contego has all the features i want and need. these are extremely simple:

carbide glassbreaker

exotic blade steel

ambidextrous one-handed opening and closing

pocket clip that can be changed to opposing side

deal breakers: liner lock. lock back. 440c steel. aus8 steel.

the contego is fairly reasonably priced for what it offers in size, metal and features. it’s not outrageous like microtech and it’s not super cheap like a throwaway knife.

other knives that have had these features, but have gone extinct:

masters of defense cqd mark 1. this knife had a carbide glass breaker, 154cm steel and it originally came in an auto which means you can open or close the blade with one hand albiet not using the same fingers. this knife got watered down by blackhawk and the originals have turned into collector’s items.

microtech socom elite auto. this knife was similar to the mod cqd mark 1, but has been discontinued and has been watered down by microtech themselves into a liner lock that i have no interest in.

many of the microtech out the front knives are made with exotic blade steel and depending on the blade geometry they can be interpretted as having ambidextrous one handed opening and closing. they used to come with glass breakers with serviceable carbide bearings. the microtechs now come with a glass breaking tip that does not appear to be made of carbide. also microtechs are difficult to find.

my complaint is this: why is it so hard to find knives that have these 4 features together (without any of the deal breakers)?

i am not at all interested in a glass breaker that is not made of carbide. there are lots of videos online that show the failures of pointy objects that lack the hardness to pierce the surface tension of tempered glass. if you have a superior hardness it requires almost no effort to break glass. if you don’t, you need something with lots of mass and what you lack in mass you must make up with velocity.

not interested in steels that require me to sharpen them all the freaking time.

i don’t care about blade shape, serrations or any other gimmick. i just want a tool that cuts. plain edge is best. plain blade geometry is best. it’s a folder so i’m not going to chop any trees while daily carrying.

list of knives that wish they were like the contego:

benchmade triage
sog trident elite auto
gerber dmf auto

i feel like these are really practical requirements of a knife, useful for emergencies and daily tasks. there are literally tens of thousands of knives out there and most of them are just simply all the same boring knife with some twist or variation on handle geometry or blade geometry. is what i’m asking for such a niche?

2

I believe the Lionsteel SR-1 meets all of those requirements - glass breaker, exotic steel (D2 or Sleipner depending on model), frame lock with replaceable steel tip, ambidextrous opening, pocket clip that changes sides, but is only tip down…few extras, simple blade design with lots of belly, one piece frame design, good looks too.

http://www.lionsteel.it/n/en/product/1654/sr1_aluminum
http://www.lionsteel.it/n/en/product/1655/sr1_titanio

3

that is a liner lock. which is a deal breaker because it puts my body in the blade path on closing.

4

No that’s a frame lock, liner locks are different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF0CAf8G4nc

Benchmade is the only company with an axis lock…spyderco has a similar item. I’m not sure why you are discouraged by either but there are about as many different locking systems as there are knife makers. The Lionsteel is a pretty good knife and is plenty tough for a folding blade…there are better built knives than the Lionsteel, but none that I’m aware of have a glass breaker.

5

watch this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wip5MAz_i-I

6

sog also has something similar to axis lock. all autos are capable of opening and closing via a button or lever that is typically accessible to both hands equally easily.

maybe I have come off with the wrong tone here, but I don’t care at all what locking strength is strongest or weakest or anything related to that sort of knife snobbery.

I care that I’m left handed and I need to be able to carry the knife in the correct pocket.

I care about sharpening my knife as little as possible and having the sharpness last as long as possible.

I care about not having my hand in the blade path when closing.

I care about ease of use. fast open, fast close. safely open, safely close.

I’m not going to hammer anything with this knife. if it saves my life it’ll be by breaking glass or cutting off clothing or in the most extreme of scenarios, stabbing someone a few times in soft areas so I can make space to shoot the person to death.

none of that is affected by locking strength or whatever knife people debate.

7

Seems like your limiting factor is needing the glass breaker. If you can’t do it yourself you might be able to find someone who could mount on onto a knife that meets all your other criteria. It seems like it would be pretty easy to install one. If you can find the part just use a rill press to drill a hole and epoxy it in place.

8

OK the left handed situation makes it clear, and now I tend to agree with mckinley…the glass breaker will be your issue. There are 100’s if not 1000’s of knives that have good blade steel, movable pocket clips, and the right locking mechanism for ambi use, but not too many with glass breakers. Reach out to the guys at BladeHQ they may have something in stock that fits your needs.

9

I agree the glass breaker is the premiere limiting factor. it’s even the case that many blades have glass breakers but they come in the form of some sharp steel or stainless pointy thing and I’ve already mentioned that is a no go.

i’m actually going to go through bladehq right now just to look at the results for glass breaker.

I actually already own a contego, I would buy another, but that’s a bit boring. i’m without my contego right now because I sent it back to benchmade for service.

10

Its only S30V but pretty close. http://www.skdtac.com/Zero-Tolerance-0360-SKD-Knife-p/zto.117.htm

11

that’s a liner lock which is a deal breaker. if they ever make an auto, I would buy it.

12

Duh. I must have just skipped to the assisted opening part.

Just curious but what did you do or have you done to not trust your finger for that second of closing the blade?

13

Looks like the Contego has all the features you “want and need” so why lament that every knife made doesn’t?

I’d bet that the carbide glass breaker could be installed on many of the Osborne designed AXIS folders, even if there might need to be a little reshaping of the spine spacer to make it fit perfectly.

14

i’m lamenting i guess because it’s not as if the knives aren’t made. they just go extinct. it’s weird. i just don’t get it. in the modern age of knives and the thousands of variations people are actually recommending that i jury rig something to an existing incomplete model… that’s lamentable.

15

how do you close your knives that you see doing that would endanger you? I always close knives with two hands and gently fold it closed. do you do it differently?..

16

Ahh, got ya.

Benchmade has the 915 Triage as well.

17

this is probably something that i’m overly particular about, but here it goes.

usually when i’m using a knife i’m trying to access something in hand, this means it will still be in hand after the knife has gained me access. in times past, if it was the case that i do have two hands i would try to carefully close the knife. however, since the advent of axis lock and my introduction to auto knifes, i’ve found that there’s no reason my equipment should require me to use two hands to close or put my hand in the blade path while closing.

again, i would readily admit this is probably something i am overly particular about.

i realize that a liner lock or frame lock does not preclude a one handed closing, it’s very possible, but it’s the fact that it puts my hands in the blade path that bothers me. there actually is a negligable chance that anything bad would ever happen, but now that i know better options exist i don’t feel there’s any reason i should have to settle for less.

18

I hear ya triny, and if I run into something I will let you know.

19

that uses a non exotic 440 steel, which is unfortunate, because by all other measures it’s a workhorse knife. if they made a special edition that were “chambered” in 154cm or cpm-m4, i would pay over 200 dollars. i’m sure that knife is doing lots of good work all over the place. sometimes i wish i weren’t a steel snob, but i’ve just had too many disappointing experiences with 440 and aus8.

20

The main blade is “N680 highly corrosion resistant blade steel (57-59HRC)”(though I am not familiar with it, it is not 440)
The hook blade is 440