(Update II) This was 100% a bootleg, and I just got the real one here. The materials feel maybe 1% better, but other than that it's night and day. The blade actually has an edge that will cut paper rather than tear it, though it's not crazy sharp. The blade opens smooth and easy with basically no blade play. There is actually a tip-up clip that carries insanely deep, though I really wish it didn't so I could deploy with a higher position on the handle**. It also isn't insanely over-tight like a lot of the Kershaw wave knives (this made them catch on the pocket, making deployment more difficult). The liner lock actually seats VERY securely, while being easy to manually disengage. The wave feature is actually more aggressive than the bootleg without producing any snagging issues. The sheer length of the blade is more of an issue for deploying than anything else, but even that just a minor gripe imo. Note that there is a chip taken out of the base of the blade, but it looks like this was done to improve liner lock mating.
**After practicing my draw a few more times, the clip depth really is a problem for a knife this size. There just isn't a good way to get the level of purchase I want on the handle, and the bottom really doesn't have enough retention to justify that design choice.
(Update) Turns out this was ~~(probably)~~ a cheap knock-off of an identical and slightly more expensive knife on Amazon. I'm exchanging them and will update on how that does, but won't post a link unless it holds up better.
This is a VERY cheaply built knife, so much so that it's barely worth keeping, let alone carrying. There's not even a pocket clip on it.
BUT, this combination of form and features is EXACTLY what I've been looking for (with a tip-up clip, that is) in a daily carry folder. The handle and finger protection is there, the blade and handle length fit a perfect middle ground for fighting and practicality, it even has a fuckin Emerson style wave that they don't even bother advertising.
Unlike most wave openers, this one is set VERY far back, is slightly oversized, and doesn't have anything forward of it (discs, pegs, etc) to prohibit getting your full blade length.
So if this wasn't so GODDAMN TRASH, I would call it perfect. I haven't seen anything yet, but if there is a brand-name, high(er)-quality knife that is basically this, PLEASE let me know.
I mean, I trained with knives. For the better part of twenty years. It's kinda my thing.
Which isn't really important, I guess; I ain't your teacher :)
But it sucks that it sucks. It really is a damn nice looking design.
I didn't find anything that really hit all the right buttons to match it. It always surprises me when that happens since most of the no name Chinese factories don't do original designs. I had one of those crappy, cheap ones a while back that was like that, it's frustrating.
However, if you're interested, I can suggest a few folders that are viable for knife combatives, with a focus on thrusting, if you can provide a budget. There's a decent amount of them out there. If your location allows assisted opening or autos, there's even more.
Let's hear your expert thrusting suggestions
Ask your mom, she's enjoyed them ;)
Sorry, couldn't resist lol
Edit: in case you were actually asking, not just making a nice joke, one of the few gerber knives I'll ever recommend is their Applegate-Fairbairn folder. Affordable, tough enough for medium duty use around the house and yard, and definitely friendly to any knife training that utilizes thrusting.
Overall, it's probably the best bang for the buck in terms of a knife design that was definitely made as fighting knife first and foremost, but being executed in a way that makes it useful for day to day carry. Not the best utility overall, there's a hundred better options at the very least for pure utility. But it can open boxes and cut small branches, which is about the hardest duty most folks ever put a knife to.
If you have a specific budget though, I really don't mind making knife suggestions based on most criteria. With the field being open with the criteria of just "pointy but still useful", there's going to be something ay any budget range
This isn't a bad suggestion, I just have a few personal quirks to what I'm looking for. While I like the Fairbairn style and acknowledge it is better for pure combative purposes, I would personally err more on the side of utility and no-shit edge awareness if I can't legally carry a double-edged blade.
In addition to that, I just really want a wave feature that works. A lot of them are shit, or iffy at best, but even the shitty knock-off I bought has promise. I know it's kind of a gimmick and still not very common, it's just the personal hunt that I'm on because it lends a good balance of deployment speed and legal compliance.
Gotcha
As far as I've ever personally handled, the only properly implemented wave knives are the actual emerson and Kershaw knives.
I can't say nobody else does them right, only that the knockoffs and the ones that rolled their own version tend to fail in one way or another, usually by snagging on the pocket instead of smoothly coming out ready.
There's snaggletooth add-ons that work well on some knives though. It is very model dependent, but when the specific knife blends with it well, it's as smooth or even smoother than a native one. Plus, you can usually modify a snaggletooth to work better for a given model.
I'm not personally hooked on the wave (pun intended) since I tend to prefer a focus on the blade design when carrying a knife that's going to be a back-up emergency option to a firearm or pepper spray. It's one of those things where carrying a design that's the same or close to what you train with the most is more important in actual use than theoretical speed of deployment. The wave knives that are worth buying just aren't close enough to what I train with, and the knives I carry as emergency back-up like that don't do well with the snaggletooth.
Truth be told, even the wave takes practice to be faster than a standard modern folder, and can still be slower if the pants involved aren't friendly to that method. I tend to be faster than the people I train with, even when they're pulling a fixed blade just because I've got the time in with anything I carry regularly. That's even with me slowing down via age and arthritis. Drilling a few thousand times gets you to the point that the only real limitation to draw and positioning speed is your muscle tone and how much you put into fast-twitch exercise vs slow twitch.
Which is getting off topic, but I so rarely get a chance to talk about the subject, irl or online, that I have trouble not going deep. I'm not trying to talk you into or out of anything, just doing the knife geek thing :)
I've updated the post after finding the legit version of this knife. I like it, but the carry depth is too much for its size, which is definitely a problem for deploying this thing.
Thanks for the update :)
That's pretty slick for a Gerber! These days I prefer an OTF for most EDC, but I do have one with serrations too. Nasty thing. Most days I go with a pink handle OTF with "sprinkles" and a bright blue blade. It's not intimidating at all, but it's very sharp and stabby in a pinch.
The old dessert warrior :)
I keep being tempted by them just for the meme of it, but my kid would try to steal it lol
The Gerber is pretty damn nice for any maker, and amazing for Gerber, it's one of their models they don't cheap out on, and do good QC for. Only complaint I have is it being liner lock. They've got an extra lock for the liner lock that prevents accidental closing, and it is durable enough to handle being jammed into high density foam targets at full force repeatedly without budging. But I always object to any knife that forces you to cross the plane of the blade to close it.
My mom is a knife
Lmao! A little hot knife on knife action ~~never~~ always hurts ~~anyone~~ someone