If there’s one thing I’m not, it’s a knife expert. Steel type, brands, grip material, I don’t know what I’m looking at or what is quality. So the only metric I have is in my personal use.
Recently I embarked on a journey to find a new EDC knife and it was time to upgrade from whatever caught my eye at the local Walmart. So I took a look at my life and decided on some basic features I “need” in an everyday knife. Remember, these are what I want in a knife, your preferences or needs can vary wildly.
One, the knife has to be a worker. I’m not that guy who carries several knives for different things, I want one knife, that will accomplish the tasks I find myself needing to do throughout my day. Anything with a point can be forced into a defensive role, that’s not the purpose of my edc knife.
Two, the knife has to have a partially serrated blade. I don’t know much about knife steel and what holds an edge, or what gets sharper better, but I do know, when the knife gets dull, serrations still cut. I do not, however, want a fully serrated blade as that makes it a saw.
Three, it needs to be a folder with a secure locking blade and decent guard. Fixed blades are cool but my edc knife needs to fold. It also doesn’t need to fold unless I want it to, and I don’t want my hand or fingers contacting the blade in any way, inadvertently.
Four, the knife needs to double as a rescue tool, with at bare minimum, a window breaker and stand alone strap cutter. Both need to be usable with the blade closed.
Wanting to keep the price in the $50-$100 range, I found four that interested me, all with slightly different designs and features. So I got them, and carried/used them, all for at least two weeks each. The four I settled on were: CRKT M16-14ZLEK, Gerber Hinderer CLS, Kershaw Funxion EMT, and the SOG Escape. So I’ll go over each one in no particular order and explain what I like and dislike about them all.
CRKT: The biggest of the four, coming in at 9.25” overall and a beefy 6.2 oz, is the M16-14ZLEK. The CRKT boasts it uses an “InterFrame construction, with tough, textured glass filled nylon scales over a 420J2 stainless steel liner, InterFrame and solid glass filled nylon back spacers.” This thing is a beast. With a 3.75” AUS8 high carbon stainless steel, titanium nitride finished, tanto blade, and is very capable of handling all the abuse I threw at it. The strap cutter is on the very generous blade guard, and the tungsten carbide glass breaker is sufficient. The pocket clip can be configured in left or right side tip up or tip down (CRKT says it’s not designed for pocket tip up carry, it’s for gear webbing only). While it’s not my favorite clip, it works well enough. I prefer tip up, left side, so that’s how I have it. The knife cuts, pries, stabs, etc., anything I need to do just fine. They do make this knife in smaller sizes but you lose the tanto blade or the four position clip.
Pros:
Tanto point, hefty blade guard, four position clip, liner lock with a secondary lock
Cons:
too large for some pockets, clip could be sturdier, no additional cool features like some of the others.
MSRP - $99
Street price - $60-$70
CRKT Score: 8.00 Great
Gerber: the Hinderer CLS is the sequel to the rescue model. Scrapping the blunt full serrated blade for a clip point, partially serrated blade, this knife comes in at 8.5” overall and 5.6 oz. The 3.5” 440a steel blade sports a black finish. The glass filled nylon handle has good texture and it is pretty comfortable, with and without gloves. The window breaker also has a lanyard hole (that I should have utilized but more on that later) and the strap cutter swings out from the butt end of the knife. Hope you like right side tip down carry, because that’s the only configuration for the pocket clip. It also sports an O2 wrench in the handle that can be used with the blade closed and it comes in quite handy if you have that need. The knife felt sturdy, and while it is a liner lock, the release mechanism is a pull stud on the handle that makes closing this knife with gloves much easier. The blade guard is ok, definitely could be a bit more pronounced but it works. I really appreciate this strap cutter on this knife and found it to be great at everything from clothing to zip ties. Probably my favorite design of the 4, however it was a bit stiff at first and the detent had to be worked in a bit. My biggest problem with this knife, is that I no longer have it, because a random tree branch or vine took it one afternoon in the woods, in other words, the pocket clip is lacking.
Pros:
Great size and weight, strap cutter, locking release, grip texture
Cons:
Blade guard, pocket clip, thumb stud only
MSRP - $76
Street price - $60-70
Gerber Score: 7.50 Good
SOG: The only lockback style knife of the bunch, this one comes in at 8.2” OAL and 4.8oz. A lockback is not my favorite style,. I was willing to overlook that, as the knife was overall quality. While SOG says this is a clip point, it’s more of a spear point. The stand alone strap cutter has spare blades stored in the knife handle, which is super cool if you ask me. I do not like the glass breaker, as it very small and sharp, like needle sharp. This knife also sports several holes in the grip that, when the blade is closed, work as wire strippers. I can’t comment on how well it works because I don’t strip wire on a regular bases, but if that’s your thing, it’s a nice added bonus. The satin blades finish on the 9cr18mov blade looks nice, and is a nice departure from the black on black that the other three have. Being the only one of this bunch with a 6061t6 aluminum handle, the grip isn’t bad, and the texture is ok. Again, hope you’re like right side tip down carry because the clip is fixed in that position. It’s a good solid clip, when it isn’t loosening up. The blade opens by thumb stud only and the hand guard leaves quite a bit to be desired.
Pros:
Replaceable strap cutter.
Cons:
Lockback, lack of blade guard
MSRP - $49
Street price - $40-$45
SOG Score: 6.50 Okay
Kershaw: The only knife in this article sporting assisted opening, and a built in carabiner. The EMT comes in at 7.25” and 4.8 oz. It’s the thickest knife of the bunch at almost 3/4” wide, this one falls into the “meh” category for me. On paper it looks great, but I can’t say I was extremely impressed overall, but it’s still a decent blade if you want a budget knife, and assisted opening is important to you. The strap cutter feels flimsy, but I had no issues with it, and it cut anything I needed it to. It swings out from the back and has a 1/4” wrench and bottle opener on it. While the bottle opener works, my job frowns upon me using it at work and, at home, I have dedicated bottle openers. I found no use for the 1/4” wrench and feel this would be better served by an O2 wrench. The glass breaker is fine, but it’s on the blade end instead of the butt end, which I found strange. The carabiner, when deployed, locks the blade closed and will not allow you to open the knife until you have closed the carabiner. While I understand why I wish it would lock the blade open for my use case. It is a flipper style, so that’s nice, and the flipper doubles as a beefy hand guard. The grip is glass filled nylon and it is a tad slippery, and the Kershaw “K” grip pattern isn’t the best. The 3” 8cr13mov blade is listed by Kershaw as a drop point, but it looks and feels more like a clip point to me. This knife is thick. like too thick to be carried comfortably in my back pocket. The pocket clip allows for pretty deep carry, and is right side tip down only once again. Final thoughts on this knife: it feels cheap, it’s hard to explain.
Pros:
Carabiner, hand guard, flipper assisted opening.
Cons:
Thick, glass breaker isn’t intuitive, lock on the strap cutter feels weak
MSRP - $58
Street price - $32-$50
Kershaw Score: 5.50 Mediocre
So what does all this mean? Well hopefully this can help you pick out an EDC knife, if rescue type knives are your thing. I would have no problem carrying any of these blades in different contexts, except maybe the Kershaw, but in all reality, it will probably find its way into my gear for something.
My order from favorite to least favorite
I will be replacing the Gerber most likely, but I wish they’d update the clip. What I would really like (in case there is a knife maker reading) is the blade and the clip placement options from the CRKT, the glass breaker, size, weight, and O2 wrench from the Gerber, the assisted opening from the kershaw, the clip from the SOG. All these knives have attributes I like.
FIREARMS INSIDER REVIEWS - 8 KEY POINTS
CLAIM TO FAME:
Rescue style knives
TARGET MARKET:
First responders
FNBS (FEATURES & BENEFITS OF THIS PRODUCT):
See individual write ups above
WHAT OTHER AESTHETIC OPTIONS OR FINISHES ARE AVAILABLE?
See above
What others are saying:
Not much
Price point:
$ 35-100 listed above
I need it now availability:
Amazon, bladeHQ, or the manufacture websites
Our Rating:
Pros: see above
Cons: see above
Score:
See above
