Is this a good knife?

I was thinking about getting a knife, and I was wondering if you people have had good luck with the Buck/Strider SMBF. Have you guys? Does it hold up well? Any comments, ideas, or suggestions for other knives would be greatly appreciated!!!
TIA,
Flash

A knife is like many things: You get what you pay for, you don't want to by a Rolls Royce when a Volkswagon will to and will you still like it as much 6 months after you bought it as you do before you bought it ? A Buck is as good as most for certain tasks but not as good as others for different tasks. What will you be using it for ? You can probably answer your own question if you gave it enough thought. Heck just buy it. If you're like me it will be the first of hundreds you will agonize over and if you do get tired of of it chances are you can make it part of a deal that gets you something more to your liking.

A better man than my father never walked the face of this good earth. Not long before he passed he told me "it's not the things you do in this life that you tend to regret. It's the things you don't."

Good luck !

02Scuba

Yes, its a fine knife. Built like a tank and made by a good ole American company. It's a bit heavy so may not be the best EDC, however if you're looking for something that will take a beating, then this is your knife.

Regards,
Flavio
BugoutGearUSA.com

Hmmmm. I think I've narrowed it down to the SMBF or the Spyderco Native in black. Any other comments?
tia,
Flash

Yes, both are fine knives. I would lean towards the Spyderco, though. The Spydie will have a much nicer edge out of the box, and will be a better cutter overall.

Get the Spyderco. I have lost all respect for Mick Strider.

Best,

RL

See this:

http://www.kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=9

I.M.H.O. one the finest foldingknives, but there are many more and it is very personal what you like on a knife or not and what is your budget?

RedLed said:

Get the Spyderco. I have lost all respect for Mick Strider.

Best,

RL

Click to expand...

Lost of respect?. Nothing wrong with the knives produce by his compony

Yes, it's a good knife.

flash_bang said:

Hmmmm. I think I've narrowed it down to the SMBF or the Spyderco Native in black. Any other comments?
tia,
Flash

Click to expand...

+1 for the Spyderco Native

The Strider is a nice, solid, durable workhorse of a knife, but it has a rather obtuse cutting angle, it's not a finesse cutter that's for sure, it's often been referred to as a "sharpened prybar", it can take more abuse than the Spydie Native

the Native OTOH, has a much thinner grind and will be a more efficient *cutter*, but it won't stand up to abuse as well as the Strider

do you want a *cutting tool* or a general purpose cutting/prying/twisting tool that can take the abuse you dish out and come back asking for more, but will give up some finesse cutting ability?

personally, i'd lean towards the Spydie, if i want a pry tool, i use my SAK flathead screwdriver blade or Swisstool Packing Crate Opener tool (the wide flat screwdriver/prytool

ask yourself what duties you forsee the knife performing, more importantly, if you can, handle them both, one will just feel *right*

+1 on the spydie native.

RedLed said:

Get the Spyderco. I have lost all respect for Mick Strider.

Best,

RL

Click to expand...

Hey, whys that? i had started to read a thread on BF about him being a liar or something but lost the link...is that the reason? do you kow where i can read it?

RedLed said:

Get the Spyderco. I have lost all respect for Mick Strider.

Click to expand...

I have no idea what respect for the maker has to do with the quality of the knife.

The Strider is a GREAT knife, but get the one that fits you best.

strider has some good designs, but buck tends to go with lesser steels. So i would check which it's using.

I was quite interested in the SBMF for some time but read some comments that the lock wasn't as strong as the rest of the knife. Some users did not like the ergonomics of the handle either.

I think the best version is the Tarani Police model with ATS34 steel and G10 scales - but you're going up in price to a level where you could also get a Spyderco Manix/mini-manix which have an excellent reputation as a heavy-duty folder.

The Native is an excellent knife and I understand Walmart has some great deals on it at the moment.

One other recommendation is the Boker Trance - these are high bang-for-the-buck knives.

I would suggest that you handle as many knives as you can and go with the one that feels best in the hand to you - it can be a high-class knife but if you're not comfortable you ain't going to use it naturally.

Good luck in your search.

JB

Ahh yeah the whole Strider story...well in ym opinion I have always thoguht that polotics and companies stories and CEO's lives should not effect which knives you buy...I always thought get the knives that are of good quality and get the deisgns you like, but some people like to buy the company alogn with their products...

For those of you who dont know the story about Strider here it is in a nutshell...The man was in prison, and he lied abotu a few thigns inclusidn his name change...and the fact that he served ina few places in the army and used his knives and tested them in the field, yada yada yada...well he was caught in a few lies and was confronted a while ago, and he appologized a million times over, and alot of knife guys want to leave it alone because the whole thing got brought up over and over again...If you want to read thw whole story again yourself you can do a search on bladeforums for it...But some people dont like Strider knives now because of the whole thing...

Once again I always think you should buy the knives for the knives...because they are worth the price and you like the way they look, feel, and perform...

most knife company's i know claim that (all or some of) their knives are designed for/by a navy seal or some other elite unit. very few company's actually end up making one that lives up to it's promis.
strider knives do live up to their claims, they have very simple designs, and are a bit overpriced, but they do work very well, and are made of the best materials.
they kinda took the apple route, make things simple and expensive to create a near-religious bond between the customers and their knives. very few people buy them, but everyone that does can't shut up about them, so other people slowly try it, and the process repeates. if this is the case, people forget about the bad things very quickly.

Keep the Strider politics out of the thraed, please. It will turn messy in a hurry.

Back on topic: The Buck SBMF is not a good example of a hard use knife. The liners are too thin, Buck's liner lock construction/fit has always been hit or miss, and I think the SBMF has been discontinued after Buck stole the design for the Ghostrider model.

I can highly recommend the Spydie Native. Great performance in a small package.

--dan

There is a big difference between Strider and the Strider-Buck collaboration knives.

If someone has unlimited funds, I would suggest Strider every time. At the $100 or less level, Spyderco is probably the best value out there.