Knife for lefty?

[kevin_d'marie]

How about knives from CRKT?

Not as good as benchmade or spyderco but makes good beater knives.

 

[carrot]

Aren't almost all CRKT knives liner locks, which are right-handed? Come to think of it I'm not aware of any CRKT that are lefty-friendly.

 

[wquiles]

Aren't almost all CRKT knives liner locks, which are right-handed? Come to think of it I'm not aware of any CRKT that are lefty-friendly.

Besides that, one of my problems with CRKT knifes is the steel - once you buy a knife with a premium steel (BG-42, 154cm, S30V), you don't want anything less ;)

Will

 

[kevin_d'marie]

True that wquiles

crkt needs to step it up a bit.

 

[jp2515]

Another Lefty here. I've come to accept using RH knives. Usually I hold the knife with my left and flip open the blade with my right. Not perfect but that's the way I've always done it. Just imagine if a right hander asks you to use your lefty knife?

 

[mossyoak]

I'm a lefty and have had the same problem you have. The best thing I've found is the axis lock and the spyderco lockback being a close second. But I'm fairly adaptable as my sng was a righthanded model

 

[schiesz]

Not for a hard use knife.

Sebenza not a hard use knife? If its not, then please tell me what is.

 

[Ignoramus]

Not for a hard use knife.

I gotta disagree with this statement. The Sebenza is very well made and can do whatever you ask of a hard use folder. I'm not even a fan of the knife, the style doesn't appeal to me. It certainly looks more like a gents knife I'll give you that. The only real difference compared to say a Strider is the blade grind.

Striders come with way thicker grinds so the blades themselves might be harder to break, but that shouldn't really be a concern on a folder. The weakest points on a folder generally speaking will be the lock, pivot pin and the blade stop- all of which should be just as strong on the Sebenza as any Strider.

The only thing that might be considered weaker (not weak) on the practical level is the tip.

All this aside, to address the OP's question there are many knives which are ambidextrous and work well for lefties. SOG has the Arc Lock and Cold Steel has the Ultra Lock, both of which are very similar to the Axis Lock. Both companies pay royalties to Benchmade to use them IIRC. Spyderco has a bunch of designs that are ambidextrous. Most knives that have ambi locks also have pocket clips which can be switched for the lefty.

 

[schiesz]

Also, to address the OP's question, you can check out some customs from southpaw-knives.com. Ira makes some really nice customs for lefties for great prices. I've considered quite a few of his for my wrong-handed brother. So far i'm not convinced he'd really appriciate it enough, so the best i've gotten him at this point is a left-handed CRKT mirage (Yes, CRKT has made a few left-handed knives, but I don't think any of them have been in production for more than a few years).

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Sebenza not a hard use knife? If its not, then please tell me what is.

Zero Tolerance, hands down.

 

[schiesz]

Zero Tolerance, hands down.

And what factors let you arrive at the decision that Zero Tolerance is a "Hard Use" knife, and a sebenza is not? I'd be very interested in the tests and/or reasoning that led to that opinion. Do you own both brands?

Also, i'm not intimately familiar with any of the ZT folders, but aren't they all right handed liner or frame locks? That's fine for me, but not for the OP. Personally, I feel that the sebenza will stand up to any other knives, not just left handed ones, but since thats what the OP is looking for, I don't see much help caused by stating that a knife that isn't available for them is in some way better than a knife that is available for them.

 

[Elliot]

Kershaw - Ken Onion Assisted opening line - I'm lefty and have at least one of each. The assist is located right smack dab top middle. They open just as fast as any of my automatic knives. Another in a similar line is the JUNKYARD DOG II G-10 COMPOSITE Blade, very hi tech, but the blade is too big for a spring assist (still opens very fast and easy.)

They hold the patent on the composite blades. A nice conversion starter for a mass produced item. Prices go from $30 to $60. Maybe $10 more in a B&M store.

PS: I use that nano lube stuff that I bought in the cpf market place.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

And what factors let you arrive at the decision that Zero Tolerance is a "Hard Use" knife, and a sebenza is not? I'd be very interested in the tests and/or reasoning that led to that opinion. Do you own both brands?

Also, i'm not intimately familiar with any of the ZT folders, but aren't they all right handed liner or frame locks? That's fine for me, but not for the OP. Personally, I feel that the sebenza will stand up to any other knives, not just left handed ones, but since thats what the OP is looking for, I don't see much help caused by stating that a knife that isn't available for them is in some way better than a knife that is available for them.

You can see the tests and reviews at Blade Forums, Knife Tests and Cutlery Science. Some Chris Reeves knives with S30V blades suffer of some kind of heat-treatment issue and have failed miserably (broken, chipped) under mild abuse-- including fixed blade knives supposedly made for the Special Forces Operators. While they are fine knives with fantastic fit and finish, they are not hard-use tools by any means.

Yes, I own a ZT0300 and I beat the hell out it. I traded my Sebenza for a Busse, now that's a hard-use knife!

 

[schiesz]

I am on bladeforums pretty much daily, and have been searching knife tests (no folder tests that I could find) and i'm still not quite sure what you are talking about. Breaking a knife by hammering it into concrete or batoning into a railroad track aren't exactly in the realm of things I worry about with my knives. I remember seeing one report of someone batoning with their sebenza, then later that day a screw fell out of the handle. If these are the basis of declaring a sebenza unfit under mild abuse, we can agree to disagree.

There was a micro-chipping issue known with S30V, but that's hardly considered "failed miserably" in my book. I can't really even comment on the S30V since none of my sebenzas use that steel, but i've never even seen a report of a failed blade on a sebenza of any steel.

Sure, any Busse is a hard use knife, but its not a folder, and I didn't even see the OP mention he was going to be really hard on it.

To be completely fair, I don't have any ZT knives. I'm sure they are tough. I'm sure they can take abuse, possibly much more than a sebenza. I have had some tough looking knives too (Carillo and Coogler), but I don't think they are stronger than a sebenza by any measurable amount.

So, Back on topic:

The question here is about a left handed folder. If you were left handed and looking for a folder, what would you choose?

If I could spend the money, i'd choose the sebenza. If not, i'd probably look into one of Ira's customs that I linked above. And if I wanted to go cheaper than that, i'd get a lockback or axis lock that's ambidextrious.

The toughest use that my knives ever see is batoning, and I can do that with my sebenza (available left handed), bucks (lockback), spyderco (lockback), or mini grip (axis) without much worry. My large sebenza is the only one that I will really wail on, just because the others aren't really big enough to be good for the task. I have no fear of using the large sebenza for anything, and it has never let me down. My old Buck 110s get beat on sometimes, but I try not to really hit it hard when batoning because I know the blade pivot is brass (or nickel silver on a few) and not the strongest thing around.

If you really need a strong knife for these tough tasks, i'd suggest a fixed blade.

 

[jzmtl]

I think it's very much unrealistic to suggest sebenza to someone who's looking for knives. It's like suggest a spy 007 to a newbie looking for pocketable flashlights. It's very much in the boutique category for collectors who buy into that sort of thing, not the other 99% of the population where much cheaper solutions work just as well if not better.

 

[wquiles]

I think it's very much unrealistic to suggest sebenza to someone who's looking for knives. It's like suggest a spy 007 to a newbie looking for pocketable flashlights. It's very much in the boutique category for collectors who buy into that sort of thing, not the other 99% of the population where much cheaper solutions work just as well if not better.

That is a very good point - not everyone is ready/willing to pay for a Sebenza. Everyone at the office who sees my Small Sebenza is marveled by it, "until" they ask how much was it :devil:

For the money, for a lefty, it is hard to beat a good Benchmade with the Axis lock (I own 3 of them!!!) ;)

Will

 

[schiesz]

I think it's very much unrealistic to suggest sebenza to someone who's looking for knives.

I totally agree. The OP said they had a Benchmade axis lock and wanted to know if there is anything else that is as good. For a lefty, its slim pick'ins to meet those requirements.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Many of the new Spyderco knives have 4 way clips (Tip up, Tip down, left, right). Most of the new Spydercos are good for the left handed and even better for the ambidextrous.

 

[Greyhound]

I am gonna look at the spydercos now. Have picked up several benchmades now. Love them.

BTW- if anyone knows where I can find a model hk14200, please let me know. All the 20+ vendors that I have called that advertise it in stock on line, do not have it.

 

[jzmtl]

Spydercos are often love/hate, you either love the shape or hate them. I was in the latter camp, but now in former. :)