I was just putting away my going-to-town stuff, and it occurred to me I don’t think I ever mentioned my alltime favorite folder…
Nothing fancy, just a Griptillian I’ve had since sometime in 2002. Bought it in a sporting goods shop in Oakland California, and it was my everyday knife until mid-2008 when I started carrying fixed blades. It’s still my go-to knife for when I dress like a real person.
By my standards it was absurdly expensive – it’s the most or second-most expensive knife I ever bought but time has validated the expense: It hasn’t worn out, it has worn in. That sliding bar makes it what would have been called a gravity knife when I was a kid; you pull the bar back and give the blade a flick, and you don’t need the stud. Locks up nice and tight – as tight now as the first time I opened it – and the action has gotten nothing but smoother over the years though like any folder or automatic it doesn’t much like sand. We’ve got lots of sand here and anyway I carry so much other stuff on my belt that it didn’t make sense to keep using a folder every day.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a folder and can drop a little over a hundred bucks for something you’ll probably use for the rest of your life, I can recommend this one. I gather they’re still made and still popular.
Yep, Benchmade still makes the Griptillian. These days they can be had in all sorts of colours. I’m glad your has lasted as long as it has. The lock on mine failed after a year and a half. The best thing I remember about the Griptillian was the grip. It fit the hand very well.
I carried a Kershaw Blur with the Tanto shaped serrated blade, but when I wore it out and needed to replace it bought the same knife with the curved and serrated edge.
The grip looks a lot lit the grip in your photo.
Problem with Benchmade is they like to cut up guns for the local PoPo.
I’ve carried one for maybe ten years, since I moved up from a Spyderco. They replaced the blade, so I went from a partial serration to a regular blade when, like a dumbass, I opened a beer bottle with the tip. Free shipping both ways made me a happy owner.