OTF Knife Buyers' Guide | Knife Banter Ep. 41

today at blade HQ we're looking at a whole bunch of OTF knives definitely a bigger knife well but it is the benchmark kind of when it comes to OTFs this to me is the future of OTFs what is up guys today at blade HQ we're looking at a whole bunch of OTF knives here's what we're gonna do guys we're gonna show you a bunch of the best sellers we're gonna show you a bunch of the mid-range knives as well as a bunch of kind of Dark Horses that we're gonna talk about a whole bunch of them so first of all I want to tease one of the knives that we're gonna talk about what is it Zach that's a deadlock this is the Grant & Gavin Hawk deadlock it's on loan to us and we'll show you that one at the very end so stay tuned till the end of the video what's the next knife on the list next like um next knife on the list and the first one the best one to start with well but it is the benchmark kind of when it comes to OTFs is the Microtech Ultratech yep so just I mean great blade all the way around obviously like I said it's kind of the benchmark that a lot of a lot of OTFs shoot for yet when it comes to this type of thing this one particular has the Bohler M390 steel and just just great knife g-10 on the front of this one Blade HQ exclusive BHQ exclusive the Ultratech in my mind is the best seller of all the OTFs yeah comes in tons and tons of different varieties so if you're looking for a certain steel certain handle color it comes in blue it comes in black I think they've made some red ones before but the ultra tech is kind of the gold standard OTF but micro tech makes a bunch of OTFs so the next one on the list is the Halo 5 now the thing about the Halo 5 it is discontinued now they're gonna be coming out with a Halo 6 that I hear is similar to this one now this one is actually a custom Marfione Custom and let's fire it here for you boom right there this is a 20 no 3rd $3,200 nine three thousand two hundred and fifty dollar knife yeah it's got the 600 year old Hera House bamboo inlay there and they're stainless steel and it is a beautiful beautiful blade now what we're going to distinguish here is single action versus double action this is a single action OTF it's basically like a pocketknife where you have to recharge it after you fire it this is double action because I can hit it there I can hit it here in and out in and out one-handed basically there's two Springs on the inside one goes one way one goes the other way so that it goes in and out now on a single-action you have to recharge it so on this particular one you push the button and buttons a little bit tight recharge it with that and we're going to talk about some of the other varieties of single action OTF here in a minute but that is the halo 5 and a beautiful one at that very beautiful - beautiful really close I'm scared to even touch it so that's a one-time touching one-time okay put it back alright so next on the list we've got the Microtech Cypher so another Microtech great double action knife deep carry pocket clip here oh no that's not deep carry actually that's just regular pasta a regular part that my bad I apologize it's a big one it's a big night yes I'm looking at comparison definitely yeah Ultratech is what's the blade length on the Ultratech that's probably three and a quarter something like that yeah four is four inches I think for a laser yeah so it definitely a bigger knife yeah and the thing is one thing I like about Microtech is they come in a whole bunch of different sizes so if you're looking for a bigger or a smaller they've got it if you look at the UTX-85 basically this is the Ultratech's little brother and this is the size that I personally like they make a blue one that every time it comes in stock I start to salivate because I'm a sucker for that that anodized blue aluminum there but I really love the UTX-85 sizing if you look at it in comparison to the Ultratech boom right there just a little bit smaller blade length on this one was probably right at 3 yeah it's yeah 3 right around 3 right around 3 so UTX-85 and the other thing about this one is it's right about the same size as a Benchmade Mini Infidel so let's jump right into that one in size comparison first and then talk about specs oh yeah so I think the blade length on these is like exactly the same when you get down to it when it comes down to it I guess we'll hold it a little bit better so you guys can see I started him all the direction yeah all the directions so so yeah so this is mini infidel this one was actually designed and inspired by by and for military use yeah primarily this one does have the deep carry pocket clip on it so you can really conceal it down in there and and I'm kind of with you I like this this size this and and that utx great size let me ask you another question about your preferences where do you prefer the button because all of micro Tex buttons are on the side of the blade inside of the handle excuse me where Benchmade's are on the top of the handle nice I like the top of him do you yeah now you were showing me a little trick though I haven't used OTFs as much as you have and your show me a trick at the beginning that I forgot so on opening and close to this is a trick here is when you're opening you're pushing that way right and then a lot of people have a hard time retracting it this one's easier but some are a little bit stiffer so if you actually rotate your thumb this way you get more leverage and I noticed that too close yeah I noticed that and if I don't do it that way the ones that are on the side I definitely like have to try a little bit but if I turn the thumb no problem yeah the thing about the I like the side where the firing button is on the side okay simply because when I pick up a knife that's where my hand goes okay versus having this right over right personal preference yeah I think and I think that's actually funny cuz when I pick up the knife that's where my hand goes is right there so another thing to know about the Infidel they designed it to be used with gloves and so that firing button is just super it's it's raised raised I was going to say it is recessed that's the opposite that's really raised and it's got a lot of jumping on it tons of jumping yep so it's almost like a stair step podium like you could have first place second place third place maybe that's weird but that actually jumps us right into the next place the next place on the lineup and that's that's the regular at the double regular here so size-wise there and blade length on the regular is four inches just about four inches yeah so you get almost a full one more inch with the blade legged on that but everything else is exactly the same just a bigger version yeah so deep carry pocket clip nice jumping with your with your podium of success here the podium of success this has podium jimping podium jimping that's a new thing uh but yeah no so the Infidel is a really great knife really cool knife and and I've heard a lot of guys in the service you know like any knife people people usually split but I've heard a lot of guys in the service that use them actually really liked them so yeah yeah people do love them now the next one on the list is another Benchmade this used to be in their H&K line this is called the Phaeton this one's got d2 steel aluminum handle it looks a lot like an Ultratech I think that one's actually s30v oh is it yeah I believe so I lied to you yep that's the the Infidel's D2 I believe nice that for correcting me there these are not exact copies by any means but you can kind of see if you're looking for a certain style of OTF the Phaeton and the Ultratech are right in the same range well going back to the ultra tech as a benchmark it makes sense that you would want to design a knife similar to that platform right they're definitely different knives but absolutely something similar right obviously Intertek exact fate on might be a good good looker for you. Now these are kind of your high-end yeah OTFs I don't think any of these break sub-3 they're all right around right around $300 yes so you are gonna spend a lot of money for a no TF particularly in this price range when you're looking for name-brand high quality that sort of thing the next ones we're gonna talk about after the commercial break are kind of your budget OTFs we'll be back in just a minute guys I want to tell you about our brand new Blade HQ branded knife rolls they've got two little clasps here and it holds 12 knives grommets right there so you can hang it in your closet as well we made it so that it fits Bali's really well fits all sorts of different knives there's enough space that when you roll it up it rolls perfectly nicely and beautifully comes with a handle it's $14.95 on BladeHQ.com now as well these brand new t-shirts Blade HQ t-shirts with a big shield we've got a Blade HQ back there and a little hangtag down below also $14.95 at BladeHQ.com so if you love knives if you love Blade HQ buy yourself some Blade HQ swag. Well welcome back guys and we're gonna jump now into some of the less expensive OTFs that we have really this is kind of my wheelhouse this is where I live with OTFs these are all sub-fifty right yeah sup fit right around 49 bucks yeah thirty curry nice yeah exactly career watching this in the world in the year 2030 yeah it could be different right so over you know customs every day's tacticals beautiful great knives but for me I'm about this AKC life I love I love this thing it's great and I think that I love it cuz it just speaks to me like it speaks to me like as an adult Who I am but it all so speaks to like fifteen-year-old Zach like skating and biking around the city you know getting Slurpees sophomore year can last forever it does yes and and this kind of feels that way I mean right down to like that it has Det actual deck tape right here I don't know they call it that but that you feel it that is what it is it's deck tape so yeah just a double a double action is 40 bucks 40 bucks it's honestly it's a great knife and and we've had these flown around the office and playing with them and stuff for 40 bucks it's actually like a nice little OTF really as I get nothing nothing wrong with it yeah it doesn't come off track you know it's funny I don't know if you guys didn't hear this I'm gonna put it right by microphone it makes this this tinny sound yeah that's delightful yeah you don't you don't get that in your $300 no definitely not it's like bang fall girl yep these are nice and tinny it feels like $40 it does it does you're not a bad $40 no right now it's been a bad $40 that doesn't feel like a bad $40 but yeah I'm looking to get into a DF sniffs and you don't want to make a jump to a $300 knife BAM that's a great option now it chose this one just for you know that we're like hey let's put the AKC Concord in there and Zak is like alright I'll pick you a color so he picked the sunflower because I'm just a blossoming sunflower in life I wanted to brighten his day the AKC Concord this one doesn't have a pocket clip it is a polymer handle which is a fancy name for plastic if you brought in watching this show you've got the button on that side actually think these are aluminum now I think they used to be a polymer but I think they're leave that now that sure it feels like I don't know have a feel that does feel a lot like plastic hmm I don't know either way either way these things are gonna be a little more expensive you got a sunflower on there they come in a lot of different leopard prints and different styles this one you got your button they're similar to the infidel so yep pretty straightforward next up Smith & Wesson this is the the OTF finger actuator is what they call it can we just let's be honest that name is yeah it's horrible it's a mouthful it's a mouthful I'm not quite sure why your activator yeah the finger actuator but it doesn't even like sound cool sorry taking listen but it does look cool it does it does look cool it's pretty it's pretty tactical it does look really cool you get the glass breaker you get a deep carry pocket clip so you do have some good things about it but but the name is definitely a bit of a mouth you know and now we're back into the single yeah single action realm so with the single action you can actually lock it or not this is how you unlock the knife and then you pull back on it's actually two-headed feature but you pull back locks it recharge it put it and then release and then recharge it so single action great great offering from Smith & Wesson again 40 bucks yeah so you see these two with 40 bucks they look you know this one oh yeah it's a little more so yeah so you see these two and they jump into this you get something a little more tactical a little more robust built I feel this one this is similar to this Schrade edition right there this is the Viper and again it's single action you've got a button release right here so to take the knife down you're doing that and recharging you also the safety right there both of these feature glass breaker and they're single action deep carry clips not bad knifes no I mean if you're looking to get into the $40 OTF range great night yeah now if you're looking to get into the 10 sub $10 range this might be my favorite knife on the table it's great I don't even know the name of this it's the mini OTF automatic knife lighter it would happen it doesn't have a name it's like beautiful it has like this golfer on it yeah it's a it's a dual action OTF excuse me double action OTF and it has a lighter boom right there you can fill it with you guys on the bottom rechargeable butane when we have them they're like eight bucks yeah it's it's a beautiful thing I don't see it came off track there yeah quick check ins quick tip for you guys if a knife comes off track so like if I pound this into the table and it's off track that's called off track just pull it out that way and it goes back on track for an eight dollar knife yeah it might come off dragon yes honestly what you're buying is is a really cool $8 lighter a fillable butane lighter that's what your buy a piece of entertain it is it is and it's fun and they come in like a trillion different varieties if so yeah so next up is the No Limits Guard Father I they call it the Spike the Guard Father Spike I was trying remember the exact they use so this is got it's got kind of a recessed button so it's actually kind of hard to push but I think that's intentional so that it when it's in your pocket it doesn't go off or anything like that so you push the button and there's your spike so this thing runs 30 bucks and I mean it's probably seen purely as a self-defense weapon I would imagine yeah and then to put it back in you actually do need a hard surface and then you lock it right back in just like that see I I would use this as an ice pick know what you were saying you know what on an ice pick adventure the I did I tried to find an ice pick about a year ago I don't know why Ben's looking for ice picks by the way he don't sell ice picks like Walley world I was looking at like three places right and there were no ice picks so if you're looking for a good ice pick yep there you go good way to go I don't I don't remember why I need an ice pick I promise there were no bodies involved okay let's do a quick mailbag guys before we get into the next ones Zach this was this is probably more for you from Ian Osborne yeah so this is so this is in relation to a video we just released it was about the custom micarta scales I made for the Spyderco Shaman check out the video if you haven't yet there's a lot of fun to make but so II from Ian Osborne he said this is exactly the type of content I've been looking for what's even more refreshing as the overall quality of the video your AV guy knows what he's doing and both Ben and Zach seem really comfortable in front of a camera huh don't don't stop putting out these videos please the Internet is a better place with you all in it this is a very very nice comment I know I love that I get to like be in the Internet yeah yeah it's great it's really fun and it's our AV guys so it's Jamie and Matthew are the wizards that make any of this look kind of decent so it's true they and do our hair before we start the combs Zac's beard yeah it which brings it into the next comment before we start filming they comb out the the grisly stuff from Zacks beard which brings us to the next comment from Dylan Baxter do more of these this is awesome in reference to the micarta video sexy sexy beard I love it I love it thanks me laughs and the next one on-screen just a super nice comment we'll just flashed on screen for you guys thank you Cho for your comment below and thank you for all the nice comments on the this shaman micarta video that means a lot so we appreciate it totally his wife posted all over Facebook she was just remind and she should be yes yes she should be next on the list guys this is a Paragon single action OTF and the name has escaped me it's called the para ex yeah the Para-XD yeah steal on this guy is s30v so Paragon knives they make that fancy what do they call that the clam opening knife the names gone Matthew'll put on screen for me oh yeah anyway single action on this guy so to close it push the button and pull back there and it also has a safety so pretty straightforward the price on this one under 200 bucks 199 all right so this is the Protech Dark Angel so oh and I got in the road it's another single action so you can see when you have a single action with that lever you got to watch for that so another single action but really really great knife from Protech and not not automatics aren't everything that they do well sign opening at us yes I don't yes yeah OTF sorry apologize OTFs not really their thing but so this is a great knife this is actually the kind of fancier version of it so this is 154cm steel stainless steel handles this thing goes for 515 but they do make a base model that goes for right around 229 ish nice so yeah so yeah great little offering from them not bad yeah not bad their next one on the list is out of Twin Falls Idaho so not too far from where we're sitting currently this is the piranha and the name on this one is the Rated-R Piranha Rated-R it's got an aluminum handle steel on this thing is 154cm and you've got this is kind of an interesting placement for the firing button yeah but you'll see that on the next one as well from piranhas and this one's gonna run you right under $300 nice mere polish on that thing you're finished and one thing that I love about this knife and I'm not a big guy for this normally but I actually really like the pinstriping on this nice it's nice and subtle it's fun usually when pinstriping is on things it makes it look cheap even though pinstriping is such a wonderful craft sure but usually I don't like the placement I'm like but you regular products but this one's I like it nice looks good next one on the list Heretic yeah so this is the Heretic Cleric and this is the tech the tanto version of this knife yeah just a great knife all the way around CPM 154 blade it's got a three and a half inch long blade and deep carry pocket clip here and as you mentioned then with this one it's got kind of a different placement for the firing mechanism you mean the podium it's got podium jimping yeah yeah oh yeah well yeah obviously the podium jimping yeah you can't forget about that but besides the podium jimping it's the firing mechanism is kind of placed off to the side with the Piranha it fits my hand a little bit better I feel like this would be better for a gloved hand or a maybe bigger hand sure just does it the way that it's kind of spread out but sure a great knife yea or nay on the pocket clip I'm not sure haven't used it I like that it's deep carry I don't know if I would like that I don't know how that yeah I don't know how the double side will work I'm a big nay on this yes Lee okay yeah yeah but there are people that like fancy pocket clips and this is a fancy one yeah for sure for sure at the same time next on the list is the Hogue OTF it doesn't actually have a name itself it's just a Hogue OTF yeah design by Allen Alysha whit's this is gonna run you $297 CPM 154 steel deep carry pocket clip and definitely super snappy and comfortable in the hand that's one thing about Hogue if you know their history they started in gun grips so they bring that concept of making it comfortable in hand to their pocket knives so this one's gonna run just under 300 whoo that's a lot of knives guys yeah that was a lot okay last one on the list for the day we actually had to go borrow this one from a guy here locally in Utah Gavin Hawk tracked down the guy for us so he could loan us his knife for a minute this is the Grant & Gavin Hawk Deadlock now this one is gonna be a little bit hard to get from Blade HQ for a minute but rumor has it we're gonna be getting this one soon that's all the reason I wanted to track this one down for you guys to see is it's called the Deadlock because there is no blade play in the knife so every single OTF on this table has play play play play is when the blade wobbles back and forth side to side just a little bit and that is the thing about an OTF that you can't solve until the Deadlock unless you're a mad scientist I'm gonna roll a little bit of their video in so you can see the internal mechanism it's all patented a sort of thing to see there's an angle cut there there on an angle like that that shoves the blade down and it shoves the blade over that's what keeps the knife solid so that you don't have any play in any direction this thing is amazing because it has no blade play and this to me is the future of OTFs being able to make an OTF that is it's a deadlock yeah it's it's not going anywhere so super solid the other cool thing about this knife Gavin Hawk is adamant about people being able to clean it some of these knives if you open them up you void the warranty he includes a tool so you can open it up he shows you online how to open it up so this is an exciting development in OTFs to me a lot of these have been kind of the same design same mechanism for the past 15 20 years this is new and it's fresh so I wanted to show that to you guys and this one is an expensive one I think it ran like just under - yeah - grand - - geez yeah - geez yeah definitely expensive one super cool and without and that's probably I don't know the the inner workings of the super well but the read I bet one of the reasons is that you can take it apart without worrying about boarding the warranty is because of the way it's designed yeah because with most of these if you take them apart Springs like you're gonna have you're gonna have consequences right there so yeah that's that's really cool it's it's exciting and I love being able to talk about new stuff coming out like that because this is a changing industry I mean the ultra tech is kind of your gold standard but what makes an ultra check the gold standard twenty years from now maybe that becomes the gold standard so rumor has it those are gonna some of those are gonna come to Blade HQ to someday sometime probably in the next year or so so we're excited about that and shout out to Gavin for finding a guy with a deadlock and shout out to the guy I'm not gonna say his name but you know who you are thank you for loaning us your knife I appreciate it so there you have it guys before we end here Zak which is your favorite knife on the table so I really like that deadlock okay deadlock yeah yeah yeah no I'm saying I really like the dead like I wanna throw that out there and there are some really great knives but and I just got to go I got to go with BMX bikes and Slurpees and comic books right here man I just never those I love it yeah I think for me I've always wanted this UTX-85 in the blue yeah this this the size on this is just yeah yeah so I think if I were ever the only thing is that that screw yeah for some reason that screw has to be right there not right there the OCD like the OCD alarm goes off yeah when Ben said this screw is like oh does it like kind of like is it present a little bit on the handle hot spot now just the way it is it's just where its place like please guys we're gonna have an upcoming video about Zero Tolerance knives so if you have a favorite ZT leave it in the comments let us know which one it is we'll try to include it in our next video we appreciate all your comments on the previous videos we appreciate you guys watching and we'll have another video coming out for you next week welcome to these sexy sexy babe oh man out of all the nice comments we had to pick the weird one I've been kicked out of the rap all right we ready for this phone's off don't have fun

Channel: Blade HQ

Views: 1,199,508

Rating: 4.8434505 out of 5

Keywords: OTF, Knife, Knives, Out The Front, Swithcblade, Automatic Knives, Grant and Gavin Hawk, G&G Hawk Deadlock, Knife Banter, Blade HQ, Blade, Sharp, Awesome Knives

Id: WN8PDfEbZw4

Length: 23min 33sec (1413 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 01 2018