Hey everyone, David C. Andersen here coming at
you from the KnifeCenter and today we're taking a look at the biggest and baddest folding knives
that you can get your hands on. Let's check them out. (KnifeCenter.com) So the folders we're
talking about today are the kinds of things that give me just this fistful of metal when you pick
it up. You just want to say Heck yeah, and we have to be honest. This video is kind of
inspired by Cold Steel, Cold Steel, as evidenced by this Espada XL right here does large and over
the top knives like just about nobody else out there. This particular guy right here comes in
about 168 when which you consider all the all the kit you're getting for it. It's actually not
that bad. The blade itself seven and a half inches long. Aus10 stainless steels got a nice
stonewashed finish going on. You've got G10 for the handles just a little bit of texture there
for some grip. And of course, cold Steel's famous and very strong, famously very strong
triad lock, looks like a lock back, but it's stronger under the hood, just rock solid and
stable. Now despite the almost, let's be honest, comically large nature of this knife, it's
actually a fairly well thought out and fairly useful blade, overall, I mean, it actually does
fit in the pocket here as I fold the guy up definitely a two handed closer for sure. It's a
lot, you're not going to be able to carry much else in your front pockets. But at least on my
my standard jeans, it does fit, you do have a decent bit of handle sticking up out the back.
So you know you wouldn't want a deep carry pocket clip on this guy. And then you've got
your ambidextrous thumb plate here, right near the back of the spine. That'll actually work as
a pocket Deployer. So this giant knife will be fully deployed as long as you angle it to catch
the hem of your pocket just as soon as you pull it and it's one of those things that certainly
puts a smile on my face, that's for sure. But also got to handholds on this you've got a
standard grip position, that's actually maybe more than that you've got a little bit of choke
up space around the ricasso we can actually also choke back that's going to point the front of
the blade kind of very intuitively can even probably pull off some light machete tasks with
this I wouldn't go necessarily chopping wood all day long with it, but you could take care of
some grasses and stuff around the around the yard if you wanted to. Or you can just feel
awesome I could pull that guy out. I will show a couple other cold Steel's here in a second. But
when I think of the Espada XL, the word I mentioned earlier is kind of comically large and
I do mean that in a good way. And there's one other knife I always think of when the phrase
comically large comes into mind and that is the Opinel number 13. Very different vibe obviously
from the spa to excel obviously very, very old school but but it's even bigger than the Cold
Steel. It's a little bit more affordable to these come in at just 99 bucks right now. And
it's just a classic Opinel type of construction just sized up you got your Sandvik 12 c 27 blade
and it comes in just shy of nine inches. Same old clip point with the full flat grind as the
smaller knives just sized up for for good fun. The handles themselves are nice and comfortable.
You've got that classic beech wood construction with no no hotspots around it because it is just
you know the slot for the knife is sought out of one side you don't have two sides connected
together. can choke back do a little bit of light grass work, but I think where this knife
would really shine, backyard barbecue sets, stuff like that you've even got that locking
ring on there still which will hold the blade in the closed and the open position. And really,
this knife is just about good fun. And it's Yeah, it puts a smile on your face and that's
kind of what we're going for with a lot of the knives here today. There are going to be some
things that are very purpose driven. that are going to be very useful, but bottom line if none
if one of these knives and you pull it out of your pocket and it doesn't make you smile,
there's no way it's making it on this list today. So back to Cold Steel. We'll talk about
them a second more. If you like this a spot to excel but it is too much. Also check out their x
l Voyager very similar in terms of its styling, but a little bit smaller. This is a five and a
half inch blade. This is also one of the more affordable Big Bad folders that you can get
nowadays this guy comes in about 72 bucks not too bad. Again, Austin blade full flat grind
here with that stonewashed finish, similar handle shape just size down and you've got a
Griv-Ex handle so it's injection molded. Still got the triad lock still have a similar style to
the pocket clip where it's it sticks enough up out of the of the pockets you can grab onto it
more easily. Dual thumb studs no ambidextrous plate on this guy so you're not going to be
pocket deploying this out so quickly, but still a very impressive of
life. The funny thing about something like the Voyager is it actually makes some cold Steel's
more big bad knives, they've got a bunch of them. But it makes some of them which to any
other company would be the biggest most massive thing in their lineup makes them feel kind of
small by comparison. And Case in point is the 4-Max model, four inch blade big beefy made out
of s 35. vn, this premium version, that is there is a more affordable version with os 10. But the
premium guy comes in about 425 right now. So a bit pricey for sure. But it is pretty awesome.
And yet, like I've never picked up this 4-max before until I picked it up off of this table
and thought it was kind of small. What's that tell you something fun about that. But this is
still a massive knife, especially if you don't have these points of comparison next to it. Four
inches, nice broad drop point, like I said, G10 on the handles on this guy, triad lock, again,
multiple hand positions. Again, you got your main gorilla grip here, you can choke up onto
the finger choil area for some finer control if you need to. And, again, not that I'd be
chopping wood all day long, but the way the handle is designed, it's almost like it wants
you to go chopping with it. You have a little less reach than the Espada XL But it's still
going to be a phenomenal, Big Bad folder. Our next step, we're going to get into some of
the big titanium frame lock flippers, which is one of the most prolific genres of knives out
there today. And you see that in these big bad folders as well. And we're gonna start with what
I like to call the one pound flipper because this does come in just over 16 ounces is the
halfbreed blades, large bush flipper, this is actually a liner lock, not a frame lock, but the
handle themselves handles themselves are titanium in this case, blade steel, s 35 vn just
over four inches, nice broad profile, we've got a hollow grind on this knife. So it has some
similarities actually to that 4-max, but the 4-max has a flat grind. But similar length
similar steel, you actually get a little bit more edge on the formax. Even though the blade
length is technically a skosh shorter, you do get a little more thickness though on the blade
stock. We're coming in just under a quarter inch, it's about point to one here. And as you
can see nice thick, massive slabs of titanium as well definitely fills the hand quite nicely,
you've got a lot there to hold on to for sure. Again, you got to finger choil there if you do
want to choke up and you got some space to choke back. There's a liner lock though I wouldn't
really recommend some aggressive chopping so much with this knife. I just laugh whenever I
think about that concept. You do have some some divots here in the titanium that does double
duty you can use this being a large bush flipper, they kind of they at least market this
as being used outdoors on occasion. You can use this as a bearing block for a bow drill fire,
but it also actually creates a nice spot for my middle finger. As I'm gripping the knife. It's a
nice index point a little bit of extra traction as well. Next up is from ArtisanCutlery This is
the proponent designed by Dirk Pinkerton. It's actually one of the very few knives on this
table today that has a a blade that's underneath four inches long, but it's so massive and all
the other directions that you know it's still qualifies in our mind. It's about 3.85 so it's
almost at that four inch mark. And these large versions come in about 212 right now, similar
story here with the steel we've got s 35 v n, big broad Angular kind of reverse tanto or
wharncliffe shape going on. We've also got titanium construction frame lock flipper, as I
mentioned a little bit earlier, few different opening methods though beyond just the flipping
action. Just quite nice. We've got a lot of mass in the blade rotating around the the ball
bearings in the pivot has a nice satisfying feel. But in addition to that, you can use these
oversize thumb studs, no problem. You can also thumb open it using the fuller on that blade
starting there and rotating up as you go around. So there's a few different options for the the
fidget minded out there. And when it comes to a big fidgety folder, this is definitely got a lot
going for it for sure. In addition to being able to put in some really powerful cuts, while we're
looking at knives kind of in this style, we've got to talk about one of the kind of marquee
makers of this style a knife and that's Andre de Villiers with his ADV battle cleaver. This is
one of the more expensive knives on the table. Actually this is probably going to work out to
be the most expensive knife on the table right now coming in about 12 $100 right now, quite
expensive but this is you are paying for custom level fit and finish here. Blade m 390. In this
case, big four inch cleaver compound grinds with a recurve section here at the back. Definitely
very distinctive and very signature look for add the handles our titanium has got his frag
pattern on their frame lock on the back. Got a milled titanium pocket clip here with one of the
signature elements that you see on some ATVs and that is that rotating system under there at the
pinch point, a little bit easier to get in and out of the pocket. Now just like that artisan,
we can use the fuller there to do a thumb open, but you really want to flip that big M 390.
Blade out, very satisfying, all blacked out in this version, but he does all kinds of different
and cool variations of this knife. So as always, just keep a lookout for cool ones.
So all the knives we've looked at so far, certainly have their uses, but a lot of them are
about being big, just for the sake of it. And I like that there's something really fun about
that. The next few knives, though, aren't going to be quite as large with one exception. But
they're a little bit more intentionally geared towards specific tactical uses, either in the
line of duty or for self defense, that sort of thing. Big Bad folder certainly have their place
in that line of work as well. And we're going to start out with the Spyderco Yojumbo, which is
the larger version of the Yojimbo designed by Michael janish. Fantastic self defense and close
quarters knife. Time proven at this point. Certainly, it's just a bigger version that has
just recently come out. He's coming in about 168. Right now they're made in America, we've
got a big four inch blade of s 30 v, g 10 handles and Spydercos compression lock there on
the back lets you keep your fingers out of the path of the blade when opening and closing. And
you can do some of that flick open and closed as well where you can use that ambidextrous thumb
hole in classic Spyderco fashion got a hollow grind on this knife and they do that they say
for a couple reasons. One, it gives them a very acute tip. And it also gives a lot more spine
thickness further out the blade than if they had done something like a full flat grind which you
tend to see a lot on Spyderco designs. This way they get a bit more strength there. But you
still have that fine tip for piercing really nice, kind of like that a spot from earlier only
in a much smaller scale. Because of this wharncliffe shape also, the tip is going to
point very naturally when you when you hold it forward. And it's also going to be another good
powerful cutters thanks to that fully straight edge with this wharncliffe shape really ready to
shear through some materials. Or next we come to tops knives. But unlike most tops knives, this
is not made in America. This is actually a collaboration with Fox and their FKMD tactical
division. So this is made in Italy. But this is the Magnum folding knife which is the bigger
brother to the thunderhawks series of folders, which themselves are very large with blades just
under four inches, but this guy comes in at about 4.5 price is very similar to that Spyderco
were just under 168. Right now, four and a half inches, like I said you've got an N 690 steel,
in this case, black coated and on the handles, you've got a liner lock and G 10 on either side
and you've got that open back to construction helps keep it clean very easily. And then we
take a look here on the front side due to these cutouts in the G 10. It operates in a similar
wit similar way at least in terms of how you hold the knife to that half breed from before
those slots provide a nice positive place for your fingertips to rest, provide some good
retention helps you index the knife, even if you don't have have eyes on it as you're holding it.
And it's just one of those things also that gives you more surface area and therefore more
grip. pocket clip on this guy is tipped down but it is reversible. You can use it on either side.
You've also got in a nod to the hard use mission of this knife. You've got no ball bearings in
this pivot you've got brass washers, so you have a more deliberate but a very smooth opening
system and it's very stable when open as well. Last but not least, I forgot to mention we've
got the tanto version here but drop point is also available. Alright next to knives we're
going to come to kind of some hard use tactical crossbar locking knives. And that's the SOG seal
xR and the newly reintroduced Benchmade Adamas series, which are kind of pocket tanks in terms
of what they present from a user standpoint. And again, I do mean that in a good way. But on this
table there, they don't feel like the largest knives out there, they're a little bit smaller
By comparison, just makes me laugh. The SOG SEAL XR are made in America fully these days, comes
in about 170 blade just under four inches of s 35. vn and you've got a shape that really echoes
kind of the classic SOG SEAL bowies that they are very well known for very closely identified
with their ground very nicely. You've got that coating on there to keep reflections down.
You've gotten an injection molded handle on this guy, but you've got a nice broad metal Backspacer
here to give it a good anchor, as well as some dual inset liners to now one word about the
jimping on this knife, it does run pretty much from midway on the spine of the blade all the
way back to the end and then back up through the finger guard. It's a little bit less comfortable
in bare hands, but it's not abnormally serviced or it's not astronomically uncomfortable but I
would say That this knife it really shines when you're wearing gloves. And those jimping. Those
sections of jimping are broad enough that even when with those gloves on, you're going to have
some positive traction. The crossbar lock on this knife provides a lot of good opening
options here as well, you can do just the classic wrist flick, you can single thumb open
with the ambidextrous cut out there, or just hit that flipper, and that'll send it right out and
be ready to go. As for the new versions of the Adamas, it's a little bit slimmed down from the
older versions, which come to think of it maybe the older version would fit in this video even
better. But at the expense of this new version, which I think is even better for use. It's
slimmed down a little bit, but still a very ruggedly built knife, the blade, his cru wear
coming in about 3.8 inches, so a really nice steel for a hard use knife because he had a lot
of toughness in addition to the edge retention. Now, we don't have a flipper on this knife, but
we still do have a nice finger guard. In fact, both of these two knives are going to do very
well at protecting your fingers from sliding forward under heavy strain handles here are g
10. This is the OD green with coyote blade coloring, but we've also got a black with a gray
coating. It's also automatic versions of this knife, but this guy is all manual with that AXIS
Lock. Same deal kind of as that SOG except you don't have the flipper, you do have thumb studs,
so you can open it deliberately, or you can flick it open, and then you've got a reversible
deep carry pocket clip, which makes this knife completely ambidextrous as well. If you don't
want to carry in the pocket, there's also a nice belt sheath that they include this guy. Right.
Next up is the knight elements, kukri. This is another knife made by Fox in maniago. Italy, for
Jason Knight with his new brand right here. But we've got a very signature looking Jason Knight
kukri profile and 690 steel again, just over four inches. There's a few different versions
right now. But they all come with this steel and they come with either a G 10, or micarta front
scale and titanium frame lock on the back. This is a flipper as well, we've got ball bearings in
this pivot. But we've also got that broad fuller there. So we can do that thumb opening like that
if we wish. But it flips open quite nicely. And we've got a
nice full grip, including this nice flare at the end. Now on a traditional kukeri that flare is
to aid when you're chopping, it gives you some retention from it slipping forward on this guy,
it's still going to give you retention, but not so much from the chopping. But any kind of
aggressive cuts, especially on a pull cut, that's going to help. And a pull cut really is
going to work very nicely on this blade because of the recurve that's there, and the amount of
belly in front of it. It's just ready to cut through and really power through a lot of stuff
in front of it. We've also got that nice downward pointed tip, I think like I was
mentioning on that spot again at the beginning, that's going to point very naturally. Next up,
we've got another more affordable knife, this is the Steel Will plague doctor, there's two sizes,
but this is the larger four inch version coming in about 73. Right now, blade steel here is d
two and it gets its name from kind of that classic, old school medieval plague mask
interpreted on the blade shape itself. But the detail is going to give you a lot of edge
retention, you've got a nice, full almost full flat grind. For some good slicing
characteristics. Despite having a decently thick blade stock, their handles are g 10 we've got
tip up carry from the pocket clip. And again, nice broad handle plenty there to hold on to
even if you do have larger hands. Like the last couple of knives you do get a nice finger guard
there, in this case from the flipper tab itself. Now word about the flipping action on this
knife. This is one without ball bearings, we've got phosphor bronze washers are great for that
stability, and great for cleanliness, but they don't always flip as cleanly as some ball
bearing flippers do. But when it comes to steel, will they have their action tuned in there
flipping action on these non bearing knives. So so well. In fact, I think definitely among the
best, if not the best execution of bronze washer flippers out there today, especially on the on
the mass market production side of things, they just do it exceptionally well. Right, this next
knife should be a little bit bigger. And that's because I can only find one of the three and a
half inch versions of the Hogue X5, but this does also come in a absolutely awesome four inch
version as well. So just pretend this is a little bit bigger in my hands right now. The
three and a half inch version start at about two and a half or just over 200 bucks and the four
inch version here, not too much more than that it's about 221 right now, the blade steel is CPM 154 and they're calling
it a wharncliffe. But I think we have to officially classify this blade shape as crazy
because it kind of is there's definitely a lot going on here. Despite the out there looks you
can certainly get a lot done with this knife. This is gonna be a nice powerful cutter again.
In fact, I may actually prefer to call this a modified sheepsfoot more readily than I With a
wharncliffe. But compound grinds, they're both flat, but you've got a higher flat grind out
here near the tip. So if you're slicing through some material, or doing some scoring, which is
going to be really nice that you'll have a little bit more efficiency. But if you're trying
to power through something, you'll have a little bit more strength a little bit more beef behind
the edge on the back section there, the handles are aluminum, we've got a G mascus, which is a
patterned g 10 inlay on both sides. And we've got hogue's button lock, the button lock does
come with a secondary safety here. And that's going to hold it locked in the open position. So
if you're worried about bumping that lock, perhaps it does have a decent bit of spring
pressure behind it. But if you want that peace of mind, you've got that extra safety there,
flips closed quite nicely, almost completely, there's a bit of a detent there at the end. And
that's because of the way they tune their details for the flip open. That's really really
nice, crisp flicking flipping action, especially considering it as a button mark. Deep carry
pocket clip on this side, although because of the angle, you might have a little bit sticking
up, the knife is really nicely put together. And if these big bad flippers, Big Bad folders are
about making an impression when you pull them out of the pocket, then this one should
definitely be near the top of the list. I think this X5 actually marks a good transition between
the more dedicated tactically inspired stuff. And some of the fancier stuff out there. We did
take a look at some some kind of fancier flippers there at the beginning but even more
fancy stuff here closer to the end. And the first another Italian knife. This is the Viper
Rhino which comes in about 178. And as you can see, massive blade going on here four and a
quarter inches and 690 steel, very distinctive blade shape. We'll probably call that a harpoon,
sheep's foot, or something like that due to the shape, decent amount of belly though, you're
going to be able to pull off some pretty good slices. Nice robust tip, thanks to this
construction here, we've got a crown spine leading all the way up to it, which means you're
going to be able to choke up with your finger, it's going to be nice and comfortable. In fact,
for me, my index finger sat right there behind the tip feels really nice. Now while the blade
may be more eye catching, my favorite part about this knife is the handle itself. It's carbon
fiber, but it's thick, and it's contoured and it is exceedingly comfortable. Especially if you
were to take that pocket clip off, it's in the way just a little bit for me. But this is almost
as comfortable as a sculpted fixed blade, because of the way they've shaped is really
nicely done. We've got a lock back mid mounted on this guy with the crowned Backspacer is
essentially echoing and flowing into that blade. Nice touch you see something, some things like
that a lot with the Italians. And one of the things you see from Viper especially, is some of
the smoothest, lockback operations anywhere on the market. It's not gritty, and it's travel.
It's not jerky, it's just smooth, smooth motion, and it has that nice click there on the end,
it's it's definitely got enough resistance to keep from slipping open unintentionally, but
it's not hard to open. It's just silky and delicious. Alright, next up, we've got to talk
about the CRKT XOC massive massive knife and a massive departure from most of the stuff that
you see from CRKT. Normally, the sky is quite expensive as well comes in about 750 bucks.
While it's not as refined feeling as that Viper or a couple of the knives we're going to look at
here in a second. They put this knife out as sort of a showcase of their new deadbolt lock,
which is this it's actuated by the button here which doubles as the pivot and you can see this
thing on the back that looks like the the switch on your deadbolt on a door. And that has two
bars of steel that go through the Tang of the knife and it does hold it very secure. Once it
flipped open quite nicely to thanks to the IKBS bearings in the pivot here. And if you're not
convinced, they did actually send us this knife to just kind of take out and see what we could
do with the lock. And if you've seen that video, you know we just did some really dumb stuff with
it. We were throwing it at trees, chopping batoning made a little bit of prying with it.
And the performance of the knife in the lock didn't degrade at all through all of the just
stupid stuff we were doing with it and it's certainly a massive feeling knife in the hand as
well. We've got x HP blade steel here about four and a
quarter. So very similar in length to that tops but very different in character. As you can see,
we've got more thickness on the CRKT and more fidget factor to for a knife this large that is
quite impressive. The handles we've got titanium liners, carbon fiber scales and titanium bolster
inlay is essentially on it and a nice milled pocket clip with some nice gold accenting to go
along with it. Alright, next up, we'll end with some some real fancier ones. And we'll start
with the Reate T4000 from Tashi Barucha, which comes in about 400 bucks, and in any other
circumstances, this would be about the biggest knife biggest pocket knife you've probably ever
seen, but it feels a little bit small on this table. Still though it is a four inch blade
m 390. And we've got dual hollow grinds here. It's not double, double edged, we don't have a
sharpened edge here on the back. So keep that in mind. But otherwise, you've got that really
great dagger looking profile. The handles are titanium with natural micarta and lays on this
particular one, but there are some a few different options. And what's nice, the way
they've done here is the handle construction, these aren't two sides with a gap in the middle
closed by either a backspace or or some some standoffs, we've got a nice join on there. So it
almost mimics the look of an integral foot flipper. But you do have just a little bit of
the seam right there. And a really nice treatment overall, if they didn't do this, you
wouldn't be able to get this cool kind of geometric look on the back. Also got a nice
hidden lanyard point. milled titanium pocket clip, nice contouring over all on the handle, it
feels pretty decently comfortable. And I love the way these guys fold up. It just has a really
nice profile, kind of a nice elliptical shape with the way the blade Nestle's in right here.
And I like the way that just that little bit of flipper tab sticks out on the back, ready to
launch. Next up last but not least, we'll end with allama cutlery with one of their midtech
soloist knives coming in just under 700 bucks, with a blade here just over four inches with M
390. We've got a lot of cool things going on here a very refined design, and a very nicely
put together design to obviously that blade is very distinctive, we'll go ahead and we'll call
this a modified sheepsfoot in this case, flat grind with that broad swedge there on the back.
And one of the cool things that they do on this guy, you've actually got a movable thumb stud,
you can move it forward or back in the track here, you could take it out and just use the
track itself for some thumb opening. Or you can position that thumb stud exactly where you like
it in order to get that blade open. Or you can take advantage of the ball bearings in the pivot
and just flip it over. The handles are titanium and we've got a cool sculpted finish here that
they're calling blue seabed rocks has a nice organic look to it kind of very rocky and
nature. The Backspacer carries that texture through we've got a nice gold color too. And
what's neat is you'd have a little bit of an intentional gap on either side of this backspace
or they did make that a floating backspace rather than having it flush mounted to either
side. As far as usability, this is not just a piece of pocket Jewelry, nice premium materials,
you got a solid feel in the hand excellent grip. It's another knife that is going to be able to
really tackle some big jobs just so long as you're not afraid of getting it scuffed. That's
all I've got for the video today. Make sure to let me know what you thought of my pics down in
the comments. And of course you can leave your own suggestions for your favorite big bed
flippers or folders doesn't have to be a flipper down there as well. I will say one thing that I
wish we could have had on the table but I couldn't get my hands on one was one of the
sheepdog XLs from Kizer. So before you guys call me out, I should have been in here too. But
that's it. If you want to get your hands on any of these knives, we'll leave links in the
description to take you over to the knife Center, where you can also sign up for our knife
rewards program and I definitely recommend you do because you'll learn some free money when you
go to spend your money on one of these knives today. (Knife Rewards) I'm David C. Andersen
from the KnifeCenter signing off. See you next time.
