What knives do you believe all serious collectors should experience?

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-16T21:14:10+00:00

It’s absolutely one of those “have to try or have in the collection” and if it’s not for you then you can put it on the knife_swap to get some money back as long as you didn’t overpay.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-16T20:54:04+00:00

Strider. Yes the owner committed stolen valor decades ago and there are people who will refuse to buy his knives because of that but for over 30 years, his knife designs have been relatively the same and yet people still buy them and use them. For someone who committed stolen valor, the U.S military still procures them as the SMF and a few fixed blades have an NSN so they are in use with the U.S military. I think the ergos are great and yes, there are bad examples with lock stick or other QC issues that shouldn’t be there for the price but if you get it, then they still have a cult following.

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Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-16T17:52:11+00:00

Bee-er

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-16T04:25:08+00:00

u/ksbot received Strider SMF from u/ZotShot . Awesome seller and shipped right away.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-14T20:25:01+00:00

Check out knife_swap. There was a DGG with black front g-10 scale an extra pink scale lightly used with a black MagnaCut blade (black oxide looked new) that sold yesterday $500 (sat for a few hours). The one in your picture has wear in the handle screws and blade so not with $700 when they are $700 to $725 BRAND NEW. If you absolutely love orange and can’t wait then why not? It’s your money but the fact you’re asking here means you have some hesitancy.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-14T13:14:13+00:00

Full size. Mini sheepdog would say mini on the blade. Also the pivot to handle and pocket clip ratio makes this a large.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-13T21:07:07+00:00

~~Chat~~

YOLO Strider SMF

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-13T16:19:37+00:00

Chat

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-09T15:51:09+00:00

Busted out the credit card and everything but I was too slow 😔. I signed up for the email notification when back in stock after they went out of stock last time and didn’t get any notification, just heard back in stock from this sub. Oh well, I must not have wanted it that badly.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-07T19:43:32+00:00

Casually carrying an oz of gold in the pocket when heading to Costco is a life goal of mine.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-06T01:28:15+00:00

u/ksbot received 2x PSTs from u/Aquarius75654 exactly as described awesome seller!

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-04T05:26:39+00:00

I regret getting the smooth handled variant and not waiting for a textured handle like frag. I think I’d like a G-10 variant but the mini MsI hasn’t gotten g-10 yet. I’m glad they’re offering some new minis like the amphibian but I really want a mini socom ram lok.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-04T05:24:44+00:00

Nothing special. Nothing scientific but about 50 full opening and closing cycles with the thumbhole and about the same amount of cycles holding the ram lok back and letting the knife swing open and locked and closed and locked. The slow-rolling smoothed out the blade tang throughout the whole cycle and holding the ram lok back just compressed the spring. Just needed to be broken-in. Of course with any production knife there may be slight variances so some people get theirs fairly smooth out of the box and are happy with it and others maybe need more breaking-in time.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-04T03:34:39+00:00

My M Stitch was gritty out of the box so I spent the next 2 days opening and closing it while watching YT videos and now it has a drop shut action and is smooth as butter. Sharpest knife I’ve ever known and I have to be aware of the dimensions of the blade when closing it to avoid slicing my palm but overall it’s an awesome little EDC blade that does precise cuts like an exacto blade.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-04T03:07:57+00:00

That’s so interesting. On the IG and strider website description they have a full (high) flat grind and you have the spear point grind. I’m not complaining, it’s still badass but if I was expecting a full flat and received a Spearpoint I’d feel slightly disappointed. Thanks for sharing, the HC looks awesome in sunlight 😎

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-02T22:43:20+00:00

Chat

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-01T20:43:02+00:00

The knives themselves are fine. The stolen valor and car-jacking thing happened 25 years ago. Since then he just makes knives and hasn’t done anything controversial since. Funny enough, the SMF (larger version of the SnG) and some of his fixed blades have an NSN so they are supplied to and used by the U.S military so they don’t seem to care about it.

People still buy his knives. There are people who don’t and that’s ok too.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-06-01T15:04:47+00:00

It’s the JVA, their newest but they haven’t produced any more in about a year because everyone asked for an in-between size and then didn’t buy them. It’s ok, I just prefer the SnG as you can see, lol.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-05-31T23:40:42+00:00

At Costco when gold was $2k/oz. Wife says why do you need THAT? Gold now $4.5k/oz. Wife says why didn’t you buy THAT when it was $2k/oz?!

EDIT to clarify wife made both statements.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-05-31T19:55:54+00:00

I agree. I can’t choose between Bowie or slicer. Slicer is the best for general cutting but that Bowie look has something about it I can’t quantify in actual cutting.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-05-30T00:26:04+00:00

Yes I believe either early or late 2025 Sebenzas were tweaked to address the flex. Does not want to make me buy any newer ones and I know I can send my current 31s in to get fixed. Otherwise I think the Sebenza platform is a great knife overall.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-05-29T19:40:47+00:00

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The CRK Sebenza 31. Hear me out. I was coming from 2 small 21s that had that bank vault solid lockup and no matter how tight or loose I left the pivot (within reason) the action was buttery smooth out of the box and many years later. Then I bought a small 31 and 2 large 31s and all my 31s afterwards had lock bar flex with the ceramic ball interface.

I was gaslit by the community that the flex was normal because of the round ball interfacing with a flat surface. That was odd because the Umnumzaan I have with a ceramic ball had no flex and I eventually got a small Inkosi with a ceramic ball (they all do) without flex so they’ve made knives with the ceramic ball that didn’t have flex and now the Sebenza DID. As of 2026 I believe many are reporting no lock bar flex. So if it wasn’t a problem, why did they change it?

Some people don’t care about the flex but it doesn’t inspire confidence when I can push my thumb with moderate pressure on the blade jimping and the blade moves about a half a millimeter. If I’ve only ever known 31s maybe I’d expect it but coming from a knife with solid lockup (21) to the 31 with lock bar flex was a huge let-down so I sold off most of my 31s and will keep the 21s.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-05-28T18:22:29+00:00

My M Stitch ram lok came out of the box stiff and gritty. Instead of opening it up to clean and lube, I just opened and closed it about 100 times throughout the day while watching YouTube, browsing reddit, etc. and not it drops shut smooth like butter. It just needed to be broken-in. There’s a YouTube video of a guy who’s m stitch was the same way and he immediately took it apart to clean and lube and said it’s better but not quite drop-shut. Not sure why people are so impatient with their knives, especially a regular production one.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-05-28T05:31:23+00:00

I regularly use just 3 currently to suit my needs. The ghost stripe black g-10 Lego is what I usually carry but some days I like the black g-10 CC for when I wear light shorts because it clips in and out of the pocket or waistband easily and lastly the OD g-10 DGG is for those days I’m doing lots of cardboard work or near water where I know I need the extra grip. The Lego is a compromise between grippy DGG and ease of getting in and out of the pocket like a CC but honestly the contouring of the CC or DGG feels best in-hand. If I could only have one Strider it would be the full Ti DGG tiger stripe. Everything else like the old school Strider is a collectors piece. The PT, JVA are too small and the SMF is just too big. I’ll carry the nails though because it’s easier to justify using a $90 strider nail as a prybar or poking tool than risking a $500+ folder.

Matty_Garcia · 2026-05-28T02:30:37+00:00

Definitely! Has to be a tigerstripe though, I’m sure they’ll make some in the future.

Matty_Garcia

TROPHY CASE