Smith & Wesson Black Ops SWBLOP2B 7.7in High Carbon S.S. Assisted Opening Knife with 3.4in Drop Point Blade and Aluminum Handle for Outdoor, Tactical, Survival and EDC

The finish peels rather quickly but the spring and overall quality is good. I'd buy another despite the cheap finish

I own several knives by S&W and others, but this one is one of my favorite. I particularly like the position of the thumb studs (more forward) and finger stud (more towards the back) whereby it allows me to grip the knife more securely and activate the spring assist with the thumb stud using much less force and motion. I also like the fact that it has dual safety feature with the liner lock as well as the slide lock on the grip. The liner lock is not overly stiff; therefore, I can fold the knife with one hand.Except for the center hinge screw, I always prep all my knives by applying Loctite to all the screws prior to using. Therefore, I've not had any problems, especially with inexpensive knives failing due to loose screws.Although the grip looks like thermo-formed plastic, it is actually solid slabs of textured aluminum attached to the open frame metal liner. As such, it adds a bit of heft to the knife but makes the knife superbly balanced when open. I'm not enamored with the blade geometry where it has a slight concavity from the apical third. I would have much preferred a conventional drop point blade for general cutting purpose but it's a minor quibble. The texturing on the grip conforms well to my hands and the prominent thumb grip aids in holding the knife firmly. The cut-out near the top of the blade reduces the weight at the blade section to help with the balance and may even enhance the appearance but precludes the blade from even light batoning in an emergency.It is a bit heavy and bulky for EDC duties when not wearing jeans and the styling is polarizing in that it is over the top Rambo-esque. The blade came from the factory razor sharp and resharpens easily when it dulls and the black coating is surprisingly durable. The blade when deployed feels solid with very little lateral play. The clip is very sturdy and non-reversible. Not everyone's cup of tea for sure but a very nice knife for the price.Blade length: 3 1/4 inchesClosed length: 4 3/8 inchesOpen length: 7 3/4 inches

I have been carrying this knife for months now, and have been a big fan of it. The assisted open is fast and I never have to worry about it not locking, the blade comes sharp and has stayed sharp, the tool is light overall, and seems fairly rugged after so long being thrown in jeans and in cars and being used for every application under the sun as well as cutting.The black finish on the knife blade will come off with use though, and the black finish on the handle has the same issue. This is a bit of a visual thing; the paint loss does not effect the performance of the knife at all, and for me it's like a badge of honor that it shows its usage, but some may not be a fan when other knives keep their finish better over usage and time.I am actually carrying the second one of these knives I've bought because the first one came with a broken spring and lock; first time I opened it the assist was much slower than the one I had now, couldn't auto=lock because of this, then a broken piece kept me from closing it. Thankfully, Amazon customer support was incredible and sent me a new one (the one I carry now) and let me keep the old one, which is a big bonus because if I ever break my blade (which seems impossible in my experience so far) I have a brand-new one I can swap out.Overall, I love this knife, and carry it more than any other knife I've ever owned; I make a point of not loosing this one. Unfortunately, the broken first knife and the easy-off black finish keeps a good product at 4-stars versus 5.

Knife fits good in the hand despite its small sizing. Handle is well-shaped. The assisted opening feature is very nice and I really like having the additional safety lock so I don't have to worry about it springing open at the wrong time. The lock is located such that it's easy to open in the same motion as opening the blade. Well designed and sturdy, but the blade steel is relatively cheap (will require moderately frequent sharpenings - probably the same for all Smith and Wesson knives) and it's very heavy for its small size, however it fits nicely clipped into the pocket. Weight is probably not an issue if clipped in jeans or on a belt, but maybe an issue on a pant made of very thin or lightweight material. Paint wears off after a few months of handling (maybe sooner). It's priced appropriately for what it is, at around $30.

Overall this is an amazing knife. I've used both this and the serrated version and bought a replacement after I lost the first one.The body and mechanics are completely solid and the spring action is still completely tight after months of use. And I carry and use this knife daily - from anything to cardboard and opening packages to cutting up an apple. It fits well to my hand size (XL) and doesn't seem too large or too small. Plus it just looks really cool and I've gotten quite a few compliments on the form factor and flat black coating. It has chipped a little bit, but again I carry this daily put this knife through all sorts of abuse so it to be a little bit expected.The only thing that I really don't care for is it's quite difficult to sharpen due to the way the blade curves. Although I'm still quite a novice when it comes to sharpening knives.

I have quite a large knife collection and I've recently latched on to the Smith & Wesson line of knives. This is the only assisted opening model by S&W that I own and it's really very nice. It opens very fast using either the thumb stud or the small flipper on the back and it locks securely. The blade shape is quite unique in its shape, somewhere between a drop and a clip point with a slight gut and it's very sharp. The handle is also uniquely shaped and textured providing excellent grip. It's the perfect size for EDC and there's a safety switch to prevent unintended opening. There seems to be 2 versions of at least the non-serrated model. One has a small flipper for opening in addition to using the thumb studs and has a red dot inside the saftey switch to indicate that that the assisted opening mechanism is armed. I highly recommend this knife.