The Best Flipper Knives For Everyday Carry

Though they didn’t exist a quarter of a century ago, flipper knives have become immensely popular in the everyday carry space, with this ultra-quick one-handed opening system having been used by just about every major manufacturer currently in operation. With the popularity of these flipper tab-deployed knives at an all-tie high, now seemed like the perfect time to take a deep dive into the space, unpacking what exactly one is and what to look for when shopping for one, along with our picks for the best flipper knives for everyday carry. 

What Exactly Is A Flipper Knife?

A flipper knife is a type of folding knife that features a unique opening system that’s integrated into the blade itself. Master Sergeant Harold Joseph “Kit” Carson is largely credited for inventing the flipper tab — or Carson Flipper Tab as it’s often called — which first debuted on the CRKT M16 knife in 1999. A flipper tab consists of a small protruding nib that is positioned just behind the edge of a knife’s blade and faces the same direction. As such, when the blade is closed, this small tab pokes out through the back of the handle from between the two scales. When quickly pressed, this tab causes the blade to rapidly flip open and lock into place. Once open, the flipper tab then acts as something of a kick, ensuring the user’s hand doesn’t slip onto the blade’s edge. Because flipper tabs are integrated into the blade itself, it’s not uncommon to see these items paired with other deployment mechanism or setups such as thumb-studs. 

How To Find The Right Flipper Knife For Your EDC

In general, flipper knives share a great many similarities with regular folders. With that said, there are still a handful of areas that are unique to flipper-deployed models — the most important of which we’ll be breaking down directly below. 

Blade Shape: Just like any other type of knife, the shape of a flipper knife’s blade will play an enormous role in the type of uses and tasks that it best lends itself to. While some of this is subjective, the best way to determine which blade shape will serve you best is to consider your intended use and then use that as the jumping off point for selecting an appropriate silhouette. A blade’s thickness is also very much worth reviewing, as this factor plays a pivotal role in whether or not a knife will be conducive to particularly hard tasks. 

Blade Steel: The type of steel used to craft a knife’s blade is of monumental importance, as (along with how it was heat-treated) this will determine how well it holds an edge and how it generally performs. It’s also worth pointing out that the more premium and costly blade steels such as CPM 20CV and Bolher M390 will do a much better job of holding an edge, though will also be substantially harder to sharpen (granted they will require sharpening far less often). 

Size: Not unlike any other type of EDC knife, everyday carry flipper knives come in all manner of different shapes and sizes, making this yet another area that’s well-worth exploring before pulling the trigger on your purchase. Smaller knives are obviously more pocketable (and less aggressive-looking/intimidating) but can sometimes lack the utility of their larger counterparts. Smaller knives also unsurprisingly tend to be cheaper. 

Locking Mechanism: As the element that keeps an open blade held in place, a knife’s locking mechanism is another area of extreme importance. Just like other everyday carry knives, the majority of flipper knives on the market utilize either a liner lock, frame lock, or button lock. There are outliers and exceptions, but the vast majority of flippers will feature one of the aforementioned mechanisms. 

Handle Material: A knife’s handle is also of pretty major importance when shopping. The main areas to consider when reviewing this area is the material used for a handle’s scales, as well as the construction of its underlying frame or locking mechanism. What’s more, we also recommend looking into the profile and shape of the handle, as this will play a major role in the knife’s ergonomics. 

Action & Deployment: The action and deployment of a manually-opening folding knife is always of major importance, though these areas become even more pivotal when dealing with knives of the flipper variety, as the detent and bearing system uses and their designs will massively impact how smoothly or quickly a blade deploys when its flipper tab is hit. 

Manual vs. Assisted-Opening Flipper Knives

Though they’re commonly used, there’s long been a debate raging over the use of assisted-opening mechanisms in knives. While some view them as exotic, a great many knife enthusiasts, nerds, and aficionados actually look down upon assisted-openers. This is for a myriad of reasons including the fact they can be difficult to maintain, they include yet another component or system that can break or fail, and they make one-handed closing a bit more difficult. What’s more, these systems also keep constant pressure on the blade which can be annoying. Some assisted-opening knives also feature springs that are unnecessarily powerful, making it feel like the knife wants to jump out of your hand upon blade deployment. It’s also probably worth pointing out that, like automatic knives, spring-assisted knives are illegal to carry in some regions and locales. 

The biggest reason many knife enthusiasts turn their nose at assisted-opening models is the fact that a well-designed and well-crafted knife with a solid pivot doesn’t need to be helped along by a spring, and instead delivers a smooth action and deployment thanks to its design — and a well-executed detent. As such, the use of spring-assisted sets is seen as corner-cutting, and often suggests an overall lower quality. There are undeniably high-end assisted-opening knives — including from the likes of Spyderco and Benchmade — though, generally speaking, assisted-openers are markedly more common on budget-focused knives. For these reasons — coupled with the fact that we can admittedly be something of knife snobs at times — we’ve opted to limit our choices for this guide only to non-assisted-opening knives that are deployed completely manually.

With that said, assisted-opening knives do have some advantages, and if you do happen to be partial to these blades, we recommend checking out our guide to the best assisted-opening knives for our favorite spring-assisted models on the market.

While touching on the Carson Flipper Tab, it’s also probably worth briefly unpacking the Emerson Wave system. The brainchild of Ernie Emerson, this cleverly-designed system consists of a small wave-shaped tap at the base of a knife’s spine — typically just behind a blade’s thumb stud or disc and opposite where a flipper tab would be located. Simple in its design yet brilliant in practice, the Emerson Wave system uses the inside of the tab’s wave shape to intentionally catch on the wearer’s pants, automatically forcing the blade to fold out of the handle and open as the knife is removed from its user’s pocket — meaning the blade is open and at the ready as soon as it’s removed from a pocket, without having to flick a thumb-stud, flipper tab, auto switch, or any other deployment mechanism. Unsurprisingly, this feature is found on a great many Emerson knives, though it’s also been licensed out to other companies including Spyderco, Kershaw, LionSteel, and Fox, just to name a few. 

Kershaw Inception

Best Budget Knife: Backed by a limited lifetime warranty, the Kershaw Inception is an affordably-priced flipper knife that punches well above its weight relative to its cost. Constructed around a set of grippy and ergonomically-shaped G-10 handles with a liner locking mechanism and Kershaw’s KVT ball bearing system, the Inception features a 3.25” blade with a drop-meets-clip point profile, a D2 high-carbon tool steel construction, and a stonewashed finish. Between its blade shape, stelar ergonomics, and jimping on the blade’s spine, the Inception makes for a great workhorse of an EDC knife — made all the more attractive by its wildly accessible price. 

Buck 840 Sprint Select

Best Value Knife: Drawing light visual inspiration from some of the brand’s classic hunting and outdoor blades, the Buck Knives 840 Sprint Select Knife combines the company’s rugged build quality with a more contemporary design that includes a flipper tab-deployed 420 high-carbon steel blade. Made in America and backed by a lifetime warranty, the 840 Sprint Select sports a glass-filled nylon handle that enables it to be incredibly rugged while only tipping the scales at 3.2oz — despite spanning 7.50” overall. In addition to being produced in a trio of color options, Buck also sells this EDC flipper knife with optional custom engraving. 

Gerber Fastball

Best Customizable Knife: Despite its sub-$150 MSRP, the Gerber Fastball is capable of going toe-to-toe with EDC knives costing two-to-three-times as much. Made in America, the Fastball starts with an anodized aircraft-grade aluminum handle before being fitted with a pointy Wharncliffe blade that’s guided by Gerber’s BOSS (ball of stainless steel) tech — a setup that affords a remarkably smooth action. Made in America, the Fastball also boasts a custom-inspired backspacer and a surprisingly premium build quality. Also sold in a cleaver variant, this Gerber knife can also be customized using Gerber’s online configurator, allowing for an endless array of personalization options. 

Spyderco Amalgam

Best Overall Knife: Designed by Brian Lai, the Spyderco Amalgam is a tactical take on an everyday carry knife that’s constructed around an ultra-rugged yet incredibly lightweight handle that’s made from a carbon fiber and G-10 composite and fitted with one of Spyderco’s signature compression locking mechanisms. Effortlessly-guided by a set of low friction ball-bearing washers, the Amalgam’s 3.80” blade is composed of top-shelf CPM S30V, features an oversized flipper tab that doubles as a blade kick, and boasts an ultra-beefy 0.18″ thickness that allows it to stand up to super-hard-use tasks. And, despite being manufactured in Taiwan, the Amalgam maintains Spyderco’s usual top-notch build quality. 

Zero Tolerance 0450

Best Titanium Knife: In typical ZT fashion, the Zero Tolerance 0450 boasts an elegant simplicity to it, with a minimalist design that’s been brought to life using premium materials and precision manufacturing. Tipping the scales at just 2.9oz, the 0450 — a smaller, more pocket-friendly version of ZT’s award-winning original 0454 — consists of an all-titanium frame-locking handle with polished pivot hardware and red-anodized aluminum tube spacers. The handle of this USA-made knife has been mated to a 3.25” CPM S35VN blade that uses Kershaw’s proprietary KVT ball-bearing system. Born out of a collaboration between Zero Tolerance and custom knife designer Dmitry Sinkevich, this knife is also made entirely in America. 

Benchmade 601 Tengu Flipper

Best Gentlemen’s Knife: A thoroughly elegant and upscale option for everyday carry, the Benchmade 601 Tengu Flipper is a production knife that’s based on Jared Oeser’s F22 Kickstop custom. Measuring only 6.61” overall, this premium gentleman’s knife is constructed around a set of layered G-10 scales with a custom crest inlay and a layered G-10 back-spacer. Despite its upscale appearance, its grippy handle construction and 2.77” Tanto blade allow the Tengu Flipper to serve as an actual workhorse and not just a showpiece. This Benchmade knife also ships with an included black leather carrying sleeve with an embossed Benchmade logo. 

Emerson CQC-8 Flipper

Best Tactical/Self-Defense Pick: As its name suggests the Emerson CQC-8 Flipper is a special version of the existing CQC-8 that sees the normal model’s thumb disc and Wave opener supplemented via a Carson-style flipper tab. Made in America,  the CQC-8 Flipper features a 3.90” 154CM blade that’s mated to a titanium frame and liner lock cloaked in grippy G-10 scales. On top of its rugged build quality, a major part of what makes this knife so special is its versatility, as it lends itself to everything from EDC to outdoor use to tactical CQC situations — again, as its name suggests. For only $5 more, Emerson also offers this knife with optional serrations, as well. 

The James Brand The Wells

Best USA-Made Knife: Taking its name from the Wells projectile point found in Cherokee County, Texas, The James Brand The Wells Knife is a newly-released item from the PDX EDC purveyor that represents the brand’s first-ever back-flipper design. Designed, machined, and assembled entirely in America, The Wells sports a beautiful minimalistic design that centers around an oval-shaped handle composed of anodized aerospace-grade 6061 aluminum. Decorated with a date code, The Wells’ blade consists of a  2.875″ Wharncliffe item that’s made from CPM MagnaCut steel and is secured via a button lock. The 6061 scales also benefit from a 420 stainless steel pocket clip and a stainless steel caged ball bearing setup that ensures an ultra-smooth action. This knife admittedly doesn’t come cheap, though its legitimately world-class build quality really does justify its steep MSRP. 

The Best Automatic Knives for Everyday Carry

If you appreciate the rapid deployment of a flipper knife, then chances are you’ll also enjoy a spring-loaded auto — the latest and greatest of which we’ve highlighted in our guide to the best automatic knives for everyday carry.