One of my recent obsessions is tiny flippers. I consider tiny knives to be anything with a less than 2" blade. They often don't have as substantial handles as some of the other small knives out there, like the Spyderco Dragonfly or Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite. I think the 2" size range is perfect for EDC because it's a great balance between a compact package with a still usable blade. In the past few years, there have been very few tiny flippers on the market, but it seems like companies are finally starting to catch on to the concept. Bestech in particular is doing very cool stuff in this size range. I though it'd be fun to highlight a few of the tiny flippers I've tried so far!
Going from left to right, four great tiny flippers are the Bestech Reticulan, Rike Hummingbird, CRKT Eros Small, and CRKT Jettison Compact. The first two are more premium options with titanium handles/nicer blade steels, while the last two are relatively easy to find budget flippers. This ordering also shows them from most to least expensive. The Reticulan is the priciest at $111, while the Jettison Compact is the cheapest at $25. Initially, $111 seems like quite a stretch for such a small knife, but I can attest that the Reticulan is worth every penny. People seem to equate size with price, meaning that a small knife should cost less than any comparable mid-sized to larger knife. I don't necessarily agree with this thinking, as it's more so materials/design/brand names that drive prices in my opinion. If you're going to actually carry/use these sorts of knives, they'll be 100% worth the cost in my mind. Tiny flippers definitely aren't for everyone, especially for all you guys with bigger hands. I want to give a quick rundown on each knife, though I also will have more in-depth posts on them eventually.
Let's start with the CRKTs which jump started my obsession with tiny flippers a few years with the introduction of the Jettison Compact (review linked here). That one is probably the weakest flipper of the bunch in terms of action, since it does take quite a bit of wrist action to get it to flip well. Its action is probably hurt by the fact it's not on any sort of ball bearing system like the other three. It's the cheapest of the bunch coming in around $25 on Amazon. I love the whancliffe blade, and the ergos are extremely comfortable in the hand. The Eros has been sadly discontinued, but I believe you can still find them on some retailers for less than $50. I got it over the summer last year from a friend, and it easily was my favorite knife I tried in 2018. The action blew me away, greatly improving on the Jettison's due to the use of the IKBS bearing system. It fires so quickly/smoothly and feels great in the hand as well. If I could only recommend one of these, I'd go with the Eros for its superior action. If you dig the look of it, I'd say it's worth trying to track down.
The Reticulan and Hummingbird are newer to me and have sucked me back into the world of titanium framelocks. I hate larger titanium framelocks due to how heavy they are, yet on these smaller knives, the weight seems more reasonable. Both are beautiful designs that come in lots of different color options! The Reticulan is the superior flipper because it of course has way more to grab onto. I don't think I've had a single bad flip with it so far. I was surprised that I can fit a full four-finger grip on it comfortably thanks to the inclusion of the choil. The Hummingbird seems to be more of a novelty option with its 1.5" blade. It's harder for me to flip with its already small handle (I can fit a two and a half to three finger grip) and tiny flipper tab. It's the cutest looking of the bunch but maybe not the most functional knife in the world. The $135 price tag they go for on Blade HQ is definitely a huge stretch so getting it for $80 on Massdrop was a lot more reasonable.
I still believe the knife market needs a lot more tiny flippers going forward. I can probably count on both hands the number of tiny options out there. This group of knives prove that the concept can be done well while still being functional as EDC knives. Some other ones I'd eventually like to check out are the CRKT Snicker, WESN Microblade, and ZT 0022. If I had to pick one of these four as the best, it'd be a hard decision between the CRKT Eros and Bestech Reticulan. The Eros is more affordable, but I like the design/color options of the Reticulan slightly more. I think the Reticulan would have a slight edge over the Eros, yet you can't go wrong with either. If you like small knives, you definitely need to check some of these out. Thanks for looking!
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