Strider FAQ

  1. What are the specs for the AR/GB, SnG, SMF and PT?
  2. What are the screw sizes for the AR/GB, SMF, SnG and PT?
  3. What are the improvements in the AR/GB?
  4. What are the differences/improvements in the SnG Generations?
  5. What are the differences/improvements in the SMF Generations?
  6. What are the differences/improvements in the PT Generations?
  7. How do I tell the difference between a SnG and SMF?
  8. Why G10 on the SnG/SMF instead of all Ti?
  9. Why doesn't the thumbstud/bladestop touch the G10 on the SMF and SnG?
  10. Why are some of the thumbstuds/bladestops on the SnG/SMF different sizes when comparing the G10 to the Ti side?
  11. Is the upper swedge on custom folders sharpened?
  12. What is the cause for off center blades on some folders?
  13. Why is the pocket clip on the PT so big?
  14. Will the blade on the AR/GB, SMF, or SnG cut my lanyard when closed?
  15. How do I attach my pre-made lanyard on a AR/GB, SMF or SnG?
  16. How do I loosen the pocket clip on my SnG/SMF?
  17. How do I field strip a SMF / SnG / AR / GB?
  18. The thumbstuds on my AR/GB sometimes hurt my thumbs when opening, what can be done?
  19. What is the NM folder (sometimes referred to as the XL SnG)?
  20. What is the RC folder?

1. What are the specs for the AR/GB, SnG, SMF and PT?

 

 

AR/GB

SMF

SnG Gen I-III

SnG Gen IV-VI

PT

Overall Length

9.44"

9"

8.125"

8.125"

6.505"

Ti Slab Thickness

.100"

.150"

.125"

.150"

.117"

Blade Thickness

.187"

.187"

.165"

.165"

.120"

Overall Thickness

.66"

.53"

.4375"

.4625"

.3985"

Blade Length from Center Pivot

4.63"

4.4"

4.0"

4.0"

3.25"

Cutting Surface

3.5"

3.75"

2.9375"

2.9375"

2.25"

Weight

9.05oz

6.0oz

4.6oz

4.6oz

2.5oz

 

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2. What are the screw sizes for the AR/GB, SMF, SnG and PT?

AR/GB = 4-40 thread 0.250
SMF = 6-32 thread 0.430 long and a head 0.258 in diameter and 0.075 thick. Driver size is T-10 Torx.
SnG (Gen IV +) = 6-32 thread 0.375 long and a head 0.258 in diameter and 0.075 thick. Driver size is T-10 Torx.
SnG (Gen I - III) = 4-40 thread 0.355 long and a head 0.205 in diameter and 0.060 inches thick. The driver size is T-9 Torx
PT = 2-56 thread by 0.1875 on the body screws
Hinderer Lock Bar Stabilizer Screw = 2-56 thread by 0.250

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3. What are the improvements in the AR/GB?

Changes in the AR/GB over time include:

  1. Changed the grind from hollow ground to full bevel ground
  2. Hollow Ground AR/GB were numbered, full bevel ground AR/GB are not numbered.
  3. Changed from single thumbstud to duel thumbstuds
  4. Went to Non adhesive bearings
  5. Dropped the tip deeper into frame when closed
  6. Changed the bump stop from .125” to .152”
  7. Removed material from lower area of blade to facilitate rotation
  8. Upgraded detent ball size
  9. Upgraded belt clip and added ambi-carry option
  10. Radiused G10
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4. What are the differences/improvements in the SnG Generations?

Gen I SnG = Tanto/Droppoint, #’d, Tiger Striped Blade, Flamed Ti, Green/Black G10, Dimples

(Photos by MikeTrack on USN)

Gen II SnG = Tanto/Droppoint, #’d, Stonewashed Blade,

Stonewashed Ti, Black G10.
 
(photo by MikeTrack on USN)

Gen III SnG = Tanto/Droppoint, #’d, Black Blade,

Blackened Ti, Black G10
 
(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)

Gen III SnG Pivot, Gen IV SnG Pivot

<(Photos by MikeTrack on USN)

 

Gen IV SnG Droppoint, Tiger Striped Blade,
Flamed Ti, Black G10,
introduction of the bull pivot
and thicker Ti frame.

Gen V SnG Lock Bar Scallop (top), Gen IV SnG Lock Bar (bottom)
(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)

Gen V SnG = Tanto/Droppoint, Tiger Striped Blade, Flamed Ti,
Green G10 and/or Black G10, introduction of the Lock Bar Scallop and larger screws

(Gen V SnG Tantos have a unique grind – a flat grind instead of full bevel).

Gen V SnG Tanto with flat grind (foreground),
Gen VI SnG Tanto with full bevel grind (background)

(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)


= Tanto/Droppoint, Tiger Striped or Digicam Blade, Flamed Ti, Black, Coyote Brown, or Ranger Green G10,introduction of the Hinderer Lock Bar Stabilizer (LBS), thumb oval enlarged.

 
 
Gen V SnG (top), Gen VI SnG with Hinderer Lock Bar Stabilizer (bottom)

(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)

 

 

Gen VI Thumb Oval (left), Gen III Thumb Oval (right)


(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)
 
 
Digicam Drop Point SnGs
Black, Coyote Brown and Ranger Green G10


(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)

 

 

Ghost Digicam
Ranger Green G10

(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)


CC = Concealed Carry

Gen VI SnG
(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)

SnG Lefty = Droppoint Gen VI SnG with Lockbar on the left side to allow for left hand pocket carry.

 

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5. What are the differences/improvements in the SMF Generations?

Civilian SMF = Droppoint, #'d 1 - 150, Tiger Striped Blade, Flamed Ti, Black G10.
Gen I SMF = Droppoint, Tiger Striped Blade, Flamed Ti, Black G10.
Gen II SMF = Droppoint, Tiger Striped or Digicam Blade, Flamed Ti, Black, Coyote Brown, or Ranger Green G10, introduction of the Lock Bar Scallop and the Hinder Lock Bar Stabilizer (LBS).
SMF R = Recurve, based on the Gen II SMF, Black G10, Coyote Brown G10 or Ranger Green G10, Lock Bar Scallop and LBS.
SMF T = Tanto, #'d 1 - 100, based on the Gen II SMF, Black G10 available only thru Blue Line Gear
SMF T SW = Tanto, based on the Gen II SMF, Stone Wash blade, Black G10 available only thru Blue Line Gear
SMF T Digi = Tanto, based on the Gen II SMF, Digi Cam blade, Black or Ranger Green G10 available only thru Blue Line Gear
NSN SMF = Droppoint, #'d 1-100, Based on the Gen II SMF, Ti engraved with NSN available only thru Strider Knives

Civilian Numbered SMF (top) Production Gen I SMF (bottom)
(Photo by HKSIG45)
SMF T
(Photo by Tendoncutter on USN)

SMF T SW
(Photo by Blue Line Gear)

SMF T Digi
(Photo by Blue Line Gear)

Civilian Numbered SMF (top) NSN SMF (bottom)
(Photo by HKSIG45)

 

 

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6. What are the differences/improvements in the PT Generations?

PT = Droppoint or Recurve, Beadblasted, Tiger Striped or Digicam blade / Ti, with Black, Ranger Green, or Coyote Brown G10

PT ORD from the 2005 Chicago Custom Knife Show = Recurve, Digicam, Black G10 and flamed Ti (only 10 available)
PT Bleadblasted Blade
(Photo by Ted Voorde on USN)

PT Recurve
(Photo by cqbdude on USN)

PT ORD from the 2005 Chicago Custom Knife Show
(Photo by rvin1911 on USN)

PT Stonewashed Digicam Blade
(Photo by Blue Line Gear)

PT Tiger Striped Blade
(Photo by MikeTrack on USN)

 

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7. How do I tell the difference between a SnG and SMF?

The SnG has 3 body screws the SMF has 4 body screws.

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8. Why G10 on the SnG/SMF instead of all Ti?

Per Mick Strider:  "The actual reason is that as much as you think it would ‘look’ cool. It’s a less quality knife. We use the G10 because it is rigid as hell. Ti is rather flexible by nature…it moves around quite a bit. The way we mill the G10 it is a solid piece of .390” thick material.

There are a lot of other reasons I could toss in there as well.

Its cold on your skin.
It is less ‘grip-able’."

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9. Why doesn't the thumbstud/bladestop touch the G10 on the SMF and SnG?


Per Mick Strider:  "It doesn't matter and is designed not to matter.

We would RATHER that it "Just misses" the G10.
We do this because it wears a lot quicker than the ti. If your lock is set to touch the g10....then it wears....your lock is less secure. If it always hits the ti, it's rock solid.

On a lot of knives, you my find a small spot where we took off a little g10. This was done to insure bump stop to ti integrity."

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10. Why are some of the thumbstuds/bladestops on the SnG/SMF different sizes when comparing the G10 to the Ti side?


Per Mick Strider:  "We make the them two ways.....

 

1. We make a cut on the G10 so that it sits further back than the Ti.

 

2. We make a bump stop that is larger on one side.

 

We do it two ways because i can't decide which way i like better......"

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11. Is the upper swedge on custom folders sharpened?

Per Mick Strider:  "Most of custom folders have a false edge...but its NEVER sharp."

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12. What is the cause for off center blades on some folders?

Per Mick Strider: “The way our pivot works is this:

Our folders pivot on an “open pivot”, a shaft made of hardened 416 stainless steel that is .390”. Our pivot is designed to slide through the G10/Ti and index into the Ti on the other side. The pivot is then held captive using a bolt that threads directly into the center of the pivot shaft. The smallest part in the pivot assembly is this bolt. Its diameter measures .303”.
 

The second strongest pivot I have seen uses a 6-32 screw to hold the pivot shaft. A 6-32 screw has a diameter of .134”.
The Blade pivots around the shaft and between two bronze bearings that are .020” thick each. We don’t use anything but Bronze bearings because these folders are made for very hard use, and we learned a long time ago that bearings made of lesser material don’t hold up well in surf zone or dessert environments. 

For our discussion, let’s use an AR as a test piece.

An AR has a pivot shaft that is .390” +0/-.001.
It has two bronze bearings that are .02”+/- .0002 thick.
Blade thickness is .190” +0/-.002
For those of you who don’t understand the measurements, +/- stands for plus or minus and represents the degree of variance we are willing to except in our parts. A measurement of .001 is one, one thousandth of an inch.

Now let’s do some math.

In order for a blade to pivot around a shaft that is .390”, the hole has to be at least .391”/.392”. Or it will not pivot, but act as a press fit part.
We ream our pivots to .3915” using a Mori Seiki NV5000 Vertical milling center. This machine is considered to be one of the most accurate made. Our holes have a variance of .3915”/.392, or one tenth of one thousandth of an inch. Give or take…
Our blade length on an AR from pivot center to tip is 4.685”

So……

We have a blade and pivot assembly. The pivot is .390 +0/-.01 let’s just say it is .389”…missed it by .001.
And our Blade has a hole that is .392”. I rounded these off because I hate math.

>Okay we missed on the pivot by .001 and on the blade hole by .0005.
That is a stack of .0015 of missed tolerance at the pivot.

BUT…..we also need to add the scales. In order for the pivot to slide through the scales (sides of the knife) it has to have some clearance. We like it to be tighter than the blade, but not a press fit. So we ream them with the same reamer .3915. They are made of Ti and G10, therefore they don’t cut as cleanly as the steel, they just come out a little more tight by nature.

Let’s add that now.

So we have a stack of:
Pivot .001
Blade hole .0005
Scale side one .001
Scale side two .001

Total .0035

Or three and five tenth of a thousandth total missed tolerance.
Now let's call that blade play.

If we have roughly .0035 of blade play at the pivot, and we compound that by the length of the blade, what will our total amount of blade play be at the tip?
Sure we can pull some of that out by tightening the pivot….but then your knife will be stiff……couldn’t have that….
So what you get is a blend of taking all of those parts and making the very best knife we can.
IF it turns out that the knife functions better when the blade is not perfectly centered……then we don’t make it perfectly centered. Centered doesn’t mean good. Good means good. If the person that gets the knife isn’t happy with how the blade centering looks, they can send it in and we’ll make them happy. Even if in the end, the knife looks better than it works.

Our goal is to make you guys happy.  BUT remember, there is an ass for every seat, some people like a loose pivot, some tight.
We’ll never make EVERYONE happy on the first try.”

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13. Why is the pocket clip on the PT so big?

The pocket clip on the PT acts as a Lock Bar Stabilizer (L.B.S.) by contacting the frame, and preventing overtravel of the lock.

The pocket clip on the PT is also the same size as the pocket clip on the SnG, SMF and AR/GB.

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14. Will the blade on the AR/GB, SMF, or SnG cut my lanyard when closed?

The lanyard should go through only one side of the knife (G10 or Ti), if you tie your lanyard through both holes there is the possibility that you will cut the lanyard.

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15. How do I attach my pre-made lanyard on a AR/GB, SMF or SnG?

Take a piece of floss/ fishing line/ single strand of paracord innards, and loop it through the big loop on your pre-made lanyard. Run the thin string through the lanyard hole on your AR/GB, SMF or SnG and pull the loop of your lanyard through. Pull the business end of your lanyard through the loop. It's easier than trying to poke the paracord through.

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16. How do I loosen the pocket clip on my SnG/SMF?

Per Mick Strider: "Remember that we make these things to STAY.
We didn’t design the SnG as a weapon......I don't care how FAST you can get to your folder...that's up to you. I care that you KEEP your folder.

We make the clip to hold very strong. It's easy to make it feel however you want it to....but we make it strong. If you want it to work more easily…I just push a flat screw driver under it and lift it a little….I know it's just right for me when I can see that the part of the clip that can touch the ti has enough room to slide a piece of notebook paper through without snagging."

If you aren't comfortable with bending the clip, place a #60 o-ring between the Ti slab and pocket clip.
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17. How do I field strip a SMF / SnG / AR / GB?

Disclaimer: Strider Knives is not in the business of putting your knife back together for you, therefore they recommend you do not field strip the knife. Field Strip your Strider folder at your own risk. If you can’t put it back together, then don’t field strip it.  

Field stripping a Strider folder before it’s had time to break in a bit is a waste of time.

The area where the washers contact the blade is the area that has to wear in. Bead blast blades need for that area to wear down/polish up before break in is complete. This polishing takes time, sometimes 300 to 1000 opening/closing cycles.

If you open/close it 1000 times and still feel the need to take the knife apart, send it in to Strider.

*******All information on field stripping and disassembling knives has been removed at the request of the Strider guys.

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18. The thumbstuds on my AR/GB sometimes hurt my thumbs when opening, what can be done?

Go to your local hardware store and in the pipes & washers seciton find a #60 o-ring. Place the o-rings on your thumbstuds.
Some think that the #60 o-ring is to big and prefer the #36 o-ring. 

Or just get tougher thumbs.

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19. What is the NM folder (sometimes referred to as the XL SnG)?

The NM folder is a Mick Strider Custom frame lock folder. The NM folder has been made in three different blade profiles (Nightmare Tanto, Recurve and Nightmare Spearpoint) and three different materials (S30V, Stellite 6k and Damascus). The G10 is hand grooved and some of the NM folders have Textured Ti.

The NM folder should not be confused with other Mick Strider Customs that have the Nightmare grind which are sometime referred to with the NM designation.

Size Comparision

NM Folder

SMF

SnG Gen I-III

SnG Gen IV-VI

Overall Length

9.94"

9"

8.125"

8.125"

Slab Thickness

.150"

.150"

.125"

.150"

Blade Thickness

.187"

.187"

.165"

.165"

Overall Thickness

.53"

.53"

.4375"

.4625"

Blade Length from Center Pivot

4.9"

4.4"

4.0"

4.0"

Cutting Surface

3.90"

3.75"

2.9375"

2.9375"

Weight

7.5oz

6.0oz

4.6oz

4.6oz

 

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20. What is the RC folder?

The RC is a frame lock folder with integral bolsters. The RC folder was introduced at Blade '05. There were two RCs at Blade '05, one was the XM Prototype, the other was a MSC Nightmare Recurve.   (has been discontinued 2009)

 

RC Folder

AR/GB

SMF

SnG Gen I-III

SnG Gen IV-VI

Overall Length

9.150"

9.44"

9"

8.125"

8.125"

Slab Thickness

.175"

.100"

.150"

.125"

.150"

Blade Thickness

.190"

.187"

.187"

.165"

.165"

Overall Thickness

.620"

.66"

.53"

.4375"

.4625"

Blade Length from Center Pivot

4.5"

4.63"

4.4"

4.0"

4.0"

Cutting Surface

3.8"

3.5"

3.75"

2.9375"

2.9375"

Weight

N/A

9.05oz

6.0oz

4.6oz

Size Comparision

 

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