Help me choose a big folder: Shaman vs. Li'l Temperance 3 vs. Manix 2 Mid-backlock vs. ATR 2 vs. Caribbean

[benben]

The Chinook 3 I have is a beast!

[twinboysdad]

Endura 4. Big, light, capable, replaceable.

[vivi]

My thoughts:

- Take the lil temp off the list, it isn't big

- ATR is AWESOME, but quite aggressive looking IMO. The Stretch is basically the same thing with a less tactical appearance.

- Either Manix would be a good choice, though they're not that big

- Shaman got my vote. It's very ergonomic, with lots of variations in current production you can grab as a back-up if you love it.

- Caribbean would attract attention with the yellow I'd think.

- You mentioned wanting something lightweight but large in one of your posts. Pacific Salts are only 3oz and are a little larger than the Temp and Manix. Something to consider.

[Dazen]

PM2-Shaman-Caribbean in that order. If you don’t have a PM2 already it’s a must! You can get an M390 PM2 from BBS for the cost of a S30V Shaman.

[zuludelta]

So far it looks like the Shaman is the runaway winner in the poll. I knew it was popular but still. Appreciate all the input guys, and even the non-poll suggestions like the Endura & PM2... from a purely functional standpoint, I would probably pick Vivi's suggestion of a Pacific Salt over any of the poll options I listed (since I already use the smaller Salt 2 as one of my regular work knives and love serrated H1 for the type of cutting I do at work), but the Pac Salt isn't on the Boxing Day discount list at my retailer & I'm trying to be a little more fiscally responsible & buy only a deeply discounted knife for Christmas (that way I won't end up taking too much of a bath if I end up reselling it for some reason). And I think I'd prefer to wait for the Pac Salt 2 coming in 2020 anyway.

[JD Spydo]

I know it isn't on your list but I'm still going to recommend the C-36 Military. Unless you need something with a serrated ( Spyderedge) edge. In that event it's hard to beat the classic POLICE model. But I've been EDCing a C-36 Military model for 3 and half years now and it's just perfect for a hard uses I have.

Now the Manix is a wider bladed model and would also be a good pick if you need a wider blade for whatever reason. Actually I wish more big Spyderco folders were still available in SE.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

The Chinook 3 I have is a beast!

Get a Hundred Pacer while you can it is discontinued this year.

[crazywednesday]

Pacific Salt SE. Light, easy to sharpen, incredibly tough, and incredible performance.

[Wartstein]

So far it looks like the Shaman is the runaway winner in the poll. I knew it was popular but still. Appreciate all the input guys, and even the non-poll suggestions like the Endura & PM2... from a purely functional standpoint, I would probably pick Vivi's suggestion of a Pacific Salt over any of the poll options I listed (since I already use the smaller Salt 2 as one of my regular work knives and love serrated H1 for the type of cutting I do at work), but the Pac Salt isn't on the Boxing Day discount list at my retailer & I'm trying to be a little more fiscally responsible & buy only a deeply discounted knife for Christmas (that way I won't end up taking too much of a bath if I end up reselling it for some reason). And I think I'd prefer to wait for the Pac Salt 2 coming in 2020 anyway.

The Endura isn´t on the discount-list either?
Especially if "big folder" means "lot of cutting edge" to you it is a really good choice imho. Plus it fullfills two other properties you mentioned: It is budget friendly and available in very non-attention-grabbing colors (black with a black clip for example).
You could also go for a "steel upgrade" and get the ZDP 189 version (still not too expensive and discreet in carry (rather dark british racing green scales and a black clip).
Other than the ATR the Endura also has the thinnest (but still strong) blade compared to all the knives you listed, which makes it a great slicer (the ffg grind is also a plus over the Pac Salts hollow sabre grind imho).

[zuludelta]

This is going to be disappointing and anticlimactic to you guys following this thread but after hemming & hawing for the past few days on getting a work knife for Boxing Day, I finally decided on... a Wharncliffe Delica 4 (at 20% off).

I know, I know, it isn't a large folder.

I almost pulled the trigger on an Endura 4 in Zomé Brown and a Pacific Salt—both of which were added later in the week to my local retailer's Boxing Day sale list—but at the end of the day, it came down to being honest with myself and asking if I would get a fair amount of work utility from a big folder relative to the price (even at a 20% discount). And ultimately, the answer was "no".

There just isn't any work task for me that expressly requires more than ~3 inches of blade (or that couldn't be covered by the Polestar, the longest folder in my modest Spyderco collection). Add on top of that the potential hassle a larger work folder might draw from coworkers and managers who blanch at the sight of any work knife that isn't a cheap boxcutter and, well, I just couldn't justify the purchase.

I think a large folder would have ended up serving exclusively as an outdoors knife for me, and in that case, I prefer using a fixed-blade, of which I already have four Spydercos: a Waterway, a Schempp Rock, an Enuff, and a Ronin 2.

Earlier in this thread I posted about trying to avoid the collector's mindset, this notion of wanting something just for the sake of having it. I think I might fallen into that line of thinking with my search for a large folder, where I confused my curiosity about large folders with a need for a large folder.

Maybe I will revisit large folders in the future—the Siren looks like a good choice for an outdoor folding knife—but for now, I think I will continue to enjoy large folders vicariously through the posts you large folder-having guys share on the forum.

Thanks to all who took the time to participate in the poll and share their thoughts and suggestions, I greatly appreciate it all and even though I didn't buy a large folder in the end, your comments made me reflect on what it is I actually need in a work folder. And in a way, that is a much more valuable takeaway from this whole thing.