$30 Knife for a Friend

As many suggested Rat1 or 2 would be my first choice but I doubt you can find it for $30 especially in D2

I would suggest looking at Kershaw Natrix, the poor man’s ZT0770…
‘It’s nice looking, it does have variety of combinations - assisted or not, bearings or not, coatings and do on, everything is around $30
I gave one of those to a relative of mine with own shop, about 3 years ago…
‘The guy is using it every day and he is happy as a mofo, the knife performs great, flat for easy carry, no blade play and no issue with the steel when cutting boxes and plastic ties…

KS7007BLKKVTnn.jpg
 
I'd recommend looking into Petrified Fish. I have one of their models, I'm not sure what the name is but it's a D2 flipper with G10 scales and nested liners. It's pretty awesome and was 27 bucks. Actually it's an amazing knife for 30 bucks.
 
You may be better off getting them a Swiss Army Knife, with scissor, if they don't carry a knife normally. The tools will come in very handy, even for a non knife person. Bought one for a family member and everyone in the office would come to them to use it.
 
Leo Greer said:
Exactly what the title says! I’m looking at buying a knife for a friend whose birthday is coming up quickly. He mentioned something about how I’m always carrying like four knives, and him wanting something like that, so I thought, “I can find that..”

But after about 30 minutes of research, the only potential candidate I’ve found has been the Civivi Fracture.

What would y’all suggest?

This guy probably wouldn’t really be able to tell the difference between a nice knife and crappy one, but I like getting people quality items and not just sporting goods store crap.

That and I love the look people get when they flip a budget knife on bearings and go “What?? How much did this cost?”

What do y’all suggest? 🤔
Click to expand...
Any particular knife of yours that he complimented?

Lots of great choices mentioned here already. Ontario Rat 1, Cold Steel Tuff Lite, basically any Civivi (I like the Praxis in particular). A Spyderco Delica or Endura would be a great first knife too. I’d echo the others here who said to check knife laws first.

Just my opinion, but I’d stay away from assisted openers as a first time knife. I just feel more in control of manual folders, but it’s ultimately your call. Let us know what you pick for your friend!
 
For fixed blades, if you’re looking for affordable quality, I’d recommend the Mora Eldris or ESEE Izula. But then again, I find that folders tend to have a bigger wow factor as gifts. 😄
 
I was very surprised by the CJRB Feldspar’s quality. Bought it for the wife but I pocket it every once in awhile. I was also surprised by Byrd knives. Spyderco’s budget friendly Chinese made knives. A meadowlark is very similar to a delica but half the price. Not sure if they’re right at $30 though.

I’ve purchased a few Ka-Bar Dozier folding hunters as gifts and the recipients loved it. My cousin has beat his dozier to death and the thing keeps ticking. Never owned a QSP penguin but it’s on my list to buy. And I have no doubt it’s worth the asking price. My opinel #8 came dull as could be, a quick sharpening turned it into my favorite slicer. If they’re not prying I’d suggest the #8 as a pure cutting tool.

Long winded response but it’s hard to beat the Dozier value. I know you can get them for less than $30 with AUS-8, $35-40 gets you a D2 blade if you can find one available.
 
Leo Greer said:
Exactly what the title says! I’m looking at buying a knife for a friend whose birthday is coming up quickly. He mentioned something about how I’m always carrying like four knives, and him wanting something like that, so I thought, “I can find that..”

But after about 30 minutes of research, the only potential candidate I’ve found has been the Civivi Fracture.

What would y’all suggest?

This guy probably wouldn’t really be able to tell the difference between a nice knife and crappy one, but I like getting people quality items and not just sporting goods store crap.

That and I love the look people get when they flip a budget knife on bearings and go “What?? How much did this cost?”

What do y’all suggest? 🤔
Click to expand...
IMO Civivi is the best value for money, if you can stomach the chinese orogin.
They are well designed have good materials and thier fit n finish, rivals my CRK or Lionsteel folders.
 
If the $30 is a hard cap, the Tangram Santa Fe is still available. It is from Kizer's short-lived budget brand. The Acuto 440 is effectively a Japanese analog of 9Cr18Mov. They don't run it as hard as Civivi but it'll still cut circles around 8Cr13Mov. I've had one for years and it still sees beater use. I gave one to a relative over a year ago and it has been his main EDC ever since. It's just a good little knife. Overall, I prefer the blade and handle shape of the Santa Fe to something like a Rat 2.

If D2 is okay and you want a flipper, the PF818 from Petrified Fish is pretty good. I've had mine for a few years and have since modified it. I cleaned up the eronomics a little by rounding off crisp scale edges and I installed Skiff Bearings. (Yes, I like this $30 knife enough to put $12 bearings in it.)

Otherwise, consider spending up into the $40 range. There are more options there like the original Civivi Baklash or Sencut Snap in WE's excellent 9Cr18Mov, or the Harnds Talisman in 14C28N. Any of the knives I've mentioned here are not only great for the price, they are knives that I've spent real time carrying and would trust to give my friends or family.
 
As for good budget fixed blades you can get the Condor Terrasaur or Condor Bushglider.they are both in 1095 and very close in style and performance to the Mora Garberg but they are about half the price..speaking of Mora you can never go wrong with the 510,511,546,Robust,Companion,Companion HD and the Kansbol..they are about as far from fancy as it gets and obviously aren’t anything someone is going to want to show off to all their friends but they aren’t supposed to be.they are made about as cheaply as possible without sacrificing their durability.you really can’t go wrong regardless if you choose a carbon steel version or a stainless steel version
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top