All About Beater Knives

I don’t beat on cheap knives. I’m too afraid of a catastrophic failure at just the wrong time.

That said, I’ll wail on my BK16. Tough little bugger that thing is.
 
My well used/beater knife is a KJ Eriksson Mora No. 1.

I've used it for almost everything, such as; fishing, hunting, camping and general use around my home.
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~Paul~
 
If flying or loaning a knife, or doing bad things that would make me cringe with other knives. I take my kershaw cryo.
I dont carry it much anymore, few screws fell out. But it still works.

My current beater is a spyderco Para 3 in CPM cruwear. I got it specifically so i could use it hard. I would rather damage the edge on this than on my other more expensive knives. But because its my beater i tend to maintain the edge better. Its currently my sharpest knife. Its been taken down to 0.5 micron diamon emulsion. Scary sharp. And gets sharp easy! So far its tough as hell too. Ive cut through electrical wire and all kinds of crap. Its my current work EDC. I feel less scared when i hand it to people if they need a knife (i still ask what they are gonna use it for). Better to give them a $180 knife to scew up than a $650 or $1200 knife.
And being a maker i can easily repair the blade if damaged.
 
I have a small combination money clip & box cutter that I use for opening boxes. It avoids getting glue & dulling my knife. If I'm working with a lot of other people, I carry an additional cheap knife & a couple of give away hotel pens in case someone asks to borrow one. If they lose it break it or forget to give it back no biggie. If they lose or break my small Sebenza or Tiffany pen, it would ruin my day.
I also keep on hand a few "jury duty" knives. These are cheap Chinese pocket knives, that I can carry to & from an event or place where knives aren't allowed. When I arrive at the place I throw it in some bushes or someplace & hope it's still there when I come out.
 
betover said:
I have a small combination money clip & box cutter that I use for opening boxes. It avoids getting glue & dulling my knife. If I'm working with a lot of other people, I carry an additional cheap knife & a couple of give away hotel pens in case someone asks to borrow one. If they lose it break it or forget to give it back no biggie. If they lose or break my small Sebenza or Tiffany pen, it would ruin my day.
I also keep on hand a few "jury duty" knives. These are cheap Chinese pocket knives, that I can carry to & from an event or place where knives aren't allowed. When I arrive at the place I throw it in some bushes or someplace & hope it's still there when I come out.
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:) That last part is interesting . Somebody should make and market a cheap but serviceable folder that looks like a rock , stick or doggie :poop: ; along the lines of those outdoor key hiders ! ;)
 
I often work in the field around deep...as in 'splash...gonzo' water so I have a sub-$30 'work' folder. I also have no qualms loaning it to someone qualified who might need to cut something. If they drop it...bummer, oh well.

On my own time, I usually have a $150ish dollar folder that I use frequently...but for routine cutting tasks. If its nasty or abusive, I'll just come up with a different solution.

If it's a special occasion, maybe my only CRK (telegant!).

Boss
 
I like knives inexpensive enough that you can afford to run them as thin as is truly ideal and just repair any damage that results from the low angles without worrying about consuming some of the blade in the process. Make it cut well and don't worry about using it up along the way. That's what it's for!
 
midnight flyer said:
Look at that bad boy! I bought one of those about 5 years ago to take on the job site for all the nasty tasks my daily knives face. Thought it was too "pointy", it isn't. A little slim, I thought it might be hard to use for a length of time, it isn't. Thought the steel might be too soft, it isn't. The steel doesn't roll, doesn't chip, and doesn't get rust spots. My maintenance is running it over the rods as needed, make sure there isn't any gunk in the handle, then a spritz of a super lightweight lube I like. I don't take it apart, tune it up, adjust it, replace washers or anything else. I just use it.

I have used it for everything from slicing and cutting (as it should be used) to all kinds of things for which it isn't designed. I have cleaned tar and butyl caulk off it for years using charcoal lighter fluid. Still locks up fine after all these years (although it has been in rotation with a RAT1 and another "jobsite user" knife) and shows no real sign of wear except the FRN scales getting polished up. I rarely like a knife this much, but as a proven work knife, I love it.

In fact, when I found it was out of production I started looking for another one as backup. Couldn't find it. Then a Google search took me to the 'bay, where I guy had 3 at half the price of the $32 I paid for mine. I shot him an email and he covered the shipping and I bought them all! Now the trouble is that the knife might outlast me, and I have 3 new ones in the blister pack. Going to be a good Christmas for my nephews!

Robert
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The Tremor is a terrible looking knife (to me, anyway), looking like it belongs in a low budget sci-fi movie! But there's no doubt it holds up. I've seen some get thrashed and keep going. Good mini review!

Zieg
 
The Zieg said:
The Tremor is a terrible looking knife (to me, anyway), looking like it belongs in a low budget sci-fi movie! But there's no doubt it holds up. I've seen some get thrashed and keep going. Good mini review!

Zieg
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Still laughing at that one, Zieg! I agree with you. Remember the Kershaw forum? I think it was there that I first heard of the knife, and snorted with disbelief when I finally saw one. I thought, "this CANNOT be the same Tremor that they guys here on BF are talking about.

To me, it looked like it belonged on a Filipino plantation somewhere. The "banana" handle, the slight recurve, the pointy tip... what was Kershaw thinking? It looked wrong at every turn. And to top it off, a hollow grind on an 8cr blade? What? I was so ready to not like it that I actually thought that if I didn't like it I would put it in my tool bags or I would gift it out to someone.

I was finally intrigued enough to buy it, and holding in my hand made all the difference. Taking it to the job site for several months and using it for all manner of tasks closed the deal for me. The BF crew was right!

I guess it's just the opposite of buying a knife that should have been a good user, but in the end was a POS, or just a big disappointment.

Robert
 
Before I learned to sharpen (and when my blades were made of CrMov) I used to carry my Gerber EAB lite more than both of those combined haha. After I finished learning how to sharpen, the Lite gets a trip in my pocket whenever I know I’m too tired to even function. I know that if I decide to throw it in the urinal or decide that i want to see if my knife is sharp enough to grab a piece of asphalt for decoration I will have something that I can “resharpen” quickly (just replacing the blade).

Might not be my “coolest” but it is the most flexible in carry
 
Mr.SATism said:
Before I learned to sharpen (and when my blades were made of CrMov) I used to carry my Gerber EAB lite more than both of those combined haha. After I finished learning how to sharpen, the Lite gets a trip in my pocket whenever I know I’m too tired to even function. I know that if I decide to throw it in the urinal or decide that i want to see if my knife is sharp enough to grab a piece of asphalt for decoration I will have something that I can “resharpen” quickly (just replacing the blade).

Might not be my “coolest” but it is the most flexible in carry
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If you substitute "too drunk" where you said "too tired" , I can relate ! :p
 
gazz98 said:
The most I ever spent on a knife was $130-140 range (ZTs, BM Adamas slightly used). Most of my knives fall in the $40 (Ontario Rat 1 D2) to $90 range (Manix 2, MiniGrips, Delicas).

Why?
1. VG10, D2, 154CM, etc are plenty good enough for me.
2. If I lose the knife, I won't cry too long.

I lost a Gerber Gator (154cm IIRC) back in the day. I'm normally good about not losing things but it happens. I honestly can't imagine carry a custom or CRK and losing a $200-2,000 knife.
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I have a few knice knives, a CRK and what not but i am fussy and careful about where, when and how I carry and use them. Otherwise, I'm with gazz98.

palonej said:
The boots are a good example, but I have shoes I won’t wear into a muddy basement. Or dress clothes to work.
Don’t carry a $400 knife into an attic to cut flex duct.
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Shoes are a good comparison. Your feet are one part of your body that's very hard to rest - they work every day. Good shoes are important and while I suppose that I could slog through mud and salty snow with a $500+ pair of western boots, why would I? It's not that they are not up to to the task ... but why would I when I have hunting and work boots at less than half the price that may not be as comfortable or as stylish - but they seem better suited for mud and salty snow slush.

I've sliced many an apple with a Sebenza but have Cold Steel Voyagers and RAT-1s for "muckier" stuff.

Lastly, when I travel commercial, the <$50 folders are with me.
 
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Years ago, I spent five months motorcycling in Mexico and did not want to chance having one of my better blades being “confiscated” by the Federales so I picked up a Rat 1 in Aus 8 and it served me well. Highly recommend!
 
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