All weather affordable folding knife?

Thanks for the suggestions on the Kabar Dozier and the RAT-1 Folder. I both checked them out and researched a bit about them.

The RAT-1 seems really nice and I have read nothing but good reviews on it. The Kabar Dozier however, I am skeptical. I have read bad reviews on Kabar's quality control on knives. What's this about? Anyone care to shed the light?

Just to clarify things, when I meant all weather blade, I don't mean including salt water when I said getting the knife wet. :) Just plain rain, moisture and humidity. The Spyderco Pacific Salt serrated is still one of my considerations. ;)
 
Like many of the name companies, Ka-Bar is farming at least some of its production out. The Doziers are made under contract in Taiwan, and I've never heard any complaints of any of them. It's quite possible that Ka-Bar has problems with some of their other production.

We are, however, talking about two ends of EDC spectrum. The RAT-1 is a brute of a knife and not legal for concealed carry in many places. If you worry about the law,you have to find a way to carry it openly. If you are an EMT or the like, you can probably count on some slack with a sturdy knife as part of your working kit.

The Dozier's have three inch blades which makes them legal most places. The grip is synthetic so they weigh almost nothing. The blade is excellent as both knives use the same steel, AUS-8.

My solution is to own both, easy enough considering the very moderate prices. The Dozier is in the rotation of my pants pocket knives. It's plenty of knife for routine daily stuff. The RAT-1 is generally clipped to the pocket of my chore coat. I'm likely to be wearing that coat for anything that calls for a heavy duty knife.

BTW, why would you even consider a serrated blade? There is very little that they can do better than a plain edge and much that they cannot do as well.
 
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Lets keep in mind that H1 probably has as good or better edge retention as the two knives the OP was first looking at. The title of the thread is an all weather affordable folding knife. While the salt series, as well as the delica and endura are a little higher than the $50 mark, I think it is worth it. You are not going to find a better all weather knife than a spyderco in H1. VG10 does have better edge retention but my Salt 1 is one of my favorite knives, and sees more use than many others simply due to the fact that I dont have to wipe it down. Simply touch up the edge and you are good to go. I say go with an H1 spyderco. But if not, I would pay a little more than $50 and either get a delica, endura, griptilian, or mini griptilian. Good luck with your search bud.
 
Buck Vantage or Bucklite are both fine outdoor knives. I frequently use mine at work and haven't sharened either yet. Bucklite is a lockback, vantage is liner lock. Also, the KaBar Dozier folders are great and they come in a couple different sizes.
 
So many choices now. Thanks very much guys. :)

I have to narrow down from your following recommendations..
 
karl_f87 said:
I have seen Schrade folding knives. Any of them good? :)
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Not in comparison to the other knives mentioned. For sheer all weather use, I don't think there's a better folder than the Salt series. Spyderco's Salt series covers most all needs. If you need the blade to be 3" or less (Salt I), or you can & want a larger bladed folder (Pacific Salt), or a specialty bladed folder (SpyderHawk or Atlantic Salt), there's plenty to choose from.

However, unless you get a LadyBug3 Salt, all the other Salts are over $50, unless you chance upon a great deal in the F/S section.

If the blade doesn't need to be rust proof, I do think that AUS-8 would be excellent for it's rust resistance. While it is not as good as VG-10 in edge holding, I believe it has better rust resistance.

I'm not sure if it's out yet, but BM supposedly has or is coming out with X15 T.N blades for their Grip line for much better rust resistance. I don't think X15 T.N is "rust proof" like H1, but it is very resistant to rust & I believe it has better edge holding than H1, too. However, I would think the inner mechanism on an axis lock knife might prove to be problematic in a rust prone environment.

The Salt series don't have liners, so they're very easy to rinse/clean off & very little SS parts on it, unlike on the BM Grip X15 T.N, or other knives.

Good luck with whatever you get.
 
CL01 said:
If the blade doesn't need to be rust proof, I do think that AUS-8 would be excellent for it's rust resistance. While it is not as good as VG-10 in edge holding, I believe it has better rust resistance.
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If going to an AUS-8 folder then you can't get better value than the Ontario RAT-1 which is available for $25 and is an excellent knife for the money. It is also rather open in construction which would make it easier to clean. With a nice blade shape - full flat grind and lots of belly it make a really nice knife to use. I think its edge holding is not bad either (better than AUS-6, not as good as VG-10, etc).
 
Gadgetaholic said:
If going to an AUS-8 folder then you can't get better value than the Ontario RAT-1 which is available for $25 and is an excellent knife for the money. It is also rather open in construction which would make it easier to clean. With a nice blade shape - full flat grind and lots of belly it make a really nice knife to use. I think its edge holding is not bad either (better than AUS-6, not as good as VG-10, etc).
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I agree that the RAT-1 folder is alot of knife for the $. I have not owned or handled the recent ones. I did have 2-3 different 1st production models, but I believe they were made by the same maker (They were made in Taiwan).

One of the Byrds also comes to mind if one wants a more rust resistent blade, but I do agree that the RAT-1's open construction is ideal, especially for $25 or whatever they're going for these days.
 
+1 on Spyderco Delica. It's a good solid knife that take the elements fairly well. Pacific salt would be another good choice.
 
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