Am I on the right track buying these budget knives?

Drop bear said:
The counter argument is buy the cheap knives to learn what shape of knife you want to carry.
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With a nice knife you can sell it and get most of your money back to go towards another knife if you don't like carrying it. With a cheap knife you just throw it in a box or give it away. Seems to me to be more cost effective to buy nice knives any way you look at it. The only exception to me is if you're just learning to sharpen knives. In that case it would be better to have some cheaper knives to practice on.
 
Drop bear said:
The counter argument is buy the cheap knives to learn what shape of knife you want to carry.
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I like this. I even take it further, to buying knives I can mod into whatever shape I want to try (well, before I was a maker who'd developed philosophy on knife blades shapes). The funny thing is that even though my third folding knife was a Spyderco Resilience (my second was a Manix 2 XL, and my first was a ridiculously cheap karambit that fell apart, and which I don't really count), and even though I ended up modding it and eventually selling it, and then buying dozens more Spydercos, almost all of which I have also since modded and sold or given away, I still came back to the Spyderco Resilience as my actual favorite folding knife.

I have one that I modded per the image below, and it is my EDC (and also the seventh Resilience I have owned!):

IMG_1389.JPG
IMG_1390.JPG

I call it my "Resilitary". And I am looking forward to replacing it with the blue FRN S35VN version when it drops. It will also get the same mods.
000Robert said:
With a nice knife you can sell it and get most of your money back to go towards another knife if you don't like carrying it. With a cheap knife you just throw it in a box or give it away.
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I read that it is more blessed to give than to receive. So I like having something I can give away, especially something as useful as a knife.
 
David Mary said:
I read that it is more blessed to give than to receive. So I like having something I can give away, especially something as useful as a knife.
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I always believed that to mean giving good things, not cheap crap that you no longer want. But I'll leave the judgement to you since you are so quick to judge others. :rolleyes:
 
I merely stated my own preference and the reason for it. Moving on (your surely non-judgemntal implication that I acquire and give away "crap" notwithstanding)...
 
Smoke said:
Arathol, I like the look of that frame lock and the milled slip joint. Any model numbers? I can't find them yet.
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Those aren't new, they are older models. I am not sure if they are currently in production. The titanium framelock is a TS121, the slipjoint with the copper inlay is a TS123.
 
Whitedog said:
You do not have to spend big bucks for a good pocket knife contrary to what some post on this forum. Do you want a cutting tool or a load of Bling. Spyderco, Benchmade, Buck all have good cutting tools.
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True! To name but a few... the more time goes by, the more variety of really good brands that we seem to have to choose from.
 
I saw this Kershaw Launch 1 auto when I was browsing around and liked the looks of it, and the blade is CPM154 steel. So I bought it and I absolutely love it! I bought one for my son and he loves his too. I think mine was about $110 and his was a little cheaper.

KL1-3a.jpg
 
I also like having a few nice but inexpensive knives around, I'll carry them and get to know the design or maybe the manufacturer if I don't have a ton of experience with their products, then give them to people who seem like they could use one.

There's an upcoming titanium and 154CM framelock version of a $30 linerlock from a company I like and respect well enough from what I've seen. So I ordered the linerlock to see how I like the design. And happil6 because it fits the general parameters I was thinking of for a gift to a coworker who recently mentioned wanting to pick out a knife. If it turns out her desired features are different and it doesn't get much use, it was cheap and I got to see how the company is doing these days. If she likes it, then she will be saved from buying a knife that looks good but isn't. I already know it's going to be slicey and a good knife, it's more a matter of working for her hand and personal preference I guess.

I just want to know if I can skip the two framelocks they announced, because if the price is nice my beer budget is about to suffer again.
 
Welcome aboard!

I'd say this, you being here at BF certainly shows that you are on the right track with this hobby! -- That's how It all started for me... I got my first "expensive" knife... forget the exact model its been so long, but it was a blade from kershaw. Ever since that day I was HOOKED... It ran me about $50-60 if I remember correctly, but boy was I mesmerized with that thing.

Little did I know, what I was opening up for myself, it's like a never ending rabbit hole that you can dive in to and never come out from.

It's taken roughly 16 years or so for me to work through different knife manufacturers / different types of blade grinds / different handle materials / different blade materials ... and gaining experience with knives in different price points and seeing what works and doesn't for me... what suits not only my needs but my personality... The knife can be viewed as somewhat of an art form that expresses the owner without saying a word - or at least I like to think of it as such at times!

Looking back, I can tell you that It's not about the end result, as much as the journey...with that said, I'm glad I am were I am with this hobby today, as I've narrowed my liked down and dislikes... Now time for you to do the same!
 
unwisefool said:
I would stop buying a bunch of $50 knives and just buy one or two nice knives in the $150-250 range. You will most likely eventually get to that point anyway, so why not save a bit of time and money in the process?
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I will sometimes buy cheaper knives in that price range to give away. Real quality does not come cheap.
 
CR888 said:
Hey folks new member here my name is Colin. About a year ago I bought a new knife from TwoSun China at auction. It was a D2 blade with VG10 handle inlays. Well anyways I kinda like the knife and am impressed with its overall quality for the US$40ish bux I paid. I don't know a lot about knives and all the makes and models out there. So I was just asking what you folks think about TwoSun flipper knives (folding knives)... see I don't even know the right words. I just ordered a couple more Twosuns which are in the mail one a M390? blade, the other a D2. They seem to go for $50-200+ US dollars depending on the model. Should I buy a different budget knife or are these decent for the money? I'm not into spending $600 for a pocket/EDC knife but would spend a couple of hundred if I had too. Anyways great forum ya'all got here lots of info & stuff.
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Any knife today is a vast improvment over the blades of the copper and bronze age. They are tools and as the price increase, it is a diminishing return on the usefulness. Most here I think are more collectors and what you like is all that matters unless you are in the trade or plan to sell what you buy.
 
I bought a TwoSun on a whim off Amazon. It took about a month to arrive directly from China.

The knife sorta blew me away and ticked me off at the same time.

The quality is very high. The material quality is very good, assuming it is indeed titanium and M390. The details and machining were noticeably well done. The action is buttery. The design is strange yet intriguing. The blade grind near perfect. Centering perfect.

It is hard to believe they can make a profit, and it certainly reaffirms how difficult it is to compete for local US makers.
 
My 2 favorite EDCs are a Reate K-2 and a CRKT Tighe Fighter. The Reate goes for $325 and the CRKT was $57 with tax and shipping. Some days I'd rather carry the CRKT and I'm totally comfortable with that (even though CRKTs have tried to kill me). I'm sure someone here alternates between $20 and $2000 knives, and that's OK too.

To answer the original question, there are some great TwoSuns out there, no shame in that game.
 
CR888 said:
Hey folks new member here my name is Colin. About a year ago I bought a new knife from TwoSun China at auction. It was a D2 blade with VG10 handle inlays. Well anyways I kinda like the knife and am impressed with its overall quality for the US$40ish bux I paid. I don't know a lot about knives and all the makes and models out there. So I was just asking what you folks think about TwoSun flipper knives (folding knives)... see I don't even know the right words. I just ordered a couple more Twosuns which are in the mail one a M390? blade, the other a D2. They seem to go for $50-200+ US dollars depending on the model. Should I buy a different budget knife or are these decent for the money? I'm not into spending $600 for a pocket/EDC knife but would spend a couple of hundred if I had too. Anyways great forum ya'all got here lots of info & stuff.
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Stay your course !

Only you can decide what satisfies you .

TwoSun has a fairly unique marketing scheme . Nearly direct to you via auction .

Might get a fantastic bargain , but maybe returns / customer service will be lacking .

You don't necessarily have to spend hugely to find knife happiness .
 
You can buy some STUNNINGLY good knives for very little money these days. Look into the WE Knife Company, Sanrenmu Knives and Ganzo.

Domestically, I think Buck Knives offers the greatest bang-for-the-buck.
 
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