Bang for Your Buck Knives

Guyon

Guyon

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At the recent Beckerhead Gathering, Tramontina machetes came up quite a bit as inexpensive but efficient blades.
Inspired me to take this picture, a different take on the Nessmuk Trio if you will. With these three knives, I'd be perfectly comfortable walking into the woods for an extended stay.
These three brands come to mind immediately as far as best economy: Victorinox, Mora, and Tramontina.
Below, the Vic Farmer and the Mora Bushcraft Triflex will both run you about $25 to $30 shipped. The Tramontina? Maybe $10 to $15 shipped.
Add in a machete sheath (I have a $25 leather sheath from El Salvador), and you're in under $100 with an excellent set of tools.
Other economical knives/brands come to mind, like the venerable Buck 110, or the Becker BK&T series of knives. What are your top value knives?

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Nice looking edge. Like it was polished, maybe just the angle, but looks wicked sharp! Never heard of the company, looks like they have cookware also, but the machette is shipped for 13 bucks! May have to put this on the list, but please post results with some use to know.

Value? I agree with you, Vic and Mora are awesome.
 
My pick is Green River. I have a nice collection of them and growing.

More and more I'm using the Sheep Skinner model for practically everything.
 
some of my bang for the buck knives are:

mora companion MG
kabar large dozier folder
buck vantage select
svord peasant
byrd cara cara 2 G10
kabar fin drop point (#5554)


if i'm out in the woods, i would have my folding saw, mora and whatever EDC i'm carrying that day (most likely a para2 or manix2). I'll probably also take my kabar fin 5554 too.

p.s. condor also make an excellent machete for the price.
 
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My pics for top value - Tramontina Machete, KA BAR USMC, Buck 110, Case Sodbuster & Kershaw Blur. Gotta love the Beckers, too.
 
I think the Ontario RAT-1 Folder is one of the best knives available for $30 or less
 
Tramontina--ANYTHING
Condor--ANYTHING
Svord--Peasant Knives
Mora--ANYTHING
Case--Sodbuster series, anything in yellow delrin.
Becker--BK2
Cold Steel--Kudu, Bushman, Bowie Bushman, Pocket Bushman, GI Tanto, Pendleton Lite Hunter, any of their 'hawks.
Ontario--RAT 1 folder, GI machetes, Old Hickory series.
Victorinox--Trekker in any variation, alox handles in any variation, etc. etc., Forschner kitchen knives.
Opinel--ANYTHING
Mercator--K55K
Estwing--ANYTHING (great beaters/demolition tools)
Buck--too numerous to list, but most of their line, including the variations of the 110/112, Paklite series, Vantages, and Bucklite series.
Gerber/Fiskars--Finland-made axes and hatchets
Spyderco--Byrd series, Tenacious series.

Plenty of others too.
 
For around $20, the Victorinox Rambler is the best keychain knife I've yet to own--comes in handy every single day. Next to the Vic Classic, the Rambler has gotten the most mileage for the money. I also like the Spyderco Grasshopper (around $10) and love the Kiwi 3 (approx. $20) for small utility; they ride nicely in the jeans watch/change pocket.

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At around $30, the Ontario RAT 1 cannot be beat in value, imo. An excellent outdoorsy companion folder...

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For less than $15 a piece, Rough Rider slip-joints aren't half-bad...

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Edit: And just to throw it out there, I think the Spyderco Para-Military or Military knives are great bang for the buck 'premium' folders. In the $100-$150 range, you get a lot of knife for your money, imo... :thumbup:
 
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Nice trio, Guyon!
My favorite "bang for your buck" trio would be a little different, but not by much. Same principles still apply: low cost, durability, wide range of capability.

Large knife/chopper: Ontario SP10 Marine Raider bowie
Small belt knife: Buck 119
Folding pocket knife: Buck 110

With these three, I can do it all, and the whole package comes in at less than $200.
The big Spec-Plus bowie is super rugged, and can be used for building shelters, processing firewood, quartering larger game, etc. This one isn't necessarily an EDC tool, but it shines when it's time to bring out the heavy artillery. 1095 steel strikes a huge spark, too, once you wear through the coating in a spot.
The Buck 119 excels at hunting work: field dressing, skinning, butchering. It's also a perfect size for a personal belt knife, and even though it sports a hollow grind, is plenty strong for most off-the-cuff chores. This is the 24/7 EDC belt knife.
The Buck 110 is my favorite do-all folding knife, and is nearly as strong as a fixed blade. Nice, thin blade with a pointy tip and lots of belly, and it makes an excellent backup to the fixed blade for processing game and bushcraft stuff.
 
Were the Ontario RAT-1's connected to Randall Adventure Training (now ESEE)? Or did these come along later after the split between Randall/Perrin and Ontario?
 
They were connected to RAT I believe. The color variations are recent though.
 
Great trio and no doubt it would fill all your needs, but I personaly prefer an axe over a chete.

My cheap trio would be

Fiskars X15 axe
Mora clipper
Vic huntsman

and I would get along fine. I prefer to take my BK2 though. It is more expensive than the other 3 but still very much bang for your buck at $60.
 
Most SAKs - great utility in general - $20-30 for many popular models
Ontario RAT 1 - pretty heavy duty larger pocket folder - ~$30
Ka-bar Dozier folder - thin and lightweight and built pretty sturdy - ~$20
Opinel - lightweight and great slicers - ~$10-15 for various sizes
Sanrenmu & Enlan - cheap and decent knives overall if the politics don't bother you - ~$5-20

To cover all the tasks I've had to deal with for my EDC's, I'd say the best value knives I have are:
Ontario RAT 1 - paid $29 - large locking folder, built like a tank
SAK Super Tinker - paid $20 - small folder, multi-tool capabilities
 
Keep it light...
Cold Steel Kukri Machete - $20
Opinel Paring Knife - $7
Used Case Sodbuster Jr. - $12

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Heavy up...
Used Plumb Hatchet - $5
Gerber Big Rock - $25
Cold Steel American Lawman - $60

photo-22.jpg


Heavy up again :)
Used KP Kukri - $10
Used ESEE 3 - $60
Blem. Kershaw Blur - $30

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