• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

Best $50 Pocket Knife

T

TheGoldenSaber

Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
7
I am just starting to get into knife collecting and I am looking for opinions on the best $50 pocket knife that I can get. I searched and didn't see anything too relevant, and I would appreciate fresh replies anyways in case anything has changed.
 
It depends what you want to use it for. Example:

Toughest = Cold Steel Voyager
All-around = Ontario RAT-1
Lighter use = Kershaw Skyline
 
What would you use the knife for? My favorite for under $50 is the Victorinox (Swiss Army) Electrician model. It has two blades, a reamer, and a screw driver/bottle opener. The handle is silver aluminum. The fit and finish is perfect. I've had mine for over 10 years and it still looks and works like new. They list for about $46. At $42, the Pioneer is also a good choice.
 
A Sog trident is a good little knife in that range and likely very easily found.
 
delica around 65 but worth it. depends on what you want.. case stockman in cv, or any case cv are great too.
 
Thanks for the replies so far! The primary use is EDC, which is guess is general purpose. I have a Buck 110 but it's a bit much for EDC. I've heard good things about the Spyderco Tenacious but people don't seem to like the steel it's made with so I'm leery.
 
Cold Steel Voyager - locking blade
Victorinox Swiss Army Knife - slip joint

There are a lot of other options out there, but these are the two that I recommend, depending on what you plan to use the knife for.
 
Easy for to answer as I have had multiple 50 and under knives.
My favorite is the spyderco tenacious. Very good knife perfect for edc easy to sharpen and the g-10 scales are well made. Plus you can pick it up for 25 or less on the forums or amazon.
 
There is nothing wrong with Spyderco's 8Cr13MoV, that particular steel is an entry level steel but spyderco does it the best, there's no issues with it on a budget knife and for a budget steel its good quality, it's just not high- quality overall.

Don't be turned off by the steel, the tenacious is a great knife, your other choices in the price range arnt much better- AUS-8a, 9Cr13MoV, 3Cr13MoV and so on...

If your looking for the best steel of a budget knife get a blem kershaw skyline for <$30 shipped and call it a day, the 14n28n sandvik is IMO a different level from all the afore mentioned china steels plus unlike most of the other good <$50 budget knives its USA made.

My #1 piece of advice... Buy one of these specific knives mentioned here (not just one of mine, one of the ones in this thread). People here know their stuff and have tried many more knives than a normal person would ever even own yet they all agree on just a handful of the best ones for any given set of requirements. My advice to anyone new around here is don't stray to far from what everyone's recommending over and over, not that you can't have your own opinion but if you start out with the overall most liked / "best" budget knives you'll quickly get a feel for quality while developing your own tastes and when you're ready to make your next purchase you'll be better equipped to decide for yourself what makes a truly good knife.
 
You can get a Kershaw Blur blem in S30V for $55. There's nothing even close in terms of value.
 
I have both the Spyderco Tenacious and Spyderco Persistence and they are great knives for the price. Both knives have blue G10 handles. The fit and finish are top notch for the price and coming from China. I've had both knives for almost a year now and I have no complaints. They are easy to sharpen and they keep their edge. Other knives I would recommend are the Swiss Army Pioneer, Farmer, and Cadet knives.
 
Another concern of mine is that I've read about several people having rust issues with the Tenacious among others. Anyone else have that problem with the Tenacious or any of the other mentioned knives? Is that a problem with higher end knives also? What is the best thing to prevent it?
 
Rust can happen to any knife at any price point, about the only knives that are totally rust proof are the spyderco salt series (and Ti blade dive knives). A thin coat of oil once a week will prevent that totally
 
Last edited:
+1 on the Spyderco Tenacious. The Kershaw Blur in S30V for $70.00 is better than a lot of blades in the $100+ range. Can't go wrong with either IMHO.
 
- Spyderco Tenacious
- Spyderco Dragonfly 2 if you looking for a smaller knife
- Kershaw Cryo 1/2 looks good for the money.
 
Pretty open ended question that really depends on you clarifying what it is that you're looking for.
Single blade one-hand opener?
EDC multi-purpose/multi-tool?
Outdoor fixed blade?
Traditional pocket knife?

You will and already are getting vastly different answers from different folks based on different assumptions.

This is my daily carry. Opinel N9 in RFP and Leatherman Micra in LFP. Works for me. Might not for you. You need to tell us more to get more focused advice.


EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top