Recommendation? Best Budget Hard Use Knife?

John Phillips said:
general construction work, camping, hiking, general hard use around the house and property
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The Buck 110/112 LT, RAT 1/2, Spyderco Tenacious would be budget knives (budget = < $50 for me) that fit that bill except if you plan on using your knife as a chisel or a pry bar.

It seems like you have significantly more than $50 to spend and may want to use this knife as a chisel and a light bar. So maybe a (used) Emerson or Cold Steel that actually has a chisel (or at least a tanto) blade?
 
I paid less than $20 for some silly Kabar "zombie killer" tanto. Lock-up is rock solid, AUS-8 steel is reasonably tough but easy to sharpen should you do something stupid to the edge. It's cheap enough to nearly be considered "disposable", but not in the same way an MTech or the like (since it's well-made and not dangerous to the user with iffy locks and crap steel).
 
Cold Steel Large Voyager drop point, great, solid knife, good edge and easy to sharpen. A bit of a bargain.
 
Henry Beige said:
If “hard use” means putting up with rhe Tri-Ad lock, why not just go all in with the truly horrible lock on the Cold Steel Pocket Bushman. This knife is said to be almost as sturdy as a fixed blade, which is a good thing, as once you have it open, you probably won’t feel like closing it again until after the end of the weekend. Round out your experience with the discomfort of the folded steel handle.
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LOLLLOLOLOLOLOLLLOL. Agree for the most part. I’ve never been a big cold steel fan until I bought a recon 1 spear point. It actually, surprisingly, opens nicely with thumb stud deployment(and a little wrist action) and I can close it with one hand like a Spyderco back lock. Trust me, I was surprised!!!
 
Lynn Thompson in a tactical thong is an image that I don’t want in my head. I do like cold steel knives though.
 
What more expensive knives do you already own? If they're not safe queen collectibles I'd recommend just using one of those. Get your money's worth out of it! ;) If I had to choose one of my knives to beat around and use hard, I would probably pick my CRK Large Sebenza 21. I bet it would take more abuse than just about any other folder out there.
 
The Meat man said:
What more expensive knives do you already own? If they're not safe queen collectibles I'd recommend just using one of those. Get your money's worth out of it! ;) If I had to choose one of my knives to beat around and use hard, I would probably pick my CRK Large Sebenza 21. I bet it would take more abuse than just about any other folder out there.
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Very true!!! Yeah, I started carrying my ZT 0630CF for hard use but I kept hesitating using it for really dirty or hard use jobs because I wanted to keep it looking nice. I’ve considered any one of my Shamans maybe the Zwear that just came out, Manix 2s, ZTs, Benchmade 940s and Grips, small Sebenza is my every day winner, just picked up Hinderer XM18. I will say that I have 5 new old stock Sog Tooth Lock knives that are discontinued, they have the arc lock that pissed off Benchmade for so many years, serrated blade, made in seki city. It was my EDC for a year or so, it can’t take any where near the use I’m thinking though.
 
John Phillips said:
Very true!!! Yeah, I started carrying my ZT 0630CF for hard use but I kept hesitating using it for really dirty or hard use jobs because I wanted to keep it looking nice. I’ve considered any one of my Shamans maybe the Zwear that just came out, Manix 2s, ZTs, Benchmade 940s and Grips, small Sebenza is my every day winner, just picked up Hinderer XM18. I will say that I have 5 new old stock Sog Tooth Lock knives that are discontinued, they have the arc lock that pissed off Benchmade for so many years, serrated blade, made in seki city. It was my EDC for a year or so, it can’t take any where near the use I’m thinking though.
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Sounds like you have some good ones to choose from already.
 
Henry Beige said:
If “hard use” means putting up with rhe Tri-Ad lock, why not just go all in with the truly horrible lock on the Cold Steel Pocket Bushman. This knife is said to be almost as sturdy as a fixed blade, which is a good thing, as once you have it open, you probably won’t feel like closing it again until after the end of the weekend. Round out your experience with the discomfort of the folded steel handle.
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FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades has solved that problem. Works like a champ.

I keep a Pocket Bushman in each of my vehicles. I can't imagine being able to destroy it, but if I did it would be inexpensive to replace.
 
I would agree on a Cold Steel also. The airlite tanto has a robust tip and the triad lock on my example is easy to manipulate. Some triads are stiffer than others though. Ultimate hunter or the Recon 1 are good choices for robust folders. The ultimate hunter is like a more reasonably sized AD10.
 
Personally I find the Tanto blade less useful for all around work. But then I also dislike serrated edges, so there's that.

You might want to consider the CJRB Barranca. It's inexpensive, and has a blade grind that's (IMHO) a better fit for everyday use and prying. The Spyderco Endura and Salt are pretty handy designs also. Last, I had a really nice Ruike, but I don't remember the pattern. It's in Egypt with a friend now days.
 
If you can increase your budget, take a look at Extrema Ratio MPC folder. I have one and that thing tolerates some prying! The Tri-ad lock on my Cold Steel 4 Max Scout is tougher, but for prying and some digging the MPC is the folder I grab. The Fulcrum is another great alternative. Cliff Stamp (RIP, my steel guru) tested the damn thing and concluded that ER Fulcrum is a tough folder: http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/reviews/fulcrum.html
 
Henry Beige said:
If “hard use” means putting up with rhe Tri-Ad lock, why not just go all in with the truly horrible lock on the Cold Steel Pocket Bushman.
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What's wrong with the Tri-Ad lock? What do you have to put up with?

knarfeng said:
For an everyday pocket knife most folks want an alloy with edge retention. So you need an alloy with carbides.
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I disagree. "Carbides" make the knife slower to sharpen, and a hard use knife is going to need frequent maintenance no matter which steel it uses. One is better off with a tougher steel that is resistant to major damage, faster to sharpen, and that allows a thinner edge reducing fatigue.
 
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