Best Knives Under $30

Any Mora. I like the Clippers. The rubber-handled Marttiini hunting knives are great and have better sheaths than Moras. The BuckLite MAX fixed blade can't be beaten for the money (under $30). The Victorinox Hiker is another good one.

Joe
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/759307-Best-value-knives-of-ALL-time

mk.ultra said:
I read through this entire thread (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=741754&highlight=cheap+knives) and I LOVED every second of it. I discovered SO many extremely high value knives. Here's a summary I made for reference (All prices are approx. and w/o shipping, and I'm editing it as excellent suggestions arise):

Folding (Traditional)
$5 – Schrade Imperial Sodbuster
$10 – Opinel No. 6
$10-$15 – Rough Rider (Any)
$10-$20 – Victorinox Classic, Solo, Cadet, Soldier, etc.
$15 – Kershaw DWO
$15 – Kershaw Black Colt II
$15 – Svord Peasant
$15-$20 – Kissing Crane knives
$20 – Case Sodbuster Jr.
$20 – Kershaw Black Gulch
$20 - Douk Douk (Small)
$25 – EKA Swede 88
$25 – Mercator K55
$25 – Buck 112 EcoLite
$35 – EKA Swede 82
$35 - Buck 55
$35 - Buck 110

Folding (Modern)
$10 – Sanrenmu 710
$15 – CRKT Pazoda 2
$15 – Kershaw Chill
$15 – Kershaw OD-2
$15 – Scrimschaw-Style knives (Fred Carter & Gigand)
$15 – Buck BuckLite Max small/medium
$20 – CRKT Drifter
$20 – Spyderco Byrd Meadowlark
$20 – Spyderco Byrd Raven
$20 – Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara
$20 – Ka-Bar Dozier
$20 – Kershaw Scamp
$20 – Kershaw Oso Sweet
$20 – CRKT M16 EDC
$25 - Cold Steel Pocket Bushman
$25 – Leatherman Expanse E33L
$30 – Leathman Expanse E55
$30 – Spyderco Tenacious
$30 – Spyderco Persistence
$30 – Kershaw Leek
$30 – Kerhsaw Skyline
$30 – Kershaw Junkyard Dog
$30 - Kershaw Zing
$30 - Kershaw Storm II
$30 – Kershaw Barrage/Salvo
$30 – Boker Hyper
$30 – Boker M-Type
$30 – Boker Trance
$30 – Ontario Rat-1
$45 – Buck Vantage Pro (Small)
$50 - Boker AK 101
$50 - Buck Alpha Dorado (154CM)
$50 - Kershaw Lahar
$50 – Spyderco Delica 4
$50 – Spyderco Native
$50 – Spyderco Endura 4
$50 - Boker Jim Burke Mini Resurrection
$60 – Cold Steel Recon I
$70 - Benchmade Mini Griptilian
$70 - Spyderco Manix 2
$70 – A.G. Russell Frame Lock Spear-Point – Seconds

Fixed
$5 – Tramontina Machete
$10 - Cold Steel Finn Bear
$15 – Mora Clipper
$15 – Cold Steel Machete
$20 - Cold Steel Bushman
$20 - Buck Paklite Skinner
$20 - Condor Machete
$25 - Condor Rodan
$25 - Condor Bushlore
$25 – Blackjack Grunt
$30 – Ka-Bar Becker Necker
$35 - Ontario SP1
$35 – Condor Kumunga
$45 - ESEE Izula
$50 - Queen D2 fixed blades
$50 – Ka-Bar USMC Fighter
$50 - Ontario Ranger RAK
$50 – Buck 119
$50 – SOG Seal Pup
$70 – Ka-Bar Becker BK9

This list is getting super long, which isn't a bad thing I suppose :)

Anyways, he put a $50 price cap on it, but so many high value knives over $50 were left out (Value doesn't always mean inexpensive). I wanna see some more folders and especially larger fixed blades that are extremely high value!

Also, if anyone has any qualms with any of these being value knives, I'd like to know why (As I don't know everything about all of these blades)!
Click to expand...
 
Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter Lite. You can get them from Amazon for about $15 each. An absolutely outstanding field knife and a surprisingly good sheath.

Buck Bucklite Max large fixed blade. Perhaps the best value in a fixed blade for under $30 retail. Excellent blade profile and grind, full tang, very good handle (though not as good as the Cold Steel). Sheath is just nylon, but still quite good.

As for folders, check out the CRKT Pocket Classic line. The quality and fit and finish is first rate and you can find them for under $30.
 
northingeasting said:
Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter Lite. You can get them from Amazon for about $15 each. An absolutely outstanding field knife and a surprisingly good sheath.

Buck Bucklite Max large fixed blade. Perhaps the best value in a fixed blade for under $30 retail. Excellent blade profile and grind, full tang, very good handle (though not as good as the Cold Steel). Sheath is just nylon, but still quite good....
Click to expand...

+ 1 on both of these.

The Pendleton was Field and Stream's "Knife of the Year" a year or two back.

- OS
 
Kershaw crown 1 or 2 depending on the size you want, it's well under your limit and the best value I've ever seen
 
Kershaw Skyline
G-10
Sandvic Steel
Made in the USA
$30

Skyline.jpg
 
Folders:
CRKT Drifter
CRKT Pazoda - I Prefer The Large One
CRKT Crawford Kasper
CRKT Premonition
Kershaw Scamp
Kershaw Nerve
Kershaw Tremor(AMAZING KNIFE(Traded Mine, And Want Another So Bad))
Kershaw Compound
Kershaw Skyline
Kershaw Storm
Kershaw Leek - Cheap On Amazon
Kershaw Blur With Bead Blasted Blade(I Don't Believe It's Satin) - Cheap On Amazon
Kershaw Clash
Kershaw OSO Sweet
Kershaw Needs Work
Kershaw Chill
Kershaw LFK
Kershaw Volt
Kershaw Zing
Kershaw G-10 Hawk
Spyderco Tenacious
Spyderco Persistence
Spyderco Ladybug
Ontario RAT1
Ontario Utilitac
Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara
Spyderco Byrd Crow
Spyderco Byrd Crossbill
(Pretty Much Every Byrd Knife, They're Great And A Value)
Ka-Bar K2 Gila
Ka-Bar TDI Folder
Ka-Bar Dozier
Ka-Bar Zombie Killer
Kershaw Salvo
Kershaw Little Lockback
And Many Many More.

Fixed:
Kershaw Military - http://www.amazon.com/Kershaw-Milit...XI/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&qid=1315724466&sr=8-37
Ka-Bar Piggyback
Smith And Wesson Tactical Boot Knife
CRKT AG Russell Sting

I'm Not Really Into Fixed Blades Sorry For The Short List.

Welcome To The World Of Being A Knife Nut.
 
5.56, you're dead on, the skyline is freaking amazing for the price. Also, you have mad photo skills, my friend. That pic makes it look like a $150 plus knife! That is catalog-quality, man. I also loooove my Tenacious. It's a solid, hard-working knife. There are some other great suggestions on this thread, but these two are the ones that I have personal experience with. Happy Hunting!
 
Great thread! The nice thing about inexpensive knives is you can buy more, and worry less about using them.

The CS Kobun is on my to-get list and can be found for $30

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Kershawguy is out of stock as of today, but he does $35 shipped. And the shipping counts for about $5 bucks I'd say.
 
I don't know if it would be considered deal spotting or whatnot, but Amazon is where I buy most all of my knives. Most of the knives there are the cheapest you can find them (moderately easily, that is).
 
This is quickly becoming a thread about every knife under $30. My recommendation is that you closely monitor the for sale forum here and ebay and wait for a good deal on a better knife (most likely on a used knife), instead of paying $30 regular street price for a lower end knife. If you're on a budget, you can really get a lot for your money if you keep a large number of knives in mind and wait until one becomes available at a low price instead of searching around for the lowest price on one particular knife at this instant. I've gotten some pretty good deals with this strategy.
 
The sanrenmu is always nice for under 30, however crkt makes a version of the ken onion ripple, one of the versions ranges around 77, but i found one that is around 17, that
would be a great choice, if you are looking for knives under 30 i would certainly see if there's any designs you like under gerber or some of the kershaws. I have a Kershaw drone
that i got for 16 dollars and it has become a regular in my pile of EDC's
 
johndseymour said:
The sanrenmu is always nice for under 30, however crkt makes a version of the ken onion ripple, one of the versions ranges around 77, but i found one that is around 17, that
would be a great choice, if you are looking for knives under 30 i would certainly see if there's any designs you like under gerber or some of the kershaws. I have a Kershaw drone
that i got for 16 dollars and it has become a regular in my pile of EDC's
Click to expand...

Somehow, I feel better buying directly from a Chinese manufacturer if I want a Chinese knife, rather than than one masquerading under a US company's name.

Oh, btw, Kershaw is totally owned by Japan, so very little is black and white when it comes to the US/Asian knife issue.

- OS
 
I haven't seen the Glock 78 mentioned yet ($20-$25). It's a tough, multi-purpose blade (even has a bottle-opener) that I don't mind leaving in my vehicles.
 
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