Best Performance/Cost ratio?

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yahooBlade

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Aug 20, 2006
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I am looking for a good folder for myself. It is true that you get what you pay for. However, I just do not want to pay $500 for a daily use knife. It would be too 'heavy' in my pocket. I do not really want to sacrific the quality too much either, say paying $5 for a cheap knife which can only be used once or twice before getting into the garbage can. I am looking for a knife with the best performance/cost ratio. It may be expensive or cheap, however its performance should far exceed its cost.

I know that it is a little bit subjective as far as performance goes. Anyway, which knife gets your vote?
 
Benchmade 710, Buck/strider 880 or 881, buck 110, are all great knives. The 110 at around 35.00 is tough to beat. There are many outstanding knives around or below 100.00 that deliver excellent "bang for the buck". Good hunting...Jim
 
Try the Spyderco Byrd line of knives. Very well built knives, and all around $20-$25 dollars.
 
Take a look at the Spyderco Native. It's available at Wally World for $40 + tax. If you're willing to spend more, there's my personal favorite, the Spyderco Military.
 
My Benchmade Mini Pika and Byrd G-10 Meadowlark are two of the best values I've come across, and IMO are well worth more than their typical selling prices.
 
Well, hard to say. I guess it would be tie between Byrd Cara Cara / Flight (under $20) and Carbon Fiber BG42 Military ($155)
 
What everyone else has said:D I would also include the Bryd Crow into the bunch. I would venture a guess that as you spend more money on a blade, it would start to become more subjective - the quality does go up, but use may not. I just dropped close to $200 CDN on a Benchmade 710 in D2 - will I use it any more than my Delica's or Mini-Grips - probably not - was it worth the extra? You bet:) Will I beat it up like my Meadowlark, Crow or Endura 3? Not likely, but it's comforting to know that I can:)

- gord
 
Opinel, Douk Douk, Shrade Old Timer (the carbon steel models, you can still find them around as old stock), Buck 110. All classics, used hard daily by working men worldwide. No frills, just performance.
 
I really like the Byrd Meadowlark and Cara Cara G-10 and FRN models. Great knives. I like less the Byrd Raven and Crow, but still good Byrd knives for the money. My next purchases will be in the Endura and Delica and Griptillian range (yup, working my way up the "quality ladder") :)
 
Byrd G10 Models. Very solid and stylish folders at an amazing pricepoint for what you get.

Opinels. Very simple, effective designs. They're superior cutters to many knives out there and can take more abuse than you'd think. They're fairly weak when it comes to tourqing, but you can chop and baton with them. If you don't mind larger sized knives, get the #10, it's awsome. You can sand the handles down to fit your hand better too.

SAKs. A basic SAK like the Bantam (Blade + caplifter / screwdriver with tweezers and toothpick) can be had for under 10$. If you just want a blade, look at the Nylon Solos, another 10$ SAK. It's very light and cuts very, very well. Longer blade too with grippier scales. The Soldier models are some very tough knives too, with their aluminum grips and stouter blades. If you do manage to break your SAK, just mail it to victorinox and usually they send you a new model no questions asked. Very low prices, outstanding service and proven blade geometry.

Buck 110's are another nice bargain, easily being had for 30$, sometimes 20$ during sales. Very solid lockup, large and comfy handle and a well done hollow grind blade.

The Kershaw Storm is around the same price as the Buck 110. It features steel handles with a framelock and the modern convenience of an opening stuf and pocket clip. If these things matter a lot to you, give it a look. It features nice steel too.

10$ Mora's feature Scandi grinds, making them cut extremely well. They can take a lot of abuse, lasting many forumites here for years.
 
In grades of performance:

Minigrip can be had for about 50, has 154cm, axis lock, good f&f and is reasonably small.

Go to a larger knife for 55, the d`allara drop point. BB lock, well textured frn, VG10 blade, extremely stout.

Go on up to 80 and the Kershaw avalanche gives you almost everything. Great G10, S30V, AO (if you like that)....
 
I love my benchmade 940 edc knife , its something about their axis and knife style :)
 
If you want pure cutting performance vs. dollars spent, Opinel. It ain't fancy, but it'll outcut just about anything. The carbon steel Old Timer slipjoints that Bobwhite mentioned are great, too.
In a "tactical" folder, there's a huge drop in diminishing returns ~$100, because that's where the Spyderco Paramilitary is. If you don't need something especially rugged, but want a clipped, one-hand opener, the Calypso Jr. is a fine little cutting tool.
 
The opinels and victorinox lines are had to beat in terms of bang for the buck. However, if you want one handed opening and a clip, i can't recommend the Byrd line of knives enough.
 
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