Best tactical blade under $50

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Southernblade

Joined
Dec 28, 2012
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It must have a black coated blade (i live in Alabama, everything rusts here) and a very strong lockup. My current tac blade is a CRKT M21 14SF, and occasionally my cold steel American lawman. Looking for a new one though. 50 dollars or less.
 
I've heard a lot of really good things about he Rat-1 but I don't have one so I can't say from experience. It's only $30 and a great buy. The Spyderco Resilience (not black blade) is a great knife for under $50. The steel is pretty stain resistant too. In that range and similar value I really like the Benchmade HK series. You can find several models for under $50 and the 9Cr13 steel ones I have held up very well to rust resistance and they are mostly coated blades.


Hope this helps.
 
I've heard excellent things about the Ontario Rat-1 as well and it is only around $30 as stated. I actually got a little different knife from Ontario called the Utilitac 2 and so far, have been VERY impressed with it. It is very smooth opening/closing, locks up extremely solid (better than my para2 and manix xl) and holds a great edge (Aus8a steel that I rockwell tested and found to be consistent w/ manufacturer specs - my blade was 57 HRC). They also make this blade in all types of configurations... plain edge tanto, serrated tanto, regular curved straight edge, etc. google it and you will see. Anyway, here is a pic of the one I got. I will say that the black coating is rubbing off a little after using it for about 4 weeks.

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here is the Rat 1.... I've never held one, so I have no input, just what I have seen.
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here is the link of a review of it on bladeforums actually...
 
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I second the benchmade H&K series. Along with the Kershaw shallot, which I can be found for around the 50 dollar price range.






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Where abouts in Alabama you from ??? if you could up your budget get yourself a spyderco endura for around 55-60 its well worth the extra 5 -10 bucks, vg-10 has never rusted on me here, even carbon steels, cpm-m4 to be exact don't rust, It's all about proper care of your blades. Now Aus8 on the other hand has rusted like crazy on me so go figure.
 
Under normal use, something like the Spyderco Delica 4 or Salt series is about as good as it gets in that price range. Great ergos, good steel, slices very well, and is quite light. If you're being unusually rough with your knives, I would suggest you get the Enlan EL-01. They compare well to some $50 knives out there, but you could get 2 or 3 and use them in sequence within your price range. They're very solid and sturdy, too.
 
Kershaw Blur. Blems of the basic models can be had well under $50. If it weren't for you black blade requirement and price limit I'd recommend the S30V version for $55.
 
The RAT one has a wonky grip angle that led to me opening my finger to the bone. The blade angles up and is longer than it looks
 
Kabar Mule, the one made in Taiwan with FRN handles seems to fit all your requirements, and is a really good knife. Also comes with a really nice sheath. There's a cheaper version made in China with G10 handles that I hear is not as good. I have no complaints about the Taiwan version.
 
Id have to say Kershaw Blur, Rat1, Kershaw Brawler.

Those are some pretty good choices. The rat1, although you can get it with a coated blade it rubs off extremely easily. If you can try to find a Kershaw Blur for under 50. its what i recommended to some of my military friends and if it survived them, im pretty sure it can handle anything. the handles on there blurs were completely worn off. but the black coating is still intact, and no rust. though they both managed to break the tips off -_-
 
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