Best Values in Current Modern Folders

BMCGear

BMCGear

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Joined
Jan 4, 2014
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I thought this may be a good resource for people looking to get a great bang for your buck knife without investing a ton of money.

Me and a friend were talking knives yesterday. He prefers a modern folder and I was showing him my Benchmade 940. He loved it until he asked how much it cost. He prefers to stay in the $50.00 range as he's lost knives and broke them and doesn't want to lose $200.00. I understand this. I started looking up quality folders that were in that price range that were US made.

So here's what I'm thinking. Let's list some quality folders that are high value/low dough. I don't want to make this exclusive to US only knives but I think it would be nice to list the Country of Origin. Also lets keep the price limit to $100 dollars or less. Pics are a plus. :)


Example:

Folder: Kershaw Blur (assisted opening)
Origin: USA
Price: $50ish (depending on specs)

Kershaw-Blur-1670S30V-600x507.jpg
 
Ontario Rat 1 and Rat 2. You can get them for like... a smile and a couple M&Ms.

Spyderco Ambitious, Persistence, Tenacious, Resilience line.

Best value $50-$100: Manix 2 line
 
Direct him towards Cold Steel for sure.
Voyager medium (Current gen.) $40
Full sized Lawman (Current gen.) $50

There are also the ones that everyone talks about like the Rat 1 or the Tenacious. Along with those, Ive also heard great things about the Ontario Utilitac 2.
 
The Esse Zancudo frame-lock at less than $30 looks like a great deal (overseas manufacture). A personal favorite of mine is the Buck 110 for less than $40 and US made (not too modern looking though). I second Cold Steel for cheap tough folders.
 
Folder: Kershaw Cryo
Origin: China
Price: 25-30 USD

Folder: Kershaw Cryo II
Origin: China
Price:30 USD

Folder: Spyderco Tenacious
Origin: China
Price: 35 USD

Folder:Buck Bantam series
Origin: USA
Price:10-25ish USD

Folder: Victorinox One hand Trekker
Origin: Obviously swiss, however i'm not sure where they are being manufactured now.
Price:35 USD

All of these great are great choices, there are also Trekker's available without the one handed hole opening thing, which is the one I have (I love it) but you asked for modern.
 
There's a huge amount of value available right around the $100 mark. Kizer 4403 gets you a titanium framelock and S35VN, the Buck 830 Marksman gives 154CM, a bearing pivot flipper and a new lock mechanism from G&G Hawk, the new H&K Axis gets you D2 and, obviously, the Axis lock, Spyderco can give you an Endura, Delica or Stretch and you can get them all in ZDP-189. It seems to me that in the last year or two the gap between what you can get for $50 and what you can get for $100 has widened significantly.
 
Benchmade HK Conspiracy folder. Right around $60-70, titanium framelock, and a 9Cr blade. I love mine. Made in China, and it is worth every penny, same knife US made would be at or over $100.

Blade is pretty thick, and the whole thing is pretty overbuilt.
 
Buck 110 440c made in U.S. $35
Spyderco native frn s30v made in U.S. $60
Benchmade 556 154cm made in U.S. just picked one up for $72
 
RBid said:
Ontario Rat 1 and Rat 2. You can get them for like... a smile and a couple M&Ms.

Spyderco Ambitious, Persistence, Tenacious, Resilience line.

Best value $50-$100: Manix 2 line
Click to expand...

^ this guy is in my head, lol
 
Buck Vantage series is a great value, from $40 with Bucks 420HC steel up to $90 with S30V BOS heat treat.
 
Kershaw blur like you mentioned, that's what's on my pocket right now.
spyderco endura and delica. I believe all their vg10 and h1 knives are made in japan, and the American steels (S30v etc) are made in America.
crkt, several models. I know crkt isn't very well liked here on the forum, but I never had a problem with any of the m16 line, even being downright abusive. most of their line seems to be made in Taiwan.
 
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