budget custom or midtech

Look at Reate.
 
Reate is production.

You are not likely to find anything the would qualify under the definition of midtech or custom under $200. Unless you buy into DPX's marketing that their knives are mid-techs when they are just regular production knives.
 
If you have to have custom... you can find 'scalpels' by Anso or Strider, which will usually be in Stellite 6k. You could probably find Gavko kiridashis, Folts neckers, Carey Firecrackers or Rexford RUTs for that price range as well.
 
In many regards you get what you pay for...but you can get a really nice knife for 200 bucks. I'd suggest dropping the conept of getting a custom or mid-tech. These are just words, and any clown that realizes people place value on the WORDS but put a budget on the KNIFE will put efforts into the WORDS (marketing) and offer you less of a KNIFE.

If/when you get more money and a better idea of what you want, then pursue whatever that is. Seeking a "custom" or "mid-tech" knife with your only criteria being on of those words and a pricetag smaller than $200, will almost certainly result in you obtaining a knife that is really worth a lot less than you paid for it to anyone that knows much about knives;)

(edit to add: I assume you are talking about FOLDING knives since you say "ball bearings".)
 
Honestly I would not get hung up on terms like custom or midtech. You fill find there is no set definition for either. I will have to assume you are wanting something of a higher quality level and may feel "custom" or "mid-tech" automatically equates to either. Unfortunately I dont find this to be the case. In my experience many of the people calling knives mid techs are wanting to lend a certain amount of prestige to their products and represent them as something above average production knives. In some cases its true, in other cases its the opposite.

For example a prison shank would by most definitions qualify as a handmade custom knife. But its not a quality knife. I have seen production knives that have superlative fit and finish. And they qualify as a production in my eyes for the manner in which they are manufactured. And then there are hand made custom knives that quite frankly I would be embarrassed to sell as something that I made. With all that said I would look at Reate and kizer. They are made in china but they both offer a lot for the money and both brands produce very high quality products. I think kizer probably has the edge (pun!) in terms of just how much you get with your money. Reate makes great knives too. And if you can find a used horizon B you may even find a pimped one that looks like a custom for well under your price budget. And that knife is every bit as good as knives I have spent double or even triple for. If you want something made in the USA but still quality I would look at some of the new ZT offerings. Dont be afraid to go used on a ZT. You can find new in the box examples of some of the new models at really good prices.
 
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