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As would my $85 Dragonfly 2 in ZDP-189, which has a super steel that I almost never have to sharpen, and is an ergonomic beast. Heck, even the regular Dragonfly in VG10 is a beast.
Really? My $80 dollar Endura 4 will beg to differ.
Although I think I see what youre trying to get at, you've eliminated a large portion of really great blades simply based on price. Spyderco has several under $100 that are outstanding, Delica, Endura, Dragonfly, etc, even the tenacious is a decent blade. You've eliminated basic Griptillian and Minigrip models from Benchmade, Kershaw, ESEE Avispa, even the long revered Buck 110, not to mention traditionals like Case and GEC. I don't know about you, but several ESEE's come in under the $100 mark and are outstanding.
I agree that several REALLY good blades come in between $100-200 (or more if the suit you), but quality is based on more than price alone. Its not even about getting people into the "hobby" really. I cant imagine that the majority of people actually using their knives as real work knives are using $3-500 knives, most probably fall in the under $100 category and the $100-200 category second.
The problem is, I had a Delica and I have a Dragonfly 2, like you can see in a picture below.
They're decent knives, but I sold the Delica because I got what I paid for : a back-lock lock with plastic handles, a blade that dull fast and some blade play after sometimes. I liked it for what it was, but I couldn't trust it that much.
The Dragonfly 2 inspire even less confidence. You could basically slap it with your hands. It has no liners, no washers, it's basically a blade scratching against plastic. I still like it because I think the design in itself is great, probably the best for a small knife. Problem is, there are too many downsides. Now, the G10 Dragonfly is another kind of beast and what I would consider a great starting point for a knife and probably one of the best EDC around for its size, but it's past the 90$ price point. I'm still in-shock Spyderco doesn't make it in various colors with a better blade material... I like you Spyderco, but your second to none when it's about leaving money on the table.
Next, the Benchmade Grip. I had the "big" one and the mini-grip, classic plastic versions for both (not the G10 ones). The big griptilian felt like a cheap knife sold for 100$. It's just an awful knife. The design is great, but cheap plastic handles and the partial liners are a deal breaker for me. It feels cheap and fragile. The mini-grip is what I consider the BARE MINIMUM for a folder. It has washers, great design, full liners and I abuse it on daily basis. Great knife, I have it, I carry it on me all the time, but afaik, it's past the 90$ price range.
Don't get me started on Kershaw. Bad brand of assisted crap people like for reasons I can't understand. Outside of collecting or impulse buying (which I'm also guilty of sometimes), why buy a kershaw crap knife when you can spend a little more and get a mini-grip or a G10 Dragonfly ?
I guess I'll chime in with my 2 cents worth I think the OP is probably new to knife collecting or young either way they must have not had a lot of experience with knives or he/she would realize that price don't really have anything to do with it. I have expensive and inexpensive knives most are slipjoints I probably have around 200 knives and over half of them cost less than $90 and none are junk. From vintage USA made NOS Schrade that cost around $25 to new Delica's for around $50 yes VG10 not the best but certainly good enough for me made in Seki Japan and simply an excellent EDC. Then as others have mention there's the Opinel and Vics and even though some have an aversion to knives made in China but the truth is there are some that are less than $20 new that would serve you well. That said I recently bought a Rogers Lambsfoot Barlow from a Sheffield dealer for $98 more than the OP's price point that had the worst F&F I've ever seen in any knife and it was useless. So my suggestion is think about what you are saying when you post and if you are guessing don't post it or you might get the reaction the OP is getting from a bunch of knife crazy folks they will call you out.
Why should I be afraid of getting angry reactions ? I posted a controversial opinion on a discussion board of knife enthousiast. It's like going on a video-game forums and saying "A link to the past" sucks ball and always had or that Ocarina of time is one of the most boring game ever made (which are both true, nonetheless). You'll get hate and I could care less about it. I always question stuff, I don't care about the Doxa.
Second, I'm quite well-versed in cheap knives. I spend months buying a lot of them, testing them... Actually, you can see I've still some of them :
I use to have even more than that for testing purpose. I've tested probably more than 30. That's what I consider being an enthousiast : you want to test the most you can to forge an opinion. That's what I do, I test a lot of knife, I look at them, open them, ask a lot of questions to companies, I watch inside... I don't speak from my ass like many outhere who just want to have a safe opinion on the dollars they spent. Yes, when you're a snowflakes, it hurts to know that someone consider the knives you like as a cheap tools you shouldn't trust that much. That's why you teach your children to not take opinion as personal attack.
I can’t really see any backing to your argument. Seems just like opinion rather than any facts.
Everything is an opinion when it comes to hobby and fanboys. You can't get fact across when feeling are involved.
You want a hard/true fact that backs me up : remove the price tag from any knives, let people chose and you'd see people pick knives around 100-250 over cheap plastic knife like a Rat-2 or a Cutjack mini. That's a fact for you.
Not necessarily so. Don't be a knife snob with such statements. It just proves your ignorance. Just so you know, many will consider your ESEE a cheap knife. I paid less than $15 and less than $35 for my two daily carry knives.
Ulster 180/Craftsman 9507 and Victorinox Farmer.
I live at the Switzerland frontier, in France (you know the country who makes opinel), nobody here cares about Opinel and Victorinox here. We all know they're full of marketing because we had them for decades. Only foreigners buy those thinking they made a bargain. Only victorinox worth buying are past the 100$ price range.
Victorinox are somewhat servicable multi-tools, but shit knives, that's what we all think of them here. Unless you only use them to cut cheese and paper, which isn't my case.
Most major brands in recent years have improved their quality with advanced manufacturing techniques like CNC, better steels and materials such as G10/FRN, IMHO. You can get an excellent knife that will cut for decades for well under $100.
Also $90 doesn't seem like a good line to draw in the sand for what makes a knife cheap.
If cutting is all that matters, I can also grind a junk piece of metal and use it to cut. It will works. A knife isn't just about cutting. It's about the design, the blade material, the heat threatment, the action, the lock sturdiness/the tang solidity, quality washers, non-plastic handles, a versatile blade grind... That's what a knife should be about. I've yet to see that full package in sub 100$ knives, hence why I draw the line at that price-range. If you have an exemple of a full-package for me, I'd be really curious to see it.
I would just observe that "cheap knives" do the vast majority of work on this planet, while those pricy folders tend to sit in collector boxes. Cheap is not junk, while junk at any price is still junk. I don't see how setting an arbitrary price point is useful.
The vast majority isn't always right. I've also used cheap "mall" knives to cook for most of my life. I was doing "fine", they did cut ingredients, but I didn't know any better. I bought better quality knives to cook and never looked back since then. They don't get dull as fast (you don't want a dull knife in a kitchen if you enjoy having fingers), they're great to hold, they're not made of plastic, they're made by companies I actually trust...
For EDC, being french, I used an opinel for some years, it was working fine. It actually cut things and was easy to sharpen. Then I bought a Mini-grip and Para-2, which made me understood what good knives were. That's what made me an enthousiast. Never looked back. I still buy cheap knives to test them, but I've yet to see one that made me consider to look back.
Edited by staff for inappropriate language. Please make your points by using language which other members will not find offensive. 
