Cheap knives...

Under-$50 knives that have impressed me the most are my Victorinox SAKs and their 7" Santoku knife...about the only knife I use when cooking.

Jim
 
So it does look like the consensus conclude that you can get a decent knife for little cost to you and be a performer.Now don't get me wrong I love the higher end knives just like anyone else but for someone on a budget a good knife can be had.Thanks for all the replies
 
My Ontario SP6 and my Cold Steel 20PBL Peace Maker 2. The SP6 has been with me for many years and on many adventures. It has never let me down. The Cold Steel I use as a large Mora basically. It is very sharp and slices great.
 
Richbat said:
Ever had a cheap,say under $50 folder or fixed blade that really impressed you?
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With the exception of a few fixed blades, most every knife I have was under $50, and they all impress me. A lot of them were under $20, just knowing where to look.

Then again my bar is set much lower than most. I was stuck using junk blades up until two years ago. The newness still hasn't worn off yet.
 
Nearly all of my edc knives are and serve me well, my go to knife is a used budget Boker fixed blade that cost me around 15 bills off the bay. I modified it and made a kick ass kydex sheath for it and wear it almost everyday.
 
Wow, where to begin? SAK Farmer, Case Soddie Jr, Rat 1, My Cold Steel Gurkha (That's right $27 dollars at the base PX), ESEE Zancudo and Avispa. That's just the one's I own that come to mind. I know I am leaving some good ones out.
 
I've been ignoring this thread but it finally pulled me in.

The low priced folder that impressed me the most is the Spyderco Tenacious. It has the features of a knife 3 times the cost (except for the fancy steel).

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The low priced fixed blade that impressed me the most is the Cold Steel GI Tanto, based on the videos by the hockey mask guys. The GI Tanto almost defeated them.

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You are talking about most of the knives I own!! When discussing good quality knives on a budget, I usually refer to my Kershaw Storm II. I bought it for about $35 and have been carrying it for years.
marcinek said:
No. I have had well-made inexpensive knives under 50 impress me. Kabar Dozier Folder Hunters are one example.
But I have never been impressed by a cheap knife.
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No, 'cheap' can describe something that doesn't cost much. It isn't always used to describe something of low quality.
 
Still the RAT's 1 and 2 for me. Utilitac would probably be runner up.

Some SAK's are another obvious choice.
 
After many of these threads I can say the 10 most popular production folders (single blade) seem to be:
Rat 1
Rat 2
Avispa
Zancudo
Leek
Cryo
Skykine
Tenacious
Persistance
Opinel
 
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The Cold Steel Tuff Lite impressed me.
Bought a couple Moras mostly because of all the talk here; good knives.
The Kabar Dozier Folding Hunter is a good inexpensive knife that impressed me.
I believe all of my Vic SAKs were under $50 with perhaps the Dual Pro exceeding that price tag. Don't remember. Don't care. Great knives.
The Kabar Becker BK-14 is sub $50 and the D-2 version runs right about at that price. Good little fixed blades. But handles are a must.
Condor stuff generally impresses me overall.
 
Untitled by danny.nystrom, on Flickr

My favorite sub $50 knives in order of price I paid.
SOG Twitch II- right at $50
Spyderco Tenacious-$45
Spyderco Percistance-$39
Böker Subcom (my favorite of the group)-$35
Kershaw Cryo-$30 but free with Cabela's cash
Byrd Robin SS-$25
Opinel 8-$10

If it was just above $50 I would put the Leek in as well.
 
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Also, the buck classic models (102, 105, 119) can be found for $50 on sale a couple times per year.
 
Every day! My EDC Victorinox Huntsman, my Victorinox Hunter XT-CS, and most of all my Victorinox Safari Trooper!
 
Blades&Bullets said:
No, 'cheap' can describe something that doesn't cost much. It isn't always used to describe something of low quality.
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It most strongly carries the connotation that something is low in price by virtue of its low quality. It's true that it doesn't explicitly denote low quality, but it commonly implies it heavily vs. the connotations of "inexpensive" which are much more generally positive. Typically "inexpensive" tends to imply that something is of at least good quality in spite of its low cost. :)
 
Well, there is plenty of good discussion elsewhere by folks who have found, and are very happy with, inexpensive knives. I happen to be one of them, always searching for the greatest value (steels, scales, fit 'n' finish, pivots, overall artistic styles, blade shapes, etc,) for the dollars spent. I happen to find great vale in several of my less-than-$12 knives as I do in my Benchmades, Zero Tolerances, Kershaws, etc.. Categories, that's all.

The category of very lowest cost knives (where there is still plenty of value to be found) just happens to not be in the wheelhouse domain of this forum.

For life in general, when something "foreign" happens to be outside your domain, we all are prone to tag it with a less-than-neutral name.

Ergo, CHEAP.
 
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