Cheap knives

[DAVE_M]

Marcinek - You're a douche!

Thank you to everyone else.
I will keep looking for a better knife that catches my eye. It's really the scales on that S&W I like. Anymore suggestions would be welcome, but not necessary.

Knives are tools. You seem to be looking for something pretty and don't care much for anything else other than it looks neat and is cheap.

You can only choose two of these three: Aesthetics, Price, Quality

 

[marcinek]

Marcinek - You're a douche!

Thank you to everyone else.
I will keep looking for a better knife that catches my eye. It's really the scales on that S&W I like. Anymore suggestions would be welcome, but not necessary.

I was the only one to tell you to buy it, and you are mad at me? Even more

 

[davek14]

I want something to edc that I think looks cool. Something that I will be proud to pull out if needed. It will probably only get used a few times a week cutting cardboard, twine, plastic straps, or plastic packaging. Is there a reason for me (at this time) to get a better knife than the one above?

Well, looking cool is subjective. It looks kind of tacky to me. Sorry, I'm not meaning to be a %!#!.

Make the decision which is more important to you in your statement, cutting or looking cool. That knife will be a poor cutting tool.

Now, if you can find a knife suggested which looks cool enough to you then you can have both tool and cool.

As has been suggested, Sanrenmu (and Enlan) make OK knives which sell quite cheaply. Big selection. Some of them are too cool for my tastes.

 

[Sosa]

I was at a new job and brought a different knife each day to show the guys. One guy brought his microtech for show another his smith and Wesson.

 

[jc57]

I agree with Marcinek. If you like the looks, buy it. It uses a steel similar to 420HC, so it should be easy to sharpen. There are better knives in the same price range but for basic cutting tasks like you mentioned you'll probably be fine.

 

[marcinek]

I agree with Marcinek. If you like the looks, buy it. It uses a steel similar to 420HC, so it should be easy to sharpen. There are better knives in the same price range but for basic cutting tasks like you mentioned you'll probably be fine.

Hey...be careful! You'll get called names for doing that!

I would have suggested something else, but I cant come up with anything that having a similar pink, shiny, ridged surface.

And that seemed to be the selling point.

Tons of "lower cost" knives will run circles around it, performance-wise...maybe examples of those are what the OP wanted to hear. But he certainly seemed to be keying in on aesthetics.

Oh well.

 

[Bob W]

If I were in the market for a modern knife with pink handles and black blade, I'd try that one.

 

[Gadt]

Buck vantage rosewood handle 420 hc. Cheap but not crap

 

[jc57]

Well, he did say it was "The best looking knife (outside of multi-hundred dollar customs) I've ever seen". Now it doesn't crank my engine but that doesn't matter, it's not my knife.

I have a co-worker who carries a S&W knife and it is beat all to heck but he still carries it. Main issue is that he doesn't know how to maintain the edge, so it is ragged and chipped. I was able to get him a decent edge using the bottom of a coffee mug. Well, still had a few chips but at least it was straight and apexed. So, soft enough to sharpen easily. I don't know what all he used it for but it was still in one piece. Looks like it was definitely a "hard use" knife, so I guess it can stand up to some abuse, but again, the edge was a mess. But that's a reflection on the user and not so much the blade.

For twine, cardboard, plastic wrap, just about anything will cut those, and if you know how to sharpen you can keep it working.

 

[JR88FAN]

I've been reading a lot before making a purchase or 3.

I'm cheap, and the thought of spending $50 on a knife makes me cringe.

The best looking knife (outside of multi-hundred dollar customs) I've ever seen is the "Smith & Wesson 3rd Gen Black Ops MAGIC Small Assisted 2.5" Plain Drop Point Blade, Pink Aluminum Handles".

I know it's a cheap knife. I know that S&W and Taylor as a whole are disliked by almost everyone here. I wonder if the lack of quality noted by everyone will be something I even notice.

I want something to edc that I think looks cool. Something that I will be proud to pull out if needed. It will probably only get used a few times a week cutting cardboard, twine, plastic straps, or plastic packaging. Is there a reason for me (at this time) to get a better knife than the one above?

It's great to come on here and ask for an opinion (even though it seems like your mind is made up because of those pretty handles)

What's not so cool is to call someone a "douche" for giving you the opinion you asked for but don't really need.....

That knife is junk...the best way to find out is to buy it. If it does more then sit in your pocket, it will be a good learning process for you about what makes a good knife and what equals junk.
You gotta own one of those sometimes to get this point.

If you are going to use it, I suggest, if you don't have something already, that you figure out how you want to sharpen that S&W and get learning....that will be more important at this stage then the pretty handles.....

 

[Halbrust]

OK... I'm back after looking at many of the suggestions offered.

I like the Rat Model 1.
I like the Cold Steel Mini-Tuff Lite but not the Tuff Lite, and think the mini is just too small.

If I got a Rat Model 1, is it fairly easy to replace the scales?

 

[JR88FAN]

There are a lot of great custom scale makers on this forum that could make you just about any type of scale you want.....

They will cost more then the knife...maybe more then 3 of them, depending on what you want.

The Rat1 and 2 are solid knives.

 

[brancron]

If I got a Rat Model 1, is it fairly easy to replace the scales?

Very easy to replace the scales. If you're willing to get the Rat Model 2 (which I think is a much better size than the Model 1), KnockWoodBlades on Etsy has some amazing Rat 2 scales in stock: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KnockWood...r=date_desc&view_type=gallery&ref=shop_search

You can buy just the scales from him or the full knife with the scales. He's a very nice guy whom I've bought from before and is a frequent contributor to reddit.com/r/knifeclub.

 

[Wolfie-]

had many knives and i'd recommend the spyderco tenacious.
razor sharp and great quality
you can pick them up for 44-50 dollars
in my country they are 75-80 euro's lol

 

[yankee blood donor]

I've been reading a lot before making a purchase or 3.

I'm cheap, and the thought of spending $50 on a knife makes me cringe.

The best looking knife (outside of multi-hundred dollar customs) I've ever seen is the "Smith & Wesson 3rd Gen Black Ops MAGIC Small Assisted 2.5" Plain Drop Point Blade, Pink Aluminum Handles".

I know it's a cheap knife. I know that S&W and Taylor as a whole are disliked by almost everyone here. I wonder if the lack of quality noted by everyone will be something I even notice.

I want something to edc that I think looks cool. Something that I will be proud to pull out if needed. It will probably only get used a few times a week cutting cardboard, twine, plastic straps, or plastic packaging. Is there a reason for me (at this time) to get a better knife than the one above?

its ok cause its on you not anybody else,but if I were you and I was, I started out buying those knives, I wouldget something with a combo blade these knives don,t stay sharp long

 

[Halbrust]

What about the Utilitac 2?Same company as the Rat, but no one mentioned them. Inferior to the Rat?

 

[Lieblad]

Nothing wrong with that knife.
Of course a troll question brings out all the Perfectionist OCD Blade Freaks to berate it.
When sharp, it will smartly slice your hand, cut twine, plastic banding etc.
I would never buy one. Firstly its PINK, are you freaking kidding me ? But more so I never use folders.
Said that, one was given to me(Black, not pink ! ) its great at deburring sheet aluminum and other workshop tasks.

Knives I buy as users are Moras of one kind or another. My lifestyle is literally awash with them.
Average 8-12 $ each.

 

[ocnLogan]

What about the Utilitac 2?Same company as the Rat, but no one mentioned them. Inferior to the Rat?

The Utilitac 2 is another great knife by Ontario. Not inferior, just a bit different. That, and it doesn't come in as many sizes, so perhaps thats why its not talked about/recommended as much.

 

[PURPLEDC]

I have never carried a knife
I own two cheap knives currently. A Pakistan "buck" knife that is too big to edc, and an old 2" 'bar knife' that was my grandfathers.
That's why I ask if I'll even notice that it is a cheap knife.

The aesthetics matter. I don't like the same knives that most here do. I'm not asking if you think it is a good looking knife. I'm asking how quickly the knife will break.
I said what I'll be using it for. Will I have to sharpen it daily? Weekly? Will it break, like snap or fall apart, within a year?

No one knows man. If you use it? Sure you will have to sharpen it. Daily? weekly? yearly? This all depends on how much and what you use it on. Will it break in a year? Dont know that either. Depends on how much and how hard you use it. And will it impress anyone? Not anyone who knows anything about knives. But non knife people? Sure. non knife people are often impressed easily by such things. Put it this way. You dont seem very serious about the hobby. Thats not an insult. Just my observation. And that knife is certainly for someone who either isnt into the hobby or isnt ready to make an investment. I would suggest going to a store and looking at some knives in person. Its a lot easier to get a feel for things.

 

[adamg01]

If I were in the market for a modern knife with pink handles and black blade, I'd try that one.

Yes, I concur. I sometimes carry mine over my Benchmade 940-1 which is a $230 knife. The S&W knife is below Chinese Kershaws, that's a line I can't cross.