Cheapest Favorite Knives

Victorinox Spartan. The humblest and most ubiquitous of the range after the Classic and just so very much utility in such a cheap package.

Opinel No 6. Small, cheap, plenty blade and what a blade!

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Like others have mentioned:

Morakniv fixed blades are high value and performers. Great truck and pack knife.

SAK of your choice.

Opinel for a bar/kitchen/camp/ food prep.

Kershaw Dividend in FRN and 420 as a small EDC.

Ontario Rat 1 for a large jack of all trades EDC.

KaBar Dozier in your choice of color. Incredibly light but robust.
 
Forgecraft vintage carbon
Mora Craftline HighQ Robust
Olfa 300 (vintage, Japan, brass lock knob)

I have been carrying an inexpensive ball-bearing flipper but it's a chicom knife and I won't be recommending it or buying another.
 
I agree with the general consensus that for the money Openel and Mora make the best knives for the money. I may also add svord swing blade knives into the mix. I got one on my honeymoon and it has been a great companion.
 
The Columbia River Large Batum was just over $40, but I forget where I got it.

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The "Worker", by QSP knives, and the Victorinox Alox Electrician.

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If you point your browser at the online auction site, you can pick up a Camillus Electrician Knife for very reasonable prices.

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Eleven dollars. I like wharncliffes.

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I have a lot of very expensive knives, and I love them dearly. BUT. I gotta say, if I needed a quality knife for cheap, I'd pick up (another, because I've owned several!) an Ontario Rat 2 or Utilitac 2. Both of those are honestly all the knife a casual user would need, with excellent fit, finish, and action. I still have three Rats kicking around in my backup knife chest. I've owned and given away several Utilitacs over the last few years, and currently don't own any. Man, I need to rectify that.

I won't mention SAKs in this, because all of mine are ALOX models and they weren't exactly cheap, although most were under a hundred dollars. When I think "cheap", I think "What could I get for $30 or less".
 
For 'inexpensive' knives/MT, two hands down for Victorinox models. It's hard to beat their value, considering they are not just a plain knife, but with many useful tool implements and decent QC for so many years.
 
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For yard work I find myself grabbing my Honey Badger...because Honey Badger don’t care!

I’ve beat the crap out of this knife and the 8Cr seems to perform better than most.
 
Not the Wilson Combat but the others are ridiculously good knives for the money. Especially the Cara Cara 2. I put that knife through some camping abuse and the steel was heat treated really well. And the Elmax Blur was a little pricey, it's one knife I wish I never traded out. I reprofiled the Blur to about 30 degrees inclusive as well as thinning out the edge. The performance increase was dramatic with no ill effects.

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I recently got to appreciate the Opinel that I didn’t care much about before. Great thin blade with pleasant and warm handle. Surely they are a bit simple knives but I kinda like them because of that!
 
xxGOGOxx said:
Morakniv Companion (Was $8 as a deal of the day an Amazon a while back. Got 4 of them actually.)

Victorinox Cadet
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Ontario Rat 2.......it is also the knife other guys ask what brand, where I got it and cost. I even had a friend ask if I could order one for him.
 
My favorite least-expensive (as opposed to “cheap”) is my first Victorinox Spartan, whichnI got brand new in 1981 for $5 at a Christmas sale in a hardware store. Even back then, that was a very cheap price to pay, and it became my sole EDC knife for well over a decade.

Other favorite least-inexpensive knives are my Victorinox kitchen knives, the only knives I use in the kitchen.

*edit:
I’ll also include my Alox Pioneer, which when I bought it was between $20 and $25.

Jim
 
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Spyderco UKPK.
Some might not consider it cheap at $60 (and I guess it probably isn’t).
It is, however, the most inexpensive knife that checks all my personal boxes.
 
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