Cheapskate Heros

VorpelSword said:
I went alagator trapping with an "Old Hickory" kitchen knife I bought for a few dollars at Kroger…Is that cheapskate enough for this thread?
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It’s plenty cheap in my opinion, but I can’t help but ask, did you trap alligators with only a 4” knife? If so, I salute you.

I’ve never been close to one, but if I went after them it’d be with something much louder.

I have also never bought a purse at Goodwill for the leather, but I have cut apart some boots from there.

Parker
 
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I got this Extrema Ratio (unused when I got it) for something like 50€. I sold it later but got all of it back.
(my own pocket sheath in the pic).
 
catspa said:
It’s plenty cheap in my opinion, but I can’t help but ask, did you trap alligators with only a 4” knife? If so, I salute you.

I’ve never been close to one, but if I went after them it’d be with something much louder.

I have also never bought a purse at Goodwill for the leather, but I have cut apart some boots from there.

Parker
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Alligastor trapping: A stout hook on 3' of steel vsle leder tied to 20 fgeet or sdo of nylon line. The hook gets a rotting chicken leg and thigh that is hung a foot or so over the wetter from a tree branch. Tie that length to a twig and drape the rest over the tree limb so it will pay out smoothly. The bitter end, of course, is tied off to the limb.

Rotting beef liver will also work, but the hook is set a little differently.

Come back the next day and the line leads straight down into the water. Pull on the line. The Gator doesn't fuss till his eyes come out he sees you. Pop him with a .22 LR behind the eyes where the brain actually is.

RE Purse: It was a hippie or western sort of thing from heavier leather than used in most purses.
 
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My #1 cheepskate hero. This sits in a bowl on the table - me and my family grab this for everything random that needs a cut. I used it last week to pry off a very poorly designed aluminum shroud on a wine bottle, and I just knew the tip would snap when I was prying on that stupid thing. Nope.

Cheepskate #2 - PF 818. Superb slicey blade geometry and action. It made me order several other PFs, none of which I liked half as much as this one.

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Cheepskate #3 - Cold Steel Air-Lite. I love this thing. It carries so well for a substantial blade, has such a solid lock-up (perfect detent and that big "thwack" on deployment), and is really well balanced - feels great in-hand. I really wish they would hollow-grind like the Tuff Lite or thin up the grind on it a bit, but it's such a solid knife for the money the way it is.

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Not sure if I would go alligator hunting with this one, but my deal hunting was quite successful when I bought this little bastard. Here is my cheapo of the day. Smith & Wesson SW995, less than $30, Blade Length: 3.54", Overall Length: 8.26", razor-sharp and feels great in the hand!

Would it be even more interesting if it were double-edged?

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I will second the motion for this Petrified Fish PF 818. I bought it on a whim a year ago or so because I wanted to check out the PF brand. Lo and behold it's turned out to be my main heavy user the whole last year. Great knife. It actually embarrasses some of my other knives that cost multitudes more with it's perfect fit and finish, detent, and smoothness. The D2 heat treat has turned out to be great too!
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Rediscovered an old keepsake of mine: a Tramontina folding harvesting/pruning knife. I picked this up at a hardware store in Puerto Maldonado, Peru some years ago when I had some Soles to burn. I think I paid 20 Soles, which is about $5.31 usd.

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Cheap stainless steel that takes a keen edge and holds it decently well. The blade was pretty wobbly so I peened the pivot to tighten it, which led to the wooden scales cracking a bit. You can see the epoxy I expertly used to fill the cracks.

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Tramontina! I've never been interested in kitchen knives (maybe it's time to start now?), but I discovered a couple of old Tramontinas. I bought four of them ~20 years ago for ~$1 apiece. Only two have survived, one of them has a tiop broken off. But I swear, it was around $1 apiece! I think this is too cheap even for his thread ;)

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I really like this knife from MAM - a company in Portugal.

I got it primarily as a “restaurant knife” that would cut food well due to thin geometry, that would resharpen easily after use on ceramic plates, and that wouldn’t look threatening. It checks all those boxes.

I liked it from the box…
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…but did make some modifications including shortening the locking tab, tightening the pivot, sanding though the logo which ended up with me tapering the handle, putting a proper tip on the blade, and saturating the wood in tung oil. I also made a quick leather slip for it.
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It’s now one of my favorites for any price. ($17)
 
scdub scdub MAM folders are great cheapskate knives and excellent slicers. By coincidence, I have been carrying one of mine today.

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My only alteration was to tighten the pivot by lightly peening it a bit more. I did the same with its younger (and much smaller) brother.

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This one's nail-nick was so thin it really wasn't functional. So, I took a dremel to it and made it serviceable, if not ugly.

[can't find the darn thing at the moment, pics coming later]

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