Collecting knives on a small budget

Rough Rider are great to try out different patterns you think you might like without bankrupting the bank.
I have to warn you though. Rough Riders can be a little addictive.

You can always "upgrade" to a "higher" name brand after you've tried the pattern and find you like it.
Or not. I've never got the need to "upgrade". The Rough Riders are just as good as the more expensive brands.
Rough Rider also has historical patterns others don't offer anymore, like the Sunfish, Coke Bottle, Marlin Spike, Corn Knife, Cotton Knife, and a few others.
 
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Learn to like used knives. The truth is most collectors don't really use their knives enough to hurt them. You can find tons of deals on slightly used, slightly older knives.

Get your hands on some older books and magazines, and see if you like any older knives. There are tons of older high quality knives that go for a pittance because the brand or custom maker died or just got forgotten about. Fame in the knife biz is very fickle.

See if there are any foreign brands or designs you like. It's a somewhat forgotten area of collecting that has always brought me joy.

Learning to wait, and expanding your knowledge base are 2 huge things a young or cash poor collector can benefit from.
 
Some of my favorites ..

Spyderco Dragonfly2
Spyderco Tenacious
Spyderco Native5 LW
Spyderco Chaparral FRN
Kershaw Skyline
Kershaw Knockout
Kershaw Volt SS
CRKT Squid
Kizer G10 Gemini
Kizer G10 Intrepid
Ruike P801
 
Thank you for all the suggestions. I am really impressed with the participation and knowledge in this forum. I just joined Blade Forums yesterday. (04_07_2018) Almost every time I tried to research something involving knives on the internet, Blade Forums was thankfully near the top of the Google search results. I thought I might as well join and make this a regular stop for information on knives. Many of the people in this forum are extremely knowledgeable about knives.

I will look up all the suggestions that have been made and then post a response as to which knives I plan to purchase.
 
GermanyChris said:
Don't collect if you can't really afford it without thinking about the cost you can't afford it.

Just pick a couple good knives and roll with it until you can collect without thinking about the money
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Henry Beige said:
I respectfully beg to differ. I have been taking an active interest in knives for the last eight or nine years, and stepped it up when I joined this forum about four years ago. My interest has always been in less expensive knives. I have never bought a $200 knife, and have broken the $100 barrier only a very few times. My ten and twenty dollar knives have given me a lot of joy and provided a lot of interest.

It is not at all difficult to accumulate interesting, high-quality knives without spending a lot of money, without saving up to buy the object of your desire, and without having to sell your knives in order to buy more.
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Both valid points.

You can be a performance car enthusiast and not need a collection of them. You don't even have to own one.

Same can be said of knives. You can be a knife enthusiast and not have a large collection. I have very few knives that I'd call high end. A few custom fixed blades is all. Everything else I own, like Henry, is relatively inexpensive.

If you'd like to get a few more, start with a Mora, an Opinel #7 or #8, a Higonokami, a Victorinox Climber and/or Recruit and a Dexter Russell Green River 2212.

You should be able to get all of those for around $100. You can learn a lot from these very inexpensive knives.
 
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Large Cold Steel Voyager is an inexpensive tank with surprisingly good cutting geometry and a handle that fills the hand nicely and is very comfortable for extended cutting. It's around $55

Steel Will Cutjack or Mini Cutjack in D2 is a great EDC option that's just a good, competent design and fun flipper. I really think it's an exemplary modern folder as there may be little it truly excels at, but it's more than good enough for just about anything you can throw at it. Find it all day for under $50.

Kizer Tangram Santa Fe is a super handy wharncliffe that comes in Acuto+ steel, which isn't super high end, but it's very solid and not often seen, which can make it fun to play with. It's around $30.

The Ruike P801 has the look and feel of a much more expensive folder for only around $35. Also gets you 14c28n and very good flipping action for that price. Great value.

Kershaw Injection 3.5 from Bladehq for, like, $15 is such a stupidly good deal I can't not mention it. I think this knife is every bit as good as the Spyderco Tenacious and I have no idea why it didn't get more popular, but do yourself a favor and grab one. It's just a good, solid budget performer selling for less than half what it probably should.
 
Henry Beige said:
I respectfully beg to differ. I have been taking an active interest in knives for the last eight or nine years, and stepped it up when I joined this forum about four years ago. My interest has always been in less expensive knives. I have never bought a $200 knife, and have broken the $100 barrier only a very few times. My ten and twenty dollar knives have given me a lot of joy and provided a lot of interest.

It is not at all difficult to accumulate interesting, high-quality knives without spending a lot of money, without saving up to buy the object of your desire, and without having to sell your knives in order to buy more.
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That is perfectly fine and understandable. However, for most people, it is hard to stay below the $50 range. At least for me who is not even a collector, the curiosity for knives in different price ranges just triumphs everything else. Once I got to the $150 range, I knew why they are $150 and why those others are sub-$50 (not knocking $50- knives but the differences in materials, fit & finish, and overall quality are obvious). To this day, I can kind of understand why brands like Hinderer and Reate are in the $400 range, although it is debatable whether they are twice better/worth than, say, Spyderco PM2 or Military.

With that being said, I truly admire people who have a long-lasting interest in knives and yet can manage to stay in the inexpensive (e.g., sub-$50) range :thumbsup:
 
One of my favorite knives is the Spyderco Dragonfly.
I would highly recommend the Ruike 801- Great knife for the price.
Check out some of the Bestech knives.
 
Buck 922 spitfire from C&C with black linen micarta scales and S30v blade (Bos HT too!) all for $60 with free shipping.
If my funds were very limited, I’d give that a serious look. I don’t think you can beat the value in terms of materials, warranty, and craftsmanship with any other knife. The fact that it’s made in USA, and has exclusivity as a dealer special order is icing on the cake.

I love mine.
 
Another perspective- save up your allowance/paycheck/set aside a certain portion designated for a knife, and buy a really good, expensive knife instead of a "budget" knife when you have enough saved up.

If you already have cheap knives, you know how most cheap knives work, sharpen, and deploy. The difference in quality knife will blow you away. Unless quantity over quality matters to you.
 
afishhunter said:
Rough Rider are great to try out different patterns you think you might like without bankrupting the bank.
I have to warn you though. Rough Riders can be a little addictive.

You can always "upgrade" to a "higher" name brand after you've tried the pattern and find you like it.
Or not. I've never got the need to "upgrade". The Rough Riders are just as good as the more expensive brands.
Rough Rider also has historical patterns others don't offer anymore, like the Sunfish, Coke Bottle, Marlin Spike, Corn Knife, Cotton Knife, and a few others.
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Gonna disagree on that one. I’ve seen quite a few Rough Riders, and never held one and said “wow that feels like a knife worth more than $15-20.”

They have all had bad spaces between springs and liners, rounded tips and uneven grinds on blades, wonky bolsters, severely off center blades, poorly fit scales, etc... they have interesting designs. I’ll give ‘em that.

But I feel like the last thing you can afford is to spend a percentage of your already very limited funds just to feel like you didn’t get great value.

Just my opinion. I know many disagree.
I feel like Case slipjoints with synthetic covers offer a much more reliable, and higher value proposition if you want to go that route, even with Case’s issues.
 
19-3ben said:
Gonna disagree on that one. I’ve seen quite a few Rough Riders, and never held one and said “wow that feels like a knife worth more than $15-20.”

They have all had bad spaces between springs and liners, rounded tips and uneven grinds on blades, wonky bolsters, severely off center blades, poorly fit scales, etc... they have interesting designs. I’ll give ‘em that.

But I feel like the last thing you can afford is to spend a percentage of your already very limited funds just to feel like you didn’t get great value.

Just my opinion. I know many disagree.
I feel like Case slipjoints with synthetic covers offer a much more reliable, and higher value proposition if you want to go that route, even with Case’s issues.
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It sounds like you were looking at something from Frost rather than Rough Rider.
Rough Rider are known for even grinds, good fit and finish, good "walk and talk" and being among the sharpest out if the box.
As for gaps? Of the 30 Rough Riders I have a couple do have minor gaps. On average, you might be able to slip a piece of cigarette paper through the gaps, the worst one might have room for a piece of typing paper.
So what? My Case, Ulster, Buck, USA Schrade, and Imperial, and others dating back to pre-World War 1 have minor gaps too; some worse than the Rough Riders I have. Again, so what? They work just fine. None of my folding knives, be they a friction folder, slipjoint, lockback, or liner lock, be they new, vintage, or antique has any side to side blade play, and all take and hold an edge for a reasonable length of time when used as a knife is supposed to be used: to cut stuff.

Over in the Traditional's forum there is a Rough Rider and Related thread. It is well worth reading the 190 or so pages, even if some of the earlier photos were lost thanks to Photo Bucket's decision not to host pictures unless you pay them a LOT of money.
 
The depth of the pockets has little relevance to being a collector or not. Some guys here specialize on a single knife model and they get every different configuration of that knife in a year, or in its entire history for example. You could do that with the Ontario Rat #1, or a Kershaw Leek. Different scales, different steels, different colors...
Both of those knives retail under $50 for either knife and boom, you are a collector.

I get a kick out of finding great knives at lower than expected prices. The best Bang for the buck. Some manufacturers and knives that offer that include:
Rough Rider - Not investment grade or even the best of, but you'll find very usable knives at great prices
Kershaw - Lots of great knives for the money
Old Timer - Lil' Finger one of my fave's
Enzo - Necker 70
Morakniv - Companion
Ontario Knives - Rat #1 & #2
Opinel - No 8 is excellent but any of that ring / sleeve lock type they invented.

Sooner or later, you will edge into the higher priced knives. It happens. You may just buy your "one grail knife" or you decide you need a complete model line of Shorogrov's or CRK's.

I consider myself a collector, if only because I have over 90 of them now. There is little rhyme or reason to my collection, though I like Bird and Trout knives. They make up over 20% of my collection, adding to fixed blade hunting knives, which combined are over 60% of the collection. I get what I like, what grabs me. I still own 90% of the ones I purchased. The ones I don't have, I returned because of defects or quality issues, etc. I have started to buy higher priced knives ( for me). The most I have spent for any knife - and this was custom made - was $250. Trying to switch from quantity to quality. But this month, cash is tighter, and I got a couple of cheap fixed blades I simply wanted to check out. Waiting on delivery now.

The great part about collecting is YOU make the rules about what your collection will be and how much it costs. No one else can tell you what to do and how it should be. To listen to some here on the various forums, CRK's, Spydercos, and ZT knives are the only ones worth owning. Not to me. I generally can't stand the look of 2 of the 3. Though there are even a couple of exceptions in both of those. But overall, Other knives interest me far more. Knives to me are art as well as tools. I know what I like and that is all that matters.

If you are "collecting to make $" then you are investing instead of collecting. What you do is determined by others and what they are willing to pay. That is where you need the deep pockets. Generally not a winning proposition. Not too many people can pick out the next "Bob Loveless" and sock away some early specimens before they get well known and in high demand. So many of the high priced knives of today will be far cheaper to buy in the next 10 years because the market tastes will change, demand will drop, and take the high prices with them.

My advice, if you want to call it that, get what you want, what you can afford, and enjoy the adventure!
 
afishhunter said:
It sounds like you were looking at something from Frost rather than Rough Rider.
Rough Rider are known for even grinds, good fit and finish, good "walk and talk" and being among the sharpest out if the box.
As for gaps? Of the 30 Rough Riders I have a couple do have minor gaps. On average, you might be able to slip a piece of cigarette paper through the gaps, the worst one might have room for a piece of typing paper.
So what? My Case, Ulster, Buck, USA Schrade, and Imperial, and others dating back to pre-World War 1 have minor gaps too; some worse than the Rough Riders I have. Again, so what? They work just fine. None of my folding knives, be they a friction folder, slipjoint, lockback, or liner lock, be they new, vintage, or antique has any side to side blade play, and all take and hold an edge for a reasonable length of time when used as a knife is supposed to be used: to cut stuff.

Over in the Traditional's forum there is a Rough Rider and Related thread. It is well worth reading the 190 or so pages, even if some of the earlier photos were lost thanks to Photo Bucket's decision not to host pictures unless you pay them a LOT of money.
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I promise, I know the difference between Frost and Rough Rider. I know what I've seen.

There are many who disagree with me. I get it. I'm in the minority, and maybe it's just that I've had bad examples with my statistically invalid sample size. It's based solely on my experience, and as I said in the original post, it's simply my opinion and it is based on maybe a dozen that have passed through my hands. All had issues. I have kept one out of that dozen, and even that one has back springs that don't sit flush whether the blades are open or closed. I just happen to like it because it's a unique pattern (razor blade trapper) and it happens to take a really nice edge even if it doesn't hold it too long. I use it for light tasks anyway so the edge lasts long enough.

On the other hand, i've had experiences with Case knives that are much better than many i've seen reported. Go figure. So it goes in a world where we have to form opinions based on subjective criteria and a sample size that is not statistically valid. We all come out slightly different.

It's also possible I'm just a crazy person. But the voices tell me I'm ok, so that's good enough for me.
 
As was mentioned before, there are many high value knives. Most of the ones i’m familiar with have already been mentioned.

You can also get great deals on knives that aren’t normally so high value off the exchange. That is where most of my collection has come from. Just be quick because the really good deals don’t last long.
 
Check out a cold steel code 4. Its cheap and excellent. Get one before they ate sold out and CS stops selling cts-xhp steel
 
19-3ben 19-3ben
I've been asked a time or two over the last 60 odd years
"Have you lost your mind?!"
I always calmly answer "No. I have not lost my mind. The voices in my head took it, and they won't give it back." :)

I'm sorry to hear you've had bad luck with Rough Rider. :(
My last two, a "Zombie Nick" Sunfish and 'Zombie Nick' Canoe are perfect. :)

I've heard there are problems with their small liner lock "Sod Buster", but not with any of their other traditional patterns.
I've never tried one of their "modern" knives or fixed blades, though, so I cannot comment on them.
 
You should pick up some classics my friend! Folders:
Opinel (8) is my favorite in "carbone"
Buck 110
Okapi or Cold Steel kudu...
Ontario rat 1 or 2 preferably in D-2 Aus8A works too.
Cold Steel tuff lite
Cold Steel pro lite
Fixed: anything from Mora..
Mora Companion HD
Mora #1
Cold Steel Bushman
Cold Steel Canadian belt knife. It looks weird online but in hand it's my favorite utility knife.
Ka-bar USMC
Multitools: Leatherman Rebar (very underrated IMHO)
LM side kick
Best EDC MY (IMHO) LM Juice S2
 
afishhunter said:
Rough Rider are great to try out different patterns you think you might like without bankrupting the bank.
I have to warn you though. Rough Riders can be a little addictive.

You can always "upgrade" to a "higher" name brand after you've tried the pattern and find you like it.
Or not. I've never got the need to "upgrade". The Rough Riders are just as good as the more expensive brands.
Rough Rider also has historical patterns others don't offer anymore, like the Sunfish, Coke Bottle, Marlin Spike, Corn Knife, Cotton Knife, and a few others.
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What this guy said, can't believe that I left that out on my post.
 
afishhunter said:
I've been asked a time or two over the last 60 odd years
"Have you lost your mind?!"
I always calmly answer "No. I have not lost my mind. The voices in my head took it, and they won't give it back." :)
Click to expand...
Indeed.

A friend, the other day asked if something was going to drive me crazy. I replied, "Yes, but don't worry. It's only a short drive."
 
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