Do yourself a favor and buy a CHEAP knife!

[syltetoy]

Yeah, you can get some nice beater knives for around $20 if you look.

I use a $3 Blackie Collins folding, locking, box cutter around the house to open packages, its perfect for that task "box cutter"

The Cheaper Than Dirt Rough Use Knife or Night Defender costs $5 wholesale and is tough as any forty times the price as proven in the Noss KnifeTests.

There are mant great inexpensive knives if you look with open eyes and mind.

 

[mmarkh]

I have been thinking of getting a couple Opinels to keep around the house. Cheap enough but I hear the carbon steel ones take a hell of an edge.

 

[nksmfamjp]

And besides, how cheap do you wanna go? If you can buy a really nice Spyderco/Byrd for $15 that will serve you well for years and years, how much more does anyone think they can save on a cheap knife?

The Byrd is a pretty good cheap knife. I like the blade profile.

 

[GregY]

I have been thinking of getting a couple Opinels to keep around the house. Cheap enough but I hear the carbon steel ones take a hell of an edge.

Yeah they're really handy to have around. Cheap, very lightweight, the steel is pretty good and takes a really good edge. It's very thin stock, so once you put a decent edge on there it'll cut extremely well.

 

[yobbos1]

There are inexpensive knives (Opinel, Douk douk, some SAKs) and then there are cheap knives (Frost, Maxam, china Gerbers etc.) The cheap ones aren't worth the cardboard used to box them. Some of the better inexpensive ones are almost worth their weight in gold IMO.

 

[Ankerson]

I use a $3 Blackie Collins folding, locking, box cutter around the house to open packages, its perfect for that task "box cutter"

The Cheaper Than Dirt Rough Use Knife or Night Defender costs $5 wholesale and is tough as any forty times the price as proven in the Noss KnifeTests.

There are mant great inexpensive knives if you look with open eyes and mind.

I know, I have a few box cutters around, but I usually just grab my scissors because they are close by to open packages.

 

[JTR357]

I bought cheap,junky knives for years because I didn't know any better.

What did I wind up with?A bunch of crap that I couldn't sell,trade,or even give away with clear conscience.

No Thanks,not for me.Not anymore.


The cheapest knives I'll buy now are $20-$30 Byrds,$40-$50 Cases & $40-$50 Kershaws.At least with them,I'll know they won't fall apart & even if they did,they're from reputable companies that'll fix or replace them.

 

[cbxer55]

The one "cheap" knife I have, that stays in the garage full timefor maximum abuse is an old two-hole clip Spyderco Military. This knife is worthless to me for edc because everytime I cut anything with it the CPM440V blade chips.

So it stays in the garage full time, gets sharpened frequently, and the blade has lost considerable meat due to this frequent sharpening.

 

[T.K.C.]

I will take quality over quantity.

 

[kgd]

Hmmm, I never carry folding knives as I just don't like them. I understand why folks are drawn to folders, particularly the engineering of them, but I just don't like them that much. I even managed to get a nice one and still just don't really like it.

For fixed blade the performance advantages across expense categories are less straight forward. The playing field is much more level for this category compared to the amount of engineering required to make a good folder. Still there are certainly differences in the steel used, the heat treat, the care taken on the grinds, the handle, F&F and sheath quality. There are some solid performers like the Mora's that are limited in scope but do what they do really well with included crappy sheath/ugly handle and then there are garbage knives.

I find myself now slowly stepping up in the expense categories from $100 production and customs fixed blades toward $200-$350 fixed blades. The difference in this category has much more to do with style, handle materials, F&F and attention to not only a quality sheath, but a great looking sheath, then it does with actual knife performance - albeit I really trust the performance from the higher end makers I choose to deal with. For a great camping user, its pretty hard to beat the combination of good design/materials and acceptable finish found in a custom $100-$150 knife. I suppose you can argue the merits of the production $40-80 knives to the above category, but I don't consider them in the same league. They might work well on performance but there are always compromises to the handle material/sheath etc.

 

[GrinderMcgee]

I can't smear Frost too bad since the knives from that show were my gateway drug into better blades. Really, they make some slip-joints called Steel Warriors that I enjoy a great deal for 8-10 bucks a piece. On fixed blades, it kills me why some would rather spend $20 for a Rambo style tooled out Pakistani crapola than the same $20 on a CS Bushman.

 

[thejamppa]

KGD: your words are truw when it comes to outdoor in woods. But in urban area small foders are very handy. But still, I would not go hiking and caping without fixed blade. Making fire is so easy with good fixed blade and genrally any sort of camping, you really need a fixed blade as your primary blade but I always find it good to have a good folder as back up.

I would never ever leave without my puukko and Ka-Bar camping or hiking. I saw in boot camp how some poor SOB's tried to make fire wood and clear place for tent with some cheap us chinese folder knives. Even 2€ Mora is better than most folders in camping for its use.

Still, I loved my Ka-Bar in bootcamp: It made fire woods, it cleared bushes even forzen roots and such... not to mention it was great shaver ^^ Luckily our army worked: bring your own knife principle ^^

 

[Ken44]

I'm getting back to some cheap/less expensive knives(Spyderco) that I've avoided for years. Bought my first Endura back around 1980, and then got into much more expensive knives, customs and factory.

Just got in a spyderco SageII, and took a file and smoothed the spine and spyderhole to make it just like I wanted. Been in my pocket since, and knocked my small micarta sebbie out for now.
No way I would have got the nerve to start filing away on any of my customs or expensive factory models.

 

[jonnyt16]

...On fixed blades, it kills me why some would rather spend $20 for a Rambo style tooled out Pakistani crapola than the same $20 on a CS Bushman.

Dude...cuz RAMBO used it!! Duh!

 

[Guyon]

Keep in mind the difference between cheap and inexpensive. I have a Kabar Dozier, a CRKT or two, a Mora that was given to me, and a ton of Victorinox SAKs. All are solidly made and serve me well. None of them were over $20.

 

[Peter Parker]

I don't have to since I sharpen some pretty crappy stuff for my buddies at work, luckily more of them have good knives then bad! I sharpened my flight leader's crappy NAHC china made knife he got several years ago the other day the serrations did OK but I could only get the edge to do what I call a forced hair shave. I get sick of sharpening this crap but I like to help folks out when I can.

 

[syltetoy]

I know, I have a few box cutters around, but I usually just grab my scissors because they are close by to open packages.

Yeah scissors and a box cutter are must have tools, otherwise its frustrating getting to the knives inside ; )

 

[jill jackson]

My Dad said when he was growing up in the 60's and 70's, cheap knives was the norm.
He'd go to town with his Mom and there was a big display case at the Dollar store, with about 50 different models of Imperial folding knives. All sorts of patterns copied from American models such as the Barlow and 3 blade Case. They were made in Japan and so cheap they had hollow bolsters. Priced at 1.00 each he must have bought nearly every pattern they sold from the time he was 6 to 12 years old. He'd carry them to school and trade them with other kids. He hasn't got a single one today, as they were so poorly made they'd never withstand much abuse and that's something kids do well.
Having owned all sorts of pretty poorly made knives as a kid, he says we don't know how lucky we are with the vast selection of decent affordable knives today. Back then they wasn't nearly as common. So he doesn't have to look for cheap knives today, in order to appreciate good ones!

 

[Ankerson]

My Dad said when he was growing up in the 60's and 70's, cheap knives was the norm.
He'd go to town with his Mom and there was a big display case at the Dollar store, with about 50 different models of Imperial folding knives. All sorts of patterns copied from American models such as the Barlow and 3 blade Case. They were made in Japan and so cheap they had hollow bolsters. Priced at 1.00 each he must have bought nearly every pattern they sold from the time he was 6 to 12 years old. He'd carry them to school and trade them with other kids. He hasn't got a single one today, as they were so poorly made they'd never withstand much abuse and that's something kids do well.
Having owned all sorts of pretty poorly made knives as a kid, he says we don't know how lucky we are with the vast selection of decent affordable knives today. Back then they wasn't nearly as common. So he doesn't have to look for cheap knives today, in order to appreciate good ones!

OMG I must be your Dad's age then because I remember those and owned a bunch of them too.

That's the thing too, we all carried knives to school back then. We grew up with them, carrying them etc.

 

[Sword and Shield]

Keep in mind the difference between cheap and inexpensive. I have a Kabar Dozier, a CRKT or two, a Mora that was given to me, and a ton of Victorinox SAKs. All are solidly made and serve me well. None of them were over $20.

Much wisdom is contained in this quote.

That's right they don't get knives and they don't care. As long as their knife will cut what they want to cut they look no futher than that.
They don't get superior steels that hold an edge multiple times better than their cheap blade will.
They don't get tightly built knives with strong locking systems that are way safer to use.
They don't see build quality that enables a knife to last far longer.
They think by buying many cheap knives over the years, that perform poorly in comparison they are saving money. Instead of buying one decent one that would outlast dozens of their poorly performing cheap knives they are saving money. Like I said they don't get it. They never see the big picture.

There's a problem here.

Superior steels? Most users don't want that, even for free. They want something that can be honed out in a second, and get back to work. I know I don't want that in a working knife- 1095 and 420HC are good enough, anything else is more of a PITA than it's worth.

Build quality and locks is one where I'd ask you to define your terms. I've put some $20 knives through the wringer further than most anyone will put their "superior" high-dollar piece. My go-to work knives for years were a Camillus Scout, a Schrade stockman and a Buck 450. Those are cheap knives, but I'd put them in a work environment against anyone.

Treasure your Rolex as much as you want, but there are times when a Timex is just what you need.