Ever revert back to budget/value knives?

Carry my saks and opinels very frequently. No issue for me.
 
Ya if I got those U.S. Prices up here. Wooe sallee! The heap would be bigger lol. But you can still find a fun toy for under a c note up here. My last was a D-2 rat 1. Before that a 4 inch hold out, prior to that a couple of bd1 pocket bushmen. Look around, there is tho stuff out there that you don't have to hide from the wife, lol

Yeah ive been tempted to try out the 60$ 4" cold steel voyager in aus8a but as i was going to pull the trigger a wild spyderco domino popped up on the exchange ah ah!
 
These times are great to be into knives. Technology of manufacturing has produced many useful and serviceable knives at fantastic (budget) prices.

Like many others here, I appreciate the finer things when it comes to knives but more and more I am receiving my enjoyment from "budget" knives such as the AUS8 CS Voyagers and Kershaw Emersons ... oh, and let's not forget those splendid RAT-1s and 2s.

I have too many fixed blade knives - more than I could wear out in this lifetime - many of them are nice and the CRK One Piece range Knives could not be easily replaced, but I use a Becker for just about all of my fixed blade tasks anymore.

Back on the subject of folders, IMO, loss is the number one threat to our folders - not blade strength, lock failure or any of the other things so many focus upon. The easiest way to mitigate against the threat of loss is by reducing acquisition cost ... without unduly reducing functionality and reliability. That delta has been significantly reduced these days with quality "budget" knives and i enjoy the daylights out of them while my more expensive knives hide in boxes or the safe.
 
Yes, been carrying a Kershaw Skyline for a while now. It flips pretty well, has a nice thin blade, and I don't mind if it gets dropped or the edge damaged.
 
In the past 6 years I can't recall picking up anything less than $100 (outside of traditionals) and more often nothing under $200. So the other week I saw a really cool collaboration of a mid-tech knife I've been eyeing. The midtech goes for about $400 and the collab goes for $35. I thought I would pick up the collab with it's ABC123 blade steel just to see if I liked the feel of the design before taking the plunge for the midtech. After having this collab for a week, I must say I'm impressed with everything about it and has me wanting to put my foot back into the budget folder waters to try out some of the other collab offerings being put out.

While I could carry my Sebenza 25, I'm finding myself wanting to carry the $35 budget knife. I say budget, but really more like a value knife in my book. Lots to like for little money. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the difference in materials and quality, but my EDC tasks can tell the difference between the two price points.

Anyone else ever revert back to budget/value knives?

In answer to the question, yes I do. None of my knives are particularly expensive, but for me a hundred bucks is still a lot of money, so what amounts to a budget knife for me is different than what it might amount to for others. My primary budget knife is a Spyderco Byrd Cara2.
 
I find myself conflicted as to what represents a 'budget' knife. I assess all my knives for functionality rather than cost. My Emersons are not 'cheap' to me, nor are my Spyderco knives, yet all too often they are pushed out of my pocket by a BD1, Cold Steel Pocket Bushman or an XHP American Lawman. I also have a large assortment of Byrd knives, as Charlie mentioned, which are remarkably functional in design. My Buck knives are priceless to me, yet in my mind they are a great value for the dollar. Some of my most used knives around the house are my Cold Steel Kudu blades which set me back a whopping eight dollars.

I guess in my old age, I have come to respect all knives in one form or another and price per se is a secondary aspect to me.
 
When I first got "into knives" about 20 years ago, I desired and eventually acquired several Striders, CRKs, Emersons and others in the $300-$500 range. Ive always stuck with production knives and I don't think I ever topped $500.
As the years have passed, I've sold/traded all of those and now everything above "budget knives" are ZT's and Spydercos...AND...I have increased my stable of quality budget knives. Say what you will about knives being made to use but I could just not get over the mental hurdle of using my
Sebenzas hard. I have no such reservations using the budget knives below...

-Kershaw/Emerson CQC-6K (probably my favorite and I still can't believe you can get this all day long for under $30)
-Byrd Cara Cara 2
-SOG Flash II
-CS American Lawman
-Delica, H1Salt, and Dragonfly 2
-Kershaw Leek
-Gerber EZ-Out
 
I find myself conflicted as to what represents a 'budget' knife. I assess all my knives for functionality rather than cost. My Emersons are not 'cheap' to me, nor are my Spyderco knives, yet all too often they are pushed out of my pocket by a BD1, Cold Steel Pocket Bushman or an XHP American Lawman. I also have a large assortment of Byrd knives, as Charlie mentioned, which are remarkably functional in design. My Buck knives are priceless to me, yet in my mind they are a great value for the dollar. Some of my most used knives around the house are my Cold Steel Kudu blades which set me back a whopping eight dollars.

I guess in my old age, I have come to respect all knives in one form or another and price per se is a secondary aspect to me.

Kudus are awesome knives for the $, most impressive blade for the money of all 2016 for me.
It's excellent and I use it more that the knife I bought it with (Spyderco Lil' Matriarch) just to get free shipping...:confused:

20161222_134612_zps4axntz6p.jpg
 
Yeah, I was really into customs! Now I find myself buying more 50-200 dollar knives. I usually carry one custom/midtech folder along with one production folder, it works out great!
 
NDJeep, all those listed are good decent blades for the money, so budget blades to me do not have to be cheap quality,just a good blade that will do the job and keep a decent edge and built well. My budget blades would include SA, Opinels, Mora, Buck, and the like. My opinion only, lower budget to me and fairly good quality would be Rough Rider, The new Schrade, and other Chinese makes. I am not here to debate the Chinese thing, I like some of them if decent quality control makes a good knife (no copy rip offs or imitations), but I have even more skepticism of Pakistani or Indian made.
 
The most expensive knife I ever bought was a Benchmade AFCK back in the late 90's and it cost $80., which was quite an investment on a cops salary. Mostly carry SAKs and Case knives nowadays.
 
They're old school, heavy, bulky but still a perennial favorite - the Buck 110 Folding Hunter.
 
Most would say almost all my knives are budget knives. On folders, I pretty much draw the line at $200 and only a few exceed $150. The vast majority of my folding knife purchases run between $50 and $100 each. It is what keeps me from buying a CRK. I don't really see what I gain in reality in terms of using it. I don't like metal scales, so most of the modern's are out before I even consider them. Maybe I'm turning into my Dad only with a SAK and not a Case slippie.
 
They're old school, heavy, bulky but still a perennial favorite - the Buck 110 Folding Hunter.

My 110 has a permanent set were the bottom of the leather sheath has a curve, from wearing it while driving. Haven't worn it for years. I take it out maybe annually and clean the green corrosion off the bolsters, re-oil, have it walk n' talk a few times, then tuck it away again. I can't let it go. I remember back in the day when it seemed a big knife. Now with so many xl Cold Steel in the heap, it feels almost small and quaint.
 
I go back and forth all the time. I did a gaw for a Spyderco rescue recently and replaced it with a cara cara 2.

I carry a case knife that I bought on clearance. I also bought a 10 dollar Rough Rider that I spent $40 plus materials to put new covers on and my next bigger purchase is a mnandi. It's OK to like whatever it is that you fancy.
 
I lost a Hinderer 3" xm-18 during a bar fight wresting match. Then lost a benchmade 940 to a bouncer outside a bar to hold till I came out. The knife magically didn't exist when I asked for it back. Then I went with the Ontario rat 2 for my edc, which just disappeared in some black hole below a couch cushion....no idea. I am now sticking with a vic pioneer when the street lights are on, and my new zt 0450cf for my main edc. Its just not worth practically carrying an edc blade for me that is over 200 anymore. The loss of the cheap but awesome rat 2 is the most painful in ways because it just disappeared..... there is no closure.
 
Last edited:
I've bought several budget knives (under $100). If anything, I am pickier about the cheap knives I buy than the high dollar ones.
 
Absolutely. A while back I found my knife purchases creeping up in price (nearing the $1000 mark for custom folders), but then I started to realize that I'm more interested in good design than fancy materials or custom cachet. Nowadays I'm just as happy to carry a CRKT Squid as I am a custom by David Sharp or Les Voorhies (both great makers, by the way!).

But some of my favorite knives will always be Spydercos in the $100 to $200 mark.
 
Revert back to them? I never reverted away from them.

My ~55 year old Ulster/Sears Craftsman Peanut and my Victorinox Farmer SAK are excellent knives. Spent less than $15 for one and about $30 for the other two or three years ago and have carried them daily since. Before that I was carrying a Boker red bone pen knife for ten years or so. One need not spend a lot of money to be well knifed.

Same here I never spent over 30 bucks on any knife I bought and I got all of my fixed blade old timers back in the 1980's.
 
Back
Top