Anyone else ever revert back to budget/value knives?
Short answer, for me. It depends.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?
One of my favorites is still an old AUS-6 CRKT. Not the best steel but the ergos are hard to beat. In some ways I like it better than my Benchmades.
I have a bar patron friend (I bartend) who bought such a POS knife. He noted the wooden handle which he liked. But didn't seem to notice the 360° blade wobble and dull edge, etc. Forget about edge geometry or steel type.
So I've been hunting for the biggest bang for ~$25-30 I can find. In the running were:
Cold Steel Tuff Lite & Mini
Cold Steel Pro Lite
Buck Vantage
Byrd Somethingorother
Pulled the trigger last night, and with the inadvertant help of @evilgreg, I went with the Buck Vantage Avid which has that Rosewood Dymondwood nonsense that my buddy is sure to love.
The older I get, the more I love a good bang for the buck!