Favorite cheap beater knife?

R

rlewpolar

Joined
Oct 4, 2022
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What is your favorite knife that you are not afraid to beat on, lose, break, loan out and whose utility far exceeds what you paid for it? I’ll start, it’s undoubtedly this one for me, a Cold Steel SR1 Lite. As a bonus, it literally looks indestructible and cost me exactly $38. I’m going to throw this one in as well, a Mora Robust, about $20. All told, these two knives would probably survive a nuclear strike and cost under $60 for both. The utility to cost ratio is off the charts . Let’s see yours

https://imgur.com/a/P8wsTd4
 
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I will forever tout the virtues and faithful service of the knife pictured below. It is/was a Master Cutlery "Alpha Team" MU-1132. I have no idea what steel it's made of. I bought it because I liked the basic design, including it's 3/16" thick, full-tang blade, G10 handles, and to replace a much more expensive work knife that I decided to retire.

Another thing that I really liked about it were the holes in the tang (matching the holes in the handles), they helped make the knife lighter and more well-balanced.

I used and abused the Master in construction work, including using it as a prybar, and it never failed me.

I did modify it from it's original form (an original picture posted further below), I preferred a clip-point over the spear-point, I removed the useless (to me) lanyard loop , and I reshaped the butt-end of the handle to make it easier to get a comfortable grip with work gloves on. I also coated the handle with Plastidip for a better grip.

I paid $8 for the knife brand-new on closeout sale on Amazon after the model was discontinued. That's eight dollars.

Unfortunately the knife was stolen from me last year. I could get another one as I see someone on Ebay has several (more expensive now), but I've already moved on.

So here's to you Master Alpha Team, you served me well :thumbsup: :).

After my mods-

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Before mods (company pic)-

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My imacasa corn machete is my go to beater. I have since replaced the handle with a black walnut one because I managed to crack the injection molded one using it to scrape frozen wood chips out of the back of the bucket truck.

Edited to add picture of the new handle, sorry about the quality, but I'm bouncing in the back of the pickup on the way home from work now.
IMG_20230330_142809220.jpg
 
dogstar said:
^^ some "nice" knives up there!

As a cheapskate, I own lots of inexpensive knives, but this one takes the cake. I think Joe X would have a hard time breaking it.
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Figures it’s a Cold Steel. This seems to be the company’s raison d’etre. I have a couple of drop forged models (made from single pieces of 52100 steel) that I’m convinced are unbreakable.
 
rlewpolar said:
I like Condor knives, bombproof and very good quality for the price. Only have their carbon blades though. Which knife is that?
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That is their Primitive Bush Knife. It's a real chopper and makes short work of vines, etc. I like it so much that I had LT Wright make me a custom Kydex sheath for it that cost more than what I paid for the knifeo_O
 
My Cold Steel Tuff Lite and Buck 110 Slim Select are 2 that I carry frequently as beater knives. When I'm working I carry a folding utility knife, which is also a beater.
 
Mora Companion/Basic - the I prefer the Companion, but the Basics can be found on sale so cheap as to be almost disposable.. I think i have one in each room of my house at this point..

Spyderco Tenacious/Resilience - great, ergonomic designs and inexpensive enough that I've never felt bad about straddling that use/abuse threshhold..

I have the SR-1 Lite Tanto as well.. really solid choice if you want pocket chisel/pry-bar. Less solid choice if you're trying to cut stuff with any amount of precision hahah..
 
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