First EDC Purchase. Need Suggestions.

S

stupidcha

Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Messages
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Howdy! I've been looking around this forum for several days and have finally registered!

I would appreciate if I could get several suggestions as to what I could buy for my first EDC purchase.

I would like to be able to buy directly from amazon but am willing to buy from another retailer if their prices are considerably cheaper.

Previous carries- Gerber AR 3.0 and Gerber EVO. I lost the AR 3.0 and the EVO is to the point where the "lock" and loose, making the knife hazardous to use.

I am looking for a knife that is 3" to 3.5".
It has to be a folding knife. No fixed blades.
Must have a clip.
Can be either plain or serrated but serration can't be more than half the blade.
It can be assisted but I prefer regular opening.
If regular opening, knife must be able to be opened with one hand and quickly.
Looking for a knife that can keep a sharp edge with the least to zero amount of maintenance (sharpening, etc.)
Will be using this knife for practically everything.
Preferably under $35 but willing to go to a max of $50.

Thanks! I hope to hear responses soon.
 
Your not leaving yourself a very good budget if you want a low maintenance knife. Cheaper knives have to be sharpened often. I would look into the Kershaw skyline
 
Welcome to the forums!

If you're really going to be using the knife for "practically everything", at some point you are going to need to sharpen/touch up the edge. There's just no getting around that. But for a knife in your price range that will hold an edge for a while and meet all of your other criteria, my recommendation would be the Buck Vantage Pro or Spyderco Native. Both can be found for right around $50 and have blades made from CPM-S30V, a steel that will hold a good working edge for a long time.
 
Sharpening is part of owning a knife and depending on what you use a knife for even the best of steels can be dulled in a short time. A dull blade is dangerous so buy a stone and practice so you can maintain you tool.

With the budget you have set getting any high performance steel will leave you with limited choices. Kershaw composite blades would be a good way to get performance and value but you might need to open your budget slightly to own one. spyderco also has some nice blades around the $50 mark.

what blades have caught your interest?

welcome to BF :)
 
At that price point you get a lot of high value steels that are easy to sharpen but only have decent edge retention (AUS8, 8CR13MOV, 440A, Buck's 420HC). If you go a little over $50 you can get the VG-10 steel Spyderco knives like the Delica and Endura. These two models are incredibly popular and have excellent edge retention. If you really want to stay around $35, I would recommend the Kershaw Skyline (as mentioned above), as its 14C28N steel is IMO better than AUS8 but not as good as VG10. It is a fantastic EDC blade.
 
DocWilly said:
At that price point you get a lot of high value steels that are easy to sharpen but only have decent edge retention (AUS8, 8CR13MOV, 440A, Buck's 420HC). If you go a little over $50 you can get the VG-10 steel Spyderco knives like the Delica and Endura. These two models are incredibly popular and have excellent edge retention. If you really want to stay around $35, I would recommend the Kershaw Skyline (as mentioned above), as its 14C28N steel is IMO better than AUS8 but not as good as VG10. It is a fantastic EDC blade.
Click to expand...

I gotta agree with Doc here. Also, you should look into the Tenacious. It costs around 35 dollars, uses a pretty decent steel and I've had mine for over a month and just had to touch it up on the stone yesterday to get it from kinda sharp back to hair shaving sharp.

If you don't wanna learn how to sharpen with a stone, I would recommend looking into a spyderco sharpmaker.
 
DocWilly said:
If you really want to stay around $35, I would recommend the Kershaw Skyline (as mentioned above), as its 14C28N steel is IMO better than AUS8 but not as good as VG10. It is a fantastic EDC blade.
Click to expand...

Is it worth spending the extra money on S30V steel? Is it better than 14C28N?
 
I got my Kershaw Blur factory second from kershawguy for $35 a while ago. You can find some good kershaw knives in your price range, especially if they are factory seconds.
 
as for the suggestions above.
i have looked into the spyderco tenacious and the kershaw skyline.
i do like the tenacious but am afraid that i'll cut myself when closing. other than that, i feel that i am leaning toward the tenacious
for the kershaw, i love the design and the index finger opening option. the downside is that the handle bends from what i hear.

question
when comparing the tenacious to the delica or endura, how much better are the delica and endura? -opening speed -other features? -steel difference
will it be worth the doubled price difference for an amateur like me?

i have been looking at the rat 1 as well. would it be any better than the tenacious?
also been looking at the kershaw leek using Sandvik 13C26.

how is the comparison between Sandvik 13C26 vs. AUS8 vs. 8CR13MOV vs. 14C28N

thanks for the replies. i hope to get more soon.
 
Spyderco Tenecious. It's $30, good handle material, repositional pocket clip, manual 1 hand opening, plain edge, and a decent steel. You can get it from amazon.
 
Of the above list, 13c26 and 14c28n are basically the same. I have found them to have excellent edge retention, and they are very easy to sharpen. if you do not have a decent sharpening system, i find that s30v would be hard to get sharp, even though it holds an edge forever.

I love my skyline. it is a nice little knife, and i find it to be very comfortable and useful. it is slim enough to disappear when dropped in a pocket, the clip is nice and unobtrusive, and the blade shape makes use of every possible bit of the 3ish inches. the flipper is addictive, and it is relatively easy to field strip.

HarglBargl brought up an excellent point. kershaw factory seconds are knives that are still in good condition but which are scratched, dented, or have chips out of the coating somewhere. they still work fine, and are an excellent value. I would recommend the kershaw shallot, becuase of it's large size, or the kershaw leek. both are excellent knives and have the same 14c28n/13c26 steel.

good luck on the search.
 
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Second the suggestion for a sharpmaker. With the appreciation of fine cutlery comes the knowledge of and desire for a quality edge on your quality blade.

It's easy to use and will make last and last. Once you start getting into the more exotic steels which have better edge holding characteristics [of which difficulty to sharpen comes hand in hand] you can order the relatively inexpensive diamond rod addition to the sharp maker, and the ultra fine rods [don't make the same mistake as me and forget to order 2 :doh:] to get a truly impressive edge, the kind that makes your facial hair fall off in fear :D

As for knife recommendations, I would suggest any of the above kershaw and spyderco options.

If you're willing to expand your budget a bit, the leek has s30v options as well as a cpm d2 composite version. Both excellent steels, with my vote leaning towards the cpm d2.

I know there's a lot of knife jargon being thrown at you, but the more you read, the more you'll understand and there are many knowledgeable forumites here willing to answer questions both publicly and through private media. You took the first step by joining! Welcome and may your taste in fine tools grow as infinitely as your wallet grows thin :D
 
The Buck Vantage Avid or Pro would do nicely. I love the Avid.

IMG00458-20110504-0940.jpg
 
Wow Groove, I've never paid much attention to the Vantage, but those look like some seriously nice knives :eek:
 
Whether or not it is worth it to get a higher-end steel is going to depend on your uses, and your level of sharpening ability. In general, the longer a knife steel holds it edge, the more difficult it becomes to sharpen. If you are unfamiliar with sharpening, I would personally recommend holding off on buying a knife in S30V until you are more comfortable with sharpening your knife.

By using and critiquing a lower cost knife you can wet your feet a bit in the massive ocean that is knife collecting/using, without shelling out too much money. If/when you decide to upgrade, you can always use the cheaper knife as a beater.

I would ask myself the following questions before choosing a blade steel:

1. What do I generally use my knife for?
2. What kind of environment do I use my knife in?
3. Am I skilled enough to sharpen the knife?
4. What would I like my knife to do that my current one does not?
5. What features does this new knife bring to the table that my current one does not?
6. Is the cost/benefit ration commensurate with what I am comfortable paying for?

Welcome to Bladeforums :)
Happy hunting!
 
thanks for all the replies guys! i order the tenacious. i was very close to ordering the delica but since i have no experience in sharpening blades, i'll use this first knife as a guinea pig.

next knives to buy are delica 4 ffg and buck vantage pro. might snag a kershaw skyline to try as well.

i appreciate all the help and i'll defiinitely stick around on these forums. :)
 
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