Good $10 fixed blade.

D

[digidude]

Joined
Aug 21, 2005
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797
Sorry if this has been asked before, but...

Im looking for a good, sturdy fixed blade knife about 3 to 4 inches long for under $10. Are there any? It doesnt need to be in-destructable or anything just something I can take with me without worrying too much about losing it.
Please try to offer advice if you can.

-dude
 
Mirror-Saw said:
Moras are inexpensive but are good little workers, check those out. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Good advice :thumbup:
These Moras (except #'s 2.5 and 3) are all under $10. A review here.
Regards,
Greg
 
Good is a relative term. Don't go complaining when that $10 knife breaks or bends at the least bit of force. Or holds an edge like if it was made of wood.

You get what you pay for. If you get a known quality brand knife, you are more likely to get something that will last.

One of the many things that sets the more expensive knives apart, is that these mfg's know what the steel they use is. I can bet you money that the Mora's AUS6M steel is whatever was laying around in the japanese mill with no quality control and no Mora technician to make sure that they did get AUS6m and not AUScrapM. and At $10 or even $30, you can bet no one really cares. When you buy from Bark River, Spyderco, CS, etc., you can bet they know what steel goes into their knives and thus they know exactly how to heat treat it.

How do you heat treat AUS#$%?

for just a little more you get so much more in quality ($50 range). Look at Becker's knives, great steel and not so expensive. Ontario's 1095 is a known quantity.
 
I'm not sure you're right to be so harsh on mora &co.; they clearly make a cheap product, so production costs have to be low. But they're not going to bend "with the least bit of force" or hold an edge "like wood"! Moras, opinels and the like are good, solid knives that hold an edge at least as well as the latest shiny spyderco offering; what they lack is the styling, the expensive handle materials (micarta vs. simple plastic, for example) and super-steels. A 'cheap' knife isn't necessarily a bad one - when people pay hundereds for a production knife, they're not often paying for a *better* knife (as in a knife that will do more jobs better), but a prettier or more 'classy' knife that they can be proud to own.
 
You can't go wrong with moras. I've done batoning on green and dead wood, extensive carving... without any problem. Noted wilderness instructor M.Kochanski endorse Moras as main outdoor blade. Needless they perform flawlessly on easier tasks.

Opinels are not suitable for hard-use (blade "quite easily" bends) but are excellent slicers and easily resharpen.

In both cases I'd choose carbon over stainless, but their stainless steel is OK.
Stainless steel is generally 12C27 Sandvik, swedish steel which is pretty good stainless.

Moras come from different manufacturers: main ones are Eriksson and Frosts (which is NOT Frost cutlery), both being pretty good.
 
W()W thanks for all the help! I dont really like the look of those moras, however I never judge a book by its cover so Ill look more closly at those when I get the time. As for the other link that was posted, I really like the look of that knife. I know you get what you pay for, I just want a relativly cheap knife that I can take with me when travelling etc. If it gets lost/Stolen it wont really matter. Anyway thanks for your input guys[and girls?].
 
NuclearBossHog said:
Don't go complaining when that $10 knife breaks or bends at the least bit of force. Or holds an edge like if it was made of wood.
Click to expand...

He should as it is defective, none of the ones I have used behave in a similar manner. I can't recall even seeing such complaints on line.

When you buy from Bark River, Spyderco, CS, etc., you can bet they know what steel goes into their knives and thus they know exactly how to heat treat it.
Click to expand...

Ironically considering your stance on Mora's, Cold Steel's Carbon V isn't a specific steel, it is whatever they decide to use, so you don't know what you are getting.

How do you heat treat AUS#$%?
Click to expand...

Soak it, quench it, temper it, obviously.

-Cliff
 
NuclearBossHog said:
I can bet you money that the Mora's AUS6M steel is whatever was laying around in the japanese mill with no quality control and no Mora technician to make sure that they did get AUS6m and not AUScrapM. and At $10 or even $30, you can bet no one really cares.
Click to expand...
You don't know what you're talking about. KJ Eriksson and Frosts Knivfabrik, the two mora factories, make their knives locally in Sweden and use stainless from Sandvik MT and good quality carbon. They are not made from a japanese steel, and implying that Japanese mills have no qc is a bit silly. Some of the finest steels come from Japan. It's well known that knife manufacturers have at a time switched from US made steel to a corresponding Jap steel due to quality difference.
The plastic handled moras will handle everything any knife with a blade of similar thickness would. Bending tests were made by a magazine (I forget which) some years ago, and the steel was good.
 
go to walmart, they usually have some less expensive Gerbers that are pretty nice for the money.

S&W's aren't bad either, and most of them are under $30.
 
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2599614

0001365807176_500X500.jpg
 
You really can't beat a Mora. It don't look like much at all, but wait to judge it until after you used one. It will outperform almost anything you can put up against it. I am totally serious when I say that. One of the best performing knives, period. I'd take the carbon steel over the stainless, but the stainless is good.
 
several available from kellam knives. They'regood people to deal with as well
 
I was going to mention the Kellam s-line also. Plastic handles, but ergonomic.
 
The Frosts Swedish Army Mora cuts real good! I mean it cuts like Hell on Fire!! The KJEricssons Also cut like Hell! I have many fixed blades in Custom & production models and I carry the Moras! Best knife ever made for little money. They are light in weight and perform great!
 
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