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Good beater folder

I think my kershaw volt II would stand up to pretty much anything I could reasonably ask it to .
 
If you don t mind paying 100.00 the Griptilian is a very tough knife with a good working knife steel. I believe that for value for your money, it s certainly equal to your Emerson.
 
If you don't mind a carrying your knife on your belt, perhap the Buck 110 is for you. Mine has been subjected to hard use for several years and its still going strong. Standard 110's run around $40.
 
If Ihad been thinking along the "traditional" lines I would have recomended this myself. They are great, tough, classic knives.
If you don't mind a carrying your knife on your belt, perhap the Buck 110 is for you. Mine has been subjected to hard use for several years and its still going strong. Standard 110's run around $40.
 
The Ontario RAT knives are hard to beat in terms of sheer value. Good knives regardless of price but stellar in the $30-40 range... priced to use, lose and abuse. :)

rats01_zps5d16e56d.jpg

Ontario RAT-1 and RAT-2

Of course, a budget of $200 opens up a whole other world of possibilities. It could buy you a very nice folder from any of the 'Big Three' manufacturers: Spyderco, Benchmade, KAI. Just pick the one that most appeals to ya!

Good luck, OP! :)

-Brett
 
By far the best "beaters" I've found in the $20-40 range are the RAT 1 & 2 folders. My Rat 2 has a smoother action than some Sebenzas.

$200 range--I'd try the DPx HEST line. ZT's are pretty tough too.

Some of the "Snap-On" line of folders in the auto supply stores make good beaters....mostly AUS 8 as far as I know.

Here's something novel people should check out as well--M40's Slimline Survival Blade, toward the bottom of the page. Gotta get a couple of these some day:
http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Store/Store_Blades.htm
 
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ryan model 7, 20 bucks on ebay, very tough

Yup, I have one of these, and while the design probably isn't for everyone, it's a solid knife for sure. If there is such a thing as an "overbuilt" folder for $20, that may be it. Another CRKT, the Cruiser, is also quite a beast.

A pleasant surprise for me was the King Cutlery BlackTac folder. It is Chinese, but King is a subsidiary of Ontario and I would put my BlackTac up against a Utilitac (which I also own) as well as several of my Kershaws. The downside of the BlackTac is weight, but when I think of a beater, I don't think lightweight.
 
My 4" cold steel voyager has been beaten, dropped, hammered, chopped,pryed and anything else that would kill most knives costing twice as much. Awhile ago I got a arrow stuck into 1" off plywood almost clean through. In order to get it out I hammered my voyager almost clean through the 1" ply and then pryed the arrow out. That was about as much force I could put without a pipe on the handle for addition leverage and the pivot is just as tight as before. The only damage was the front 2" of the blade had a gentle bend about 1/4" to the left. It was so much that it hit the handle when I folded it. Hammered it back in and pryed the other way. Straightened it right out.
 
Another vote for the 30 USD RAT 1 or perhaps the 100 USD 0350 indeed. 200 USD for a beater is just unnecessary (to not say stupid).
 
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