I like "crappy" knives.

Cheap knives rule. No need to worry about anything and if it breaks or wears out just buy another. I would never spend $100 on a knife.
 
I have plenty of high quality , lower cost knives that I use as work knives.
Nothing wrong with that.
A $35 Buck 110 is perfect for that role.
 
Life is too short to be using piece of crap gas station knives. The least expensive knife I own is a Rat-1. For thirty bucks you can break down cardboard boxes all day with little concern.
There is a big difference between cheap knives and inexpensive knives.
 
Felt the same as the op as far as using a less expensive knife for a nasty job vs a more costly one.
Since I rejuvinated my knife hobby though and discovered the new offerings by Kershaw, Spyderco, Ontario etc I'm enjoying using my "better" ones in a edc mode.
In the last 2 months after pulling out my old 60's-70's- 80's and so on blades I purchased 5 Spydercos,3 Kershaws an Opinel, and my current carry a od green black blade RatII.
I now use whatever strikes me regardless of the cost. Might as well use what you got.
The good thing for me, imo, is that these newer less expensive knives are mostly excellent.
 
IUKE12 said:
Life is too short to be using piece of crap gas station knives. The least expensive knife I own is a Rat-1. For thirty bucks you can break down cardboard boxes all day with little concern.
There is a big difference between cheap knives and inexpensive knives.
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the only cheap knife i have is a small used folder i bought for $5 at a bait shop. good little knife for cutting up bait on a party boat or lending the knife out while fishing. if anyone accidently drops it in the ocean, no sweat. :D
 
jeffsenpai said:
Just because a knife is inexpensive doesn't mean it is crappy. A $15 Sanrenmu or Enlan knife can serve you as well as many American offerings in the $40-$50 price range. The steel won't be as nice, but fit and finish will impress for the cost.
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Believe it or not, I was browsing in my local knife shop and I found a decent little buck folder for twenty bucks with the same steel as the 110! Pretty sweet find if I do say so myself. The handle is just plain plastic, but for a trash-up knife the blade is the only real important thing. I've actually thrown this knife a lot, and the lock has held up pretty well! Barely any blade play up, down, left, or right!
Basically I saved $15 and I could practically get two
 
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I don't like "crappy" knives but I do like to get good value for the money. There are plenty of very good knives in the sub $40 range that I trust and use daily. Examples are the Buck 300 series, Victorinox SAKs, a number of Kershaw knives like the Cryo and Skyline, many of the Chad Los Banos designed Boker Plus series, and many Case knives, especially those in Delrin handles.

Others that people have mentioned that are still high quality but affordable are Opinel folders and Mora fixed blades. You don't have to go "gas station" to get a great affordable knife.
 
IUKE12 said:
Life is too short to be using piece of crap gas station knives. The least expensive knife I own is a Rat-1. For thirty bucks you can break down cardboard boxes all day with little concern.
There is a big difference between cheap knives and inexpensive knives.
Click to expand...
I have a friend who collects knives and the two knives he carries most often are a $300 ZT Strider and a $30 Rat1.

My most expensive knife right now is my Benchmade Presidio Auto and it is well worn. But I only carry it with jeans due to its weight, when in slacks I reach for my smaller, less expensive, knives. They all get the job done.
 
I carry many inexpensive knives. In fact I don't carry anything that can't be easily and painlessly replaced.
Opinel, ten dollars.
Hunters Scalpel, twenty dollars.
Victorinox Recruit, thirteen dollars.
etc., etc.

But I don't carry "crappy" knives, and I don't carry Chinese-brand knives that are imitations of modern American-style knives. :grumpy:
 
Bob W said:
I carry many inexpensive knives. In fact I don't carry anything that can't be easily and painlessly replaced.
Opinel, ten dollars.
Hunters Scalpel, twenty dollars.
Victorinox Recruit, thirteen dollars.
etc., etc.

But I don't carry "crappy" knives, and I don't carry Chinese-brand knives that are imitations of modern American-style knives. :grumpy:
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Thanks for opening my eyes to the hunters scalpel. I'm considering buying one. Made in Taiwan ehh?
 
csisland said:
Thanks for opening my eyes to the hunters scalpel. I'm considering buying one. Made in Taiwan ehh?
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The older version was made in Japan, and they show up from time to time on eBay. The new version has better steel for the same price. They are designed and sold by AG Russell, a legendary knife dealer / maker / designer. I carry one frequently especially when on the motorcycle or bicycle, and they are perfect lightweight knives for hiking and backpacking. Aside from the weight, my favorite feature is the locking hard sheath - very safe and secure.

A bit less common, the original Japan-made version was optionally available in ATS-34. I have one in my collection, but no spare for carrying.

Anyway, whether you choose the original or the current production version, I promise you'll get your twenty dollars' worth. And I promise it's not a "crappy" knife. ;)
 
there's an obvious lesson to be learned here,
in that nobody wants to spend a dime more than necessary.
if it cuts, it's a knife.
a tool that doesn't
isn't worth any more extra.
the strangest thing is,
more money doesn't necessarily make
an expensive knife "any more sharper" than a common ginsu.
sure it might cut longer and won't fall to pieces immediately;
but i suspect we're paying more for aesthetic values and technical reasons.
cheap copies of expensive originals thrive
because we continually lust for those desirable dream knives
it will continually teases us to fulfill the inevitable,
llke moths to a flame.
crappy knives rule because it keeps us from doing the insane.
i m mighty glad that crappy knives have some redeeming quality in purpose
in spite of a common misconception of it having a lusterless existence.
 
I use my less expensive knives not because I care if my spendy ones get damaged but because they work better. For day to day use a SAK is a lot more useful then a tactical folder. And not necessarily because of the extra tools. The blade shape is better for the edc and wood working tasks that I use it for. For outdoors use, I haven't found a belt knife yet that out performs a mora. Old timey traditional patterns have been around for a long time for a reason.
 
I don't buy cheap(ly made) knives. I look at it this way: Its like having a BMW, Porsche, a Ferrari and a 1986 Honda Civic in your garage, and you only drive the Civic. Sure, you may start the engines up occasionally on the other cars, but they never leave the garage.

With expensive knives, you are paying a premium because they are well made, use high end steel, and are designed to be more heavy duty.

Granted, I see the use of carrying an inexpensive (or less expensive) knife when you are in a situation where there is a higher than normal possibility that you may lose the knife.
 
+1 for the "there's no excuse for using a crappy knife when there are ton of high-quality very inexpensive knives"

All using a "crappy" knife proves is that one doesn't know or care about knives.

If that's the case, why even come to/participate in bladeforums? :D Odd.
 
i had a nightmare last night that i was flipping my $180 dollar Benchmade 51 morpho and screws started popping out and the knife began to fall apart.. thank god it was just a dream
but it was a horrible dream none the less.
 
I don't mind using my more expensive knives for normal cutting chores but I am more careful with them and I won't use them as pry bar or screw driver like I might with a $20 knife. That being said I don't own any knives that cost more then $200, I might think differently if I owned an $500+ custom.
 
K.O.D. said:
With expensive knives, you are paying a premium because they are well made, use high end steel, and are designed to be more heavy duty.
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Not always. Often knives are more expensive simply because you're paying extra for gaudy handle materials, the name, the hype, or marketing. ;)
 
^True. But then again I tend not to fall for that kinda crap.
 
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