I like "crappy" knives.

You are member of a knife forum, but dont care for quality knives!? .....okaaaaay....

Cheap doesnt mean you dont get a good tool - buy some Opinels.
 
Last edited:
My favorite edc is my Kershaw Shallot. It is a blemished model I got for $40 but it is a tough knife, decent steel, and US made.
 
Cheap doesn't always mean crappy.
And what is cheap anyway? I think $60 is damned cheap for a knife, but to the average guy---even a guy who carries a knife---that is a lot of cash to plunk down for a cutting tool.
But take that $60, and you can buy practically any item that Condor makes (axes, machetes, knives), and they're good quality tools.

Choice is good.
 
I agree. Love my inexpensive blades. My Meyerco Blackie Collins Classic Tactical was only $14 and it has stood the test. Love my Leatherman Crater. Just got a Kershaw Shuffle. Love it! These type knives definitely get the most pocket time with me. Did anybody have one of those Coast Spyderco Delica wannabes when they where first introduced to knives?
 
I say if you can't bear scratching your knife then you shouldn't have bought it. Knives are tools, tools get used and scratched! I take good care of my knives but if it gets damaged using it for what it was designed for, oh Well. Live with it.
 
I don't like crappy knives, but I do like inexpensive and well-made knives. Various model Vic SAKs. Several of Kershaw's imported models. Case Sodbuster. KaBar Dozier. Opinels. Moras. And even a couple of Sanrenmu's.
 
An older sister gave me this when she was a broke university student so it's ~40 years old now. I'm sure it cost her just a couple of bucks back then. One line blade stamp w/ crown, hand, name.

Opinel%2520%25238.jpg
 
Last edited:
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.
Click to expand...

A knife designed for heavy duty might add to the cost, sure.
To me though, there are plenty other reasons to go with a more costly product.
Heavy duty alone is not always a positive feature in a knife, for delicate work many a tank-like indestructable is borderline useless due to being too bulky and ground for austerity rather than fine cutting.

Refinement, blade profile and grind, filework, scale-materials, innovation and general cost of a modern shop are some of the factors driving the prices upwards on many higher-end knives.

And of course there is the marketing, hype and all that.

A quote from a 1895 barbers manual:

"Cheap Tools Is Misplaced Economy. Always buy the best and highest grade of razors, hones and strops. Then you are prepared to do the best work."
- Napoleon LeBlanc, 1895

In my eyes, much the same can be said about any tool, be it knives, razors or whatever.
 
Birnando said:
A knife designed for heavy duty might add to the cost, sure.
To me though, there are plenty other reasons to go with a more costly product.
Heavy duty alone is not always a positive feature in a knife, for delicate work many a tank-like indestructable is borderline useless due to being too bulky and ground for austerity rather than fine cutting.

Refinement, blade profile and grind, filework, scale-materials, innovation and general cost of a modern shop are some of the factors driving the prices upwards on many higher-end knives.

And of course there is the marketing, hype and all that.

A quote from a 1895 barbers manual:

"Cheap Tools Is Misplaced Economy. Always buy the best and highest grade of razors, hones and strops. Then you are prepared to do the best work."
- Napoleon LeBlanc, 1895

In my eyes, much the same can be said about any tool, be it knives, razors or whatever.
Click to expand...

mr.leblanc must have been rolling in the dough because not everyone today can afford the best or need to budget to cover other things.:)
 
A $35 RAT-1 can take a hell-of-a-beating.
A $200 Adamas can take a hell of a beating.

But I dont have the same feeling of quality and finish with the RAT.

I carried a Vic. Pioneer for an entire year.
Used it alot harder than Victorinox intended.
It held up great.

Use it as a knife, and a $5 one will probably work.
Want to use it a bit harder and toss it around, the $200 price tag will hold up better, and have a warranty if it doesnt.
 
I don't carry a 600-1000 custom knife for an edc ( or own one) I look at knives as tools so a don't want to carry something too fancy but I don't trust the 10$ deals either. If you buy a 225$ folder which will cover almost any benchmade, Emerson, ZT, Al Mar or other quality brand and use it for three years that's only 75$ per year not a huge investment and you have something you can trust. Just my .02
 
nemesis said:
I don't carry a 600-1000 custom knife for an edc ( or own one) I look at knives as tools so a don't want to carry something too fancy but I don't trust the 10$ deals either. If you buy a 225$ folder which will cover almost any benchmade, Emerson, ZT, Al Mar or other quality brand and use it for three years that's only 75$ per year not a huge investment and you have something you can trust. Just my .02
Click to expand...

i realize if you push any knife hard enough the lock will break, but i'm having a hard time trusting the axis lock and those omega springs.
 
marcinek said:
I find it odd that someone who prefers crappy knives would participate in BF
Click to expand...

Maybe you need a paradigm shift, because there are no such thing as crappy knives. Even a $5 gas station knife has its attributes. Its easy to find at a gas station, it will cut cardboard or peel an apple, you can use the heck out of it and not worry about it, you can give it to a buddy and you won't cry if you lose it. Its not odd that guys who understand this are on Bladeforums. Its odd that the guys who don't understand it are here.

Is an inlaid Sebenza better than a $5 gas station knife? Not if you are needing to buy a knife, have a $5 bill in your pocket, and are at a gas station.

Let us not forget the immortal words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who admonished America to judge knives not by the color of their scales, but by the content of their character. And $5 gas station knives, my friend, have character. They are society's forgotten knives, the outcast and the scorned. Yet through their struggle for acceptance they have endured. They merely want what all knives want - to be carried, used, sharpened and eventually lost on a hunting trip.
 
I admit, im not into the whole corksniffing elitism on knives or frankly anything. As long as the knife works, isnt dangerous and holds an edge for a decent amount of time im happy.
 
leghog said:
An older sister gave me this when she was a broke university student so it's ~40 years old now. I'm sure it cost her just a couple of bucks back then. One line blade stamp w/ crown, hand, name.

Opinel%2520%25238.jpg
Click to expand...

Nothing crappy about that knife, I'm sure it still gets the job done & slices like a laser, I have one in my pocket right now, the fancy one with olive handle & stainless blade
 
Cypress said:
When a $20 gas-station knife can run through a tree like my Busse and look just as good doing it... That'll be the day I buy a "crappy" knife.
Click to expand...

Willing to give it a go for free?

I've got a pass around going on a $15 Opinel. The thin convex blade goes through wood like a champ.

Sign up. Do a side by side test of the Opinel and your Busse. See if you can break the Opinel. Only condition is that you leave the lock ring disengaged while battoning.

Serious. Would love to see what it takes for the Opinel to break or fail. Is you version of hard use more than the Opinel can take?

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1097460-Opinel-Pass-Around-amp-Walk-About
 
cards94 said:
i realize if you push any knife hard enough the lock will break, but i'm having a hard time trusting the axis lock and those omega springs.
Click to expand...

Search and watch some of the many benchmade lock tests on YouTube, I think they may sway your opinion a little, if you are using it as a knife and not as a pry bar you will never have a lock failure. I will say of all my folders the ZT 0560 is a tank and has a super solid lock up and mechanism. But I have never had a problem with either of my two benchmades YMMV
 
I carry cheaper knives as a edc for 1 reason. I'm have a bad habit of losing things and usually those thing are on the more expensive side.
 
As has been expressed many times, cheap doesn't equal crappy. There are good knives for small amounts of money, and there are good knives for large amounts of money.

However the fact the OP put quote marks around the word "crappy" suggests that he doesn't literally think of them as crappy, just cheap.

If you want a tool for cutting stuff then why not use an Opinel, a Buck, a RAT, Byrd, Enlan or Sanrenmu? They won't hurt your pocket, and if they don't hold an edge as long as a K390 blade, then you get to practise sharpening and AUS8/420HC/8Cr13MoV can be sharpened easily on a pocket stone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top