ideas for small cheap knife

[rlschne]

I'm looking for a small, cheap, manual folder to use as a beater.. i like the BM mini pika and the kabar dozier, but they are both still fairly large... Is there anything in the same price range as those but a little smaller and worth the money?

 

[Knifeclerk]

Exactly how small are you looking for? Do you just need a small blade, or do you need the entire thing to be mini?
-KC

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Spyderco practically specializes in tiny knives that actually cut things

http://www.newgraham.com/dragonfly2.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/cricket.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/meerkat.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/meerkatrs.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/salsa.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/salsablue.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/pride.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/kiwi.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/jester.htm
http://www.newgraham.com/lady.htm

 

[Planterz]

I'd hate to use a Spyderco as a beater. I assume you want the knife as a dirty work/loaner back up to your larger, more expensive folder. Like, if you need to scrape something or someone wants to borrow a knife to cut sandpaper or something stupid like that, you have the cheap beater so you're not abusing your "real" knife. Am I right?

For cheap, light, and small, there's the Gerber LST. Probably half of the people here have had one or five of those in our time. $10-20 depenging on size. The smallest one at $10 is a good value if it's planning on getting abused. Buy a few.

Honestly though, the Kabar Dozier is just about the best bang-for-the-buck knife out there. Too large though?

The Spyderco Jester or Ladybug make great small knives, but at $20, they're not quite the throwaway beater kind of knife.

 

[fudo]

Look around and see if anyone has any Schrade SP1's or SP2's left. American made, decent blades, $10 or less.

 

[Bob W]

SMKW has Old Timers at discount prices - OK knives for carrying. Or they have tons of Frons/United/RoughRider Chinese junk knives - you can buy a bunch and toss them out as they get dull. They also have some Schrade Imperial knives for less than $5 ea.

The Gerber LST is a nice knife if you want something more usable than Chinese/Pakistan throw-aways. The MiniBuck is OK too. Buck Protege is nice for the money.

If you want something that looks nice, but can still be used without guilt, AG Russell still has some Bruckmann knives. Made in Germany decades ago. The ones he has left are "seconds" meaning they have bits of rust or pitting.

Another idea, check out the sale forum or the Swiss Army Knife forum. I've seen used SAK's listed for not much money.

Tons of choices...

Happy shopping,
Bob

 

[rlschne]

yeah, im looking for something that is small closed... like maybe 2.5" or so..... My old beater was a beretta airlight... I just sharpened it up pretty good and decided that I've tore it up enough... I guess cutting through jumper cables is a bad thing on a knife THe main thing is that I want a knife that I wouldn't care if I lost

 

[Will]

Check out the Opinel line of knives. They would be perfect for your application.

Will

 

[KeithAM]

Check out the Opinel line of knives. They would be perfect for your application.

Will

Bingo.

http://www.knivesplus.com/opinel-knife-op-4.html

 

[Bob W]

I overlooked the Opinel. They're great! An Opinel is the only knife I carry...

-Bob

 

[rlschne]

the opinels look good, but i kind of like the gerber ultralight / microlight lst 's because they weigh 0.6/0.4oz and can be put on a keychain.... Thanks for all the ideas, i'll try out an opinel too probably