Knives for Under $15 US

M

me2

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Oct 11, 2003
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I've been thinking lately that I could probably get along with knives costing $15 or less. I've been looking at the Ontario work knives and Old Hickory knives for fixed blades, as well as Mora and the cheaper Cold Steel offerings. For folders, I only know of the Okapi, and Opinel. Wally World has some single blade pocket knives as well. There are some cheap chinese made folders that, for under $15, wouldnt be bad. My Appalachian Trail trapper from Lowes isnt bad for $10, but it would have been nice to not have it pre-cracked around the center spring pin, and not have the clip blade hit the backspring and dent the edge upon closing. I was thinking I could cover all the bases, from 14" blades down to pocket knives, for about $50. Say, a pocket carry EDC, 3-4" fixed blade, 7-8" butcher or scalper type, then a 12-15" blade for brush and yard work. Any recommendations for relatively high quality, yet cheap knives?
 
I have been very impressed with the Rough Rider folders, have bought 7 or 8 and every one has been very good.
 
I got one of these for around $10. Nice lockup and very solid

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I hate to say this, but for just a couple dollars more, Smokey Mountain have the Remington M-Series framelock folders for $17.95. A real bargin and USA made.
(Always hate it when you ask for a knife at one price and everyone tells you to spend more money. On the other hand the price does include shipping.)
 
Old Hickory knives were getting the job done long before anything we have now and believe it or not, they still can. I keep an old hickory Butcher knife in the garage for whacking branches off my walking sticks and for stripping off the bark. It chops about as well as any other big knife.. Most can be purchased for well under 15.00.
 
I picked up a Cold Steel Heavy Machete from SMKW for $11.99 with free shipping. just got it yesterday so I haven't had time to torture it yet, but once I put a good edge on it the thing cut through soft woods and vegetation like a laser, and even does a decent job on harder and dried woods(for a machete). The handle is very comfortable but not too grippy, a decent lanyard helps take care of the safety issue, maybe grip tape would do better.

In hindsight I think I would have liked the 18" barong machete better, its several inches longer, with a thicker blade (3mm as opposed to 2mm), more grippy handle, and a nice pointy tip just in case you ever need it. Only downside is that it costs about $10 more, but you get free S&H at SMKW anyway so I wouldn't mind.

The 12" bowie machete has caught my eye as well, I thought it might make a good, very cheap camp knife. Like the Barong machete it is 3mm thick, which is rather stout for a machete, but too thin for a knife. Maybe I'll pick one up and see if it can handle some batoning, digging, chopping- that sort of thing. I imagine the batoning would be too much for it to handle but if it bends i can always just hammer it back to straight, worst case scenario I'll be out $18. Has anyone else tried the Bowie machete in this manner? if so lemme know, maybe it will save me a few bucks haha.
 
I've batoned the hell out of Tramontinas, and they pass with flying colors. Hit a knot, and they will bend, but they're tempered more like springs than knives, and they pop back true. My guess is that the CS machetes will perform similarly.
 
I've been very impressed with my Chinese Buck Colleague. A bit small, but that is what I was looking for. Buck has some other Chinese models in the $15 range. I've not tried them, but I would not be afraid to do so.
 
This would be a little over budget for the basic materials, and probably way more once you count all the incidentals (shipping, extra supplies, and time), but if you already have a small shop it shouldn't be too hard to make your own set of knives.
You can get 36" x 1.5" x 0.113" of CPM 154 for $39.
http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/bladesteel.htm
With that it wouldn't be too hard to get three good fixed blades of varying size.

Heat treating would cost $15.50 at Texas Knifemaker's Supply.
http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/privacy.php#projects
(Without the big knife you could do up to seven smaller ones for just $5.50)

With enough scrap material it wouldn't be hard to finish the handles.
Sheaths would be another thing, but if you already have leatherworking supplies and scrap leather from other projects the cost comes out to the time needed to put them together (except the big one, you'd probably have to cut out some fresh leather for that).

After that you could start making sheaths, just the way you like them, for all your other fixed blades.
And you'd have a hobby to use all your spare time for years to come!
 
I just picked up a rough rider,redbone,with 3 blades.This is the first slipjoint I've had since I was around 12-13yrs old.I was quite impressed with the F&F,tight springs & overall look of this piece.The only thing that I didn't like about it(very embarassing),is that it was made in CHINA.:o
It cost me $9.99 + free shipping!!I couldn't resist:D

Now I gotta stop biting my nails,I can't even get the darn thing open with these chewed up mitts of mine.

I put them to the sharpmaker right away,& after about 45min,all three blades were hair-splitting sharp!
 
I've had pretty good luck with a cs canadian belt knife($12). alot of use in the kitchen, minor woodwork and skinning a deer with only minor touch up on the blade, still shaves. Also the remington sportsman line are decent for under $15, but it seems like they vary a bit in ff and sharpness(have 3)
 
Joshua J. said:
This would be a little over budget for the basic materials, and probably way more once you count all the incidentals (shipping, extra supplies, and time), but if you already have a small shop it shouldn't be too hard to make your own set of knives.
You can get 36" x 1.5" x 0.113" of CPM 154 for $39.
http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/bladesteel.htm
With that it wouldn't be too hard to get three good fixed blades of varying size.

Heat treating would cost $15.50 at Texas Knifemaker's Supply.
http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/privacy.php#projects
(Without the big knife you could do up to seven smaller ones for just $5.50)

With enough scrap material it wouldn't be hard to finish the handles.
Sheaths would be another thing, but if you already have leatherworking supplies and scrap leather from other projects the cost comes out to the time needed to put them together (except the big one, you'd probably have to cut out some fresh leather for that).

After that you could start making sheaths, just the way you like them, for all your other fixed blades.
And you'd have a hobby to use all your spare time for years to come!
Click to expand...

Too late. My production is very low, and I keep giving them away.
 
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