Man, my posts are REALLY long-winded.
Are you sure the cardboard would work as a strop? i've been looking into buying a leather strop, particularly to hone my blades after sharpening and sharpen my wood carving knife.
Yes, the rougher the cardboard, the easier, but the very fine cardboards or thickish paper (glossy magazine covers on larger magazines for example) work great too. A little polishing paste helps a lot if you want to really refine the edge. An old leather belt (if it is "raw" or unpolished on one side) works great too, equally you can use polishing paste. Just clean your blade after sharpening and before stropping. Otherwise, buying leather from a leather supply store is quite inexpensive.
I've been on youtube alot lately for sharpening help, but nothing seems like I can do it very well. My main concern is maintaining a consistent angle without scratching up the blade.
It takes practice. For a while I stropped on fine sandpaper on top of an old-style rubber mousepad. Worked fine and mildly convexes the edge, giving me a slightly stronger, sharper edge with minimal steel removal.
Discover knife stropping
Knife Sharpening Boot Camp from same channel
I'm just very uncertain if it's worth spending over $100 on a knife if It'll perform exactly the same as a $50 knife.
Generally, it's not worth spending over $100 on a knife for most people.. A good combo of sharpenability, edge-holding, and ability to take a "good" edge along with the reliability of the lock, ease of use and cleaning, and ergonomics all play into the final price.
I would recommend if you want a better steel, look for the Sandvik steels like 14C28N or Japanese steels like VG-10, VG-1, etc. The 8Cr??MoV steels are all from China (as are the knives), and are equivalent to AUS-8A which is adequate for most users. I use 8CR14MoV and AUS8A often.
What I'm really looking for is something that uses a good steel, doesn't scratch up easily (or atleast isn't very noticable), that opens quickly, all within my budget. All of your advice has been very helpful as well as greatly appreciated.
All steel scratches, the harder (higher Rockwell) it is, the less likely it is to scratch, but generally only non-stainless steels, tool steels, and the newer "super-steels" are anywhere above 60. But they also generally are harder to sharpen. I wouldn't worry to much about it unless you want an EDC primarily for looks and secondarily for use.
Another option would be to do a stonewash on the blade using a common can, smooth stones, and a drying machine (without heat). Youtube has a number of tutorials on it. Simple metal polishing pastes work well too for smaller scratches. looks great and masks common small scratches quite well.
Opening quickly is partially technique, partially design. A Kit Carson flipper design (such as the M16/M21 series) will all open very quickly. The quicker, the less discreet in my experience. Many knives however do not deal well with being opened forcefully (which flippers/assisted opening knives do) and their components will wear at an accelerated rate.
The Ontario Rat I is a good choice, the lock is strong, steel and blade geometry is decent, handle is a touch slippery due to using FRN without heavy texturing but overall a good value. Due to the tension and sharp jimping on the liner my copy was a bit hard/uncomfortable to unlock, and I have never had that problem with any other knife.
I personally would go for the FRN-handled
Spyderco Delica or Endura, bit slower to unlock versus a liner, but a great EDC-able knife in a steel that is well-liked for its ease at taking a razor edge and sharpening. They should run you around 50-60 USD.
Your initial choice of
CRKT M16-?? beadblasted would work too, and has the liner-lock you are used to plus an additional "safety" blocking the linerlock from disengaging.
My personal super-light EDC is the
Kershaw Skyline, linerlock, not as strong as the others listed in this thread, but very lightweight, made in the USA, and within your budget and is easy to sharpen. The hollow-ground blade also helps in avoiding making scratches as you practice sharpening and is easy to get, literally, razor-sharp. Managed to shave some with mine and my facial hair is not particularly thick/easy to shave.
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