New Knifes for low cost

R

Regurd

Joined
Jul 31, 2013
Messages
8
Hey,

I'm looking for at least one knife to buy. I am looking for a knife to replace my general purpose camping/box opening/letter opening/rough and tumble knife. I'm not a fan of the plastic casing on the handle. I'd like some sort of metal handle. I've looked at CRKT knives, and they look pretty nice. I have a couple things I know I want, sleek, assist-open (my current knife is my first assist-open and I love it), and lockback. I see so much linerlock that I'm curious if there is a reason to go with linerlock rather than lockback. I've always had lockback or slip joint knives. I also would love to have a blade that is sharp and stays sharp.

I'm also curious about metals, 440C seems like the most common for my price range. Is there any metals you would recommend? Or anything to comment about metal types/hardnesses, I'm pretty knew to this whole thing so I don't have a feeling for whats what.

I also am interested in owning a cheap knife or two that I'd probably just keep for fun. I'm interested in knives that don't do the standard flip (or OTF I suppose) open. Paratrooper, flim flam, that sort of thing.

I think in total, I don't want to spend much more than $50. If I only have to get the nicer knife (not-novelty) then I'm alright with it. Feel free to break some of my requirements, ya'll know more than me. Just saying what I have learned and what I think I want. One thing for sure, I'd like to stray away from more militaristic looking knives. Not a gentleman folder necessarily, just something that doesn't look like I'm ready to go to war.

Oh, my previous clip on my knife would always bend back on door frames and other things, any tips on that? To carry a assist-open legally I need to have a clip, and I'd rather one that stays on my pocket firmly.
 
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could i persuade you to buy an opinel?
because together,
it's one knife
that would grow old comfortably with you.
it doesn't matter if you are 15 or 65
as it never looks out of place,
for
whatever the occasion.
it remains a classic functional knife
that is infinitely worthy because of it's simplicity
it would be a complete and utter joy
to be able to journey and experience life's greatest cutting moments
with just such a fine and traditional lifelong pocket companion.
in the end, it's not about fads but time tested delivery.
 
A.G. Russel has a cheap Ti frame lock that looks well worth the money. Go to their website.
 
Zero Tolerance.

I was once like you, sticking to under $50 until I met the Zero Tolerance knives and never looked back since. Some day soon, you will realize $50 will become $200 to $300 per knives and that you're actually ok with such prices.
 
Do you require a pocket clip? If not, you might consider a Buck. Going from larger to smaller blade size - a model 110, 112 or 55. All can be found for $35 or less.
 
if you can bump your price from 50 to 65 you can get the Kershaw knockout from usamadeblade and that includes shipping. the knockout has 14c28n steel which is much better then 440c in every way. it also comes with an all aluminum handle which is very solid and the sub-frame lock works very well. the speedsafe assist is really nice on it as well and fires quickly with both the flipper and thumb studs. If you don't want to spend the extra then I will second the Kershaw Cryo its a nice knife for the price
 
If you can bump up your budget a few bucks, the CRKT Swindle. They aren't AO, but the pivot is so smooth you will think so. The pocket clip is much different than others, so snagging it won't be an issue, and it's a frame lock. You will love this knife.
 
If 440C is what you're after, I think you'd struggle to find a better Heat Treat than Boker, it's practically all they use. Some of the cheaper knives can come out with wonky edge grinds, but overall, I really rate their HT. In many ways 440C is still a benchmark for stainless knife steels. Other steels may outperform in individual areas, but overall, corrosion resistance, toughness, edge holding, ease of sharpening, price etc. There's very little that totally blows it out of the water and it's been around for so long now, that there's a lot of people who can squeeze the best out of the Heat Treat.
 
Spend some time perusing AG Russell's website, they have quite a few models that might interest you. Also, something from Boker might tempt you.
 
Look at kershaw,no need for zero tolerance, they qre bulky.

many great knives under $50.

When you evolve as a hobbyist you can upgrade.
 
What is your current knife and what size blade are you looking for?

Kershaw assisted knives are always a hit with people that aren't into knives or just starting to get into them.

Other than Kershaw, I would also recommend the Sog Twitch 2 or Twitch 2 XL since they have metal handles and feel a little heavier too.
 
My current knife is a Buck Quickfire (gifted to me because the gifter had it engraved with his company logo). In terms of blade length, looking for anything between 3 1/2 (maybe a touch higher) to 2 3/4 inches.

I'm curious, where is blade length measured? The length of the actual edge, or to the handle?

Yeah, Kershaw is looking nice. The Cryo and a couple other knives I just looked at had 8Cr13MoV steel, how does this compare?

CRKT has a lot of designs that appeal to me, such like the Swindle, I suppose I'd need to feel it in my hand first before I am sold on its non-AO swing.

The Sog Twitch look nice, definitely in the right style for what I'm looking for.
 
Cold Steel Pocket Bushman. All steel construction, great steel for the money (German-produced 4116 by ThyssenKrupp), wicked sharp 4.5" blade out of the box, and the closest thing to a fixed blade you're going to find anywhere. Regular Internet pricing? $25.
 
I love my Cryo. The 8Cr13MoV takes a fantastic edge, but it doesn't hold it nearly as long as 14C28N or VG-10. If you want to bump up your price to 60 I'd recommend the Spyderco Endura. This knife can take pretty much every normal knife task you throw at it. It has FRN handles, not metal that you want. In my opinion, anyone who automatically excludes FRN, G10, etc simply hasn't had the opportunity to see how awesome they are
 
Regurd said:
8Cr13MoV steel, how does this compare?
Click to expand...

8cr13mov is quite similar to 440c, although it may be closer to 440b (less carbon than 440c). In the < $50 range, 8cr13mov will perform very similar to 440c. You would need to be very precise and calculated in your use of each steel to tell the difference. With equally good heat treat, 440c may outperform 8cr13mov as far as edge retention goes, while 8cr13mov might be slightly more corrosion resistant due to lower carbon content. That is just my understanding, anyone feel free to add on/correct me
 
You could do worse than this knife--for under $40 you can find the Buck Vantage Avid, a sweet little 3.25" flipper with a Sandvik 13c26 blade:

tQ3O7ik.jpg


I have the "nicer" S30V version as well, but prefer the cheaper model. IMO the Dymondwood scales feel better than the G10, and it's a really solid feeling little knife, it doesn't feel cheap or plastic-ey at all.

If you want multiple knives and don't mind buying Chinese, you could also get a whole set of Bee/Enlan/SRM knives for your budget. Or get the Vantage Avid above and with the money left over from your $50 you'd still have plenty left over for any of my favorites of the cheapies for something fun, like maybe this L-01 wood scaled tanto:

6tVjIbq.jpg
 
T.L. said:
8cr13mov is quite similar to 440c, although it may be closer to 440b (less carbon than 440c). In the < $50 range, 8cr13mov will perform very similar to 440c. You would need to be very precise and calculated in your use of each steel to tell the difference. With equally good heat treat, 440c may outperform 8cr13mov as far as edge retention goes, while 8cr13mov might be slightly more corrosion resistant due to lower carbon content. That is just my understanding, anyone feel free to add on/correct me
Click to expand...

8cr13mov is a Chinese produced steel analogous to AUS8. Rusts pretty easily from experience but if you keep it oiled it'll be fine. Beware of it in bead blast, that's gonna rust if you even say the word water around it.


To suggestions I have experience with:

CRKT - Ripple, Ignitor, Endorser, Swindle, Hissatsu, Heiho
Kershaw - Clash, Kuro, OSO Sweet, Leek, Scallion, Asset, Tremor, Echelon, Burst, Blur, Knockout, etc. (the list goes on there)



I really wouldn't advise against limiting yourself so much. Assisted openers are fun but IMO not as practical as a smooth manual deployment. You get similar speeds opening and way faster closing. Also, the locking mechanism shouldn't be much of a worry unless you're doing some serious hard use or plan on it being a tactical blade. Lockback, framelock, liner lock. It all works well when you avoid the cheaply made, no value knives. Food for thought, YMMV.
 
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