OK, I'll admit it, I bought a cheap knife

[J. MacDonald]

I bought a first run plain edge Japanese made Kershaw Vapor yesterday for less than $30.00. This knife was purchased specifically to be a cheap travel knife to go in a checked bag when flying. I wanted a cheapie because today's "don't lock your checked bag as we might have to search it" airline regulations makes trusting that a nice knife will make it to my destination an iffy proposition.

When I got the Vapor, the edge needed a bit of a touch up. A few minutes on the venerable Sharpmaker fixed it right up. I don't know what kind of edge comes on them normally as this one had been a demo at a local brick n mortar retail store for some time. All teh NIB ones were Taiwanese manufacture, so I chose to take the floor model instead. The AUS6 used in the Japanese version takes a sharp edge fairly easily which I expected from my experience with AUD8 in a couple Cold Steel Voyagers. The frame lock seems surprisingly solid considering the price.

Just to make sure that the Vapor isn't a total POS I've been using it around the house for chores today. I have to say that for this little money, I'm pretty impressed. It's certainly not a small Sebenza, but it seems to be a pretty capable basic knife. I've given a couple of the Taiwanese made Walmart specials as gifts, but never actually used one. As part of my chores today I did stuff like carve built up electrical tape off of my wire fish tape (used for pulling wires through walls) and breaking down a shipping carton that a filing cabinet came in (lots of cardboard to cut). After it all the Vapor is still fairly sharp, although no longer shaving sharp.

All in all, I think the Vapor is more knife than it has a right to be for this little money.

I will also mention that while I looked at a lot of inexpensive knifes yesterday (the local shop has the largest selection of production knives I've ever seen, and some customs too, Lucky me!) I was pretty disappointed in the CRKT offerings. Everyone I picked up had excessive blade play and the ones with LAWKS were the worst. I know that they have a lot of fans here, but to me it seems that their claim to fame is lots of collaborations with well known makers that look good in the display case, but upon closer examination are found wanting in execution.

After all the shopping, I will admit that I now think I probably have to add a Camillus EDC in Talonite to my modest collection. That seems like a pretty sweet little knife for the money. Of course if I got one from DDR, I could get it tip up....

Remember, these are just my opinions. You're welcome to your own.

jmx

 

[anthony cheeseboro]

I have to agree about the Vapor. it is a great knife for the money. I bought one just for the heck of it because it was only $19.95 or so at Wal-Mart. It is a great user that you can like but wouldn't cry if you lost it.

 

[MAURICE]

be sure to check out the new dozier collabs w/ ka-bar.
aus-8 blades,thumbstud,zytel scales, and lock back.

and they go for 20 bucks!

 

[Kennieyk]

I think a 20 dollar knife is a good knife to use. Its when you get those 10 knives for $8.99. thats cheap . or the knives on HSN where you get 200 knives for $129.00 I have a vapor i paid 20 bucks for and i love it for work, and if i lose it I wont be so Peed off
I lost a 45 dollar knife at work like a year ago ,. And i still look for it to this day!

 

[Steve-O]

I still carry my Sebenza to work every day, it's the only one I have and I'd hate to lose it...but it's great to have a knife that you don't have to worry about and only have to sharpen every couple months.

Don't get me wrong, I like to sharpen my knives...but by now I might have worn a lesser blade down to a nub. I always carry another less expensive blade that rarely gets used and I keep that one VERY sharp. That is my use for a less expensive knife.


Steve-O