recomendation for the best quality EDC for under $300?

My nicest sub $300 knife by far is the Fantoni HB02. Fit and finish is excellent and it gives my small Sebenza a run for its money with its tight tolerances and buttery hydraulic action.
Really good buy at $235. I've got a Southard and an 801 and I love them both, but the Fantoni appears and feels better built than either. Mine post dye job:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1424534179.296399.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1424534222.718530.jpg
 
martinlutherbling said:
My nicest sub $300 knife by far is the Fantoni HB02. Fit and finish is excellent and it gives my small Sebenza a run for its money with its tight tolerances and buttery hydraulic action.
Really good buy at $235. I've got a Southard and an 801 and I love them both, but the Fantoni appears and feels better built than either. Mine post dye job:
View attachment 517310View attachment 517311
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That's a Harsey design!!! I'm about to pick one up, I love his fixed blades.
 
Any Spyderco Military! To my humble opinion this is the best production edc produced so far. (Although I must admit I am one of the few who carries strictly tip-down.) I am EDC'ing Millies in my right back-pocket for almost a decade now. Full flat 4" blade plus a very comfortable and ultimate carry-friendly extra large G10 handle weighing only 4.2 ounces... It doesn't get any better than that in my humble opinion.

The M390 and the S90V version are my favorites.
 
Scurvy092, I've never met anyone who broke an HTM... so I can't say I wouldn't recommend it because it wouldn't "hold up".

Truth be told, of the offerings so far in this thread, I've only seen a knife from one of the aforementioned manufacturers fail, and it was from Spyderco. My brother broke it. I've used a butt-load of knives in my day, and have only had one not "hold up", and the knife sold for a tenth of the price point we are discussing.

My opinion was that if I had 300 bux-ish and was hankering for a new knife, I wouldn't have a problem going the HTM route. If the OP doesn't like the idea because of what you think, that's his prerogative. I'm not here to steer the OP away from your suggestion because of what I think, however.

I like to offer up suggestions that differ from those already suggested in a thread. It's commonplace to see a "recommend me a knife" thread pop up with 30 replies, and end up with a list of a half-dozen knives. You get the Spyderco boys recommending a Southard or Military, a bunch of Sebenza recommendations, the myriad of ZT enthusiasts, and a guy who likes his Benchmade. Don't get me wrong, these are all fine suggestions. I'm just not the guy who likes to jump in as the 10th post that starts with ZT.

In the end, the thread asks for suggestions. I gave a suggestion, so did you. Is one of our suggestions the "Best Quality EDC for $300 ?" We can only state what's best for us... in our opinion... and hopefully the OP finds something that strikes his/her fancy.

I'm gonna keep buying 300 bux-ish knives until I find the best one for me though. Join me if you want.
 
MatthewSB said:
That's a Harsey design!!! I'm about to pick one up, I love his fixed blades.
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You should. My only knock is their CS. It's always tricky dealing with a foreign based company, and so far all of my emails (none regarding any issues with the knife, mind you) have gone unanswered. Just something to keep in mind.
 
Strapped on cash so below 250? With me strapped for cash means below 50. Sometimes 20. But yeah, Zero Tolerance. Good stuff.
 
If you like Benchmade and the size of the 585 Mini-Barrage try the new 484-1 with S90V & CF. It's a tough little folder with a lot of class.

484-1.jpg
 
Thanks for all of the great suggestions! i am seriously looking into the ZT 0562cf and the Southard as well.
 
Right now I'm loving the ZT 0562CF, but I also love the 940 and 940-1, the ZT 0566CF is a good one too, but I took the SpeedSafe spring out of mine. Personally, I find that ZT 0562CF awfully hard to beat -- no complaints about it.

Maybe you can build up a rotation? I'm sure you'll do that anyway, as most of us already have. ;)
 
Velitrius said:
Scurvy092, I've never met anyone who broke an HTM... so I can't say I wouldn't recommend it because it wouldn't "hold up".
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They're dull, the thumb studs bend, the fit and finish is terrible, the develop lock rock and they have abysmal customer service. There literally is not enough bad shit I could say about them. Feel free to click on the quote in my signature which is directly related to my experience with HTM.

I've owned tons of knives that were around $300, including a POS Gunhammer and I can confidently say that the 0801s110v is the best one I've handled.
 
Scurvy, I recall very well the sh!tstorm that led to your sig-line. This is precisely the reason I made my initial response to you in the manner in which I did. You obviously have a strong bias, and that's fine. Truth be told, there really isn't a lot of bad stuff you haven't said. Like I stated earlier, if the OP decides to avoid the suggestion I made based on your opinion, then that's his prerogative.

I've been acquainted with DDR since waaayyy back around Y2K when we all hung out on BFC chat. I have no issues with the man, his equipment, or his company. You do. I have biases against some of the manufacturers mentioned thus far... you don't. That's not enough for me to jump in and counter a recommendation of yours or anybody else's, though. Face it, with the gigantic array of cutlery and personalities willing to spend their money on it, we're going to end up with biases and personal accounts galore, from "Awesome" to "Abysmal".

In reality, the HTM suggestion was one of about a half dozen suggestions I could have given. I'm certain that no matter which one I posted, somebody out there would have some sort of bias against it, some sort of horror story to tell. That's no biggie to me though. Hell, I remember a dozen years ago or so we had threads where Sebenza critics and Sebenzanistas would square off. No brand or maker is safe, I suspect. You shoulda been there when the "Usual Suspects" were around, anxiously awaiting a bad review on an Emerson. Those were the days.

My recommendation stands. Your mileage may vary.
 
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