Recommendation, tough construction worker knife

I have worked construction for secondary income as a teacher. Over the years I've done sheetrock, painting, plumbing and, for quite some time now, electrical. The CRKT Stubby Razel is the most useful construction knife I have found. It scrapes paint and old plumbers putty, is the answer to sorry mud work and is the perfect size and blade configuration for roughing in boxes (trimming back romex sheathing). It holds a blade for months and then sharpens easily for more months work. At about $25 it easy to keep a few for back ups. Passing one on to the builder is a relatively painless way to show you appreciate the work.
 
Excuse me. At about $25 it is easy... I don't want the English teachers who posted above to have to weigh in on this post.
 
Hopefully you just saved your money and bought 154cm or VG-10. Most production low carbide stainless is treated like garbage by manufactureres, so you can't really rely on them. The ultra high carbide PM steels are overhyped frauds. 154cm and VG-10 are probably best value for the money.
 
evosbu1 said:
Hopefully you just saved your money and bought 154cm or VG-10. Most production low carbide stainless is treated like garbage by manufactureres, so you can't really rely on them. The ultra high carbide PM steels are overhyped frauds. 154cm and VG-10 are probably best value for the money.
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I don't know, I have a delica with vg-10; It hold a decent edge, but no where near what my S30V PM2 can do.
 
stabman said:
Your statement is not backed up by testing.
Or by "real world" experience.
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Not by me because its been done by others and posted to the internet.

but that's probably not good enough for you, so how about this; only PM's I have are S30V, CPM Cruwear and ZDP-189, so give me a couple of thousand and I'll report back to you personally.
 
evosbu1 said:
Not by me because its been done by others and posted to the internet.

but that's probably not good enough for you, so how about this; only PM's I have are S30V, CPM Cruwear and ZDP-189, so give me a couple of thousand and I'll report back to you personally.
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I have knives with S30V (Para2), and ZDP-189 (Endura 4). I think they are both great steels. But I'm sure that's probably not good enough for you, so how about this; you give me a couple thousand, and I'll pick-up some CPM Cruwear, and some other "fraud" steels to take for a spin. Then I'll report back to you personally.
 
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evosbu1 said:
Not by me because its been done by others and posted to the internet.

but that's probably not good enough for you, so how about this; only PM's I have are S30V, CPM Cruwear and ZDP-189, so give me a couple of thousand and I'll report back to you personally.
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When you buy me 10 cars and trucks, I'll give you those knives. ;)

And posted to the internet? So is what I'm posting right now.
 
My friend has been using a Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite a lot at work lately.
Cut through a bunch of drywall with it a couple weeks back; it was a bit gritty in the pivot, but fine other than that.

The full sized Tuff Lite would probably be a good cheap construction knife for many people.
 
Lots of great suggestions. I still say dpx 2.0 toughknife. Also check k out the hest original or assault 2 models. They have a pry bar on the end of the handle. Great idea very handy solid knife. Good Sheath too. Can be mounted anywhere. I wear mine cross draw, scout style. Great tool
 
jfk1110 said:
Lots of great suggestions. I still say dpx 2.0 toughknife. Also check k out the hest original or assault 2 models. They have a pry bar on the end of the handle. Great idea very handy solid knife. Good Sheath too. Can be mounted anywhere. I wear mine cross draw, scout style. Great tool
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I agree. I love the Hest original, and the prybar is a great addition that I am surprised that I do not see on more knives because it would help lead to less broken tips from prying. At 3/16" thick, and 3.125" long (7.63" overall) it is a good size knife that is not too big, add in the extra tools on it, and you have a great knife.
 
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BK14 at around $35 is easily stashed in a tool belt, has no moving parts to get gummed up with saw shavings, plaster dust, concrete, fiberglass insulation or dirt as found on site. It shines up easy is tough as hell and 1095 cro van isnt stainless but close.
And no one on a job is going to look funny at a guy carrying a fixed blade.
 
I've been an electrician for 20 yrs and have carried a knife everyday. The best everyday hard use knifes that I have come across in those 20 yrs have been the coldsteel mini lawman and mini recon 1. Very tough knives, and can handle a beating. Love my benchmades, I have 11 of them but will not hold up to the use I put them through at work.
 
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