remington

[knarfeng]

No, 440A is a domestic steel. The Chinese have a stainless steel that is available to the manufacturers in Yiangjiang that they call 440. I don't know that it has much similarity chemically to the 440's we have here. It is a perfectly acceptable cutlery steel, usually hardened to around RC 57-58 and has decent corrosion resistance. The trend these days among American knife importers has been to use new designations like (number)cr(number)mov. Most of these steels are what the Chinese manufacturers call 440.

I should mention that a lot of great knives have been made in the U.S. with 440A. It is a perfectly competent blade steel.

All true, but I based my reply on the information on the Remington website:
http://www.remington.com/products/accessories/cutlery/fast_action_soft_touch_knives.asp

Their description says "440 SS". Who am I to call them liars, even if I do think they are fibbing?

I have blades in 440A and the current Chinese equivalent.
The performance is adequate for many uses as you say. Neither is equivalent to the edge retention of 440C.

 

[Teague]

I've got this knife and think it's a great one for the $s...

SOG SEAL Pup Elite with Kydex Sheath, SG-E37K

Specs

The SOG SEAL Pup Elite Knife features a 4.85" plain edge clip point bowie blade made of AUS8 stainless steel, .185" thick, with a Rockwell hardness of 57-58. The blade of this SOG knife has a satin finish and a blade spine rasp for notching, filing, and thumb placement. The finger grooved ergonomic black Zytel handle has a lanyard hole. A Kydex sheath is included. The SOG SEAL Pup Elite Knife with satin finished plain edge blade has an overall length of 9.5", and weighs 5.3 ounces.

If you shop around, you can usually find it for between $50 and $60.

 

[Gunfucius]

(To the original poster):

Sounds like what you want is either a Buck Omni 12-point (4" blade), or a Buck 119 Special (6" blade). You can get both at Wal-mart for $35.00. They are both American made as well. (I own both of them.)

Buck uses 420HC, which is a normally only a "pretty good" steel, but with Buck's heat treat, it is a great steel. Paul Bos oversees the heat treat of Buck's knives. Whatever you do, don't confuse 420HC with 420J2. The two are as different as night and day. *A little research will tell you how and why.

*I would tell you the how and why, but I don't feel like explaining it right now. You can start a thread on it here, though, and the guys will be more than happy to explain it to you.

 

[tholiver]

I picked one of these Remington's up yesterday.
22$ plus Tax.
Solid lockup, no lateral or horizontal blade play, framelock holds the blade tight when open.
Decent ergonomics, came hair shaving sharp out of the box.
Whether it will be easy to resharpen remains to be seen.

I bought this as a "beater" for summer carry.
My purchase was an impulse buy, for me it is a novel thing to be able to paw a knife before purchasing.
90% of my knife purchases have been done via mailorder and the internet.
I've been collecting knives for over 20 years and have around a hundred or so all together including folders and fixed blades.
Folders mostly Victorinox and some Spyderco's, Schrades, SOGs, Bucks, Leatherman etc. Fixed blades -Blackjack, Buck,Ka-bar, Western, Moras etc.

This is the first remotely "tactical" looking knife i've bought.
Mostly i carry Victorinox, Leathermans or Bucks.
Around these parts there are only 2 or three stores that carry any non-kitchen knives.
You've got a choice of 3 or 4 Buck knives, 3 or 4 Victorinox and 3 or 4 Leathermans, thats about it.
Oh yeah and the million cr*ppy Mtech that are floating around, some priced well above what i paid for this Remington.
This Remington beats those mtechs hands down. Its not a Spyderco but for that price i didn't expect it to be.
I know there are better economy brands available (like Byrd) but you simply don't see those around here.
If they had Byrds in the case right next to the Remington i'd probably be pawing a Cara Cara or Raven right now.
Hopefully Byrd knives will eventually trickle down to the retailers in these parts.
As it is i don't think the Remington is such a bad knife at all.
As a long as you can inspect it before you buy you'll have yourself a decent beater.
And its definitely better than some of the really cheap junk thats floating around.
In summary its not a Spyderco/Benchmade but then you won't get a Spyderco/Benchmade for a little over 20$.
Really in essence the Remington's just a modestly priced and decent beater or starter/first knife.

 

[mp510]

If you want an inexpensive fixed blade , the Buck Diamondback series is good for the price. These are imported but are very nice and sell for around $20. I have a small one, I use it for cutting cardboard or light work in the garden.

Buck also has the Omni Series , they're made in the US and go for around $35 and up.

I have a diamondback guide- it's a good knife, and stands up to abuse well enough. It's an import model, but it comes with the same warranty as Buck's domestic offerings. The sheath is good quality too.

The Ontario Spec series knives (I have a SPEC-101) are also very solid, affordable fixed blades. Also made overseas. I abuse mine alot in the woods, and I have to say- it is my go to hiking/ camping fixed blade. The sheath is so-so, but stands up well enough (ballistic nylon with a plastic insert).

Then there's the Frost's of Sweden (NOT FROST CUTLERY) Mora knives. You can buy those online for $10 to $12 each. They are available with carbon steel blades. Traditional and modern patterns. I am partial to the Clipper- the only downside to that model is that the factory sheath sucks- I bought a aftermarket from On Scene Tactical that cost twice what the knife did/ Some of their traditional models come with leather sheaths, or used to at least.