Definitely Byrds. They are nicer than many knives costing 3 or 4 times as much. Another option would be the Case Sodbuster or Sodbuster Jr. They're nice little, non-threatening, good looking slipjoints and can be had for less than $20. Case knives are very nice (most of them), and can be appreciated by non-knife people for their quality of workmanshp and the fact that they are not "tacti-cool". They're also American made, which is important to some.
You can get Case stuff much more easily than Byrd at retail. Ace Hardware carries Case, as does Lowes from time to time (low end models like the Sodbuster). I've only seen a couple Byrds retail, and those were at surplus stores or gun shops. Actually, I was at Lowes last night and I picked up a little Chinese, peanut pattern slipjoint with Stag handles for $13. It said bone on the package but I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that it's stag of some sort. I looked at it under a magnifying glass when I got it home and the very rough, nubby texture is real-I'm certain it's antler of some sort, it's not jigged. I've seen enough stag to know it when I see it. Pretty funny seeing the real thing being sold of as an imitation of itself. The knife itself is pretty nice for what I paid for it. Except for a couple poorly finished pins, it's perfect.
The Chinese are getting better at making knives every day.
