What is the best Pocket knife you can get for $50?

I have the vantage pro as well as the Rat 1 & 2 and a USA made Schrade LB7 (buck 110 clone) . All great knives. I carried the, 2 as an EDC for a long time. Now, my victorinox spartan gets most of my EDC time. Its non threatening, super versatile, and takes a keen edge. It's also the cheapest of the lot. For pure bad assery though, the Vantage Pro rocks. I just find myself carrying the Swiss army more.
 
Ontario rat1 or rat2 depending what size you want. I pair mine with Swiss Army knife Alox Cadet. You can almost get both knives for $50.
 
dryflytrout said:
I sharpen freehand on a Norton JB8 because many people in the sharpening forum here told me that was the stone I wanted. And I want to learn to sharpen freehand obviously. I have a few Bucks, a Mora, a Kershaw in 8CR13MOV, and some mystery steel knives. I can get them all kinda sharp so far. The only one I've been able to get sharp enough to shave hair off my arm is the 8CR13MOV Kershaw. I would really like something in D2 but I worry I won't be able to get it very sharp until I gain more experience.
I know 8CR13MOV isn't the best steel or even near the top of list but in my experience it is easy to learn on. It's also inexpensive enough that if something guess wrong it's not the end of the world. So I really like your suggestion of that steel.
Until OP gets a couple of knives he won't want to send it out to be sharpened. I also doubt he would want to send a less expensive knife for sharpening too often, as it wouldn't take long at all to surpass the cost of the itself just in shipping. It's really something he should learn to do IMO. Because what good is a dull edge or a knife that is your only knife but you don't have it right now because it's shipped out somewhere.
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I completely agree, the Kershaw 8Cr13MoV is prety good and very easy to get an edge with. Lapedog mentioned a CCQ-6K, that's a nice knife. Size and weight are good, a bit on the piggy side, I make it about 5-6 oz from memory, but I like it. I have been liking the chisel CQC-8K a bit more lately however, it may just be a passing phase but it's sure neat to only worry about sharpening one side! All I need is the side of a mug and my leather belt which has the green chromium oxide strop paste on it :D

The Ontario RAT AUS-8 likewise is easy as well. And similarly not too costly.

To compare the two, the RAT is lighter, I reckon the grind makes the blade sharper, even though the steels are quite similar in some respects

You can't make too many expensive mistakes at this price point, RAT or Kershaw or Victorinox etc.. Whatever floats your boat.
 
I skipped through reading most of the replies so I may be echoing what someone else as mentioned, but I'd suggest a Buck 301 if you're looking for something a bit more traditional. They're a great overbuilt stockman that should last you a long, long time.
 
Steve6387 said:
I have the vantage pro as well as the Rat 1 & 2 and a USA made Schrade LB7 (buck 110 clone) . All great knives. I carried the, 2 as an EDC for a long time. Now, my victorinox spartan gets most of my EDC time. Its non threatening, super versatile, and takes a keen edge. It's also the cheapest of the lot. For pure bad assery though, the Vantage Pro rocks. I just find myself carrying the Swiss army more.
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I carry both, one in my right pocket, the other in the left, and for good measure, a Victorinox Manager in my watch pocket. They complement each other. Not a day passes when I don’t find a use for one, another, or all.
 
Ontario Utilitac II would be my choice for a "pocket knife" under $50. Or RAT 1, which is slightly longer.
 
RK2543 said:
I was looking for my first pocket knife and i all i saw was a lot CCC.I wanted a good pocket for $50 that would last.
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I have a RAT Model 1, an ESEE Avispa Framelock, and a CRKT Onion Ripple. All in good to excellent condition, come with boxes, etc.

Assuming you are in the CONUS, pick one, cover priority postage, and agree to help another newbie get started someday, and it's yours.

Drop me an email: strongmanbob{at}gmail.com and let me know if you wish to proceed. No hurt feelings if this is not of interest.
 
Kershaw Link 1776: Best knife I own under $50.00.... it's even better than some of my more expensive knives.
This is an awesome work-knife, easy flipper one-hand open, great edge, easy sharpen. What's not to love about this knife?
 
My number one choice in the $50 and under price range is the Victorinox Pioneer SAK. You can get the basic model for maybe $25-$30 or so, and there are MANY uses for it beyond just cutting things.

Jim
 
Go for an used knife ? Would I be in the minority to recommend a Chinese knife from Aliexpress? Hehehehehehehe
 
Ontario RAT Model 1. The D2 steel is obviously better (harder to re-sharpen, but you won't have to re-sharpen it as often) but the AUS-8 steel is not bad either. Followed by Spyderco Tenacious. Very solid knives. Personally, I'd recommend the RAT over the Tenacious because I think for less money, you're getting slightly better blade steel. Just seems to be slightly better value for money. But I recommend either one.

From my own experience, I'd say the AUS-8 on my RAT Model 1 is slightly better than the 8Cr13MoV on my Spyderco Tenacious, which in turn is noticeably better than the 8Cr14MoV on my Kershaw Emerson CQC-6K. The CQC is well-made and very nice indeed, but the blade steel just killed it for me. Dulled pretty much as soon as I started using it. Wasn't impressed with the build quality on other Chinese-made Kershaws I handled... Would prefer a Victorinox Swiss Army knife as a more dependable alternative.

I'm sure you have more to choose from where you're located than me, though. I doubt the Steel Will Cutjack will ever make it to Singapore. If it does, I'll be sure to grab one. Then maybe it'll be my new recommendation. So yeah, just take my post as additional support for the Spyderco Tenacious and particularly the Ontario RAT Model 1.
 
The two absolute best knives I can think of that fit your budget are the Spyderco Tenacious and the Buck 110. A few others worth mentioning are the Kershaw Leek, Buck Vantage, and CRKT Shenanigan.
 
"The best knife for $50 or less" is a near impossible question to answer for someone else. For me, it's generally a Victorinox swiss army knife. You can do pretty well choosing within the Spyderco line. The Delica is one of my favorites and most recommended, but it tends to cost a tad over $50.
 
I also agree that for a beginner D2 is not a great steel to learn to sharpen on.

Steels like Aus-8 and 8cr13mov were much easier for me to learn to get sharp when I was forst starting out. With some experience D2 becomes easier to sharpen but Aus8 was the first steel I was able to put a screaming edge on.
 
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