Who does carbon steel blades the best in production knives under $100?

timsclips · Dec 30, 2012

Okay, this has been discussed before but not lately. If you wanted to buy a carbon steel all around knife from a production manufacturer whose would you buy? Becker, Ontario, Condor or some other? Are Tops or Esee actually better in their heat treat? What is your opinion?

BRab · Dec 30, 2012

Just in terms of performance of the steel I would have to say Scrap Yard knives, both SR-77 and SR-101 by them are excellently heat treated.

Ramil839 · Dec 30, 2012

BRab said:
Just in terms of performance of the steel I would have to say Scrap Yard knives, both SR-77 and SR-101 by them are excellently heat treated.

+1,Busse's heat treat is amazing from what i hear,I dont know about under 100$ part but if you want quality its ^.

Chris Pierce · Dec 30, 2012

If you consider everything, including price. I'd say that mora or condor are at the top of my list. But you you're not concerned with price, or ability to cut (it seems most folks prefer "toughness" to cutting ability) then yes I think that Scrap Yard is the way to go. To be honest though I'm not very familiar with the SY's offerings so maybe they do offer a nice thin blade for cutting.

Of course there are lots of in-between knives as well. I'm a big fan of my Carbon V Master Hunter with the distal taper and thin edge. I don't know when they made this particular model, but the newer ones are thick and not very good at all. Queen also makes some very good D2 belt knives. I know that D2 won't give you as nice a patina as steels with less Chromium, but it is still a carbon steel.

EDIT: I did not see the $100 stipulation before. That may exclude many of the Scrap Yard offerings.

PharaohX3 · Dec 30, 2012

Take a closer look at ESEE. ScrapYard are cool but there aren't many under $100. You simply cant go wrong with ESEE though.

Bob W · Dec 30, 2012

timsclips said:
Okay, this has been discussed before but not lately. If you wanted to buy a carbon steel all around knife from a production manufacturer whose would you buy? Becker, Ontario, Condor or some other? Are Tops or Esee actually better in their heat treat? What is your opinion?

You're just looking for a good example of that steel?
Great Eastern is using 1095 as an option on their pocketknives. Quality is excellent and their knives are freakin' beautiful! Not a large knife for chopping trees, but a good size for all-around chores, hiking, and EDC to work.

I also have knives in my collection from Condor, ESEE, and Becker that you mentioned. Condor is best if you need to stay under $30, otherwise they're finished a bit more crudely than the others. Of course you pay for the difference. Becker has molded handles that I find comfortable even if they are a bit 'plastic-y'. ESEE probably have the most 'grippy' handles with the canvas micarta.

TwinStick · Dec 30, 2012

BK&T
Ka-Bar
Ontario
Condor Tool & Knife

bdmicarta · Dec 31, 2012

timsclips said:
Okay, this has been discussed before but not lately. If you wanted to buy a carbon steel all around knife from a production manufacturer whose would you buy? Becker, Ontario, Condor or some other? Are Tops or Esee actually better in their heat treat? What is your opinion?

My choice would be based more on size, configuration and blade material than it would be based on heat treat. Heat treat might not even be a consideration. Most manufacturers under $100 compromise their hardness in order to provide toughness in the knife, and I would be looking for toughness. If I didn't care about toughness then I would buy stainless steel. But I've also noticed that some manufacturers of less expensive knives use 1095 steel and others use lesser steels such as 1084(?). I would prefer 1095 although maybe that doesn't make much difference either.

I find that Becker has a style, ESEE has a slightly different style, and TOPS has lots of different styles. I would be happy to buy knives from any of them and intend to do so.

GarnetandBlack · Dec 31, 2012

I think a bit of the probem is putting the cap at $100. IMHO, a lot of the best options don't start to open up until right at or a tad over the 100 mark.

Put another way, I don't think many of the options available under $100 are quite worth it (certainly a few though come to mind) considering the fantastic quality you can pickup at only a marginal price increase.