The Loveless DPH is one of my favorite patterns, and one of the most copied. There are a lot of good choices out there in your price range, but you may have to do a little looking.
One fairly inexpensive version can be had from Beretta, who made a run of knives with Bob's blessing and input about 10 years ago. These are still available for around $100 and are a very good knife for the money. Gerber also did a run of this pattern. I have used the Beretta knives; one has permanent residence in my kitchen.
Bob was perhaps an even more accepted maker in Japan, and attracted quite a following with Japanese makers. In the late 1960's there started to be a number of handmade knifes fo quality coming from those shops. One of the better makers (my opinion) was Koji Hara, who has since moved on to his own designs and style, but made knives in Loveless patterns both as custom and production work. You can find his production blade fairly easily (usually marked Seki, and often with secondary markings) if you look, and they are still fairly cheap. Likewaise his custom work can be had, although it take more patience and will cost more.
WC Davis has been making knives on this pattern for a long time, and does a very nice job. They're very "old school" and reasonably priced. Even better, you can find used ones at great prices if you're lucky; I picked up a skinner for less than $200 18 months ago. I've carried this blade on a trip to Alaska and several other trips. It's one of my favorite
go to knives when I'm headed into the woods.
There are a couple makers on this board I'd recommend you look at also. Marcus Lin (flatgrinder) does a very good job on Bob's patterns; you can see a fair amount of his work on this board with little effort. Tim Hartman (thartman) has made a few knives for me over the past few years, and his prices are definitely in your range. Here's a new one he just sent out in CPM 154 and desert ironwood. Cost was $250, a flat out bargain.
I have half a dozen of the bigger, more expensive, names in my collection; but for what you're looking at, the above is my recommendation.
:thumbup:
