Your most underrated/under-appreciated knife?

B

Basher313

Joined
Jun 4, 2012
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You know the knife you carry and use all the time or have carried for years, but don't give a second thought to? The one constantly in your rotation that you've had seemingly forever, but which you almost always overlook or neglect, yet it still keeps ticking?

For me, it's this little Vic Classic that's been on my keychain the better part of a decade, if not more. The tweezers and toothpick are LONG since gone (funny story on how I lost the tweezers, but for a different time), but I'm constantly using the little guy to open letters, packages, cut tape, I use the scissors to trim small strings or threads, and the file gets used on everything from fingernails to staple heads to JB Weld. It's beat all to heck, but it keeps right on trucking, and probably will forever. And the funny thing is, I don't really give it a second thought, but there it is, soldiering on each day with my keys, waiting to fulfill it's purpose.

So, what about the rest of BF? What's your most under-appreciated daily carry user?

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I have two that I would have a very hard time choosing one over the other. SAK Pioneer and Case Sodbuster Jr. The Case I purchased myself, and the Pioneer was a Christmas gift from my son when he was fifteen. If it came down to a choice, I would have to choose the Pioneer my son gave me because of its sentimental value.
 
Victorinox Tinker and Leatherman PST.

I have had both since I was a kid on scouts. Both and great and both still used and carried occasionally but for the most part have been replaced.
 
I carry some more than others, but I try to give each one some pocket time so I don't hurt their feelings. I take all of my knives for granted, but now that I'm decent at touching up the blades, I take more care with them. I really took the Spyderco Gayle Bradley for granted, didn't realize it until it was too late that I'd let it get to a dullness beyond my sharpening skills. It definitely is unappreciated, but you can only expect a knife to work well so long before you need to take care of it.
 
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It probably would have been a benchmade small summit lake I was considering giving it to my dad but he's been a die-hard SAKman for 30-some years now.
 
Any of my Rough Riders. I find it shocking how many people think you have to spend at least $50 ~ $60 to get a good knife.
My Rough Riders rival knives costing 3 times or more, in fit, finish, out of the box sharpness, and edge holding.
 
I have a plain edged Spyderco Lil Matriarch that makes an amazing edc. I think the design gets kind of pigeon holed as a SD knife but I find mine extremely useful for my normal everyday tasks.

 
^^ I want one of those. I use my Tasman SE all the time, and it's freaking awesome. :D

This is the one I grab when I don't want to beat the crap out of the others. Lol.
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It does everything well, aside from being exciting/fun.
 
Opinel.

I have several carbon Opinel knives.

People tend to turn up their noses at them and in general give them s**t (even on knife forum for some reason).

Mine get very sharp and slice like mad. I couldnt be happier with them.

At the ridiculous price one can buy several Opinel knives and mod them. Ive cut some of mine down and given them the vinegar treatment.
 
The Delica. Every time I carry it and rediscover it a little I always think "why do I need other knives?". The Delica also changed my perspective/philosophy on knives 8 times the cost.
 
Basher, I gotta agree with you. Of all the knives I have and have had, the little classic on the keyring has probably done more cutting on more odd things than many of my 'other' knives that get the glory. I've collected customs including a small amount of Randall's, and I've found that two things happen. One is, the bigger the knife the less it gets carried, (especially fixed blades) and the more expensive a knife the less bang for the buck you get. But the little keychain SAK's have to be the top of the heap in a tiny bang for the buck package. You get knife blade, scissors, little screw driver that works great on small phillips screws, tweezers and toothpick. The tweezers work great for a getting a sticker out from between the dogs paws. Not bad on splinters in a human finger either. All for the price of a lunch at a Panera bread or sandwich shop. Drop in the lifetime Victorinox warrantee and you can't beat that with a stick.

On top of that, you not only get sheep acceptance, but they actually love them. I've got some non knife people in the family, and a few of them are the "Hey, can I borrow your knife?" kind of people. So one Christmas I gave out a whole slew of classics as stocking stuffers to them. They loved the little classic and did really put them on their key rings. A few of them lost them to the TSA over the next year or two while traveling as they forgot to take it off the leyring before going to the airport. When they got back, they actually did go get another one as they missed having it. I can only conclude that the DSAK classic is the Giddeons Bibble of knifes. A gateway drug of sorts.

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Bottom one shows blade loss from 20 years of use and sharpening. Still works though.
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Buck Bantum BLW (camo of course). It's light, has a great size and doesn't take a lot of work to keep sharp. For the money, I think that one flies under the radar for sure. Definitely a great beater...
 
Mine is a bit of a departure from what's been offered so far, but this is an easy one for me.

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It's my most-carried small fixed-blade, a Bark River Micro Drop Point. Two-inch blade, 50-100, fat handle, only one run made (2009), could be had for under a hundred bucks. Easily as useful as any knife I've ever owned.

For the record, a Victorinox Classic lives on my key ring as well. ;)

Tom @ KnivesShipFree
 
Mine is a Vic Executive --- carried it for 29 years. I've used every tool (even the orange peeler) but especially the small blade, scissors and toothpick.
 
Great responses so far, folks, keep 'me coming!

I'll chime in on a few of your comments. First off, while I don't currently own one, the delicate is what turned me on to quality knives. Previous to my purchasing one back in 2011, I'd used either an old CRKT M16-03Z I bought when I was 14 (and wore out over the following 7 years of hard use), or a cheap S&W SWAT tanto combo edge folder my mother gave me. Both pretty cheap, but hard working knives. Enter the Delica. While not super expensive, it was the most I'd spent on a knife up to that time, and the quality (and sharpness!) was amazing! Thus, I started to buy other Spydercos, and then tried other makes. It truly was an amazing value, and quite the "gateway knife!"

And I've heard nothing but good about Opinels, actually. So much so, that I'm tempted to try one out myself! Inexpensive, yes, but everybody says they take a wicked edge and are great slicers. :)

Jackknife, that keychain sheath for your SAK is a brilliant idea! I've never seen one before, but may have to get one for myself.
Lastly, the variety of knives mentioned is refreshing. From an Opinel, to the little SAK, all the way up to a Griptilian or Tom's gorgeous BRK Micro (that thing looks like fun! I want one now, haha!), it just goes to show that cost isn't a factor, but rather what everybody prefers and finds most useful. :)
 
Basher, this is a great idea for a thread. I'm enjoying it as well. :cool:

As a bonus, I was able to use your Kroger tag this morning to get 40 cents off on gas. :D

Tom @ KnivesShipFree
 
Basher313 said:
Jackknife, that keychain sheath for your SAK is a brilliant idea! I've never seen one before, but may have to get one for myself.
Click to expand...

Basher, the problem with all keychain knives is, they are attached to the keys. A PITA when actually using the knife. Triple PITA when that knife also has tool that pivot at each end of th knife. So, I had a scrap of medium leather and wet formed it to the classic. I made it to swallow the whole classic, leaving only the keyring as a handle to pull it ut by. It changed the whole concept of the keyring knife. Now instead of having to juggle a bunch of keys, or detaching it from the keyring, I just grab the keyring and pull the classic out of the sheath and use whatever tool I need at the moment. With some light to medium leather and some good waxed linen thread, it took about 15 minutes to make. Once in a while if it gets too lose, Ijust take the classic out at night and soak the sheath in warm water, squish flat and let dry overnight. In the boring it's nice and snug again.

Here it is in sheath. By making it deep enough to take the whole knife, it also saves it from banging around on keys and stuff in pocket.
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