At what price point would you consider a knife to be decent?

I got some Victorinox and Dexter Russel that were less than 10 bucks that I use almost every day.
Folder, I'd say like $30 (SAK) though I do have some Opinel and vintage slips.
Fixed, I have two knives that were less than $10 that are actually ok (CRKT and Frost). I also have one that I bought for $17.
I don't look at price as much as I check where or who made it. I think that's a better sign of quality.

BTW, I used to be a knife snob until I read the cheap knife thread here and got turned on to some inexpensive steel.
Now, I'm kinda proud to use some tendollah crap that works really well!
 
Need more info. What will it Be used for? I would need to spend 30 on an edc folder/user. 50 plus on a woods user/beater. 5 on a last resort SD only.
 
I know Enlan is usually frowned upon on here as they are a budget Chinese brand tied to Sanrenmu but I paid literally $3.50 for a small little knife that shockingly is my best whittler and I'd really hate to lose it.
 
A decent knife........
Do you want a blade that will reasonably hold an edge?
Do you want the blade to have corrosion resistance?
What type of lock for the blade or is slip joint OK.
I usually expect to pay $30-$59.
Ontario Knife hit the mark with the Rat1 Rat 2.
 
It is not about the price but about the knife ;)

For example on folders I have experienced: The Ruike 801, the manly wasp, any victorinox SAK or opined, the civivi elementum, etc... are all affordable and completely fine

the question of the value for the money is really to be considered individually for each knife

what higher price is supposed to bring is better material, better experience and/or specific application requirements...

for my budget / personal tastes / daily use, anything above the BM bugout or the Spyderco basic para3/PM2 is part of the hobby and bring less value for the cost

I enjoy premium brands for the experience but Seriously a SAK paired with any of the above knives would be perfect for me
 
Knife "decency" is not determined solely by the price. Some knives may be very good for the price, while others may be garbage that's just over priced. Price is just one component to consider when considering a knife.
 
Decent would equate to something like an 8-year-old Toyota Carolla that was owned by some baby-boomer that took care of it and parked it in a garage - that kind of "decent".
You're not going to impress your friends with how flashy it is, it won't in any "Fast and Furious wannabe races", it get's decent gas mileage but won't win any awards for it, it lacks all the gee-wizz gismos...that type of "decent".
A simple folder that takes an edge easily - holds it for simple everyday stuff - has a lock that holds reasonably well -
 
The "Why" is pretty simple.
I jumped off the big name knife merry-go-round some years back.
I was into the "knife snob" thing pretty deep.
I carried only Benchmade or Gerber or Boker - and for a while CRKT (as a beater type - but- much to my surprise, they worked well ---this was 20 years ago though)

I found that my Benchmade knives didn't hold up well at all. Two of mine actually & literally - fell apart.

I'm just wondering how good the lower end stuff has become.
Someone above mentioned a thread about cheap knives - maybe that would be the place to look.
Is there a link to that?
 
I judge the merit of a knife not by the price but rather the piece itself. They’re good and bad knives at all price levels. Last week I ordered two knives from Bucks web specials only to see what they’re like for myself. One was $12 and the other $15. Both made in Idaho USA.
 
The Opinel on my desk is $17. The Vic Spartan on my belt is $22. The Vic Rambler on my keychain is $24.
 
At this point, it's probably around the hundred dollar mark or more unless it's one of the well known budget knives like an Ontario RAT or something along those lines. I have waaaaayyyyy more knives than I'll ever be able to actually use in my lifetime, so when I buy new knives these days, it's going to be something specific that I collect (like SAKs, Olamics, or Great Easterns) or else a neat design that I'm interested in, made in materials I'm familiar with like CF, Ti, and steels like S35vn.
 
When i was in the marine corps any knife you didn’t end up loosing was considered decent, i’d say 95% of the dudes had a knife and we referred to them as MRE openers. we might of had the occasional cut of 550 cord but mostly used for MREs and cleaning nails when waiting for the next task. I sometimes used my knife to scrape the built up carbon off my bolt carrier.

in afghanistan i won $150 off a game of poker and treated myself to a spyderco, no clue what it was called. ended up losing it a few days later. clip retention on cammies is horrible. doesn’t matter the knife.

ended up getting a $20 gerber that didn’t have a pocket clip and shoved it in my breast pocket, still magically have it today. chips in the blade and all.

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I still have a handful of Tramontina paring knives I got for $3 each in the 90s. They cut anything I need them to.

The now $200 10-inch Wusthof Chef’s Knife has long been my kitchen workhorse. I’ve had a few of them. Plus the extra wide version. I bought two factory seconds in the late 80s.

On the other hand, my $800 custom Laconico EZC beats everything else I have for carry.

The best paring knife I have is a handmade custom specced Niolox and Olive wood beauty that was $300 all in.

My favorite utility blade is a NOS carbon steel vintage French Butcher’s knife that was $38.

Horses for courses.
 
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You can find a decent knife at almost any price point, it's just that the less money you want to spend the harder you'll have to look. If you're will to do a lot of research and compromise on some features you may want you can almost certainly find something relatively well made for around $10. But if you're willing to spend $100 there are going to be a world of options available to you and, I would venture to say, the decent knives will outnumber the junky ones.
 
Everyone's idea of "decent" is going to be different. Probably the cheapest knife I've had that I thought was really nice for the price was CS Prolite Sport. Can get them for like $25 and they really impressed me, but the blade was longer than I am willing to carry for legal reasons. My current EDC is a CS Grik which is only a bit more (~$30-35) and works great for me.
 
Forgot about the Vic paring knives:thumbsup: - I think I’ve seen them for like $6 or $7.
Zyliss steak knife which could be an ok paring or utility knife is $2 from their web site. More than adequate to cut stuff and therefore "decent."

Agree with others that this question is too broad to answer. Decent for what? EDC? Folding? Fixed? Kitchen? Camping? Zombie apocalypse?
 
If your looking for a first class folder for a great price, look at the Ontario Rat 1 with a D2 steel blade.
37.00 !!!

I m carrying mine today.
 
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