Best EDC budget folders?

J

JDX

Joined
Mar 2, 2014
Messages
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So far, I've been really intrigued by kershaw and spyderco. The problem is, i don't know whether to get one superior knife, or two pretty good knives. I've been looking at the Kershaw Blur with S30V. I've been lookin at the Spyderco Resilience, kershaw cryo 2, ontario rat 1 and the sog flash 2.

I do hike and camp a lot, but I also would use this knife for household tasks. I would easily go with the spyderco resilience or tenacious, but they are made with 8cr13mov steel, which I know very little about, but from my research, it sounds like a subpar steel. I also don't know if the flat ground blade will be as versatile as I need.

If you recommend I have two folders, I would probably want a larger folder, such as the spyderco resilience, then pair it with a smaller tanto style blade, such as the cold steel mini recon tanto, or the utiliac tanto (joe pardue..ontario if I'm not mistaken)

Whether it's just one knife, I don't want to spend any more than $50. I'll go 75 if you can convince me that it's worth it. But if it's two knives, I don't mind the price as long as it's under $100
 
Just a tad over your limit but I think still a heckuva bargain is the Lion Steel Opera. D2 steel, nice G10. Steel Liners, dual thumb studs. Great fit & finish. Not real big & bulky clipped to your pocket either. To me, it's a really good knife for it's price of around $85.

The one weak spot for me is that the pocket clip is a bit cheesy, but it is perfectly functional. I would have just liked one a little more thought out.

Just my thought, but I think you'd be better served by getting one knife of better quality and blade steel, than two cheaper knives of "lesser" quality. I realize that there are decent bargain basement knives to be found, but I think in the long run, you get what you pay for most of the time.

Edit - forgot to add, then for my second knife, I'd pair it with an Alox Vic Pioneer. Bulletproof, useful tool selection, and the blade is terrific for around the house and slicing. Great bang for your buck. If you'd like yours with 2 blades, get the Electrician and lose the can opener. My own favorite. I've never had a cause to use the can opener anyway. They're in the $30 area. A bargain.
 
For an EDC knife, I personally go with a run-of-the-mill stainless (440C, VG10, 8Cr14Mov, etc.) that ideally isn't going to rust just by riding in my pocket and will hold an edge sufficiently enough that sharpening is almost an afterthought. Most of my rotation is made up of Kershaw folders, and they have a number of USA models that will fall within your price range. The imports are generally of high quality too, even those around the $20 mark. The Ontario Utilitac knives are quite a value too, although I don't carry mine just because I prefer a thinner profile.
 
Of your choices, the best would be..... any of them. If you're going to get into steel worrying, the Blur is S30v. But does it matter?
Unless there is a life changing issue with the other steels, like life or death, all of those knives are made from reputable, solid brands, and will work great. Steel fanatics usually just follow a hype train.
Look at the styles and features, the handle and blade shape, or whatever just looks best. All will be great choices.
I will say I agree with carrying an ALOX sak! I like the Farmer myself.
 
jimh0220 said:
Unless there is a life changing issue with the other steels, like life or death, all of those knives are made from reputable, solid brands, and will work great. Steel fanatics usually just follow a hype train.
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There is some truth in this statement. I like nice steels, but I still carry a S30V Zaan every day. Sure, it's an expensive knife, but I also like and own the Ontario RAT-1, RAT-2, and Zancudo. I also have quite a few SAKs and have gifted many to deployed military.
 
Sog trident. Comfortable in hand. Great deep carry clip. Good locking mechanism. 50 or so dollars.
 
Yeah. Chasing the latest and greatest steel really is more of a collector mania for the vast majority. Stick with tried-and-true steels that you like and can get sharp fairly easily (under 5 minutes with minimal equipment and a dull but not damaged edge).

Get a Delica, Griptilian, or Kershaw Blur or Leek. In the budget region there are a whole host of nice options. Zancudo, Rat-1A, Tenacious, Kabar-Dozier series, many of Kershaw's latest or any number of Swiss Army Knives (SAKs) and traditional locking and non-locking folders. I personally carry a Sanrenmu 710/7010 a fair amount of the time. Tough and gets razor sharp very easily, to the point where I can treetop cut my armhair.
 
JDX said:
So far, I've been really intrigued by kershaw and spyderco. The problem is, i don't know whether to get one superior knife, or two pretty good knives. I've been looking at the Kershaw Blur with S30V. I've been lookin at the Spyderco Resilience, kershaw cryo 2, ontario rat 1 and the sog flash 2.

I do hike and camp a lot, but I also would use this knife for household tasks. I would easily go with the spyderco resilience or tenacious, but they are made with 8cr13mov steel, which I know very little about, but from my research, it sounds like a subpar steel. I also don't know if the flat ground blade will be as versatile as I need.

If you recommend I have two folders, I would probably want a larger folder, such as the spyderco resilience, then pair it with a smaller tanto style blade, such as the cold steel mini recon tanto, or the utiliac tanto (joe pardue..ontario if I'm not mistaken)

Whether it's just one knife, I don't want to spend any more than $50. I'll go 75 if you can convince me that it's worth it. But if it's two knives, I don't mind the price as long as it's under $100
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A quick word on steels. IMO, you can group steels into 3 camps:
Junk - no name stuff and stuff too soft to do any good like 420J2.
Medium grade - high quality stuff that takes a fine edge but requires regular sharpening (e.g. carbon steel, 420HC, 12C27, 440A, Aus 6, Aus 8)
High grade - Holds and edge longer, is more expensive but is generally harder to sharpen

Junk should never be purchased. But the big question is whether or not you have the personal confidence to use a medium grade steel like 1095 or 12C27 or Aus 8 while reading forums full of people crowing about the superiority of high grade steels. If all of the pro-high grade steel posts will make you feel bad about your knife or worse, about yourself for owning such a knife made from mid grade steel, then I suggest you save your money and make your bet on one high grade steel or another. Just be warned that just because you buy an expensive high grade steel won't save you from the paranoia, since somebody will be sure to tell you that you got the *wrong* high gread steel.

Alternatively, learn how to sharpen and stick with medium grade steels. IMO, they work fine for EDC and non-specialized use. Wonderfully even.

This is my combo for EDC (although I'm currently carrying a stainless 12C27 version of the Opinel). Opinel #9 in RFP. Leatherman Micra in LFP. Opinel costs about $15. Micra, about $25 new or $10 used.
EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr

The #9 Opinel has a blade that works great for food prep and general outdoor use. The Micra has a useful pen blade plus enough tools to stop me from walking for my full sized MT which is in my pack. The tough scissors are surprisingly useful.

For backpacking, I swap out the Micra for a PS2 Squirt for the small pliers, which are useful for driving repair needles through heavy cloth.

If the old fashion Opinel isn't your cup of tea (they are hard to recommend), there are a bunch of great folders in the $35 range. Beyond this price, you are mostly paying for bling and the hope of steel superiority.
 
Since you said you would probably want a big and small combo I would go with the Kershaw tremor and Spyderco delica should serve you well for around 100 bucks or less.
 
Honestly OP you can't go wrong with any of the knives you listed. Kershaw makes a Blur in ELMAX steel (good stuff) for about $100 that's probably what I'd get if I was going the one knife route. If I were to get a large and small pair I'd go for a Kershaw Thermite (or any other large Kershaw as I dont think Kershaw makes a bad knife, 8Cr13MoV isn't "bad" it just needs sharpening more often) and probably a Spyderco Delica 4 FFG with VG-10 steel and your favorite color FRN handles. Just my 2¢
 
For a solo knife, the Blur is a great all-around knife; I might also throw out the Skyline - it gets recommended time and time again for a reason. Great flipper, simple but effective lines, and 14C28N is a great steel, especially for the price (~$40, cheaper if you pick up a blem). Easy to get an edge on, and holds it fairly well.

If you want to go the 2 knife route, then it gets fun. My preference would be something along the lines of a larger, cheaper knife that you can beat on and do outdoor-sy stuff with, and a smaller, politer knife for EDC tasks.

My first choice for the smaller knife would probably be a Spyderco Dragonfly in ZDP-189 ($60-70). Incredibly light, small but good ergos, and awesome blade steel - You don't have to worry about toughness as much in a smaller knife, so you might as well max out the hardness. Alternatively, I've actually been carrying a pink Spyderco Squeak that I picked up for about $30. Not only is it incredibly masculine, but it can handle everything I need it to easily despite lacking a lock. It's made me realize that it's not slipjoints I hate, just nail-nicks. N690Co is very good steel for that price point, and you can't scare someone with it if you tried.

The larger knife I'm okay with a "sub-par" steel on - 8Cr13MoV is actually pretty decent. It doesn't hold an edge all too long, but it certainly holds it far longer than the mystery steels on throwaway knives, it's hilariously easy to put a hair-popping edge on, and it's dirt-cheap. In fact, ease of sharpening is pretty nice on a knife you might be taking camping, since you can touch it up on the go. Anyways, the RAT-1 (~$30) and Tenacious/Ambitious (~$40) are good for larger blades, though I actually prefer the design on the Byrd Cara Cara (~$20!). One more option - a Gerber Gator. I know, suggesting a Gerber is borderline heretical, but I've been thumping on a Gator in 154CM (~$40) and it's held up very well.
 
Take a look at the Ontario knives like the rats or utilitacs..great bang for the buck knives. Cold steel knives are pretty decent too. Aus-8 is a decent steel you don't have to really worry about rusting or loosing its sharpness too fast.

Also if you're looking at Kershaw check out kershawguy..he has some Kershaw and zt blems which are a bit cheaper so you can get a better knives for less. Mostly the blems just have something aestatic that most the time its hard to find out what it is. So if you're using your knife it shouldn't matter to you!
 
I'll second the Ontario RAT knives. I have a RAT2 that I still can't believe how little it cost. Good materials, built like a tank and cheap enough that you aren't worried that you'll mess it up.
 
JDX said:
So far, I've been really intrigued by kershaw and spyderco. The problem is, i don't know whether to get one superior knife, or two pretty good knives. I've been looking at the Kershaw Blur with S30V. I've been lookin at the Spyderco Resilience, kershaw cryo 2, ontario rat 1 and the sog flash 2.

I do hike and camp a lot, but I also would use this knife for household tasks. I would easily go with the spyderco resilience or tenacious, but they are made with 8cr13mov steel, which I know very little about, but from my research, it sounds like a subpar steel. I also don't know if the flat ground blade will be as versatile as I need.

If you recommend I have two folders, I would probably want a larger folder, such as the spyderco resilience, then pair it with a smaller tanto style blade, such as the cold steel mini recon tanto, or the utiliac tanto (joe pardue..ontario if I'm not mistaken)

Whether it's just one knife, I don't want to spend any more than $50. I'll go 75 if you can convince me that it's worth it. But if it's two knives, I don't mind the price as long as it's under $100
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With the exception of their Seki Japan made models, SOG pretty much sucks. Lots of blade play.

I'm not a fan of assisted knives or metal handles, but otherwise the Kershaw Blur is a nice knife whether in the standard Sandvik 14c28n steel, S30V, or the new Elmax version. The Skyline is a really nice manual flipper available with the Sandvik 14c28n, S30V, and Damascus.

I would also check out the Spyderco Delica, Great knife.

Personally, I would save your pennies and get a Spyderco Manix 2 or Para-military 2. Both come standard with S30V (except the lightweight version of the manix, which is either CTS-BD1 or S110V). Manix 2 usually goes for around $95 and the PM2 $108. They have two of the best locks in the industry IMHO--The ball bearing lock in the Manix, the compression lock in the Pm2.
 
I second the skyline notion. It's my favorite 40 dollar knife. Grippy g10, lots of blade, easy to carry all the time, anywhere, and made in America. The leek is nice but I'm not a huge fan of aluminum or steel handles, especially in such a slim knife. I won't totally crush it though. It was my first non cheapie knife, it made me want much much more.
 
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