Ever revert back to budget/value knives?

Sometimes I like to carry my cheaper knives if I expect to be rough on them. My EmersonCqc7 seems to hit that sweet apot where it is still expensive but built like a brick sh*t house so I don't worry about hurting it or snapping the tip ect. I love my Sebenza and Inkosi and other expensive knives but I honestly worry about hurting them if I ever say needed to do light prying.
 
Yup. I'm moving on a few of my upper "affordable" ($100) knives in favor of a couple $20 knives. A CRKT drifter is pretty much replacing a couple of Benchnade HK knives and a Kizer. Nothing wrong with those; I like them. But the Drifter is a bit nicer than I expected and covers the same duties for $20. Money I can put towards one or another LionSteel, ZT or that Inkosi I've become enamored with (enamored of?) ...whatever.
 
I guess it depends on what someone considers a budget knife. When my most expensive knife was $150 $20-50 was a budget folder. But after owning many customs, my lowest cost knife is about $100.
 
I think the most expensive knife I own is a Kabar or an Endura. I've had couple Benchmades but traded them off. I've found more expensive knives go unused and my Buck, Kershaw, and Spyderco knives get the job done fine.
 
Awwwww. I carry a $30.00 Victorinox Rambler, a $35.00 Case Yellow Delrin CV Peanut and a $75.00 Queen Barlow. I have been carrying a Boker Plus Strike Auto Knife AUS-8 steel (stone washed blade) $40.00 and a newly aquired Mercator K55K (gifted) at about $25. I also carry another gifted Schrade "Old Timer" 162OT Boot Knife (about $25) and a $30 pre-2007 Camillus TL-29 I bought to use as I did in the Navy 40+ years ago.

Yes, most are "value priced" but all are good "working knives".

I'm satisfied with the performance of each and every one... so far.
 
All of my main users these days cost me less than $50. That's by choice. I enjoy the thrill of good values and, as a competent sharpener, have found no need for fancy materials or features, and even a lot of those have trickled down into the lower price points over the years. There's a lot of very good knives out there for very little money, and so I can have them in multiple places in the house, my vehicle, etc, and have a wider variety geared towards different circumstances of use.
 
I recently went to a cold steel code 4 my wife bought me for x-mas it is excellent. The cts-xhp keeps a keen edge. And at about $60 it is as budget as I have gone in many years.
 
I don't call anything under $100 necessarily a "budget knife". There are a lot of factors that go into that IMO.

I carry a Tenacious all the time and although it's only $55 ($44 respectively) I don't consider it a budget knife even though it costs less compared to other knives in its class or brand. It is a great value.
 
I came across a Kershaw Cryo (Hinderer design elements) that is a very nice knife.
Not expensive compared to what I generally carry.
 
Hawk45 said:
Anyone else ever revert back to budget/value knives?
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Heck yeah. I own several CRK, Strider, ZT, etc., but you reach a point where the charms of a $20 Kershaw seem pretty delightful. So yeah, I have more fun with an entry level Rat 1 or Kershaw than I do with the spendy stuff. Cheap knives actually cut stuff too, and you don't cry like a baby if you lose one. But the biggest upside is that you don't feel like a total sucker for spending $430 for a knife to open Amazon packages.

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$13 Kershaw Shuffle.
 
Yes. What he said ^ + they make great gifts.
Recently scored a cara cara 2 and emerson/kershaw collab for $25 shipped off the ex. Pound for pound the best deal of my life I think minus a mom for free of course.
 
I revert back to CS aus8 all the time. Too bad they "upgraded." Aus8 is good enough for me
 
Eh, depends on what I'm doing I guess. If I'm going to be cutting up a ton of cardboard or breaking into one of those blister packs I usually use one of my cheaper knives like the Leek or Skyline.
 
marcinek said:
One cheap, poorly made/low value knife like when I was starting out (a AUS-6 CRKT) and I was done. Started reading the forums.

Since then, I never left. If I buy a $30 knife or a $300 knife it is a well-made good value for its price point.

And I have never bought a knife I felt was "overpriced"....again, whether it's expensive or inexpensive.
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One of my favorites is still an old AUS-6 CRKT. Not the best steel but the ergos are hard to beat. In some ways I like it better than my Benchmades.
 
Absolutely

I used to only buy hinderer, strider, and Zt. Now I find myself carrying a cold steel and feeling good about it.
 
A beater is a beater. And beaters are better when they don't chip so easy
 
this was already a thread why repost?

and I would never go with a budget knife, I like quality and zero budget knives have quality.
 
kaozer said:
The only budget knife i still carry is a kershaw emerson cqc 6k i bought for 21$. Its 8cr13mov but for 21$ i am extremely impressed. I guess i dont carry budget knifes much because in canada most good budget blades are overpriced. I mean why would i pay 80$ for a base model kershaw leek when i can have a delica/endura for 90$?
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Ya if I got those U.S. Prices up here. Wooe sallee! The heap would be bigger lol. But you can still find a fun toy for under a c note up here. My last was a D-2 rat 1. Before that a 4 inch hold out, prior to that a couple of bd1 pocket bushmen. Look around, there is tho stuff out there that you don't have to hide from the wife, lol
 
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