Off Topic Favorite cheapo knife

Cold steel eland fo shiggity. Opinel are rubbish. Like give some as gifts at work and see how they appreciate the gesture lol.9 times out of 10 they’ll be rusting away thrown into a junk drawer or tool box. I know, I know all about it
 
Probably a couple of the Rough Rider slip joints would top the list.
Kabar Dozier hunter
Any of the sub-$30 Vic SAKs. Not cheapo, but high in value and function.
 
Sosa said:
Cold steel eland fo shiggity. Opinel are rubbish. Like give some as gifts at work and see how they appreciate the gesture lol.9 times out of 10 they’ll be rusting away thrown into a junk drawer or tool box. I know, I know all about it
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Could not disagree more with this assessment of Opinel.

I've carried and used knives worth thousands.


I think in have $1600+ in my pockets right now.

I still regularly use, and carry Opinel.

I think I have 7 or 8 in my house.

Not really more rust aggressive than my carbon steel slipjoints. They also have stainless...
 
Columbia River 2010K Crawford Kasper Dragon Combat Knife 4.5" Black Blade, Zytel Handles (Price $25 ea)
 
My current favorite cheap knife is a CRKT Squid blackwash. I think I paid $18 for it and was surprised how much i like it. I carry it to work most days (office job). In a couple of days I'll be getting my first Cryo in the mail (I know; I'm way behind the curve on this one), in G10 with a D2 blade. Pretty excited about it. It was less than $40.
 
I picked up a Tangram Santa Fe for about $20 during black friday, nothing else comes close when for sheer value. That coupled with the blade shape and super smooth action make it my favorite.
At its regular price, Ruike offers some solid competition but don't fit my preferences as well. I've also had consistently positive experiences with Kershaw's cheapos too.

My 2 cents regarding Opinel: They're fantastic slicers and I've really enjoyed experimenting with mine. On the other hand their greater need for care, not so great build quality, and less than modern deployment really flies in the face of what most people would consider important in a pocket knife. I like them but they're not what I'd gift or recommend to others.
 
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Emerson CQC7b
 
I'm new here but it sure looks like people have different definition for "cheapo". So forgoing "gas station knives" and mystery steel, I rather like:

Kershaw Hotwire - This is a great little pocket knife for under ten bucks at Walmart. The blade shape is surprisingly useful for generic tasks. The handle has just enough bulk and texture to make it ergonomic for its small size. (I took the clip off mine for riding inside the pocket an I prefer the ergos that way.) Whatever your opinions on the Speedsafe mechanism, it really works well on this knife. It stays more securely closed than some other small flippers I've had. The tab edges could use a little rounding but mine has opened flawlessly. Yeah, the steel is lowly 3Cr13Mov but at least it's ridiculously easy to sharpen back up. For the price, good grief!

Kershaw Volt II - This one may be harder to justify today with massive increases in Chinese knife quality and materials in the $25-30 range but wow. This is a great all-around pocket knife. I don't know how else to communicate it but if you've held one, you know. I had no qualms about the 8Cr13Mov at that price point when the knife first came out.

Kershaw Clash - This is my favorite "cheap" Chinese assisted flipper from Kershaw. The curves are in all the right places for my hand. Based on that alone, I'd easily choose it over the more expensive and similarly recurved Blur (even with its better steel). It's well under $20 now and definitely worth a look IMHO.

Tangram is putting out some surprisingly good knives at very competitive prices but they are still so new. I have an Amarillo in my shirt pocket right now. I'll see if I still love it in a few months.
 
Opinel. And SAK's to be honest. You can get a whole lot of SAK for 25 bucks.
 
Pilsner said:
OP, I’d throw in a Mercator K55K as a great and historic budget folding knife.
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I'm finding that I like historic knives more and more, these days. I already have more knives than I can realistically use, might as well rotate through some that have good stories behind them, right?

Ex.: Vic Soldier, Mercator, Opinel, Ka-Bar Marine, that Japanese friction folder, etc. It might be time for me to pick up a Mercator, finally.
 
Henry Beige said:
Opinel. Been using them for nigh on 50 years, long before I knew what a knife nut was. Using, losing, whittling on, sanding, grinding, burning. Now I have a lot of the knives mentioned here, but I keep on buying Opinel. 6,8,7,10 in that order. Carbone.

My best discovery in the last 10 years has been Mora. 612, Companion, 611, 511, Kansbol.

Rough Rider Improved Muskrat.

But when it comes right down to it, Opinel and Mora. All else is vanity. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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Victorinox is vanity? :eek:
 
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