Harbor Freight pocket knife

[BladesmanUSA]

I just splurged a whole $10 on a cheap beater pocket knife from Harbor Freight. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. You get a decent steel in 8cr13mov, G 10 scales, flipper and thumb studs. The action was smooth and the lock up was tight. No blade play and the blade itself was centered perfectly. The blade was razor sharp out of the box and it didn’t weigh a ton in my pocket.
Any thoughts?

 

[CVamberbonehead]

I hope it works out for you, sounds like a good deal if the heat treat is good.

 

[killgar]

Was it this one?

"Cheap" doesn't automatically mean "crap". A cheap knife of decent quality can handle a wide range of knife chores. I myself have been surprised by the performance and quality of "cheap" knives.

 

[Greggy]

I can beat that. I have spent the last year in a major city in the southwestern USA for a temporary work assignment. Kept my house back home and am renting an apartment here. When I arrived I shopped for cheap stuff for the apartment at a local Dollar Tree. I bought a $1 chef's knife for the kitchen. Was very sharp out of the box. I have sharpened it 3-4 times on my whetstones since and it continues to cut like a champ. Have no idea what steel is used, as it is only stamped stainless steel. I actually enjoy maintaining this beater, has served me well.

 

[Chronovore]

I bust on 8Cr13Mov and companies like Kershaw, CRKT, etc. for using it knives over $30. It's an issue of relativity. I remember when 8Cr13Mov was gaining in popularity and those companies had been using significantly worse budget steels like AUS-6. The problem is how far in the past that is getting. Now, lots of companies are offering much better budget steels at very competitive prices.

In knives under $20, 8Cr13Mov can still be a good deal in 2022. In a $10 knife, it can be a great deal. It just depends on the rest of the knife.

 

[midnight flyer]

You never know with Harbor Freight. I buy a lot of consumable things for the job site like sanding blocks, medium grade screwdrivers, cheap pneumatic nailers, etc. Sometimes I will get a tool that simply will not die no matter how hard I use it, and other times they break the moment they are plugged in. Same thing with their screwdrivers, chisels and other pointy things.

You never know what you're going to get and since they switch manufacturers often on their product line if you find something you like and it's priced attractively, you should buy a couple of extras.

Robert

 

[RousingRabbles]

The main issues I’ve had with cheap knives in the past is almost never the quality out of the box. It’s typically in how it wears with use. Poor heat treat on the blade, soft hardware breaking or stripping, scales warping, random unknown pieces falling off are all things I thought were common when I bought mostly cheap knives. And the difficult thing with faulty parts is they’re typically tough to replace, so often when one piece broke, the whole knife became unusable. There was the occasional gem though. Hoping this HF knife will prove to be a workhorse for you!

 

[Dergyll]

Let us know how it batons.

 

[jbmonkey]

You never know with Harbor Freight. I buy a lot of consumable things for the job site like sanding blocks, medium grade screwdrivers, cheap pneumatic nailers, etc. Sometimes I will get a tool that simply will not die no matter how hard I use it, and other times they break the moment they are plugged in. Same thing with their screwdrivers, chisels and other pointy things.

You never know what you're going to get and since they switch manufacturers often on their product line if you find something you like and it's priced attractively, you should buy a couple of extras.

Robert

ya know one thing with harbor freight ...when ya walk in the store the cheapness hits ya in the face and then that smell like bad plastic.......that ya can guarantee on.

 

[BladesmanUSA]

Was it this one?

"Cheap" doesn't automatically mean "crap". A cheap knife of decent quality can handle a wide range of knife chores. I myself have been surprised by the performance and quality of "cheap" knives.

Yes

 

[midnight flyer]

ya know one thing with harbor freight ...when ya walk in the store the cheapness hits ya in the face and then that smell like bad plastic.......that ya can guarantee on.

So true. I have to say though, they aren't as bad as they used to be. The Ace in the hole I had with them was to buy their super cheap warranty on their products and when it broke you could walk in hand it to him and they would hand you a new one. That worked for me.

Now their prices have gone up dramatically, and even though they have cleaned up their stores a huge amount it still has the distinct smell of cheap, uncured rubber and stinky plastic when you open the front door.

It's a crapshoot!

Robert

 

[DocJD]

Was it this one?

"Cheap" doesn't automatically mean "crap". A cheap knife of decent quality can handle a wide range of knife chores. I myself have been surprised by the performance and quality of "cheap" knives.

And a new beginning for ZT !

 

[gordyt]

Hey I have that, and one of the fixed blade knives. I bought them because the brand name "Gordon" is my first name.

 

[jbmonkey]

Hey I have that, and one of the fixed blade knives. I bought them because the brand name "Gordon" is my first name.

thats the brand who makes that Buck 119 copy, I think......

 

[jbmonkey]

Hey I have that, and one of the fixed blade knives. I bought them because the brand name "Gordon" is my first name.

thanks for posting the pic of it. as much as I dislike copies of still currently made knives...this one is made not too bad. I've played with one from someone at work that brought it in. sharpened it for them. seems like a decent heat treat on it. id still always buy a Buck 119 over this as its still much better even at almost triple the cost.

the shame is they didn't just use their own design for it and copied Buck.

 

[Monofletch]

Remember….. you get exactly what you pay for.

 

[Fred1950]

I have a large Schrade three bladed slip joint, called a "lumberjack" or something like that. Pretty big for a three blade, slightly larger than the Case large stockman. Yes, it's made in China. However, the blades are tight, it came with a decent edge, which I stropped to hair-splitting edge, I have no idea what steel they use, and it was only 21 dollars, I think. I haven't used it enough to know if it will hold that edge, I'm sure it won't compete with my Bark River knives, or my Blind Horse knives, etc, But did I mention, It was 21 bucks?..lol. So even if I have to bump the stone occasionally, it will have been well worth the price...And I recently gave a buddy an "Ozark Trails", Walmart's flagship (or row boat) brand name that was even cheaper to cut bale twine with. I put a good edge on it, too before I gave it to him. So we'll see if it holds up or not...

 

[afishhunter]

Remember….. you get exactly what you pay for.

Agree. Sadly, a LOT of the time what you're paying a high price or premium for is the name.

 

[Planterz]

Remember….. you get exactly what you pay for.

And you don't get what you don't pay for. Like peace of mind and a lifetime warranty.

You can also pay for what you don't pay for. A cheap knife can mean a hefty hospital bill for stitches when the lock fails on you.

 

[Chronovore]

Remember….. you get exactly what you pay for

And you don't get what you don't pay for. Like peace of mind and a lifetime warranty.

You can also pay for what you don't pay for. A cheap knife can mean a hefty hospital bill for stitches when the lock fails on you.

Whether your knife costs $300, $30, or $3; remember basic knife safety. Any activity that would test the strength of your lock is not the right job for a folding knife.

What you do or don't get for what you pay is an interesting issue. There is the tool itself and then there are various intangibles. People weigh it all differently. For some people, a particular brand logo is a big deal. For others, pride in who made the knife or where it was made will be an issue. Some people care about warranties. Some care about ease of disassembly or ease of maintenance. Some care that it'll hold a decent edge. Some just care that it is a pretty color.

I've had some cheap knives and tools that I've loved over the years. Gems can be found under $20 but are pretty rare. Something like a Rat 2 in AUS-8 can offer a lot of mileage. The $25 Tangram Santa Fe from Kizer takes that to the next level. Things really start to open up in the $30-50 range where some great users or beaters can be found in steels like 14C28N and 9Cr18Mov. I've got knives in that range from Civivi, Sencut, Real Steel, and Harnds that I like better than other knives costing more than twice as much. That said, I've had some relatively expensive clunkers and knives that just didn't live up to the hype.