Looking for budget EDC. <$30

I think the moisture is the least of my concerns on the Opinel because I noticed that just a little pressure on the back of the blade will actually flex the locking ring, and if I wiggle the blade a little bit, no matter how hard I tighten it, it'll turn the locking ring and unlock the knife. This is not a good locking mechanism at all and rather than thinking I have a lock that actually works, I'd rather just have a friction folder. I bought an Opinel expecting that to be a problem because from a mechanical standpoint anything that locks on an angle is never truly locked. Between it and the tension of the ring, it's a mechanical disadvantage and not a true lock.

And that's just too bad because the styling of the Opinel is really starting to grow on me a lot.
 
I processed about 10 pounds of half frozen meat today. This meant a lot of using the tip to push down into the frozen meat and then pushing down on the handle to rotate it back to cut. I have absolutely no confidence at all that the Opinel would have been able to handle that task. I do not know if the blade would have broke but I know the lock wouldn't have held when pushing the handle down to make a deep cut, and even if it did getting the blood and meat debris into the handle, soaked into the wood would have been disgusting. I have way more faith and trust in the Rat. It handled this task very well without any kind of malfunction.

I did get the grip wet from blood/grease and it did become slick, but at least it isn't going to soak those materials up and I didn't have the disassemble the knife to be confident I managed to wash that all out. But I also take comfort in knowing I could sit down with a screwdriver and take it apart completely if I felt it needed a deep cleaning.
 
jason41987 said:
I think the moisture is the least of my concerns on the Opinel because I noticed that just a little pressure on the back of the blade will actually flex the locking ring, and if I wiggle the blade a little bit, no matter how hard I tighten it, it'll turn the locking ring and unlock the knife. This is not a good locking mechanism at all and rather than thinking I have a lock that actually works, I'd rather just have a friction folder. I bought an Opinel expecting that to be a problem because from a mechanical standpoint anything that locks on an angle is never truly locked. Between it and the tension of the ring, it's a mechanical disadvantage and not a true lock.

And that's just too bad because the styling of the Opinel is really starting to grow on me a lot.
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J jason41987 : Couple of thoughts. What you describe is a known behavior with Opinels. I've learned to constantly test the location of the lock ring when I use an Opinel so that I can tell if the lock ring has moved.

If you have a newer Opinel with the new style lock ring, you may be out of luck. On the classic Opinel, the standard fix is to remove the ring, and to use a flat file to decrease the ramp on the top of the lock ring, thus lessening the angular advantage. It makes the ring less likely to move under use as you describe.

This can also happen if the lock ring is very loose and super free to move. Taking it off and crimping it tighter is the standard fix.

Regarding the frozen meat cutting, you were correct to not press down on the handle with an Opinel. The ring simply pop off and the knife will close on your hand.

Personally, I'm not sure I would trust any folding knife for the cut you describe. I'd trust my 110s more than I would any liner/frame lock. IME, liner/frame locks are likely to give unexpectedly if the lock up isn't really good (and worse if the pivot is loose or damaged). But even with a good lock back, I'd either switch to a fixed blade or find another way to make that cut. IMO, any time you use a folding knife with strong closing force on the handle, you're flirting with disaster.
 
so, after using these two knives a bit.. ive come up with an interesting discovery and that is i have used the opinel a heck of a lot more than the rat 1 and the rat 1 in D2 and opinel with its carbon steel blade both lost an edge at a pretty similar rate.. the problem is that nothing i have will bring an edge back to the D2, i will likely have to buy a stone for this (would a 1000/6000 stone do the trick) whereas the opinel is much easier to bring back a very sharp edge, and i can do so on easier with basic kitchen sharpeners

i do not think i will buy knives in D2 anymore because for what i use knives for, im just not able to see that big of a benefit to it, and the difficulty to sharpen is a bigger downside than i thought it would be
 
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jason41987 said:
so, after using these two knives a bit.. ive come up with an interesting discovery and that is i have used the opinel a heck of a lot more than the rat 1 and the rat 1 in D2 and opinel with its carbon steel blade both lost an edge at a pretty similar rate.. the problem is that nothing i have will bring an edge back to the D2, i will likely have to buy a stone for this (would a 1000/6000 stone do the trick) whereas the opinel is much easier to bring back a very sharp edge, and i can do so on easier with basic kitchen sharpeners

i do not think i will buy knives in D2 anymore because for what i use knives for, im just not able to see that big of a benefit to it, and the difficulty to sharpen is a bigger downside than i thought it would be
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Hmm... that is strange. In my experience my Rat 2 in D2 holds a working edge much, much longer than my Opinels in carbon steel. Are you positive that you are removing the burr when you sharpen the Rat? I've found D2 in particular gives me more trouble than almost any other steel when I try to remove the wire edge. It tends to like to flop around from side to side.

I do agree that you would greatly benefit from investing in a cheap diamond sharpener. On the somewhat lower end ($50 and under or so), I really like the DMT Dia-Sharp (C/F) and the Smith's Diamond Tri-Hone. For a little less, another great option in my opinion is the DMT Diafold (C/F) for about $35. It's not as stable as a benchstone, but has the added versatility of being very portable.
 
jason41987 said:
so, after using these two knives a bit.. ive come up with an interesting discovery and that is i have used the opinel a heck of a lot more than the rat 1 and the rat 1 in D2 and opinel with its carbon steel blade both lost an edge at a pretty similar rate.. the problem is that nothing i have will bring an edge back to the D2, i will likely have to buy a stone for this (would a 1000/6000 stone do the trick) whereas the opinel is much easier to bring back a very sharp edge, and i can do so on easier with basic kitchen sharpeners

i do not think i will buy knives in D2 anymore because for what i use knives for, im just not able to see that big of a benefit to it, and the difficulty to sharpen is a bigger downside than i thought it would be
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I've been sharpening my knives on the bottom of coffee mugs for the better part of a year, and a coffee mug will happily sharpen more wear resistant steels than D2. As long as you have a ceramic coffee mug that has an exposed rim you don't need any special tools to sharpen.

Another bonus to practicing on your folders with a mug is that any time you're at someone's house and their knives are dull, you can fix them up for them with whatever mugs they have on hand. They do range in coarseness, but you can usually find on as rough or fine as you'd like in a random kitchen, in my experience.

I was at an aunt's house a few days ago and none of her kitchen knives would cut a tomato when she was making lunch. I grabbed a coffee mug and sharpened her knives while we visited and when I left all of her kitchen knives would shave hair.
 
jason41987 said:
so, after using these two knives a bit.. ive come up with an interesting discovery and that is i have used the opinel a heck of a lot more than the rat 1 and the rat 1 in D2 and opinel with its carbon steel blade both lost an edge at a pretty similar rate.. the problem is that nothing i have will bring an edge back to the D2, i will likely have to buy a stone for this (would a 1000/6000 stone do the trick) whereas the opinel is much easier to bring back a very sharp edge, and i can do so on easier with basic kitchen sharpeners

i do not think i will buy knives in D2 anymore because for what i use knives for, im just not able to see that big of a benefit to it, and the difficulty to sharpen is a bigger downside than i thought it would be
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I use a Norton Crystolon Benchstone for freehand. It handles 440C well so I think it would handle D2. I also use the Lansky system with diamond rods and DMT diamond credit card. Again, these all should handle D2.

I suspect you aren't working the D2 long enough on each side. You need to be aggressive and work each edge until you can feel a burr. D2 will take considerably longer than 12C27 to form a burr. I think the most common mistake when learning to sharpen is timidity. I recommend treating your Rat as disposable and don't worry about using the blade up by sharpening the heck out of it. You're in learning mode and learning means doing and doing means scrubbing off steel. So what?

This said, I prefer basic fine grained steels like 12C27 or 420HC for EDC. If I spent all day every day cutting down old carpet pads or something like that, perhaps I would favor more carbide rich steels. Depends on a person's uses, which varies. But for me, I prefer the ease of quick touch ups that a fine grained steel gives.

NOTE: I treat my knife blades as either disposable (Opinel, Mora) or replaceable (Buck). I sharpen early and often and it doesn't bother me in the least to see a blade transition from new to visibly reduced from sharpening. If the knife is disposable, I consider it used up and I'll get another. With a Buck, I know I can get the knife rebladed. My knives are knives, not heirlooms nor investments.
 
i think most big brands have blades that are replaceable.. i know spyderco will replace a broken blade for like $10, or $20 on their more premium steel models if i am not mistaken which would certainly put something like a PM2 into opinel or dozier territory when you talk about repairing a worn or damaged blade

im kind of wishing i bought the rat 1 in aus-8 for $25ish which is only a tad more than the dozier but a sturdier knife overall given the full steel liners but first things first, i do need to get something to sharpen up the blades i have a bit better first.. i was thinking an inexpensive 1000/6000 stone and practice some free hand sharpening, or the lansky 4 rod system, any recommendations for sharpening a D2 blade are welcome, looking for a $20 budget if at all possible
 
A Norton Crystolon Fine/Course combination stone should cost you about $25.

I would definitely get something with a course or medium grit.

You want a medium or course grit to work up a burr.
 
what about the worksharp field sharpener which is 2 diamond sides, a ceramic for honing, and a leather strop all in one piece for $25?
 
jason41987 said:
what about the worksharp field sharpener which is 2 diamond sides, a ceramic for honing, and a leather strop all in one piece for $25?
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I own the Benchmade version of this and it is a GREAT sharpener (albeit a little small and I don't care for the guides). It lives in my tackle box and gets used much more often than expected. :thumbsup:
 
cool, i think i'll pick one up then if it'll get the job done and still be handy enough to use regularly.. what concerns me about some of the stones is having to wet or even soak them and i just dont have the counter space for that
 
evilgreg said:
... As long as you have a ceramic coffee mug that has an exposed rim you don't need any special tools to sharpen...I was at an aunt's house a few days ago and none of her kitchen knives would cut a tomato when she was making lunch. I grabbed a coffee mug and sharpened her knives while we visited and when I left all of her kitchen knives would shave hair.
Click to expand...

People look at you like you're crazy when you tell them about using a mug to sharpen your knife but, it really does work. You can also do it by using the edge of a window on your auto, truck or SUV.
 
jason41987 said:
anyone use the fallkniven DC3 or DC4?
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The diamond side is solid. I didn't care that much for the ceramic side (granted I also have a Double Stuff). I ended up giving it away here when my wife bought me a Diafold which I much prefer.
 
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