Pics Only: Lowest cost knife you might consider for EDC if your life depended on it

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I have two Gerber Gator II knives made from 420HC steel. This steel is crap in my book because it won't hold an edge very long, but the knives are sturdy, and I think I paid less than $20 each. If you know how to sharpen a knife in under a minute, and you don't mind doing it once in a while, this knife will work for you.

I quit carrying these knives because I wanted better steel.

It’s more their shabby heat treatment than the material itself. Buck actually does a very good job with this steel but they pay a master craftsman to bring out all of its potential.
 
Not my photos but I've bought several Opinels and a Douk Douk. I generally carry one every day. I dont think I've ever paid over $10 for any of them.
 

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So, in the misdt of shopping for a good EDC knive that will last for years, I saw some intriguing knives that were a little sketchy. This GateWayKnives 25444 was the best one of those. This is a lot of Chinese knife for $10. Think of it as the knife equivalent of the $6 Chinese Cree flashlights,

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Pros: $10 on Amazon

Quick and slick to open. Lockup seems good, Blade geometry seems good. the Spear-point 3.5" blade is 420 C and sharp as expected. Hollow grind, assisted opening works well with the flipper. Tip-down carry. The blade even has a blood groove and some jimping-like features on the back.

Nice looking knife, Somewhat aggressive but not overly aggressive profile to scare sheep.

Cons:

No information on heat-treat (re: basic) No Idea what the handle material is (could be aluminum). The liner lock tends to stick and needs 2 hands to unlock.

Long-term I need to see how well it stays together and further guage the toughness of the blade re; heat treat,

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073QV2KL1/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Small Chinese-made double edge dagger sold under S&W brand for $20 to $25. I used to carry Chinese-made Cold Steel palm dagger with blade length of about 5". It was a good double edge dagger costing about $30 on sale price.
 
Gtscotty, I sure do like that Kershaw! Do you know where a guy can get one? Kershaw doesn't have it on their website.

I guess I didn't see this question at the time, looking around it looks like the Junkyard Dog 2 composite blade model must have been discontinued a while ago. The only ones I can find online are ludicrously priced.

I bought one for myself and two for my dad back when they were ~$70. The reason I bought two for my dad is that he accidentally dropped the first one off of the dock at his river house shortly after I gave it to him, we felt all around in the 4 foot water, but couldn't find it. I wound up buying him a replacement the next summer since he liked the first knife so much. In the winter of that year they dropped the water level on the lake for maintenance and by chance I was able to locate and dig up the first knife. The bottom of the lake must be a very anerobic environment because, even after nearly 2 years underwater, there wasn't that much corrosion. My dad stripped the knife, cleaned it up with steel wool and brillo pads and got a lot more use out of it.

Btw, this thread piqued my interest in the Ganzo knives, now I'm up to three and they really make great beater knives.
 
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Here's my suggestion: a heavily modified Mora -- I think it was a Craftsman. I removed the handle and shortened the blade from the tang side: turning a little of the blade into tang. I installed a brass guard with low-temp silver solder and made a Pakkawood handle. The epoxy-impregnated cord adds strength and makes a good grip, as the new hilt is quite thin. I also made a Kydex sheath, using copper tubing (plumbing section of Home Depot) for homemade eyelets.

The heart of it all, though, is that excellent, high carbon Swedish blade. This knife has spent a lot of time with me as a pocket knife. It won't be very good as a pry bar, but it handles just about anything else you might expect of a knife of its size. Mora_modded_600x390.jpg

Respectfully,
Dirty Bob
 
And for a bigger pic, these are (almost) all knives that I have EDC'd at one time or another and can recommend. carry_knives_800x723.jpg
At the bottom are two that I'm still evaluating: on the left is a high carbon Japanese hori hori from knifecenter.com, for less than $20. Meant as a gardening knife, it is a stout and sturdy knife! I need to sharpen it properly and see what it can do. I'm planning to sharpen it like a Scandinavian blade, with no secondary bevel. The bevel you see goes all the way to the edge, so much of my work is already done. On the right is a Milwaukee duct knife, from Home Depot ($20). It was sharp, right out of the blister package. The hilt is too big for my hands, but I'm impressed with the blade so far. It's thin -- I think it's just under 1/8 inch -- so it cuts and slices surprisingly well.

At top center is the superb Spyderco ARK in rust-proof H1. I love the knife, but carry the super-tiny CRKT Ringer 3 as a neck knife more than any other, because it's invisible under every shirt I own. At the far left is a stainless Mora that has seen pocket carry, and next to it is a DPX HEST knife, with olive drab scales. The HEST is an absolute beast and is what I would choose if I could have only one knife. At about $100, it wasn't inexpensive, but I consider it a good value for the money. Just above the red-and-black Milwaukee is a Svord Peasant Knife that has travelled around Europe with me, usually in checked baggage. It's prepared a lot of meals and is a fantastic value. One thing I love is that it's easy to clean.

One final pic, in the next message.
All my best,
Dirty Bob
 
One last image. This is my current EDC, at least in terms of knives and firearms. The three knives one the left are carried every day, while the two to the right are optional carry -- one at a time -- depending on attire and where I'm going.
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At the bottom left is a blade purchased from Jantz Supply years ago. Blades for knifemaking are often outstanding values and sometimes require nothing more than a simple paracord wrap -- or not -- and a good sheath. This knife is on my keys every day. It's quickly available: the corner of the sheath is hooked on the pocket when I draw the knife, and the weight of the keys helps keep the sheath in the pocket. I modded this blade to remove a serrated back edge and change it to a skinner shape. The connector allows the keys to be drawn without the knife. A SwissTech Utili-Key is on the keys and is my most frequently used knife, especially in an office environment. This setup works for me!

Center left is my most frequent neck knife: the CRKT Ringer 3. It's a great little blade for small tasks when I'm seated. I usually reach between two shirt buttons to draw it. I've used it several times in group settings where no one ever saw it. It disappears in my hand, and the draw is subtle.

Top left is a Blackhawk! HawkPoint folder. At less than $20, I consider it a great value. It's a framelock, and the lockup is very, very solid, with no blade play. It has opened many packages, and beverages (no alcohol for me while armed, however), and it's small enough that it doesn't alarm most people if they see me use it.

On the right are two TOPS knives. I carry one or the other when I can. The skinny one is a Rocky Mountain Spike, and carries easily in its pouch type sheath, behind my left hip, with part of the sheath in my back pocket. It's fairly new to me, but I like it a lot so far. I carry it frequently, but not to the office. The other is a TOPS Travelin Man 2, and I carry it occasionally, with my belt through its static line, and the sheathed knife tucked in my waistband, in front of my body, behind my cell phone. If I wear a dark, tucked-in shirt, the knife is not very visible at all, and no one notices it. It's extremely sturdy and is about the biggest, heaviest knife that I can carry all day in complete comfort.

As you can see, I like all-steel knives, because they are easy to keep clean and free of rust. Most of my EDC knives have seen use in food preparation when needed. The TOPS Travelin Man 2 became a full-time kitchen knife during a recent trip to Dallas. The place we stayed had not one usable kitchen knife (the few we found were cheap junk, and as sharp as marbles), regardless of what had been promised.

All my best,
Dirty Bob
 
And in the case of the framelock the users hand directly applies pressure to keep the locking bar engaged by the action of gripping the knife. On a liner lock that force is directed into the scale where it does no good.

Plus, a liner lock geometry must be near perfect or the chance for failure increases greatly. And once the lock sees a few years of wear it tends to develop excessive play.
Yes, a liner lock should be near perfect and well made liner locks have served me well over decades without failing. But the thread is on lowest cost knives. As the cost comes down things like precision and complexity tend to suffer. For lowest cost I'd look for fewest parts and fewest complications. My first choice if lowest cost was the criteria and trusting my life depending on it the test will always be an old fixed blade. Older camp knives whether US made or from Solingen or Japan are great multipurpose tools and in particular many of the older steels are easy to sharpen, nearly unbreakable, would do to open tin cans, as a pry bar, to cut and hack and even do precision carving. There are Brazillions of them out there in garage sales and flea markets and junkshops and attics. The grips are usually designed to work well in any weather and year round.

The old marbles on the bottom was $1.50 at a garage sale in North Georgia.
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Two Westerns I came across in UpState South Carolina.
The one on the bottom was $5.00 IIRC. Can't remember about the one on top.
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Two Kabars & a Cattaraugus 225Q.
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These were each pretty expensive compared to the others, maybe $20.00 each.

 
I, bought a knife that I carry every day, it is from Knifes of Alaska. It is the Light weight hunter. So far it seems to be a good quality knife. As far as knifes go, it seems to be a personal thing, what ever one likes.
 
Its getting hard to find good knives at garage sales for decent price,ive seen a lot of garbage and it was 3x the price of brand new in store.Times of quality knives at bargain prices at garage sales im afread are gone.Btw Marbles and Kabars are amazing:),theres some on ebay but are not inexpensive .
 
RUIKE, Real Steel, Steel Will, Bestech....all 4 brands have great options under $50 in their line-up that I would trust my life to. First hand experience owning and selling all 4 brands.
 
Its getting hard to find good knives at garage sales for decent price,ive seen a lot of garbage and it was 3x the price of brand new in store.Times of quality knives at bargain prices at garage sales im afread are gone.Btw Marbles and Kabars are amazing:),theres some on ebay but are not inexpensive .
And the Cattaraugus 225Q may well be the best of the lot. Western was also a great name at the time. Then there are Case and Richter and Linder and Gerlach. In newer knives there are names like Anza and EK.

The point is that a nice fixed blade is simple, reliable and generally relatively inexpensive. As always, a knowledge of what is good and what is not really helps. But you are right, prices are not what they were just a decade or two ago. Glad most of my knives and guns were all bought many decades ago.

I have knives from current names like Cold Steel and Emerson and Benchmade and CRKT and Spyderco and Kershaw but in a SHTF situation I'll grab one of the earlier makes first.

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I would use a plastic spork if it was all that was available. But knowingly carrying something for defense, I put the bar a little higher. Something like this CRKT M21:
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Or better yet, the Sangrador next to it.
 
Kershaw dimension, never been one to buy high end knives, but ive owned a couple $50 Gerbers, this thing is solid, only owned it for 2 weeks, I'll do a review after a month.
 

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I cant post pics,but there are two cheap ones I carry and use.
The USA made gerber sharkbelly.
Paid $7 at Walmart and I think they still sell em online for that.
But my fav...and I'm not a knife snob by any means...is a cheap $3.97 ozark trails with a thumb stud.
They're on the display racks at walmart.
I've cut masonry board,drywall,wood,metal with em and was in a pinch to cut some hard stuff,so decided to sacrifice it and put the blade on it and smacked the back a few times with a 16 oz hammer.
Got the job done.
And did not hurt my cheap $4 knife.
Sharpens fast,holds an edge and locks tight.
And lightening fast to open.
I have a ton of blades, but I was so impressed I went out and bought a couple more of these ro work with.
They perform,hold up...and if I lose it I'm only out 4 clams.
 
the cheapest that I would use for EDC would be my twistmaster which is about the size of my Opinel 12 which I would also be comfortable with although my usual carry is a CS Voyager XL
 
Cheapest I DO EDC,in my jeep, is a 1943 collins 2050 machette. Dad paid $1 for it this summer at a garage sale.
 
Probably this relatively cheap 40 dollar Karambit.

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I usually carry a much larger Karambit with a full tang blade.
 
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