The inexpensive valuable knife list.

If you find one used, the long-discontinued Cold Steel Twistmaster was a winner. It was their copy / upgrade of the Opinel, with a beefier blade and lock, and a Zytel handle. It was a bit thick at the edge and needed some re-profiling. I bought several and am now down to one. It's a keeper.

All my best,
Dirty Bob

Mora knives, cheap, sharp, and hold an edge.

Thank you for this thread- I really have enjoyed learning here.

I will say that a #6 opinel rides with me about every day- I wear "dress" clothes to work and it generally gets used to slice fruit at lunch, open mail, about anything I need a knife to do. The only issue I have is the need not to get water in the handle after lunch- I have read that this area isn't sealed all that well and can swell. But, all that said, I haven't found any other knife I can sharpen so easily, that does what the opinel does. Great knife-

I haven't owned a Mora yet, but this thread has me thinking I need to get one. Oh, and a Svord Peasant as well. That's the good thing here; these knives don't cost that much and it is fairly easy to acquire them.

Based on the recommendations in this thread, I purchased a wood-handled Svord Peasant. It is a great knife for the price: simple yet sturdy construction, high carbon steel that keeps an edge, and it's fun to learn to open it (my son has almost adopted the knife as his own). Frankly, I'm surprised they don't sell for more.

The same goes for the S&W knives that Taylor has produced.

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HSO, I have to defend my beloved SWAT II. It's been such a reliable knife, and great value. I don't have any other liner lock folder. It's been used so so bad. If I have to use a knife hard, I can't bring myself to use the more expensive ones I own.

The SWAT II has taken bird bones, carpet, scrapping concrete. It stays sharp for a while, and cleans up quickly.

I know nothing about the other Taylor knifes, and bought the knife before I knew better, but was always glad to have it for the big jobs. For 15bucks, I can't complain.

Picked up a case Mini Blackhorn today... Was all of $14 at the local bass pro. Completely impulse buy, was there to pick up some ammo that was on sale and saw it hanging there and thought back to this thread and suddenly it was in my hand getting paid for... haha

LightMyFire + Mora = Fire Knife

alaskanativeson said:

[ -snip- ]

Moras, on the other hand, are knives I can't have enough of. I probably have a Mora in every room of the house, a couple in my truck, one secured to the frame of my Goldwing, and several sitting in boxes waiting to be placed. I also really like the Swedish Fireknife by Light My Fire. Take a Mora knife, put a Swedish Fire Steel striker in the handle so you've always got a way to start a fire with your knife, and you've got a winner. Granted, it is $4 over the limit for what we're taling about in this thread, but I hope this can be overlooked.

[ -snip- ]

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I just picked up one of these knives.

Impressive.

My [post=8187491]first impressions are here[/post].

Folder: Douk-Douk, Opinel, Cold Steel Pocket Bushman.
Fixed blade: Mora, J Marttiini, Bushman.
I bought a J Marttiini filet knife for 5 dollars at a pawn shop.
I also bought a Case 2 blade slimline barehead trapper, that was made in 1970 or 71, for 5 bucks at a pawn shop. All it needed was honing.
Got a Victorinox Spartan with translucent blue scales for 10 bucks.

LeeD....

After reading your post i too picked up the Buck 143 Paklite Skinner and for $19 its one heck of a knife. Im surprised because i even like the sheath. Fantastic once you get used to it and its now my EDC.

Duble Naught Spy said:

LeeD....

After reading your post i too picked up the Buck 143 Paklite Skinner and for $19 its one heck of a knife. Im surprised because i even like the sheath. Fantastic once you get used to it and its now my EDC.

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I guess the handle isn't as uncomfortable as it looks? I keep hearing great things about it this knife, but it just looks so uncomfortable...

Bobson said:

I guess the handle isn't as uncomfortable as it looks? I keep hearing great things about it this knife, but it just looks so uncomfortable...

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It looks uncomfortable to me too. But for less than $20 I'm thinking I'm gonna pick one up based on what I've read here and seen on youtube about the knife.

Monarch (Japan) made good but not great knives for many years.

TR

This is a favorite:

I have a Kershaw 1760 (stainless/plastic folder)... less than $40 at wally world, about 3 years ago... constant companion sinc. it's solid, light, smooth, sharp, and the 3" blade,while arguably not perfect for anything, has worked ok for everything i've ever set it to.

If you can find one a Case 279 is a great pen knife.

I've had an opinel 8 for a while now, and til today it's gotten nothing but light use (opening envelopes, a few packages here and there, etc.). I had accumulated quite a lot of cardboard I needed to get rid of though, so I used it to go through at least 200 ft of cardboard in one sitting (probably about 20 lbs of cardboard). Lasered through it til maybe the last 5th. Pretty dull now, but can still work its way through paper if you come at it right. Can't believe these knives are so inexpensive!

Edit: and 5 minutes on the back of a ceramic plate, it's like it's never been used

Inexpensive <= $25

Guys, while I appreciate the enthusiasm, let's confine this thread to the cap that's already been set: $25 or less.

Perhaps we should have a "modestly priced quality knives" thread.

Of course, there's a lot of latitude in "modestly priced," so we'd have to set some bounds for the thing to make any sense.

Most of my sub-$25 knives seem to have already been mentioned, but here are some that I think "make the grade" and fit in the price range . . .

- Condor Rodan: I found this on Amazon for $25 with free shipping when I was looking for a "rough use" knife on a budget. Considering that it is made in El Salvador, comes with a leather sheath and is very solidly built, I was amazed that it cost so little.

- Tekut Ares: I bought this at the Sportsman's Guide brick-and-mortar outlet store for $25, maybe even less now that I think of it. It's made in China, but supposedly (taken with a grain of salt) made for Chinese military/police use. Regardless, it has a tanto-style blade and a cord-wrapped handle, so not everyone would care for it, but I bought it as my go-to "test knife" for things that I don't want to potentially wreck my nicer knives when attempting.

- Walther BlackTAC: $18 and made in China, this is supposed to be the "companion" knife to the Walther P22, at least according to Walther's marketing wizards. I have to give it points for being a nice-looking knife with the most effortless (but secure) opening mechanism I've encountered. The extremely pointy glass breaker makes it unsuitable for pocket carry, but I would absolutely carry this on my belt for defensive purposes. Easily the most comfortable folding knife I've ever picked up.

Do many carry the karambit and do you like it and use it much?

I'm surprised and pleased to hear that the Opinel is such a well-regarded knife. I picked up a No. 6 last summer in france and have been real pleased with it. They were pretty common over there, picked mine out of a display case on a street corner in Bayeux for 14euro.
I'd have to throw in a vote for the Gerber Gator II. Its right at the upper price limit, but its very comfortable and will take and hold a razor edge. It's an excellent skinning/cleaning knife.

Buck 143 $20


Condor Bushcraft Basic 5" $23

As far as inexpensive quality knives go, I'll have to refer, once again, to my score a few years back on the entire Case display at a local Mom&Pop hardware.
The knives were half- priced and I bought'em all.
I wound up with over 60 knives, some duplicates of course but I have large and small Sod Busters, Trappers,Barehead trappers, and a couple of folding hunters, Stockman and a Muskrat or two, mostly stuff popular in a farming community.
Thrown in for good measure were two Schrade 158OT Guthhook Skinners.
I also like the Schrade/Old Timer line and when Schrade closed it's doors I bought every knife I could find locally.