How are the Coast knives holding up?

[kBob]

Beginning at the beginning of last December and stretching through May we had a thread on the good deals on knives at Home Depot.

Folks bought a few different kinds and I was wondering how the Coast knives were holding up.

My BX309 black in color is holding up very well so far. I never got a round tuit as far as locktighting those teenie tiny screws on the pocket clip and to night noticed they were a bit loose.....thankfully before I lost one. Walked out to the barn in the dark to find a small sized twix driver and applied a few Gorilla Pounds of torque on those suckers.....that is as tight as you can go without being frightened of stripping anything.

I used it today to cut the top of a dry water bottle off for a funnel when adding oil to the van. I used it over the summer on a fair amount of card board what with the kitchen remodeling. Not sure how many smiling packages in the mail or others have been opened that were dispensed from the Brown Truck of Happiness. I have cut a few different types of cord and light rope.

Nothing really heavy though I tried to cut a huge sucker off the orange tree yesterday and did not finish. Oddly this AM after that hacking at the orange tree the dang thing still shaved a little patch on my thigh when I tried it expecting nothing.

Since my I have once run a pocket steel over it a few passes a couple of months ago when I thought I saw a little curl and once on yea olde SpyderCO triangular sticks a few weeks back.

Personally I say, yes it is a cheap knife, but only so far as price.

My daughter lost her SAK at camp apparently on the last day. She has suggested , in the interest of keeping family finances in order that I see if HD still has BX309s rather than replacing her SAK with another.

-kBob

 

[hso]

That special price is no longer in effect, but there's a deal on a Leatherman folding knife.

 

[Coltdriver]

I picked one up at home depot after reading that post.

I liked the size of it so much I got another brand in the same size to carry at work and put my Al Mar in my change box, I have not carried the Al Mar since.

Mine gets all the rougher use and the other one gets carried at work. It has been a great knife and is still tight and has stayed reasonably sharp. Turned out to be a really good deal.

 

[rcmodel]

My BX-309 retains an edge longer then any of the much better knives in my collection.
Its amazing!!

Black blade coating is the worse for wear after 10 months.

And its developed a little play in the spine lock joint.

But its been used hard and put away wet since back on Jan 3, 2015!!

Still one of the better knife purchases (Value for dollar) I have ever made!!

rc

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I got a DX340 and an FX416 when the sale was going on. Been carrying them both around the place and they are holding an edge and doing the work. The 416 has a partial serrated edge and "It weel cut"...
Best "cheap" knives I've ever used.

 

[Bull Nutria]

well i liked the BX309 so much i bought 2!! but i lost one and haven't found it yet. it is wherever lost pocket knives go to hide. my remaining BX309 is my EDC. I have sharpened it once. very hard to beat for the price and quality. the pocket clip came off once because a screw came loose, somehow my wife found that tiny screw and i loctited it back on go to go ever since. I think ill buy a couple of more if i can find them!!
may not make BX309 anymore??? see url:
https://coastportland.com/knives/

Bull

 

[kBob]

Here I am responding in my own thread again.....

Bull's post got me a little worried so I went to the Coast site and there was no BX309.....looks like the BX310 is the same knife without the black blade and hardware, though.

Thinking "no problemski" I looked for them elsewhere......no joy.

Today I had to stop by an auto parts store for some motor oil that the grocery store does not carry. Well Home depot is just around the corner and I thought "eh got a few minutes" and whipped into their lot.

They still had one, count them one, BX309 and it was marked a few cents less than a ten spot ! So as it was below MSRP for the shiny model BX310, took it as a sign and my daughter is now the happy owner of a knife she can't take to school or school related stuff......of course that would be true of any knife, but let's face it to non knife folks that BX309 is a little scary looking.

-kBob

 

[Double_J]

I bought a DX340 last December and have had no real issues with it. I had to tighten the screws like others have said, and sharpen it a few times. I have used it to open mail, cut rope, clean some weeds from the tomato plants, and scrape some gunk off the intake of my truck, and cut bait for fishing.

I might see about grabbing a couple more as stocking stuffers for friends and co-workers. They seemed to have perfected inexpensive knives that hold an edge and function well.

 

[C0untZer0]

I bought the Coast LX330 and I liked it so much it became my EDC. I didn't think I'd like such a cheap knife so much, but I've had it since February and I just like it.

I also purchased the FX416 earlier in the year. I wanted to try it out so I used it to cut up some Italian sausage, instead of just dumping the pieces of sausage from the cutting board, I scooped them up with my hand and on the second pass I caught my right ring finger knuckle on the point of the FX416.

I actually caught it on the tip and from the back side of the blade - not the sharpened side, but the point is very sharp and it gave me a 1/4" cut on my knuckle.

I thought it was super-sharp but I had some old hose to cut up and throw away - garden hose that had been outside in an empty lot for about 10 years. I thought the FX416 would slice right through it but no joy.

I ended up using Fiskars Power Gear branch cutters to cut the hose into pieces. I was really surprised the FX416 didn't slice right through that hose.

 

[rcmodel]

Old hose is very hard to cut with a knife.

Serrated edge Spyderco Rescue cuts it.

But a plane edge razor blade wont.

rc

 

[C0untZer0]

In general I think my Coast knives have held up really well.

I carry the LX330 almost every day, I don't baby it and I'm ashamed to say I don't really maintain it that well. I've been out in the rain, its been through hot and humid days and some pretty cold weather in February. I've set it out to dry when its gotten wet but I haven't given it any special cleaning. I always meant to clean it and give it a light coat of oil but I never did, and it doesn't have a spot of rust on it. I can't say the same thing for my Kershaw Scrambler. My Scrambler basically sat in a coat pocket for 6 months, in a closet and when I pulled it out last week it did have rust on the blade and I think there is even a coating on those blades (I could be wrong).

When I'm bored I flip the LX330 incessantly and it hasn't loosened up or suffered any degradation, it seems as good as new.

I haven't put it through any cutting torture tests or anything, a few times I've cut tape or boxes with it but only a few times.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Mine holding up fine. I am looking forward to them being on sale this year.