ALL THINGS BUDGET KNIVES

Luxurious box-cutter…

Yes, you’re right. Before I bought it, I couldn’t find it in the photos and was puzzled. I wrote to the seller and they said it has a lock. But then I posted about it here in the Budget Knives topic and someone told me about this issue that it’s illegal in China for some reason. This frame lock works. It’s about 40% coverage of the lock by default, but then you can press it in so that it’s over 75%. I don’t mind that. Closure is easy normally. Then if you want more confidence, just press down. Requires a 2 handed unlock then, but that’s OK. Very solid in locked position.

One other minor gripe — the edges along the top side of the blade are almost hot spots. Very edgy, not smoothed over. Now, that could be a feature for some people. But I’d prefer it to be smooth. Once I get around to picking up a couple of metal files of different grades, I’m going to work on it a little. Knife is too cheap for future resale, so don’t care if I modify it.

I found another breed of knives with replaceable blades: Olfa-compatible retractables.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000124317563.html

Though they don’t improve blade-to-body ratio over scalpel folders…and I can’t find anything below $38.

https://www.fasttech.com/p/9710528
Ordered it last week with 15% off coupon code during their CNY sale, so $27.

Ah, ah, that’s a good one! I am pretty sure we all said that at one point or another, yet, here we are :smiley:
Stared with Ganzos, Sanrenmu, Enlan etc… a few years ago.
Then moved to budget clones with Ti/D2
Then to premium clones Ti/CF/S35VN/M390
Then got a few originals from Boker, WE, Reate
etc, etc…
Knife collecting is a dangerous slope :wink:

Thanks. Any impressions? :slight_smile:
Though the size and price make me prefer the G10 scalpel, I’m curious. :slight_smile:

I ordered it last week and they haven’t shipped it yet, I’ll probably receive it in a month or 2.
I imagine it to be exactly as pictured, a tiny little blade in titanium housing, so light, that I can carry on my keychain for package openings, cut tape, strings, etc… definitely nothing hard use that would require me to need the grippyness of G10. plus, who doesn’t like something made of Titanium :wink:

I definitely hear you! This happened to me with some other collecting hobbies like vintage CASIO G-Shock LCD watches & vintage Japanese mechanical pencils. I’ve been trying real hard to restrain myself with knives. The rationale for me was to get 4 different sizes, 4 different deployment / lock mechanisms, and 4 different color themes. I have achieved that. But yeah… I can’t deny it… seeing some other scales in fantastic patterns & colors tempts me. Right now I’m biting my lip on getting a knife with jade scales. I love that light green semi-translucent effect. My most expensive knife is a Spyderco Vrango (I got a super deal on it, less than $100, for a $289 original price). If I lived in a rural setting where I frequently needed a knife outdoors, I’d probably get more. But right now, all I’m doing with them is slicing through plastic (recycling, lid removal) and reducing cardboard boxes. Not really challenging to my knives. :smiley:

You can also hit the spine with some sandpaper in the meantime.

I like the looks of that Ti one.
Do you plan on installing a Trit?

Speaking of trits… the SOG Vulcan is a great candidate for that.

I initially left the 3rd slot open because it was too short to house a vial in parallel. Then I realized I could fit a vial perpendicular for a “dot.”

Yep!, Waiting for the Aliexpress anniversary sale in March so hopefully they go on sale and I’ll install 2, one on each side :wink:

Thank you! What an idiot I am. Heck, if a sharpening stone will shape a blade… why not sandpaper on a rough edge, right? I just tried it and it worked. :+1:

I forgot about their anniversary sale. Will wait to make my next purchase then. Tritium is included in sale?

Who knows, but I’m not in a rush so I can wait and see.

Sweet.

That looks pretty cool. I like how the spine was milled through so you can see the trits from both sides.

I couldn’t figure out why they made those three milled slots. And then it occurred to me. “Shark.” The shape of the blade. The slots look like gills. They are pretty deep. I tucked 2 in the first one. You can see some “aberration” but that’s just the 2nd not in perfect alignment. The 2nd slot has just one. I discovered that was pretty ample after all. I used a really good adhesive tape on one side to act as a sealed bottom, put in a little Norland NOR61, slipped in the trits, then filled the slots the rest of the way with NOR61. Then used a needle to pop bubbles.

are budget knifes with 420steel considered real garbage or ? like this for example

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Outdoor-Survival-Tool-Camping-Fishing-Folding-Pocket-Rescue-Emergency-Clip-Knife/264084890317?\_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160727114228%26meid%3Dbcb0141c4136455fb9abaa308c9d470c%26pid%3D100290%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D264084894538%26itm%3D264084890317%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2060778&\_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507

what do u guys consider a good budget knife and price, max 50$ ?

Yes, these kind of knifes are junk. Worst of the worst.
If you want a knife its a matter of personal preference with the design. Latest knifes from Sanrenmu and Ganzo are very good quality, excellent for the price. Two Sun is more expensive but its the best quality for the price right now.
Even $15 clones on aliexpress have surprisingly good quality.

I personally have no experience with 420, but what I would consider budget and decent would be at least 440C, 12C17N, AUS8.

In your max price of $50 though, there are an abundance of pretty nice knives so I would definitely not get something like what you linked.
For around $20/$30, I would look at Ganzo, Sanrenmu/LAND (The LAND 910 is awesome for that price) and the budget line from CH (I have a post on Fastech that can help with the models they carry, look for their G10/D2 models on this post

For knives closer to the $50, I would look at brands like Real steel, Ruike, Tuya, CJRB, Besttech, some Civivi, the list can be long :wink:

If you can extend your budget to around $70, Green Thorn makes some pretty amazing clones for the money, especially their Shirogorov F95)