List your "Recommended"/Favourite Budget Knives

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
1

Your help is requested. If you own enough knives to have a distinct favourite or favourites, which you can recommend to newbies who either 1) don't want to spend a lot of time researching, or 2) are overwhelmed by the choices and don't want to buy a lot of knives, but still want to make a good decision, please list your favorites or recommendations.

Please list brand, model, price, and it would be nice if you could post a product link to where you got it or a recommended seller, that'd ease things too. Great if you post a pic or pics as well, and any other info, like a mini review.

But most importantly, please tell us WHY you think this knife or knives stand[s] out in your collection. Please say what its purpose is or what it's good for too, as there are so many niches. I don't want to restrict by type of knife (i.e. defense, complying with a certain country's restrictions, lockblade, fixed, etc.), so please mention the niche/purpose for people looking for a specific type of knife or purpose (i.e. defense, size, ergonomic/safe grip, features).

I also want to belatedly thank jekostas to answering my call for a Primer on knives:

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/1892

Please note in the above link, the author uses later posts to add new sections, instead of adding to the original post (scan down through others' posts for all sections). Between that thread and this, people will hopefully be able to have a good understanding and get into some really good-value knives quickly and bypass lots of wasted money and time.

2

I'm not a knife guy like I am a flashlight guy but I have a pretty good collection. Almost everything I know about knives, I learned here. My EDC is a Sanrenmu 909. The 900 series knives are hard to find now, I believe they are not made anymore but can still be had with a little searching. The 909 has a very deep, strong blade that is useful for most any task an EDC is asked to perform. I have used mine to open tiny packages containing flashlight LEDs to field dressing a deer that destroyed the best car I ever owned. The knife is big enough for man sized hands. Great clip and good looking, nicely finished G10. I change EDC lights all the time but the 909 continues to clip into my pocket every day, I'm not even tempted by the Enlans and Ganzos that I have. http://www.greatwalloutdoor.com/sanrenmu-folding-knives-88.html

3

I have only 5 knives. Some are from DX and others.

From my humble collection I can say, that if I could start again, I would skip DX-stuff and get Sanremu´s right away.

As being a total noob and in need of EDC, I got myself Sanrenmu 6261 with axis lock. Without having even a proper clue about the function of axis lock...

It´s great, amazed how cheap yet good quality something like this can be. IMO easy to use.

Ordered Sanrenmu 763 now also.

Do Notice: these are quite small on size.

Review: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/2320

Availability is not so great anymore but can be found on eBay, 763 is easier to find:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Discontinued-Sanrenmu-Land-6261-1661-Axis-Lock-Wood-Handle-EDC-Folding-Knife-/160650650625?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item2567866401

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SANRENMU-SRM-Axis-Lock-Folding-Knife-LB-763-/280765804727?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item415ef230b7#ht_500wt_1081

4

I only have a couple but really like the Enlan EL01

http://www.exduct.com/Bee-Enlan-Knives/EL01-Bee-Folding-Knife.html

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another knife that you cannot go wrong with.

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NeoGeo, what do you find to be superior or standout about the Enlan EL01, versus your other knives?

Thanks guys, keep it up.

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Extra Large >20cm Enlan EL011 , best quality, finger guard, ease of use.... everything else pales in comparison... most bang for the buck

Large >19cm SRM 9093 , best quality (a little on the expensive side now, or hard to find), L05/L05-1 good allrounder

Medium ~18cm Enlan/Bee L024 best pocket clip (G10)/nice quality , Enlan L03-25 best looking/no pocket clip

Small ~16cm SRM 7106 best quality, 707 is great and I use it more than 710s

Ultra-Small <14cm SRM 6818 (better than the 605 imho)

Fixed Knife Mora Clipper stainless steel (now the Name is Companion MG)

Big Multi-Tool Ganzo G30110 (completely locking tools with bit-set, comparable MTs from Vic or LM are too expensive in Germany imho)

Most knives can be found with cheap shipping (China post ) at exduct.com . 909 and G301 at greatwalloutdoor.com.

Don't forget the Special Price page at Exduct... might save you a few bucks.

@Langcjl: Your are missing out, when you don't try Enlans EL01 (a lot cheaper (~13 at EX now) than the 909 ) , L02 , L05.

I also think that the medium class is the most versatile and perfect for my EDC needs.If I would start my collection all over again L02 and EL01 would probably be my first buys. The 710 is also excellent but a little small for my taste.

I have 2 or more of each: 909, 718, L03-2, 707, 681

Comparison pics can be found HERE ; video reviews HERE

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Enlan L02. I love this knife. I have some large folders (ie: Enlan EL02) and they can be too large for my every day purposes. I have smaller knives also but this is the perfect compromise. It comes from the factory with an extremely sharp edge and the liner locks up nice. Im no knife expert so I dont know what else to judge it on, but this knife gets the job done each and every time.

Like I said, large folders are "cool" but not practical for a city dweller. I have yet to come across a time where I wished a had a larger knife on me.

Heres some pictures I already had on my computer

9

I am a big fan of this knife and have been carrying it everyday for a couple years. I like it because it's thin it's assisted and opens quickly. The blade stays sharp and it's the right size for me to carry clipped in my front pocket. It's fairly cheap so I don't mind using it and it has held up pretty well to abuse.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/stainless-steel-manual-release-folding-knife-with-pouch-black-20cm-length-42353

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My favorite of the below at the minute is the Spyderco, it is the most expensive but it feels great in the hand, the hole for opening works well and it prob the lightest. The Inron is a small step up from the almost identical Enlan. The Enlan is the best value for money imo tho.

Fake benchmade from MF

Enlan 01

SRM 939

Spyderco Tenacious

Inron MY 01

Enlan 04

11

Jeansy, could you please list the brands and models of those knives in order?

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Don't forget the Special Limited Product Sales at Exduct, when you have decided what to buy.

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Edited post to add, names are off the top of my head, can check later

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Given the price the quality surprised me. It is well made, nicely finished and has a good edge from the factory.

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I was wondering about the ‘special limited product’ knives on exduct. They list the same knives on their main knife page for regular price…why is that? Are the ‘special’ priced knives factory defects? Is there a quality difference between the two somehow?

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The knives on these pages are on discount. If you use the search function and search for a knife, for example the SRM 939, you can see one whose product number begins with "SP" (Special Product) that is cheaper than the usual one.

I'm about to pull the trigger on $30 worth of knives off Exduct... hope China Post is reliable.

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Ask for discount codes here first... might save you an additional 5% or so.

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Yep, used a discount code. After repeated Adding and Deleting from my cart, finally pulled the trigger on Enlan EL-01 and Navy 602 from Exduct.

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I really like the ganzo 704 (new version):

It's a bit big, but feels really sturdy. Bought it for around $14-15 at exduct. Has a nice axis lock.

For a smaller EDC, I really like the SMR 738 - looks and feel a lot more like a "gentlemans"-knife:

It's available from the same site.

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That's the G704. Thanks to its original designer - Mike Snody - the ergo is superb. (The G710 looks like a BM Rift.)