ALL THINGS BUDGET KNIVES

Nice choice. I’ve been lukewarm on sheep’s foot blades, but I think the key is how the leading spine is managed. I like how the Penguin has a slight slope, to avoid the “box cutter” shape. Another good sheep’s foot blade design is from Kizer, the Sheepdog. They ground a convex blade.

Plenty of bright orange knives around. I wanted burnt orange scales. So to the dye pot I went.

Before:

After:

When I expand the pictures, Your modifications substantially improved the scales, very nice job. Your dye has a texturing looking effect. Thanks for posting

Awesome result! A major improvement, IMHO. :+1:

Easily in my top 3 budget knives.

Thank you Boro, and xevious for the compliments.

bassoverflow - Yup, the P801-SF is a pretty amazing budget folder. Perhaps with bigger thumb studs, it would have taken the number one spot on my thumb stud list. The flipper tab deployment method, puts it towards the top of my all time favorite budget knives list.

I lean towards flippers anyway, so I’ve never even attempted the thumb stud. It’s just eye candy for me. LOL

New Sanrenmu knife https://www.srmknives.com/product/9211-gj/

Nice design but I have no idea why SRM started to use D2 when even FreeTiger switched to 14C28N.

Is it really? According to this website its not even much better than 440C https://knifeuser.com/14c28n-steel-review/. If you consider it well heat treated unlike many suspicious brands and many clones knifes who claim D2 but are fake.
Also the other thing about D2 is that it rust easily since its not really a stainless steel.

Beretta knives are now discounted:
https://www.berettausa.com/en-us/store/knives/?utm_campaign=Knives&utm_medium=email&\_hsmi=92122824&utm_content=92120883&utm_source=hs_email
but, they’re still expensive.

According to LTK FreeTiger uses real D2 steel with very good HRC so it’s unlikely that they use fake 14C28N. According to another youtuber’s cutting and sharpness testing of D2 and 14C28N from TwoSun, 14C28N outperforms D2 by edge retention. So I hope FreeTiger’s 14C28N won’t disappoint me either.

From what I read 14C28N is more adapted for a kitchen knife and D2 is better for a outdoor knife. So yes 14C28N would be better for EDC. I think the only notable difference in use would be the rust spots on the D2.
Did you noticed they also started to use S35VN? https://www.srmknives.com/product/1161-tz/

Yes. They also released a limited run of the Land 910 with M390.

On knives for food prep I’d prefer 14C28N over D2, due to rust resistance and still a good edge.

On my GreenThorn work edc I’m quite happy with its D2 blade. It’s getting wickedly sharp and holds a good edge.
I get no rust spots because I sometimes rub it with mineral oil and use it every day but even if I had some spots on it I wouldn’t mind.
I’d maybe just polish the blade or stonewash it, really doesn’t matter.

Anyways, here’s my new SRM 9306. Very nice slim knife for $20. Do I like 8Cr13MoV?
Haven’t tried edge retention on this one so I can’t say but it’s a light duty folder so I don’t mind.

The thing is, I want to gift it to a friend who destroys every knife within some months anyways, the most important part will be the bottle opener I guess.
And the blade will have greenish-brown residue on a blunt tip on it but by then it won’t be my knife anymore, nothing to bother about :wink:

Size comparison with the Boker Urban Trapper (01BO732)

I don’t know if it will be ever possible to open this knife comfortably with the thumb studs but oiling the tang and opening/closing it a few times helped already.
The closing torque point is a bit smoother than the opening one, so it’s a bit difficult to overcome the last few degrees while opening it onehandedly, with two hands it’s working very well, even without nail nicks, and it also hold the blade open with enough force.

I received my knife in the mail today and am less than thrilled by it. The size is compact (which is fine), it’s a comfortable knife that fills the hand well, but the button is very firm to actuate and it doesn’t always open completely and lock. The spine section that locks onto the stud and notch in the back of the blade is very rough and gritty and the blade gets hung up. I’d pass if you are thinking of ordering one. I’ll see what I can do to slip some high grit (1000, 1500, 2000) under this area in an attempt to smooth it out. I did lubricate it but that didn’t change the action. Oh well. You take your chances… I don’t know what I’ll do about alerting Aliexpress. I don’t expect any real satisfaction from halfway around the world.

That doesn’t sound good… You should apply for a partial refund and taking pictures before trying to fix it.

Good idea. I could take a short video of it not firing correctly.

What Isti said. Don’t fiddle with it, take picture, open dispute, usually you get a full refund or a second item (rarely).

They want 5 stars, they actually need them, a full refund is the way they usually go cos the whole batch will be same.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Not really. Sandvik developed 14C28N at the request of Kershaw for use in pocket knives. It’s an improvement on their older 13C26. The main goal was to make it more resistant to corrosion. They succeeded. :slight_smile:

I prefer 14C28N to Chinese D2 any day of the week and for any task. The D2 can have better edge retention depending on the individual heat treatment. The problem is that it can be a gamble. The average edge retention for Chinese D2 is a slam dunk over 8Cr13Mov and lower-numbered steels in that series. However, that average isn’t enough better than 14C28N that I care. Given the big and reliable difference in corrosion resistance, 14C28N has the advantage for both EDC and outdoor activities.