When I use to help dad skin deer, we used custom rock blade knives. The knives were sharp for skinning but would not pierce the hide.
I really appreciated your back-story. Wish we saw more of that storytelling here and all the various forums.
You wrote: "Several years ago, when the Sanrenmu knives began to be imported I bought a couple of their 710’s. One of the knife forums had mods and members who thought it was blasphemy to buy them since they were a copy of Chris Reeve’s knives. It mattered not that I was not going to buy a several hundred dollar knife in any case, they just almost banned me from the forum. None of that bothered me, and I like some of the Sanrenmu knives."
My Dad spent 43 years working in the same 3'-square space as a machinist with Bethlehem Steel (not counting his service on a PT boat in the Pacific theater of WW II.) For him, then me, any tool (used at work, used at home, used for recreation - guns, knives, ball gloves, etc.) was an ultra-valuable item. It should be researched, recommended, spot-on for the task expected of it, used carefully and only for its intended purpose, cleaned, maintained and stored well. I am holding a razor-sharp, perfectly functional, gorgeous folding hunting knife, my Dad's, acquired in the 1930s.
Seems to me that I can employ the above "tool philosophy" without regard to country of origin (as I did when I bought my 1986 Acura Legend and then 5 more). I also respect the rights of others to incorporate subjective criteria (protectionism, intellectual property in clones, absolute skepticism about product claims, etc.) into their purchasing decisions. However, if they do so in discussions - namely, forums and blogs - about the "tools" themselves, and especially if they use innuendo, non-facts, misrepresentations, snobbery or other childish behavior, then I either leave that forum/discussion (I have entirely abandoned a particular flashlight forum) or attempt to reinvigorate the discussion back to the "tools." I have grown weary and intolerant of professional discussion derailers.
Back to storytelling in this thread... I for one would like to read about your history with budget knives!
Thanks, TB. I don’t have all that much to tell. It is important, however, as you well know to take good care of tools. I recall on a hunt for Dall Sheep in Alaska, I was stationed there from 1960 - 1964, a friend and I were together, and he killed a ram. Somehow he had lost his knife He borrowed mine. I always sharpened my knives so that I could take an individual hair on the back of my hand and snip it without pressure or moisture on it. My friend cleaned and caped his sheep, and when he paused he took my knife and thrust it blade first into the ground. Imagine all the small stones, dirt, etc. that the blade encountered. I saw a “little red” and took my knife away from him. I also had a pocket knife of the type issued, and with several tools like a SAK. I gave it to him, and before he was through he had loosened the blade on that one. He sure was
was tough on knives. 
He remains still one of my best friends, and although we live from S NM to Va apart, we talk and compare notes often. BUT he never borrowed one of my hunting knives again.
Jerry
I'm not buying anything good until my kids quit borrowing stuff .
This copy of the beautiful Microtech Whaleshark just might be my next purchase.
Just love the design, carbon fiber handles, big swedge and sweep on the blade, flipper.
Wish it had a deeper pocket clip…and I think i would have to flame treat the blue back spacer…but all else seems perfect.
Wow, KS, that is a gorgeous knife! Do it!
I wish you folks who provide pictures or links of stunning knives available only at AliExpress have some compassion for those few of us who can't receive anything from any of their stores. My home State has no escrow services for AE.
Any of the larger Cold Steel knives can be inertia opened, the Voyager XL Tanto having a thicker and slightly heavier blade than its flat ground siblings is very good. Spyderco knives are popular for the Spydy drop, hold the blade and snap the handle out which can also be done on the Buck 110.
As a rule of thumb, a 4” blade with a liner or frame lock should have enough blade mass compared to retention strength to inertia open.
You might be able to do it with a Timber Rattler Scarab.
That’s an 8 and a bit inch long blade. Made in Pakistan so probably a no name stainless, the pivot is a bit too small for the blade size, and I don’t think it has much of a heat treatment, but for Crocodile Dundee’s pocket knife it’s mercifully cheap at about $15-$25 plus postage.
^ Now that's a knife. Thanks for sharing. Something about the picture gives me a sensation of motion. Maybe the crazy proportions and the reflections of the venetian blinds on the table.
@jerm03: I agree. I believe that the most important part of any knife is learning how to sharpen it. There is no magic steel. Long time between sharpening means long time spent sharpening, Knowing that, I can be happy with just about any blade steel so long as I can keep it sharp.
Roger that.
Jerry
I have this knife, it’s a decent quality budget knife.
I bought it because I really liked the blade shape and machined G10 handles, it turned out to be pretty good quality for a truly budget price.
8CR13 Blade steel (supposedly a decent quality Hi Carbon steel)
$15 from several sellers on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Meyerco-Darrel-Ralph-7-1-8-Spring-Assisted
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Meyerco-MAXX-Q-Assisted-Opening-Linerlock
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Meyerco-Darrel-Ralph-Maxx-Q-Assisted-Opening
Pro’s:
- Low price
- Spring assisted opening
- Blade steel 8CR13 Stainless
- Nice CNC machined G10 handles
- Nice lockup and nearly zero blade play
- Sturdy, useful & cool looking blade shape
- Blade is very thick all the way towards the tip
- Lightweight because there are no metal liners
Cons:
- No “Flipper” on the spine of blade for opening
- Thumb wheel (instead of studs)
- Clip is thin & not “Deep Carry”
- Knife is overall kind of thick
It’s not my EDC but I thought it was worth mentioning here since it is truly budget priced but way better quality than the M-Tech/Tac-Force type stuff.
I thought someone else here might like the design/shape, which is why I was drawn to it.
I have a lot of Kershaws plus some SRM and Ganzo that I EDC, but it makes a great truck knife or backup knife for utility use if I’m going to beat it up when I don’t want to risk messing up my EDC.
As many knives as I have in the collection,…I keep going back often to the Spyderco Ambitious for daily work/office carry. It is one of those big…little knives. A lot a blade and capability in a small package. It is the little brother to the widely popular Tenacious (which everyone should own).
I ran across this guy that made custom scales for his Ambitious and selling on the Bay. I can’t justify throwing $75 down right now….but it sure is tempting. If it had a custom wire clip,…I would probably have pulled the trigger on it.
Hi guys, I’m into budget knive too!!
Would like to buy some Kershaw (now I have 4 original items) because they are nice knives and cheap, but the shipping cost kill me. Buy it in euros is a pain in the ass (Kershaw Chill 12$ in USA, aka 20 euros + 10 euros shipping cost!). Same think with Ontario Rat 1 and so many other well know brand.
So, the question: maybe do you know some place very I can find some nice Kershaw not so clone/copy/crappy? Amazon don’t sell knives in Italy. Ebay have shipping cost/duty too high. I have buy from Exduct and Fasttech…thank you so much!
I don’t know nothing about it, but it seem have the same blade of Kershaw Chill. BTW, it look very nice:
Heinie Haynes carries Kershaw and has a good selection of other blades too. I can’t speak for the pricing but they will ship for free to the EU if you spend enough.
When I am outside of the USA, I have a freight forwarding service ship to me. I pay by the pound and they fly it to me. Of course that means that I usually buy about 2 kg or more stuff at a time.
Here are some old kitchen knives, maybe 10 years ago, sharpened and with shape restored.
The machete at the bottom is a real relic. My first wife and I bought it near Acapulco in 1971. The blade is forged. You can see hammer marks on it. I have much sharpened it. The handle is cow bone. Inch scale ruler for scale.
This shows it more clearly.
Below it are very good but very modest looking knives labeled “molybdenum vanadium steel Taiwan”.
Also notable is a “carbon steel” stag handled carving set.
Here are four ivory handled traditional non-stainless table knives from a flea market in Geneva in the mid 1970s.
(These were definitely not budget knives when new and may not be now, but they were when I bought them.)
+1
Although blade steel type does play a major role for sharpening, in so much as (easy or hard) to sharpen and (how often) sharpening is needed.
Here’s a pretty good reference for most of the popular blade steels.
That link went to a resouce I was entirely unaware of.
Thank you for this resource, and all of your other contributions to us and our hobby/addiction!
A large slip joint is always a grin raiser when you open it up.
I have a Boker Magnum Majestic .
Blade Length (cm): 16.2
Blade Thickness (cm): 0.31
Closed Length (cm): 20.30
Overall Length (cm): 36.5
Weight (g): 487g
Not cheap at $43 but a lot of very sharp knife.
I have the G10 version. After a little fine-tuning/tinkering it became one of my favourites.
I’ll try to shoot a couple of pics at the weekend.