Knife Test - 15 blades, who's on top?

[Sirstinky]

@ChibiM

Ok, roger that.

But if someone is not into flashlights, and they want to know what a cheap, good flashlight is to start with. I recommend the Convoy S2+, and maybe even choose the options myself, so they don’t get something strange.

So, is there are commonly known, good quality knife, and a good start?

Well a “good” knife for someone might be something inexpensive with solid performance. That $13 Smith & Wesson might work perfect, or the $30 CRKT. Some might not care about price and have no problem dropping $350-$1000 on a premium custom Osbourne, Kramer, Reeve, or Onion knife. Consider the use-case though too: is is a working knife that will get a lot of abuse and use? Or is it a pocket queen that might open an envelope or cut a wrapper every once in a while? Do you need corrosion resistance (like if you live near the beach or hot, humid climate)? Do you cut a lot of tough medium (boxes, paper, carpet).

Personally I’ve used a lot of knives and sharpened a lot of knives too. Leatherman, Kai Group aka. Kershaw makes a nice knife, CRKT does too for cheap. Victorinox also makes nice ones, and I’ve had great luck with Cold Steel products and KA-Bar. I own a Protech auto knife I bought in 2001 and it’s fantastic. Never missed a beat, snaps open and locks super tight. 154CM blade holds an edge forever and takes a very fine edge. However, it’s expensive and I don’t use it much anymore so it sits in a drawer.

Know what knife I use the most? A $20 Chinese otf knife with a no-name blade steel and chunky die-cast aluminum handles. It just works…cuts stuff, and is easy to sharpen. I also use a very well-worn no-name 3-blade knife I found once with Bakelite handle scales and (probably high carbon steel) nicely patianed blades. Takes a very fine edge. I also keep a Schrade 3-blade in the car. Cost about $18. I’m fine if they get lost or broken since they’re cheap and easy to replace. Even if I could drop big bucks on a high end knife, I still wouldn’t carry it around…only takes a second to misplace it, fall out of your pocket, or have your car run stolen with it inside!

[Lightbringer]

@ChibiM

So what’s a good knife everybody should have?

Same answer to “What’s a good flashlight I should get?”:

Whaddya gonna DO wittit?

EDC? House knife? Work knife? Folder? Fixed-blade? Flipper? Stud? Hole? AO? Price-point? Etc.

I like fixed-blades, but can’t quite carry one on my belt/hip in public without getting odd stares. Prefer flippers, as I can’t stand studs (near useless if there’s any meaningful detente to keep it from opening unexpectedly), and don’t have any with the huge thumb-holes.

Damned best (and I mean best) budget knife I ever got is the go,comma PF clone that was going for 7-8bux a pop way way back. Best action I’ve seen in any “budget” knife.

Some people bitched about the lock not being “robust” enough, that if you lean on it with all your body-weight it might unexpectedly close. Uhhh, yeah, okay, I’ll give ’em that. I don’t usually try to cut anything with the back of the blade, so that issue never came up for me.

I’ve got some good Sanremus, Ganzos, CIMAs, Harndses, Enlans, etc., but I gotta say, I’d trade ’em for a few more go,commas.

The EDC before the go,comma was this small Sanremu with a thumb-stud (forgot the model#). Again, useless, as I’d have to 2-hand it to open it anyway. The freaking go,comma flipped right open like an AO knife, stayed open without question, closed quickly and cleanly. What’s not to like?

But there are some knice knives out there that might be better for you.

Disclaimer, I’m not “a knife guy” like some people here, so take the above for what it’s worth.

[Lightbringer]

@Sirstinky

Well a “good” knife for someone might be something inexpensive with solid performance. That $13 Smith & Wesson might work perfect, or the $30 CRKT.

Know what knife I use the most? A $20 Chinese otf knife with a no-name blade steel and chunky die-cast aluminum handles. It just works…cuts stuff, and is easy to sharpen. […] Even if I could drop big bucks on a high end knife, I still wouldn’t carry it around…only takes a second to misplace it, fall out of your pocket, or have your car run stolen with it inside!

Exactly. I got some nice lights/knives the same way, but will use “the beater” as to not be terribly broken up if it gets lost/stolen/damaged.

Granted, because I take good care of my stuff, a “beater” doesn’t mean the same thing to others as it does to me. The light that got fingerprints on the front glass that I had to wipe off, that’s my “beater”.

Knives, yeah, I don’t wanna ruin the edge of even my cheep go,comma, so I’ll use the hard-to-open and hard-to-close S&W stonewashed knife to hack away at cardboard boxes, errant branches/twigs, twine, etc., around the house. Blade gets dull, f it, I’ll just give it a few swipes through my countertop coarse/fine sharpener doodad.

[Sirstinky]

I learned my lesson…one of our cars was stolen October with my (now discontinued and no longer made) Cold Steel Master Hunter V with the CarbonV steel blade. I loved that knife and CarbonV steel is a fantastic steel that they aren’t using anymore (all gone to AUS-8/440HC). Sad, so now only cheap knives go in the car!

[turkeydance]

“So what’s a good knife everybody should have?”

Spyderco Delica.
i like the flat ground.

[xevious (Gary)]

@turkeydance

“So what’s a good knife everybody should have?”

Spyderco Delica.
i like the flat ground.

From all I’ve seen, the Spyderco Delica is a really nice value. Sure, you’re spending more than some other comparable knives of other brands, but the quality you get is terrific. That knife test helped illustrate excellent edge retention.

[Chronovore]

@UNBLF

@Chronovore

Lots of factory edges are wider than they need to be. Taking them down to 18dps can help but why stop there? I try to stay within the 15-17dps range depending on the knife. A lot of EDC folders seem to do really well at 15dps.

I do that with most of my kitchen knives, in fact I bring them down to ~12 DPS, except for one or two hard-food knives obviously…

A 15 DPS or lower edge might get damaged beyond easily repairable, especially on some “brittle” yet hard-to-sharpen steels, like S110v or Maxamet.

I’ve seen people do amazing things with kitchen knives. For a “knife guy”, I somehow don’t. I have a few decent kitchen knives and I’ve just followed the factory bevel on those. (My wife does most of the cooking.)

For my own EDC use, 15dps has been totally fine. I’m not alone in that either. Check out Outpost76 on YouTube. He does the majority of his use and testing at 15dps. He has a few long-term carry videos on some of the harder steels but I forget which ones. That 15dps really seems to be the sweet spot in maximizing properties for EDC and general cutting. The only time I’d go wider on purpose is if the primary grind on a knife really demands it or it’s a dedicated chopper. (I don’t do any real bushcraft but that might be a thing.)

[turkeydance]

since Scotty321 mentioned the LM Crater,
it is on sale now….$27.

https://www.leatherman.com/crater-c33t-28.html

[xevious (Gary)]

@turkeydance

since Scotty321 mentioned the LM Crater,
it is on sale now….$27.

Crater C33T Knife | Leatherman​​

Nice! I would snap that up if I had a need…