1.5″ Knife: 35 grams, $0.95

I really appreciate a quality knife and I also think that a knife is THE most important thing a person carries when venturing off the beaten track. For super basic food prep and/or opening packages [or mail], I'm sure it's fine, but I would never rely on a $1 knife for survival or heavier, everyday tasks. That said, a stout knife doesn't need to be super expensive either.

It really doesn't matter if it is a lightweight knife for $0.95, a single edged razor blade, a Becker BK-9 Bowie, a Derma-Safe Knife or a SOG Jungle Primitive.

Folder or fixed blade, it is only important when it gets right down to what you need the knife to do for you in the field.

As Mike said, "…depends on what you're using it for …"

I've hiked 100 miles in a two week stretch when a pair of scissors would have been all that I really needed.

That being said my EDC habit is to always have at least two "blades" with me. One is a decent sized folder and the other is the blade on a "small" multi-tool.

That little folder with the carabiner clip that you purchased would have served me well for everything that I needed a knife for on my two week hike. ;-)

I've long been looking for the perfect knife that does everything that anyone would ever need a knife for and IT DOES NOT EXIST!

That being said, I keep on looking and I keep on buying them. L O L

Had I been with you in Frys I would have spent the 95 cents.

It has a lot of advantages. It is inexpensive, light, easily stored within reach and I assume sharp enough to do what you need it to do.

It won't clear brush on a bushwacking expedition but it looks good to me.

Party On,

Newton

That pretty much parallels my thoughts on it Newton.

Plus I had a good time leading on my wife with it. I got home showed my wife and said I made a splurge purchase. She said she didn't care, then I started telling her all of its attributes. That's when she got a little concerned and said, "was it less than $50." I responded, "ninety-five…" and got a look of death before, "… cents" came out.

Ben, that is the best laugh I've had all day. Great score. (both the knife and the wife conversation)

Ben,

"That's when she got a little concerned and said, "was it less than $50." I responded, "ninety-five…" and got a look of death before, "… cents" came out".

That's funny! You're a brave man and very lucky that she didn't use it on you after teasing her that way. ;-)

Sounds to me like you got a good knife and a good wife!

Since you were in Frys did they have this one in stock?

Party On,

Newton

A knife is more a tool of convenience, than a tool of necessity.
I cant think of anything I might need a knife for, that I couldnt do without it.
Amputations excepted.
I havent even used a razor blade in last several hundred miles.

People got along great for thousands of years with sharp chipped rocks. Just sayin.

I think a good bush knife (not Rambo, but a quality 3"-4" fixed blade) falls into the catagory of "not vital 99% of the time, but really important should things get bad." I'll always carry one, but will admit it's a personal preference, and the potential for being places where there is not a lot of trail traffic.

Yeah, certainly growing up, my father always told me that a knife was the most important tool when you were out in the woods. The more I get into the BPL mindset the more I challenge those built-in biases. I now tend to believe people in the outdoors tend to over emphasize the importance of their knife. I am not sure I have ever met anyone who truly needed a fixed blade knife.

I don't mean to sound like I am attacking your post, just trying to challenge it in a friendly way ( :) ). Plus, the thread disappeared after the last spam attack so I wanted to bump it back into existence.

Before hiking the Long Trail this summer, I asked myself "What would I actually use a knife FOR, anyways?". I couldn't come up with a good answer, so I ditched it. 300 miles later, I have no regrets. I borrowed someone else's knife to make some minor campsite improvements, but in this case it was super unnecessary.

However, I did pick up a .8 oz Leatherman style which I currently take with me backpacking, and it mostly gets used for cutting cheese.

I have a hint of a non-UL philosophy in me that says "just because you can get away without it doesn't mean you shouldn't bring it". Perhaps that's the one lingering piece of common sense that's keeping me above 5 lbs BPW.

Still, a $1 ultralight knife is a great item to have scored! I'm a tad bit jealous, even though the knife I already own isn't currently costing me a dime.