Budget knifes

[Brett Peugh]

Some of you have $100+ knife to carry along but I am wondering what some of the budget ones people use and would recommend.  Thank you.

[Luke Schmidt]

If you’re not carving up a moose you need less. Cold Steel is a bit showy but they do have a few good options. I really like my triad lock folder.

[Christopher Gilmore]

What are you planning to do with this knife?

[Iago Vazquez]

Dear Brett,

Like anything in life, people will spend more on a higher performing item. That performance advantage narrows as you get more into the more premium prices.

I think if you gave us the intended purpose, it’s easier to give recommendations.

For EDC, pocket carry it’s tough to beat the Opinel #6 or #8. The numbers refer to sizes. Locking blade, decent edge, and it won’t scare anyone as opposed to a more “aggressive” looking knife.

For basic food processing backpacking, I like the Opinel, but I prefer the Victorinox 4 in classic paring knife simply because it’s easier to clean than a folding knife. There’s a member here, Rick Pollard, who makes kydex sheaths for it. He did a great job. If you can’t find his contact info, let me know and I will dig it out. I’m pretty sure I got his email.

For wood processing, Morakniv knives are great. Some will point out that the less expensive options aren’t full tang, but that may not be a huge issue for basic wood processing. I don’t have any major worries batoning smaller pieces and feathering sticks.

All these knives are under $20 and carried by most retailers.

 

[Brad Rogers]

I use a Spyderco Ladybug and at the time it was pretty cheap, but prices seem to have gone up.   I’d recommend the Gerber Ultralight LST – It’s 0.6oz, less than $25, and made in the USA.

[Todd T]

What are you planning to do with this knife?

I agree with Christopher.  Until this is answered, useful responses are unlikely.

[Brett Peugh]

I guess I want a folding one.  More of something just incase one is needed for hiking and camping.  I do have Victorinox 4″ serrated paring.  Not really wood processing.

[Philip Tschersich]

Why not stick with a Vici?

[Christopher Gilmore]

Yeah my backpacking knife is a Victorinox Voyager Lite or a Midnight Manager depending on where I’m going and what I plan to do. I have larger knives in my every day I carry a CRK Umnamzaan but this is overkill for backpacking.

[David Thomas]

For an affordable, compact, UL option in a “survival knife”, Mora has sturdy ones, with good steel for $12-$20.

For UL butchering of large critters (several bears and many, many caribou on our trips), I prefer a fixed-blade “Little Vicky” paring knife for $8.  I’ve learned to bring extras, because all the guys with the official hunting / skinning knives from Cabella’s keep stealing my Little Vicky.  If you want the folding version, see Philip’s pic above, $24, either serrated or non-serrated.

[Thom]

Opinel #7 carbone .

thom

[Bill Budney]

I guess I want a folding one. More of something just incase one is needed for hiking and camping. I do have Victorinox 4″ serrated paring. Not really wood processing.

OK, not to be picky, but “just in case” of what? Bar fights? Mountain lion attacks? Opening mail? Cutting cordage?

A single-edge razor blade wrapped in duct tape is pretty light. A disposable scalpel or box cutter fit into the same category. Renegade Outdoors makes a 20g knife that uses utility blades and includes a fire starter.

Folding knives run anywhere from just a blade to Swiss Army multitools.

I mean, your question is like asking, “What house should I buy?” without any more information (like location or size of family).

I find little titanium sewing scissors with a scabbard that I made out of heat shrink tubing and duct tape to be light and more functional than a knife for most purposes. But I also carry a keychain knife that I use for opening mail.

I have a hard time thinking of a purpose for anything over a couple of ounces other than processing wood. Or maybe gutting a fish or small game. For those purposes there are a lot of knives that look like this that will work for occasional use for $10 or less. Gerber makes a slightly nicer version that weighs 2.6oz for $20.

Agreed with David’s paring knife idea. Some even have sheaths with built-in sharpeners.

Opinels and Moras are great, although most are heavier-duty. Like for processing wood or striking a ferro rod.

[Luke Schmidt]

You can go way down a rabbit hole but after using knives in legit survival situations, skinning tons of game and some woodcraft here are my thoughts.

Minimalist – use a key chain knife, scapel etc. It will be too small for carving much wood but this is rarely needed on a regular trip.

EDC/Normal Trips – Use a descent quality locking blade folder with a 2-4 inch blade. This will handle anything except serious bushcraft. My favorite is a Cold Steel Recon. Super strong, descent steel. I found mine on discount for $57. A bit heavy. But on real wilderness trips you might need to carve up wood to improvise something or to build a fire (been there).

Hunting/Bushraft – step up to a fixed blade. Stronger and easier to clean blood off. But don’t go big unless hacking wood is a priority. My favorite skinning knife has a blade a bit under 3 inches if i recall.

[bradmacmt]

Knife for fish or big game: Opinel no. 6.

Day to day backpacking knife than will handle fish: Victorinox Classic.

[Mark Verber]

Before I got hooked on knives bybenchmade I used either a  Opinel, Little Vicky, classic Victorinox pocket knife, or Gerber Ultralight LST depending on the type of trip. https://ganzoknife.com/ makes clones of several bench made knives (including axis style locks) for a fraction of the price.   a few other thoughts https://verber.com/knives/

 

[Charles L]

I second the Mora knives, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K27GRSO

At $12 and under 4oz, you’re not going to beat it.  They’re very durable, made in Sweden, good stuff.  If you can take care of a steel blade, that’s the one to go for, I pick the orange handle ones.

 

[Glen L]

So you are looking for a folding knife for general backpacking that is budget minded. I like folders too because they are generally far lighter than fixed blades that have heavy sheaths. Every time I’ve carried a fixed blade over a two week backpack in the sandy southwest the sheath has picked up grit and that seriously dulls the edge. The only fixed blade I’ve found that doesn’t do that is a Mora. They do a different sheath than anyone else and it holds the edge away from the sheath material. They are light and inexpensive but really cut well.

 

I’ll second Opinels for a lightweight folder on a budget. For me the #7 is the smallest I’ll carry but find the #8 even better. Melt some beeswax in the joint and it will still open after getting wet. The cutting performance is superior.

 

I like the Spyderco Delica 4 better. You can get the entry level steel for under $90 the last I looked. Better yet is the model with K390 steel. It does have to be taken care of so it won’t rust but you won’t have to sharpen it very often and the lockup is stellar. It will take a soft gray patina. Mine comes in at 2.3 oz which is over my 2 oz maximum for a hiking knife but it fits my hand so well and the premium steel is so worth it that it is the better choice for me. It works for food prep and can carve up wood for fire makings, usually just food prep. You can certainly find a lighter blade and even Spyderco sells smaller knives but the thin blade of the Delica that has a sharpened edge the same length as a medium sized Swiss Army knife is a good option. It cuts as well as an Opinel and that is saying something. I think mine was $124 so that sounds like it is over budget unless you choose the less expensive version.

 

 

[AK Granola]

I like the tiny swiss army knife that has a blade sufficient for cutting fruit or cheese, and a toenail clipper. Nice not having to bring a separate tool for cutting toenails. It isn’t burly, so might not work for some folks. I don’t use a knife for anything else. Most short trips I don’t bring one at all.

[Dustin V]

The small Victorinox knives are a good value. Excellent quality at all sizes.

But if a tiny knife isn’t your thing, there are a couple of sizes between the tiny Classic and the more common 91mm ones like the Huntsman. The 74mm and 84mm models are worth checking out as they are very pocket-able. And if lost or broken, they’re not too painful to replace, which is important to me, too.

[Terran Terran]

I hardly ever use a knife. It’s one of those things everybody thinks t<i>hey should have. I’m not cutting cords or chopping wood. </i>I usually don’t bring  steaks. I’m not fighting off wild animals. Leg amputation? I’ve heard stories.

I bought a tiny titanium one from Etsy. A neck knife with my tweezers. Just in case. I can use it for an extra stake.

[talagnu]

I have had an opinel #8 for about 15 years. honestly I don’t like it for backpacking or anything really involving the outdoors. the wood swells, the blade locks up, the locking mechanism is janky. I prefer my spyderco ladybug which has been flawless

[jj]

i prefer a fixed blade while backpacking. for the last five years i have been carrying the very basic mora 546, a stainless steel version of the 511. it is 9.98$ at bens backwoods right now and theyre having a 10% sale on top of that. as others have said, mora make arguably the best woods knives for the money.

https://www.bensbackwoods.com/morakniv/

[Glen L]

This thread gave the impetus to give a lighter knife a try. The Spyderco Dragonfly weighs in at 1.12 oz so saved about an oz with my kit. It did what was needed with food prep today and was a lucky charm that we came across a Tiger rattlesnake with its beautiful banding, a species you will only see in southern Arizona or northern Sonora. Third pit viper we’ve seen this year in our wilderness.

Got the K390 steel which I’ve come to love. It was used for cooking Hot and Sour soup last night and slicing two limes gave the steel some patina. It is a very tough, sharp little razor. So it weighs 1.12 oz compared to the SAK Classic’s .77 oz. Though it’s a tiny knife comparatively the Dragonfly dwarfs the SAK. I know Colin carried one with the other tool’s broken off but that was a big swing from carrying a rather large Marbles hunting knife for a thousand miles one summer. I’m a bit more moderate.  Side by side;

 

 

 

And with a mini Bic

[Dustin V]

I took my son to the Spyderco factory store on his 21st birthday. He has small hands, so we got to handle some of their smallest offerings. All of them felt very stable and capable in our hands. I was impressed how nice and how well engineered these little knives felt.

I’ll admit I was tempted to pick one up for myself, but I was standing there with a Victorinox in my pocket that works just well enough for my current needs. The prices were a little eye-watering for me, but if I felt like this tool was the best option for my uses, the cost wouldn’t seem so high. Or maybe if it was my birthday…

[Glen L]

Glad I don’t live near that store Dustin. Lol

[Author]

Posts