Best value In a pocket knife and hunting knife

[9x56MS]

In my opinion I have found a new favorite pocket knife courtesy of my Granddaughter. She gave me an Opinel #5 pocket knife for Christmas. I touched it up on a leather strap and it was shaving hair sharp on Christmas. I didn't have to sharpen it again until June. I use my knife everyday so I was impressed. I liked it so well I recently bought the larger size #9 to use for butchering chickens, turkeys and deer. The best part is they range from $13- $20. As for a hunting knife I have been very impressed with Mora knives. They hold an edge very well as I used one to field dress, skin,and butcher 5 deer last year without resharpening. Again best of all most models are under $20. Interested in hearing about others preferences and reasoning.

 

[bikerdoc]

You picked two winners my friend. I have both.

 

[9x56MS]

I now own 2 each of both and have gifted one each to my son. Great knives.

 

[hso]

A search in this forum will show a lot of fans of Opinels. We also ran threads on best knife under $20, $50, $100 that were revealing.
I keep an Opinel in every first aid kit and vehicle kit. I even carry a vintage one from time to time.

 

[hso]

As to value in that price range...

 

[Mr. Hill]

I think that the buck fixed blade hunting knives are a great value.

Kershaw pocket knives are a pretty good value.

 

[Bazoo]

Buck 679 and similar models are good and cheap for a fixed blade.

Mora knives might hold an edge well but their blade geometry sucks for butchery. A hollow ground blade like a buck cleaves meat much easier.

For a cheap pocket knife, an original old timer 33ot or 34ot or the 8ot is hard to beat. The first two can be had for less than 20 shipped off ebay.

A buck 345 is a fine knife for a clip folder. I remove the flipped on mine.

My favorite knife is a buck 192 though. Couple that with an old timer 34OT and you can do pretty much anything.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I always liked Swiss army knives. I process my deer with one. From field dressing to cutting the meat off the bones. I use my daily carry one for all kinds of things.

 

[KodeFore]

for cheap pocket knives check out Byrd knives. You can find them on the spyderco website. They are are spyderco designs made in china with cheaper metals but still well made seems to me.

 

[geologist]

For hunting I use a drop point Gerber Gator. I like the grippy rubber handles on it and the steel is pretty good. It's taken a lot of abuse because I carried it at work for a couple of years in the Russian arctic.

 

[greyling22]

Best value is going to a Chinese micro brand like ganzo, sanremnu, tunafire, kuby, etc.

Personally, the opinel knives don't blow my skirt up, but to each their own.

 

[Boattale]

Mora and Opinel both prove you can get a good inexpensive knife without supporting communist China.

 

[9x56MS]

Best value is going to a Chinese micro brand like ganzo, sanremnu, tunafire, kuby, etc.

Personally, the opinel knives don't blow my skirt up, but to each their own.

Never found a Chinese made knife that would hold ab edge. Broke my heart when Camillus moved to China.

 

[9x56MS]

For hunting I use a drop point Gerber Gator. I like the grippy rubber handles on it and the steel is pretty good. It's taken a lot of abuse because I carried it at work for a couple of years in the Russian arctic.

I recently switch my hunting knives to the Rapala series of hunting knives that came out a few years ago. They are razor sharp and well proportioned for my hands.

 

[greyling22]

Never found a Chinese made knife that would hold ab edge. Broke my heart when Camillus moved to China.

The gas station specials are garbage. Ganzo makes a d2 steel that's has tested out to 62 or 63 hrc. It's not just the steel, its also the heat treat, and anybody can mess that up. Benchmade had a bad batch of v3 a couple years ago. Tested out at like 56. And some of the chineese m390, that has actually been tested as m390, has a poor heat treat.

 

[John Joseph]

Moras, Opinels and SAKs are my favorites, but I haven't seen any SAK's I'd call cheap for some time now.---still good values though.
A big step up from the Mora for a little more change is the Varusteleka Terava but is built like a tank---overkill for a hunting knife but if you want a multitasker for camp chores, it's a winner
I'm also fond of Green Rivers.
All of these are great values!

 

[Hugger-4641]

Kershaw Filter is my EDC knife. Fast one handed operation, holds a decent edge and sharpens well. I use them for everything from stripping wire to field dressing deer. Don't mind losing $15 if I ruin one, and I have ruined a couple.