Hey guys, I am looking into buying a knife and need some advice. I went to a knife shop yesterday and looked at quite a few knives. The worker there showed a few brands that he liked (Benchmark, Byrd(?), and Beretta) and said that all of these brand of knives are solid. He took a real shine to Byrd knives, claiming that hardly anybody knows about this company and how much respect that deserve.

While all of this, I asked the worker what type of steel was used on all of them. He pointed towards a few Smith & Wesson's and said that most of their knives are 440/440C, so I mentally marked out those in my mind because I know for a fact that 440/440C is trash. The other brands were supposedly AUS8 steel, but I hardly know anything about that.

Can any knife experts give me advice on which brands of knives are the best band for the buck?

No thread-whoring please.

 

Cold Steel will give you the best bang for the buck, hands down.

Benchmade, Kershaw, Camillus, Cold Steel, and CRKT are the brands of knives I like and own.

 

i've got a spyderco military and it's a pretty rad knife. it's made from CPM-S30V

they've also got an awsome warranty. 4 years after having it, i dropped it and it got a small crack towards the base of the blade... i sent it in, and they sent me a brand new one

here's a chart of the different steels:
http://spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/steelchart.html

 

Crocodile Dundee knife > *

 

Well, the thing is is that I am only willing to budge $30 without tax for a knife -- can I still find a decent one for that price range?

 

That chart's confusing even for me h:

AUS-8 and 440C steels are very similar, and are actually both very nice steels for the price. I like 154CM, personally, but knives using that tend to be more expensive...

 

I would know -- they showed me a few 154CM knives from Microtech and the cheapest one I saw was for $275.

 

What kind of knife are you looking for? Folding knife to carry as a tool? Or something that has major self protection values?

And no, I wouldn't but a ~30 knife. Double that and you'll be able to find something decent.



And if you can find a Camillus CUDA thumb-dial knife, buy it. I have the CUDA-22 "CUDA Junior" which is one of the best all around knives I've found, but they're hard to find, and only good if you're right-handed.

I have this one, but with a reinforced Tanto blade:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Camillus-CUDA-Ju...QQcmdZViewItem

 

I just rock my puma :reechy:

 

I am looking for something with self-protection values.

Yes, I know $30 is cheap as hell, but the knife shop I go to has a lot of their knives at less than retail price. Buddy of mine bought a Benchmark knife for $75 and at many online stores we went to, it had the exact same model for $125.