Automated Transcript
The Knife Junkie Podcast (#321) – Great Folders for Under $100

00:01
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast.
The place for blade lovers to learn about knives and hear from the makers, manufacturers and reviewers that make the knife world go round on Bob de Marco.
Coming up, slaying cardboard with three favorites, a new Jack Wolf knife prowls the collection and as I prepped to fly to Atlanta for Blade show, we'll talk about great folders under 100 bucks.
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast.
Your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting.
Here's your host Bob the knife Junkie de Marco.
Welcome back my favorite comment of the week was by Yaka Loupe, and he was commenting on last week's show where the topic was.

00:49
If you have one fixed blade in your collection.
He says much love and respect, but to only look at an older fixed blade like Buck 119 at K Bar, A Doug Ritter fixed blade and to only use the knife in your backyard.
Now I'm no expert, but I would rather use my WCS.
OK, I looked that up.
That's William Collins survival Knife or an Lt Wright, maybe a habilis Bush tool.
By the way, Doug Ritter is a Saber grind.
Thanks for the video.

01:18
But Dang bro, the Spyderco was designed for self defense.
Now I I like this comment.
For a couple of reasons.
First of all, it got me thinking.
First of all, I needed to stipulate a little stronger what what I was going for in that, and that was if you have one fixed blade in your collection.
Collection sort of implying that you have a collection of folders, but you want to expand to fixed blades, so obviously you're not much of a hard user.
You don't need that fixed blade, so you know what do you get as a as a point of as a knife of interest, and I had a lot of somewhat robust knives in there and then some some like the street Bowie, which is a self defense.

01:58
So I was figuring this is for someone who doesn't need a fixed blade but just wants one around.
So next time I'll stipulate something you know the topic, maybe a little more finely.
But another reason I love this is that he introduced me to William Collins survival knife now.
I have a feeling it's related somehow to my Collins machete.
This this old machete from World War One Spanish American war era, that my brother got me, but these William Collins survival knives are beautiful and exotic looking and but very practical looking too.
They have one called the.
What is it called the?

02:38
The sane tracker or the the practical tracker?
Or something like that, and it's sort of alluding to the fact that that sort of Dan Brown tracker blade is a little crazy.
Here is a tame version of that that actually well works better anyway anyway, so thank you jackalope food for thought for sure.
And yeah it's true I I do pretty much only get used with my fixed blades in my backyard.
Sometimes I'll sneak them into the park and chop down a sapling, but you know.
Thank you for the comment and thanks for watching and listening, alright?
Pocket check what am I carrying today?

03:17
You know every day it.
It's sort of a go to the cabinet or the the Craftsman tool chest.
And what am I feeling?
And today I was feeling a Rick Hinderer knife.
I was also feeling this hollow grind.
It's funny that Rick Hinderer came to mind this week.
We have on the podcast we have transparent knives.

03:38
Brian from transparent knives and he's going through a little thing with them and I'm pretty good at separating the artist from the art so.
I I actually still love my Rick Hinderer and knives, even if there's some some weird action, some weird stuff going on in the in the knife world with him.
But in any case, beautiful, beautiful knife.
This one was reground by Josh at Razor Edge, so it is just about my sharpest knife.
I don't know it.
At one point it was my sharpest knife.
I've gotten a bunch more since then, like the New Jack Wolf knives that are so thinly hollow ground.

04:16
They'll give this a run for their money for its money, but for a hard use knife, I absolutely love the the XM series, the 18 and the larger 24, but I always thought the spanto needed that hollow grind.
Now I think the originals, the customs were hollow ground.
With that flat ground tip for a penetration, so I had that redone and this will never leave the collection.
Now by the way, that's an aftermarket well, it's a hinderer scale, but it doesn't come.
It doesn't come native to to any models.
It's a sort of a a a maroon.
Micarta milled micarta with the with the classic pattern in it.

05:02
So one of my favorite knives.
One of my all time favorites that spanto reground hinderer XM18 that's on the old on the old pivot system, so it's just a a weak detent and and A and nylatron washers all right.
Next up I had the hog tooth knives tanto tanto.
Sorry, I'm saying tanto from now on the hog.
Two knives tanto on me.
This is an EDC.
This is.

05:30
This is a tremendous knife.
I love this thing now.
I have two knives from from Matt Chase and Hog Tooth knives.
One of them is by far my most expensive and exquisitely handbuilt custom fighter.
Loveless fighter double edged, you know with the with the.
With the stag handle and and the Damascus blade that then thing is incredible.
On the other side of his spectrum is this 154 CM water.

05:58
You know water jet cut.
Blank, you know this is a knife of his design.
He has it water jetted out a few at a time, and then he makes them and they're great.
Great EDC knives.
I saw that he's gonna.
He's starting to put different blade shapes on, which is exciting to me because this is one of the most carryable fixed blades I have.
I mean, on a daily basis I can carry this.

06:23
I can get a full forefinger grip on it, but the handle is short enough and round enough that if I wear it in the waistband, which is where I carry it, it doesn't poke the ribs.
It doesn't poke my slowly disappearing spare tire, which I appreciate, and it's always.
I mean, it's a very, very ready and capable blade.
It's a hollow ground blade and I told the story about how I was once feather sticking for a family fire pit and I brought out all of these really thin slicey knives that I thought would do the trick and they they were all starting to worry me like they were going to.
They weren't, they weren't performing, they weren't making the feather stick the way I wanted.
And I was worried they were going to break either at the pivot or at the blade.
I had this in my waistband.

07:09
I pulled it out.
This made incredible feather sticks.
This is a great utility knife and could also be used in a pinch to to great effect as a as a self defense knife.
So I I really, really love the old hog tooth knives tanto and it's about a 3 1/2 inch blade about 3 1/2 inches.
A little bit less of cutting edge and then last on me today.
I had, oddly enough, a a front flipper.
No, you think.

07:38
Usually I'd have like a. Slip joint.
But today I had the send cut Bronte with me just to play with.
Basically didn't use it.
Just kind of had it on me and it was my my work fidget.
It was my editing, fidget and this thing has gotten much smoother now.
I don't know if you saw my close up video on this, but I was shocked at how unsmooth it was or how how tight and bound up it seemed that the pivot very much very unlike a sevi.
And here this this did a great job breaking in.

08:16
I think it was probably.
The coating on the blue, not the coating, but the blasting on the blade.
I think there may have been some blasting on that blade that really needed to wear in a little trace with the.
With the bearings there and so.
Great knife, this little send cut.
I love the shape of it now.
The the handle is a 100% neutral rectangle that's kind of fascinating to me.

08:42
It just proves yes, we were built on a platform that is optimized for holding sticks and this really feels like a stick.
And then that blade just look at it.
If you can't see it, it's a bellied.
Worn Cliff dramatic kind of sweeping clavery clip front with a with a great fuller.
So this is what I was carrying today.
Let me know what you were carrying today.
Put it down in the comments and let me know.

09:10
It's a great way for me to figure out new knives I wanna get or or also just to keep my finger on the pulse and just to know what people are carrying.
So drop it down below.
Also be sure to like comment, subscribe and hit the notification Bell.
That way you'll get bothered every time I upload something, but you'll know, and that's important.
OK, so this past weekend.
I got a new grill.
We were entertaining some of my wife's family in from out of town and so we cooked up some ribs and I had to get a new grill because my old one the IT just rusted.

09:45
The bottom fell out.
This happens man I didn't know this before I got a house and got a grill but.
I seem to have to replace my grill every seven years or something like that.
I don't know, but anyway got a new grill.
Put it together and it came in a giant double walled box with tons of cardboard, so this was my cardboard experience of of the past weekend.
It seems like spring comes and and there's a lot of these days, but so I brought out three favorites that I've been carrying a lot recently.
First was the C JRB and this is the.

10:24
The scoria.
And this did great with the cardboard.
This was really really good with the cardboard and also just had a solid solid feel to it.
I was surprised because the action there's a little bit of detent lash in this knife.
So that means when it's closed there's play in the detent.
Look, listen, you can hear it.
So that's that's still with it closed, it's just rattling and so it's like the detent hole is too big for the ball or whatever, so it always kind of feels a little loose to me.

10:57
But when it's open, it's rock solid.
And actually I think I introduced a little bit of play into it.
Yesterday I was horsing it through some very heavy cardboard.
It did great.
It's a very thin blade and very, very slicey and sharp.
Came to me with a screaming edge on it.
I think maybe the guy I traded with Chris.

11:17
I think maybe he put.
His own edge on it.
It's very very nice edge, so that did great.
This one, the next one that I had on me.
I've been carrying this one quite a bit I this was my.
Carrie yesterday the mini Pelican by Kaiser Knives and designed by Kay Maximum Great Knife.
It has great, very thin cutting geometry and A and a tall sort of Saber grind or flat grind there, and it does really, really well.

11:50
Except that trailing point kept that kind of kept feeling like I wanted a little more straight edge with this.
So this this does very well.
It does zip through cardboard, even the thick stuff.
If you're going with the grain, but I I kept finding it slipping off the the top and thinking this would be a fantastic Warren Cliff.
I know that.
Other models of the kmax Ron Pelican and his knives.
He does do a sheep's foot with a straighter edge, and I think in this model it would.

12:23
It would serve well.
I think it would do a great job with the with the rest of the blade geometry and everything else.
And by the way, this N 690 did great.
It's still, it's still razor sharp.
I don't know what I was expecting like it's not butter, you know, sometimes you start thinking about these steels and you're like you think they're just going.
You know, after one use they're gonna doll out because we're so used to thinking about super steels.
But no, it did great and last up.

12:50
My favorite all time cardboard cutting knife is the.
Steingraeber performance knives shark.
This is a custom knife.
He does these in batches and now he's doing a folder called the Lamia that is a absolutely gorgeous.
Titanium frame lock.
Very nice and simple design.
Kind of hearkens to this.

13:12
And he imports his his incredible thin blade geometry and incredible grinding into the folding format with that Lamia.
This knife the shark really does live up to its name in two ways.
First of all, uh, you know, as I have to do when I'm cutting up a lot of cardboard, I always stack it up thick.
And then I stab whatever knives I'm using and see how deeply and how easily they penetrate.
That's just for fun and this thing always goes right up to the handle.
That shape really is like a shark's tooth to me.
It's it's evocative of a shark's nose and body as it slips through the water, but it it must also.

13:52
Be like a shark's tooth because it it this thing all always stabs very deeply and you don't think of these kind of EDC blades as being stabbers necessarily.
If you needed this thing in a pinch, of course like any other knife, it would be great, but this one might even excel, but in terms of cutting the cardboard, it's incredible.
It's slips through the molecules, it slips between the atoms.
One way I like to use this knife actually is.
When I have a piece of cardboard that's about maybe 2 feet wide or 18 inches wide and I need to cut it into strips, I like to hold it and pull towards me.
I know I'm sure that's unsafe or whatever, but that's how I like to do it and with this knife, when I when I push it through the cardboard and then pull it towards me.
It looks like a fin swimming through the cardboard towards me.

14:48
I'm not sure if you can understand what I'm saying, but the blade tip is up and the edge is towards me and I'm pulling the knife towards me to shear a piece of cardboard.
You know, a slab, a cardboard off a larger slab and it looks like a Finn swimming, swimming towards me through the cardboard.
I think it's cool, maybe I was just out there too long and the heat cutting cardboard but excellent knife and lives up to its name in many many ways.
So these these were my.
Cardboard slaying knives for the weekend this past weekend and I would say this is the order of greatness.
Definitely, the shark comes in first, the scoria was second and the Kaiser meeting Pelican.
Minnie was third, so that's what we had all right.

15:33
So coming up on the Knife Junkie podcast we're going to look at a new knife from Kombu and best tech.
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16:02
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16:24
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A knife that we spoke to kambu about.

16:58
We had kambu back on the show not too long ago talking about his new models with best tech and hoping he was hoping upon hope that his new model, a big big beauty, the.
It that it would be coming out at Blade Show 2022. It's called the Fairchild named after a Fairchild.
What is it?
A water aircraft from World War 2A Fairchild also.
I know they helped develop and make, at least earlier on the A10 Warthog.
A correct me if I'm wrong in the comments, but Fairchild of a A storied airplane company.
He named this giant after that because this sucker is a giant and I got to say the the shape of the blade is evocative of an aeroplane.

17:48
This thing has a 3.9 inch.
S35 VN blade and man it is gorgeous.
I can't wait to check it out.
He's good.
Kombu will be at the best tech table this year.
I can't wait to shake his hand.
I have a lot of hands to shake this year and only 1 1/2 days to do it, but combo will be one of the first guys I seek out.

18:10
I really look forward to meeting him in person and his his.
I, I really think he's got a great design mind, he's one of I could.
I could list a number of people and he's one of them.
He just has a very prolific mind for designing knives and doing them in a certain way with a certain look, but each one looks different.
He reminds me a little bit of Ken Onion, not just because of all the organic line work, but because of his.
Range within that style, so check him out.
He's on the Knife Junkie podcast episode 314. Just a couple weeks back, Kombu is and so he's very thrilled as is bestech that they will have this knife ready for Blade Show 2022. I know it was up in the air when we spoke with him, but here it is so I can't wait to go check it out.

19:05
Get it in hand and and you know, I love the large knives and 3.9. 3 inches is a great measurement for a blade, so we look forward to that also.
I look forward to checking out.
Ohh man, I'm just trying to think of all the time I'm gonna need that I'm not gonna have but I would love to go check out the new CRKT collaborations.
First of all, CRKT always has a really nice setup.
And I know this, you're like, yeah, how do you know always has a nice setup?
Bob last year was your first Blade show.
Yes it was, but for years I've been following the the Blade Show videos from all our favorite trusted voices on YouTube and I love the perusal of the CRKT setup because they have things in glass and you can just kind of look at every model up close this year.

19:56
They have a bunch of collaborations this this.
The first one that I wanna talk about is the stickler.
This is one that is from Jeff Park and it's very.
Excuse me, it looks a lot like the crossbones and.
It's got this long streamline body.
It's got the sort of crossbones sort of thing.
Oh not this one.

20:21
I'm sorry this this is a cool one here too.
This is the a Flavio Icoma knife here that we have up on on screen Flavio Ikoma, who not only has a very particular design style that you can see here in the handle and in the blade when you when you see it blade open, but if you look at the pivot area and if you're if you're not, if you're just.
Listening you can see on the backside of the pivot there's the long tab that belies the the locking system that he created.
The bolt lock or the dead bolt system that he created and is used exclusively on the CRKT knives.
Now it's a it's a bolt lock that you push in.
It's got 2 bolts or two pins that go through the Tang when open and locks it open.
That this little hand thing was very scientific.

21:11
I know you, you totally got it from that.
But to release it you press it in it's right at the pivot so it it kind of has the feel of a button lock.
Though the button lock being off axis off pivot almost.
It does have a different feel.
It's almost easier to to get it to drop in, so that's the new one from Flavio Ikoma.
You go down from there and you'll see the Jeff Park, the new Jeff Park knife that looks a lot like the crossbones and.
Has an interesting blade.

21:40
The reason I'm stopping on this.
The handle is a little to me.
It's a little overdone, but that 12 C 27 blade so that's a sandbeck.
It's 3.3 inches, but look at it, it's got a look of a traditional knife to me it looks like a. It looks like a machine ground swedge on a traditional spear point blade.
With that, and and with a long machine cut pull so it looks like the blade comes off of a classic slip joint knife and I kind of like that.
And like I said the handle I. I think it's a little gaudy but interesting in that it it sort of is evocative of a melon tester knife.
He calls it the stickler.

22:24
Of course the blade at three point 3 inches.
It's too short to be a a melon tester, but melon testers traditionally are very long.
Slender slip joint knives with very long slender spear point blades, and the idea is a melon tester can test the melon by sticking the long blade down the the center spine and how soft it is determines it's ripeness.
Moving down something he didn't think he needed an assisted home front and then going further down, you can see the the Flavio Ikoma knife.
That's called the attaboy.
That's what the blade opened.
Pretty cool looking knife I I wouldn't mind possessing that and so some cool stuff coming out from them.

23:09
This ox cart down below looks looks like someones knife but I can't tell who.
Let me know.
And then the the last one I want to take a look at is at the very bottom.
It's by James Williams, uh, famed for his traditional, uh, quakin and Japanese knives.
But this this axe here this really cool tomahawk with a very long beard is.
Off off the beaten path for him, that's not the right term.
It's out of form for him.

23:41
I am so used to seeing his Japanese inspired tactical folders and fixed blade knives that to see this sort of Viking axis thrilling, not only because it's just undeniably cool looking, but also to to know that this is a guy.
James Williams is a. You know expert many times over in Japanese blades, Manship, and so to see him turning his attention to A to a tomahawk.
I think he knows what he's doing and I'm sure he optimized this for you know, martial purposes, and I love that but but not for nothing you could.
You could sneak your hand up from that gorgeous bird's beak termination of the haft all the way up to right behind the blade and have a four and a half inch blade or 4.8 inch blade.
Right in front of your knuckles to do all sorts of fine work, like when you're making your longship before your raid, your spring raid.
You could use it as a sort of a draw knife, so a very kind of cool.
The Scag ox rolls right off the tongue.

24:45
Skygo X designed by James Williams and coming out by coming out this season from CRKT very much.
Looking forward to that all right still to come on the knife.
Chunky podcast.
We're going to take a look at the New Jack Wolf knife.
I'm very very, very happy about this one as I have been with all the others and then headed to Atlanta to Blade show.
But this year I have to fly because I don't have much time.
Which means I'm not taking a bunch of great knives for TSA to Nick, so I am going to we're gonna talk about some great knives under 100 bucks right here on the Knife Junkie podcast.

25:20
And now that we're caught up with knife life news, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast.
Got this from Jack Wolf knives.
Ben Belkin.
Thank you Ben Belkin for bringing this to all of us.
This is Ben's version of the classic boys knife.
This is the Jack Wolf knives.
Little bro Jack and before here let's let's go to the main shot just so you can hear the walk and talk you just got to hear this walk and talk.

25:59
Alright, there you go.
Does that mean anything to you?
You can't feel it and walk and talk is half feel and half auditory, half tactile, half auditory.
This is Benny's take on the sort of the number 15 size little bro.
And if you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a great Eastern cutlery #15 and I'm pretty sure that's his favorite.
It's a sleeve.
Board pattern and.

26:28
It is my favorite size and it is my favorite great Eastern cutlery knife.
They aren't the only ones who made this and now this is his take so it's the perfect perfect size and it's a clip point.
Let's see.
So this is coming in at 122 and 3/4 inches on that blade.
That clip point Blade is fully of so full height hollow grind.
So all the way from the spine.
To that cutting edge is convex on both sides, or concave on both sides.

27:06
And it is so thin I gotta say, I think it is.
Thinner than the laid back and I think it is thinner than the sharpshooter.
Both are very thin, high height, full height, hollow grinds.
But I got to say this one right here.
Takes the cake this this is going to be my favorite.
This is my favorite so far because it is already my favorite size.
Though the swayback Jack I I admittedly said last time was my favorite.

27:39
I do love it in terms of the pattern.
But in terms of overall carry ability and size, this this is it for me.
I just.
I love it alright.
One thing I wanna show off in this clip point blade is the sort of tacit recurve.
I'll explain what I mean.
OK so if you look at the spine here, the spine goes straight across from the start of the clip, just before the nail neck all the way to the back.

28:11
It's a straight line, so now look at the cutting edge.
The way the cutting edge is straight.
But reaches down and is not parallel to the spine, but.
But angles down towards the apex of the belly before it rises back up to the tip.
Look at where it puts the tip.
It puts the tip.
At the bottom almost the way you have the tip on a worn Cliff almost has it lined up with the bottom of the handle.

28:43
So.
What's my point?
My point is where the apex of this belly is.
Down South of where the where the edge starts by the ricasso you get an incredible sort of recurve action out of that as you're pulling the blade through whatever material you're cutting because you're not going to be pulling it parallel to the material you're cutting.
If you were you would get great cutting, but you are going to be.
Holding it at an angle.
So as you do that.

29:15
This downward angle on the sharp on the forward edge is going to feed material more efficiently into that cutting cutting edge.
Uh God.
I don't know if I'm explaining it.
I think you can see what I'm saying here and that's what I love about this style of.
Of clip point.
I really like the style of clip point that you see here on the.
On the sharpshooter Jack, but it does not have that downward reaching angle, and to me that downward reaching angle just equals more efficient slicing and cutting, and you know that's all I'm doing with these things day in, day out.

29:55
24/7 round the clock is just cutting and slicing and doing hard work with these things.
Of course you know I'm kidding, but if I were, this is exactly what I'd be going for because that that sort of downward, canted, straight edge really, really feeds material efficiently into your into your cutting path.
So just a great little knife man and and me and just a great knife.
And you've got these integral liners and bolsters.
The bolsters are not soldered to the liners like on most traditional knives.
It is just one piece per side of titanium milled with the with the.
With the fluting on the bolsters, that's a little that's a little knife slip joint guy luxury touch there and then that pocket milled out for the in this case natural canvas micarta.

30:49
They also he also offers green and black micarta and then and then with this run a. What is it?
Copper dark matter fat carbon?
Looks beautiful.
Alright, so as as all Jack knives do what comes in a very impressive tube.
I left the tube across the room with with a pog and a sticker and a cleaning cloth and beautiful artwork from from a bona fide comic book artist and also one of these incredible slips.
This is the one for this.
I haven't even put the knife in the slip yet but the others that I've used are breaking in nicely too.

31:32
I love a leather patina as well as in my card.
A patina.
And a carbon steel patina.
Alright, so that is the knife that.
That I got new in this week.
Thank you very much.
I love this thing.

31:47
OK so like I mentioned going to.
Atlanta cannot drive.
When I drove last year it was a thing.
Like I, I I, I labored over what knives to bring because for some reason I thought I had to carry the knives of people I was going to be seeing.
Oh, look, see, I'm carrying.
I've brought everything I brought everything, including Tomahawk and a Bowie.
And so this time, obviously with the flying and the turn and burn nature of this trip, I am not bringing all that I'm bringing.

32:21
I'm being very budget aware and I'm only going to bring.
I think I'm just going to do one just just to see how that feels so.
So it's going to be something under 100 bucks.
It's going to be something I can replace easily.
It's going to be something that is currently available.
So that if I do lose it and want to replace it, which I'm sure I will, I can do that.
So this this is basically what it's gonna be, except for two of them.

32:50
Two of them I cannot bring because they are not mine.
One of them is a giveaway knife that was donated to the channel by Dave and the other one is a knife belonging to hero sticks which I will be returning shortly.
But these are great knives under 100 bucks.
So let me start with the the citian.
This is the one that was donated to the channel by.
Dave, of this old sword blade reviews and I'm gonna be donating this one I I'm incredibly impressed by this knife.
I've seen a few other sativa fans just gave one away here but this one man it is really good.

33:29
This is the sativa Ian S 110 now I've seen a couple of other people show this off.
I think bees blades showed this off and some others and really.
Appreciated what an amazing knife you get for 27 bucks 27 bucks.
I mean this is something that could only come from China.
It is incredibly incredible.
High quality, great engineering.
This is D2 blade steel mismatched micarta.

34:00
Darker on the side so it's like two different batches but great great access lock style lock I'm I might dare say.
Better than many that I've experienced from other more reputable companies.
Sorry, maybe not reputable, but well known companies.
I'm very impressed and scared by this certian knife.
Scared, uh that you know this.
This is now on offer from China for 27 bucks, but speaking in a vacuum this is an incredible 27 buck knife.
And just a great knife.

34:40
In general I would have to say.
Yeah, the sativa and S 110. That's D2 steel, it's thin, it's thin and very nice cutter, though I haven't cut with it I I'm I'm sorry to say but I can.
I can tell you know if you've got fingers and you can feel it is a very sharp knife and it does do nicely through paper.
It does give you a little landing point here, but it's not a dedicated choil which I kind of like.
But that is a very large sharpening choil there and the grooves some some milling in the handle.
It's all very comfortable and this right here is something I've been seeing on knives recently.
A kombu.

35:19
Does this.
Actually.
On a lot of his designs and it's a great place for your fingers to get purchased when they wrap all the way around the handle.
A deep carry pocket clip kind of a beefy deep carry pocket clip.
Big and shiny but really excellent knife and and shocking at 27 bucks.
I will not be bringing that one because it's not mine, but easily could.
I'm also not going to be bringing this next one up, but it is a an amazing 20 bucks.

35:50
I spent 20 bucks on this and that was an inflated price because I got it at REI.
I'm sure it's it's a little bit more now, but it's the gerbers zilch and it's a knife that I've talked about a lot because to me it it it.
Harbinger of Gerbers return to goodness, and they've had a number of other knives like the sedula that sedula that I had on this channel.
That is really excellent.
Also a bar lock like the civian.
But this one to me is really really great because it's 20 bucks or or very inexpensive.
I got it for 20. Like I said, it's got.

36:29
It's a great platform here.
You're looking at some pretty cheap materials.
I think that's like 5 CR or some.
I can't remember what the blade steel is.
They were embarrassed about it, so I had to search.
So it's it's kind of a low grade blades deal, but it's a great blade shape.
A great blind grind, very sharp.

36:48
Has a nice filler that you can use for Spidey flicking.
It's got a great thumb studs and then the handle is really comfortable.
It's ergonomic, it's got a a finger guard for forward forward motion, which I appreciate.
I I just I just do because I'm always thinking about that.
What if I do have to thrust with this thing and not just this but all knives?
It's got very good.
Lock axis there and very good ergonomics.

37:19
It's just extremely cheap.
Feeling plastic.
It's got this weird tooth thing in the back just for catching lint.
I'm not sure why they did that.
Great pocket clip.
Everything about this knife is great, except the materials and even even the action is excellent.
Excellent, excellent washer action so I see that they have a new knife out.

37:38
Called the savvy which which takes a lot from this knife I think and is more designed for the enthusiast market.
But if you have a spare 20 bucks and and you you think you want a knife there to be great to throw in the the car or to leave in your bag or or the kitchen drawer that collects stuff, I call ours the junk drawer.
This is a great night for that all sorts of little tasks around the house.
I will not be bringing this because it is not glorious enough, but I just have to say for under 100 bucks and this thing under 30 bucks.
This is a really good knife and I do hope to see them take this exact knife and really up the game with the materials.
This would be awesome in my Carta and.
S35 or even D2 something you know if you want to keep it real cheap.

38:31
OK, Next up is the off.
Grid Knives enforcer EDC.
I'm sorry.
Next up is the cube vagrant.
I'll get to the the off grid next, but this one does come next and this is a $40 knife and I've been really impressed with this.
So much so that I got another knife by Kuby.
So so almost any Kuby.

38:58
Is basically gonna fit this category.
I like larger knives this this cube called the flash is a 3.8 inch blade but for the for many of us who don't like the larger blades, I'm going to talk about the vagrant and and everything I say about the vagrant will will go.
We'll pass along to the Flash and probably every other coup because every other one I've experienced has been pretty damn excellent also.
But this vagrant is great.
Because it is, well, it's a Max Chuck design.
I like his designs.
It's almost 10 blade Steel which is a, which is a very stout and sturdy, tough and sharp.

39:40
Which means you know a little bit softer, but it's tough and and stays sharp.
Budget steel used a lot by cold steel these days.
This thing has a great design.
You've got belly.
You've got a tip down for a lot.
I mean a a a downward oriented tip.
I don't mean tip down in terms of how you carry it.

40:03
Downward oriented tip for a lot of great for a lot of sort of utility cutting and stuff, but you have a really great looking blade.
I love the way this blade looks.
I love that it has a point.
It's a great sheep's foot.
Sort of blade, but it's got an excellent point, so if you're carrying one knife and you think of it as one knife for everything, and you do need a point if you're thinking of 1 knife for everything, this would be a good one because it's also a small.
It's 3 1/4 inches and so that's right in in the the size category that a lot of people like 1/3 yeah, 3 1/4 inches.
That is a size category that a lot of people like.

40:43
It's very handsome.
It's got a great opening.
I love that opening hole you can slow roll it.
I can't, I can't.
I have a hard time, not just Spidey flicking it.
It's like optimized for that.
It's got a good clip, I think that's the clip they put on a lot of their knives and nice liner lock and and good girth when you go small.

41:08
The way I see it anyway, when you go small you need to add girth.
I an extreme example of that is this tiny.
What do they call this rhino mini?
It's about as thick as a regular rhino and thank.
I was gonna say thank God, but thank Kerry for doing that because it still gives that you this three finger knife something chunky to hold on to that that scales to this as well.
This knife also could be excellent in reverse grip just due to the shape of the palm or the pommel there great place to hook your thumb over if need be.
So the cube vagrant designed by Max Chichak.

41:48
There are two versions.
Well, they have a bunch of different colors of G10.
I like this Thunder head blue, but they have a more sheepsfoot style blade with less of a point and doesn't have this Swale here.
It has the opposite.
It's like a hump.
So two different blade flavors and a bunch of different flavors of G10.
So check out cube Knives if you if you're on a budget and you want some really, really excellent.

42:17
Knives high performing knives.
I'd say Kuby seems to be fitting the bill.
OK, NEXT is the off.
Grid Knives enforcer EDC.
Now here it is.
the IT is a bellied wharncliffe or they or or as most call it a reverse tanto.
That term makes me bristle, but I won't go down that road right now, so I chose this one instead of, say, this one off.

42:45
Grid Knives has a number of knives under 100 bucks.
This one is a special edition.
It is over 100 bucks, but you can get the large version of the enforcer called the Enforcer Excel in just the plain black G10 with a D2 blade.
This is 154 CM.
For under 100 bucks, but it is big.
That's a four inch blade.
This is a big knife and and it's got a lot of weight relief in the liners, but it's still heavy.

43:15
It is a big aggressive knife to carry, but it's little brother.
The enforcer EDC has everything that blade has, but just in a much more, pocket friendly format.
I I I should say with the caveat it does not.
Come with that big glass breaker, but that's welcome on this knife.
Now my XL enforcer in D2 is my car knife for that purpose.
It's got that glass breaker, but here perfectly pocketable.
They even knocked down the texture a little bit.

43:50
This has the Enforcer series has a very aggressive texturing like fields of pyramids that come to acute points.
They knocked them down, made this more pocketable.
You have a deep carry pocket.
Live with fully fully recessed pocket clip and fully flat screws and then just this awesome awesome knife.
I mean the blade design you've got.
Like I said, a little bit of belly but not too much that if you're doing push cuts it's going to slip off like a trailing point.
You've Speaking of the point.

44:23
You have an excellent stout point there.
For thrusting or or penetrating you know plastic and.
Clam shells and rubber and stuff.
This is just a great blade.
All of these this one is D2.
They have a limited edition of this also in that Red Dawn 154 CM.
But all of the off grid knives and and like I said, many of them are under 100 bucks, but all of them are made by best tech and they are excellent, excellent, excellently made, extremely tough.

45:01
Hard use knives, but also they're they are some of my absolute favorite cardboard cutting knives.
I've mentioned that a couple weeks back when I talked when I did a show on that just before we move on.
Here's another one that can be had from off grid knives for under 100 bucks.
If you like large knives like I do, this is the Cayman XL there.
There came in EDC at 3.15 inches in blade length.
Came out first but he heard from a lot of people, myself included.
That we all wanted to see that in a bigger format.

45:33
So you came out with a four inch version of that look at this thing for 100 bucks or for under 100 bucks and made by best tech with incredible silky smooth action and 14 C 28 N blade steel.
A great blades deal.
All right so?
Off grid, lots of offerings from off grid.
Also lots of offerings from the next company.
We're talking about, Stevie.
I have a a bunch.

46:02
Well not a bunch.
I have a dwindling collection of SABIS.
I should say I have sold and given away a few recently.
You know in.
In the endless quest to get more knives, but this one, this is the cogent and I chose this for a couple of reasons.
I I like all the services I have quite a bit.
As a matter of fact, I like some better than this.

46:28
The ones with Micarta appealed to me even more, but this is this nice maroon G10 in black.
I like the way it looks, but I chose this because it's a clip point.
I love this clip point blade.
They do a lot of great drop points and spear points and and not too many clip points.
I love this because it it's a very pointy sharp stabby blade with a nice swedge.
At that point, right down center line with the pivot and the and the and the tail, the pommel there and this is the first and I don't know.
Maybe the last.

47:06
Sivi, where they offered serrations so and and it was their first button lock so I feel I felt compelled to get this when it came out.
For those reasons.
Clip point.
From sevi serrations from sevi and button lock from sievi.
As you know, this year the sevian we has gone hog wild on the button lock and and and this first attempt though a little bit sticky was a really really great knife and so.
Uh, this has a lot to it.
This one in particular has a lot to it.

47:42
Because of this erations etcetera, so this is a great choice for and might be my choice for Atlanta.
Just because it's an all arounder if I need to fidget, it's got the fidget factor.
Like mad if I need.
Serrations there they are.
I know I'll need a Bowie so there it is.
A clip point cause when don't you?
And and it's handsome so it might.

48:07
It might be the one to take and it's got great chimping but all survivors are great that I've just because they have the whole knife making thing down in their format.
It's a matter of design and that's how a lot of these are.
I don't know enough about certifying to say that's the case.
I certainly know that's not the case with Gerber with Cuba.
So far that is the case.
You like the design, you know you're gonna get a great knife.
Same with off grid.

48:32
Who has made by best tech so same thing with best tech.
It's like you see a best tech made knife.
If you like the design you can almost rest assured it's going to be excellent and if it's not, it's probably just that individual unit.
That's a lemon.
So sevi all things work for me, but I'm going with the cogent all right Next up, this one I missed out on the 1st like season of them.
And then Kaiser came back with them.
Recently and I jumped on this.

49:02
This is the Kaiser tauser K. Say that five times fast.
This is an azo design, and it's got 154 CM blade steel, and just such an amazing blade.
That blade is a tall here.
It's a great pencil sharpener, you might see some lines on it.
I've used this to sharpen pencils quite a bit, but it's got a very tall flat grind on this.
What do you call this?
It's sort of a reverse tanto sort of a clavery blade, sort of a pointed cleaver.

49:36
I don't know.
But it's a great slicer, it's just a great slicer and it's got incredible action.
I mean, this action is the best on the table here and probably the best in terms of fall shut guillotine action.
Definitely the best on this table or the most drop shutty and I think maybe in my collection it is the most better.
Get your thumb out of the way.
I got this for the handle material.
It comes in either uh sculpted red canvas micarta or in this.

50:18
What is this bakelight?
What is this called again?
Oh man, I'm forgetting what this handle material is and I got it just for that.
First of all, I love the color and I really dig that milden pattern.
It reminds me of.
Something I'm not gonna go into right now, but it reminds me of something I saw once and I I really dig that.
But also the material rich light.

50:41
It's called rich light it's.
It's like a paper in my car to kind of just layer layer layer layer but not of of textured material like canvas or linen micarta or or something like that.
It's more like paper micarta.
Anyway, want to do experience that really like it?
Wish they contoured it a little bit but it is chamfered.
And I do like that that gazing into the into the beyond material or gazing into the beyond pattern they have in the material.
A very very sharp and slicy very sharp and slicy.

51:16
This is and appeared in my cardboard slayers video not too long ago.
Kaiser Tauser Kay can be had for 69 bucks and that's a steal.
The next one is from a company that.
I have a little bit of experience with but this this one is my favorite of the ones I have experienced.
This is a petrified fish.
We gave one away here not too long ago.
This is the beluga we gave away.

51:45
A different model, but this beluga has just stolen the hearts and minds of the of the knife world and it's no wonder it is a very comfortable knife in hand, especially with that.
Denim micarta feels just great.
In hand, simple, simple but broad.
Ergonomics.
That's kind of a tall handle.
It fills the hand really nicely.
Contoured denim micarta handle scales I'm I'm in love with denim micarta.

52:18
I love blue jeans.
I wear them all the time and I love my Carta so there you go.
I guess that explains my my love for it but you can tell this is this knife belongs to my buddy hero sticks and it seems like it's gotten some use it.
It looks like.
He's put a bit of a patina on this on this material and I just think it's gorgeous.
The blade is tall, simple, beautiful.
It's got a fuller that you can use for the finger flick.

52:49
It's got the.
The front flipper here.
I I really like this knife, I think I have to get myself one.
I did order I went.
I went online to order one.
And then I saw they have this new Bowie style blade out.
So I I ordered that one instead.

53:07
I'm waiting.
It's on the slow boat, you know, from China literally, and I've been just sort of watching it.
Not not get here.
It'll be.
It's supposed to be here soon, but in the meantime I should pick one of these up too.
I love this beluga.
This would be a great knife for the purpose of.

53:24
Of what I'm doing getting on an airplane.
Putting this in my carry-on or not.
My carry on putting that in my checked baggage and hoping that it's not stolen somewhere along the way.
Because if you do show up with the knife, that's a cool one.
That is a great, very capable flat grind slicey as hell, but also, we'll get some appreciation.
Let's face it, you you you like it when people are like oh nice you know nice knife.
And in this case you know.

53:55
Anyway, I like that beluga Next up is a concept knife, and this one could be any number of concept knives because I have a few of them and they're all excellent.
The one that I'm going to talk about is the Preta 2, and in this case the.
Liner lock my card a version.
They have a black one and this tan canvas one and it comes in two blade varieties.
This double peaked clip Point Blade or you get a double peaked tanto blade.
This also comes as a frame lock titanium frame lock, but since we're talking about knives under 100 bucks.
This fits the bill in a very classy way.

54:38
I think.
Concept knives.
Is one of my favorite Chinese companies.
One of my favorite companies.
I I really like the knives they produce.
There are another one of those examples of you like the design.
You know you're going to get an outstandingly built and engineered knife if you if you get it.

54:57
What I like about the canvas I'm finding myself carrying the micarta version more than the than the than the titanium version I have in Tonto and one of them is because I have a really hard time using the thumb stud with that.
I just really have a hard time with the frame lock and the thumb stud on that knife.
I've seen other people use it just fine, but for some reason with the way I do it, I just find it easier without depressing.
You know, there's no chance of depressing the lock in on this because it's captured inside that handle.
So Yep, here it is.
I also love the fact that it has a fuller for that Spidey flick.
That middle finger flick and then something very pleasing about the jimping.

55:42
In this thumb swell here this thumb wrap.
Another very well made knife that that fits a covers a lot of ground.
Here you have all the fidget ability of a flipper of a thumb stud on bearings and A and the fuller you have a very excellent blade.
Steel in 154 CM.
You have an excellent and thin geometry for cutting and slicing.
You have a knife that's big enough and capable enough in a pinch to be used defensively and.
And it's a knife you can in in.

56:19
Good thing you can pull this out in good company and feel OK and then not for nothing.
Here's something I like to go into.
The main camera is this.
You can hold it in reverse grip and flick it into reverse grip just using that fuller.
I think that's cool.
Is there a use for it?
Probably not, but hey, at least it's there.

56:37
OK Next up.
I think the only.
If not, the only it's one of only a very few Finch knives under 100 bucks.
I love Finch knives and this is one of my favorites.
I know I say that about every fringe knife, so maybe I need to watch that, but I I really like this knife for it's for some of its very unique.
Aspects first of all, it's one of the bigger finches at 123 and a quarter inches long or almost 3 1/2 inches in blade length, and so you get a super smooth drop and for such a small light knife that's kind of unique to me.
To have such a. A guillotine action with such a relatively light blade.

57:31
You see me shaking it in.
I don't need to shake it in.
I think it's because of the angle I'm holding it.
What do I love about the cimmeron?
You get the 154 CM blade steel you get a nice length of of blade.
It's very sharp as you might expect.
Coming from Finch knives.

57:48
I love the flipper because it's very low profile but it also offers you a place with that jimping to rest your fingers if you need to choke up to use this thing.
Great jumping on the back of the blade.
I love the G10.
There are four versions of this that I know of.
This yellow and Gray.
There's Kelly, Green and blue.
There's orange and like safety orange on the inside and and green on the outside.

58:15
And then there's a black and red and then they all have the luminous pet badge.
Originally designed, I think by Steve for a backpacking and so the colors are evocative of different backpacks that he's had, and sleeping bags and such, and then just thin and super light and capable, and then the whole blade disappears into the handle.
I love that too.
Sculpted titanium pocket clip.
I think it's about 80 bucks.
A great great knife under 100 bucks.
The last two knives here that I'm going to show off are classics, but they need to be mentioned.

58:55
The Spyderco Endura and of course you can for under 100 bucks you can also go with the Delica.
Yeah, I'm not exactly sure what they're going for now, but I'm sure they've crept closer to 100 than when I bought these, but really excellent knives.
Tried and true engineering and and you can get them in a number of different blade steels, but this is just the VG 10. The standard model comes in VG 10. It's always served me great.
This one has done a lot of work around the house.
Fully flat ground.
This was the knife that kind of put full flat grind on the map I think with nothing fancy.
Always talking about it and just going off on how great this knife is.

59:47
Well he was right.
It is a great knife.
It's got a classic backlog and by the way back locks don't get the credit they deserve.
I know triads do, but even just regular backlogs are extremely strong.
They're very, very strong locking mechanisms.
They're just not as fun to play with.
But you know you can.

01:00:06
You can make them fun.
I've I find the cold steel.
I find the triad lock a somewhat biggity.
Uh, but so let's not forget about our classics like the like.
The Spyderco Endura there are also a number of.
Even less expensive spider codes that if you like the G10 with steel liners, kind of set up.
You can go for the the persistence and the tenacious and that whole line.

01:00:34
So there are there is a lot lot by.
Fighter Co and by bird they're their budget line for under 100 bucks and you know you're gonna get something.
Tried and true and very good from them.
Last up is I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this knife for under 100 bucks though I don't think this will be my carry in Atlanta.
It's the Voyager by cold steel.
This is a large voyage or this is a how do they size these?
There's the excel.

01:01:06
This is the large that's the four inch blade it comes in this beautiful clip point comes in tanto comes in drop point that's the newest one.
The drop point I think has.
Jumping on the blade, which is kind of cool and it used to come in the vaquero, they don't.
They don't make the four inch vaquero anymore.
Why?
I don't know.
That doesn't make any sense to me.

01:01:24
That's madness, but they have done that.
This one is an older one.
It's an OSS 8 now they're in Aus 10A and a great things about these knives.
The blade shape the full flat grind.
They're very thin and slicy blades, but very robust.
You have the triad lock, the strongest lock in the business.
Or one of them anyway.

01:01:50
It doesn't matter, it's just one of the demco locks is the strongest because he's the man.
And he designed this, but here here you go.
Here's the fidget factor of a cold steel because they are drop shutty you just drop it and the Tang drops onto your finger and then you just close it.
But this is of all of them of all of the knives on the table.
If I had to, you know, go out and survive with a knife.
It would be this one so big thick in the hand.
Really, really strong.

01:02:23
Also good looking.
Also offers a number of different grips.
If you had a lanyard on here, you could choke back and use it in light chopping.
It's tough enough to take that you have your main grip here and then you have this area here.
You can choke way up without having a choil you.
You just have that nice platform there you can choke way up for that kind of stuff.
So there you have it.

01:02:47
Ladies and gentlemen, these are the knives I've been considering and I've been thinking about under 100 bucks that I really love.
And one of these is coming to Blade show with me.
Which one will it be?
Not sure yet.
It might just be the prep tattoo.
Alright ladies and gentlemen, thanks for watching.
I really appreciate you checking this out.

01:03:08
Also check out the Sunday show.
We will have an episode on and from Blade Show and so that that should be a fun one at it.
Was fun last year so I can't wait to see what happens this year.
Alright, so for Jim working his magic behind the Switcher, I'm Bob de Marco saying thanks for watching and until next time.
Don't take dull for an answer.
Thanks for listening to the Knife Junkie podcast.
If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review and review thepodcast.com for show notes for today's episode.

01:03:39
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