Not a knife guy -$50 or +$100

[alistair]

What is the difference between a sub$50 knife and a $100+ knife.

I think I want a Spyderco and see that I can buy this for $45
https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Rav...UTF8&qid=1516457378&sr=8-33&keywords=spyderco

or this for $125
https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-C81...UTF8&qid=1516457458&sr=8-96&keywords=spyderco

 

[togmaster]

If your budget is a little over $100 consider the Benchmade mini griptillian.

 

[Saltwater60]

Benchmade knives are awesome. It’s really in the steel and the tightness of the fitment. The steel holds an edge better and my benchmade flies open so smoothly. Also my benchmade weighs less then 3 oz. I will never go back to kerahaws or sub $150-$200 knife.

 

[Podmonkey]

The difference is mostly in the materials used. At $50 knives will use steels like AUS-6 (Japanese, now a sub par steel) 8Cr13MoV (Chinese steel, passable) 14c28n (Swedish, the best budget steel IMO) and 420HC (also sub par unless it is a Buck knife, they have an excellent heat treatment) Handle materials will generally be some kind of plastic or maybe aluminum, sometimes G10 which is pretty fancy at this price level.
At the $100+ levels you are looking at a variety of higher end steels the mainstay of which is S30v which is an excellent American steel. Handle materials will be G10, aluminium, titanium or carbon fiber.

 

[Podmonkey]

The American made Kershaw models represent some of the best knives on offer at the $50 level.
At the $100+ The Spyderco Paramiltary 2 or the somewhat smaller Para 3 is an excellent place to start. Benchmades are very good but somewhat overpriced for what they are. That said my favorite EDC blade is the Benchmade 940 Osbourne, its excellent but shpuld cost more like $120 and not the $170 it goes for. I don't regret the purchase at all though.

I an currently still rocking the Zero Tolerance 460. The materials used, and the quality of manufacture, well justify its $170 price. By way of reference it uses a blade of S35Vn steel, a ball bearing pivot, and titanium as well as carbon fiber for the handle.

 

[alistair]

 

[zzrguy]

I have given up on folders and carry a ESEE Canduri I paid under 100 with G10 scales. I'm buy the Izula cause I want a little larger blade.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

Buck vantage pro. S30v steel, G10 handles. ://shop.opticsplanet.com/buck-knives-vantage-pro-small-box.html?_iv_code=RN-KN-VNTGPRO-191666&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=plusbox-beta&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_KvNue7n2AIVSJ7ACh39CAD_EAQYASABEgJUuvD_BwE
It's my EDC.