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Joined: Mar 2012
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OP
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I have had good luck with inexpensive knives over the years, many of which have seen industrial/trade use, been seeing the prices online and some are very expensive at hundreds if not thousands of dollars apiece and others for $10.00. I know with kitchen cutlery that the more expensive knives are better for daily kitchen duty. Been looking to add another combat or folder type one, thinking of around $20.00. As I don't use these much, if at all for combat, but want it as an option for home defense and their aesthetic appeal, is the price on the higher end ones a waste of money?
Thanks.
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Joined: Nov 2003
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Nov 2003
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used commercial chef knife makes a good, inexpensive home defense blade. You can get one at the GoodWill store for a few bucks
Sam......
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Joined: Apr 2001
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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A few pages back, there is a thread on "Benchmade Knifes". Lots of reasons why a $150-$250 knife is worth every penny.
MOLON LABE
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 44,271
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Dec 2013
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used commercial chef knife makes a good, inexpensive home defense blade. You can get one at the GoodWill store for a few bucks Thanks for the reminder to hit Goodwills and Faith Farm. Not looking for knives, though.
Slaves get what they need. Free men get what they want. Rehabilitation is way overrated. Orwell wasn't wrong. GOA member disappointed NRA member 24HCF SEARCH
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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Very few who have actually been or going into combat are looking for a $10-$20 knife to carry with them.
That being said, a knife is worth what you paid for it ------if it never fails to do what you want it to. And not worth a crap if it lets you down when you REALLY need it.
This is a game of "To each his own", at least until we lose our right to personal choice.
There are inexpensive knives out there that work just fine for most daily uses. But I do not have any recommendations on that front.
Good luck
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein
At Khe Sanh a sign read "For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected never knew".
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Joined: Feb 2011
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2011
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When I saw how many "views" this post had without any replies, I thought that others were like me and thought that it was a trollish post, asking about a $20 "combat knife".
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 21,790
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2014
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When I saw how many "views" this post had without any replies, I thought that others were like me and thought that it was a trollish post, asking about a $20 "combat knife". Yep. My first thought was WTF! Second was WTF, they are taking this serious. Cheap home defense? High Point!
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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Joined: Jun 2004
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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When it comes to folders it is well worth the money for premier locking mechanisms. For a fixed blade I have not seen a $500 blade do anything a $150 cannot do. There is a lot of money spent on knives because of an instagram celebrity endorsement. Currently I know of one that gets dumped on the market in batches of 100 at a time for $400. It is cut on a water jet from good steel for about $30 total and about 20 minutes worth of grinding with an acid finish. No way it is worth more than. $125-150 if someone else was marketing it.
Hunt hard, kill clean, waste nothing and offer no apologies.
"In rifle work, group size is of some interest...but it is well to remember that a rifleman does not shoot groups, he shoots shots." Jeff Cooper
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Joined: Jun 2005
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2005
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You have to draw the line somewhere:
If you are in a situation and you wonder if you have enough knife? - You need a gun! If you are in a situation and you wonder if you have enough gun? - You need to stay home!
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Joined: Nov 2003
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 67,710 |
You have to draw the line somewhere:
If you are in a situation and you wonder if you have enough knife? - You need a gun! If you are in a situation and you wonder if you have enough gun? - You need to stay home! that's when you reach for the AR
Sam......
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,856
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2011
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You have to draw the line somewhere:
If you are in a situation and you wonder if you have enough knife? - You need a gun! If you are in a situation and you wonder if you have enough gun? - You need to stay home! that's when you reach for the AR That's why I say that I'm going to "bug in". I'll sit in my comfortable recliner and let them come to me...
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Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 421
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Apr 2019
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There is cheap and then there is really cheap. Ontario vs Esse in the "combat" "category is what came to mind when I read the thread title. For outdoor users usa made old timers did everything I ever asked them to do and at a low price compared to many higher end manufacturers or customs. But 10-20 if new today has always been lousy steel for me. An ocasional second hand item at that price is a sleeper.
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Joined: May 2003
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 13,367 |
I had a really good friend for many years who was a Navy SEAL with Vietnam service. Once we were talking about knives and he said he still had his KaBar and Gerber fighting knife. He was very fond of those and said he'd been offered a lot of money for them because he used them in Vietnam. He said they had a very sentimental value and he'd not sell them for anything. He said the KaBar had always done whatever he needed for general use.
KaBars do not cost a great deal of money.
He died of cancer, Agent Orange related, this past Feb. 28.
L.W.
"Always go straight forward, and if you meet the devil, cut him in two and go between the pieces." (William Sturgis, clipper ship captain, 1830s.)
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 67,710
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 67,710 |
I sent both of my brothers off to war in Viet Nam with a Randall #1 knife and a S&W Model 19. Both did well, used the items, and came back unscratched. Both still have both.
Sam......
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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In my experience, the notion of silently taking out a sentry or even having to resort to drawing your knife and "fighting off the last wave" is exceedingly rare these days. Not saying it wont happen but your more likely to win the lottery. That said, toward the end of my carrier, I mounted a cold steel push dagger center of chest, accessible to either hand, on my plate carrier as a "get up off me device". Also had an Ontario RAT-3 as a stout utility knife. Always carried a rugged folder at all times and used them daily. That was the most useful knife. I've used various brands and models but can vouch for cold steel, CRKT and Benchmade among others depending on your budget. You do get what you pay for but you don't have to deny your children dental care to acquire a useful knife.
As far as "home defense", if a firearm is not an option, your probably better off with a baseball bat.
Bore size is no substitute for shot placement and Power is no substitute for bullet performance. 458WIN
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Joined: Mar 2019
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Campfire Regular
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Talking about "cheap combat knives" sounds like an Abbot and Costello skit.
How can any one take it serious combat, risking life and limb and then looking for the low bidder on it. It is a ridiculous concept child's fantasy. A lot like these preppers, SHTF people who stock up on years worth of MREs or peanut butter and a swimming pool in one gallon jugs of water.
I could take it serious if you want CHEAP knives or if you want to talk about COMBAT knife, though that is pretty ridiculous by it's self.
""Mute the Greeniacs. Open the pipeline. Bury the Russians." - JPR - 2022
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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I remember seeing a video with Mike Stewart of Bark River Knives when some Marines came to see him about making them knives that became the Bravo 1. It has a 4.25" blade and he asked them if that was long enough for a combat knife. They told him that they didn't fight with knives anymore and just needed a utility, do-everything knife.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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My retired E8 friend carried a combat knife that looks like an M-16 bayonet with a different guard/quillon, and a plain pommel without a latch.
He said that he bought it before being deployed for Desert Storm. It has a tan handle and sheath. He said that some outfit made them up, but the military didn't buy them for issue, so they were sold to the public. I've seen them on eBay and pictures of them come up if you search for "desert storm knife combat tan m3 m10".
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Campfire Tracker
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I believe the Buck 119 Special has seen its share of use in the field and isn’t a budget breaker, but it is more than $20.
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