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Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:48 am
by Psychlonic
In case anyone has missed out, there's been a pretty bountiful crop of new blades pouring into the market that's low cost but high quality. Nearly any design can be had with good steel for under $50 and a lot of them are conveniently coated in black which I'm sure many of you will appreciate. Aside from the usual items from companies like Cold Steel and United Cutlery, other manufacturers like Kershaw, Schrade, and Gerber have been putting out tons of designs as of late in the $30-$40 range.

You might not NEED a new knife but if you WANT a new knife, now is a really great time to go shopping.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 9:30 am
by Xanatos
There's one really sweet knife I want to get my hands on - a custom, double-bladed karambit made from 154CM stainless steel. But the dude who makes them isn't responding to my emails and I'm not sure I'd even be able to import one anyway.

Why is nobody responding to my emails lately? Do I smell or something?

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 1:12 pm
by Spooky Alien
Where are good places to go knife shopping? I’m guessing camping stores and army surplus but idk outside of that.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 7:48 pm
by Xanatos
Flea markets, gun stores and online. That's all I can think of.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:44 pm
by Psychlonic
Online is overall the best shopping experience for quality carrying a decent price tag. You can and hopefully will stumble into better deals in stores, classified ads, yard sales etc. but the online market is consistent. If you're wanting something unique or just an added layer of security in avoiding a paper trail there are always ways of doing that as well.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:58 am
by Someone
If you're looking for a dirt cheap blade, there's always the SWHRT9B (that's a mouthful) option, double edged, black coating on the blade and not to big nor short.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:56 am
by Xanatos
I've had the HRT9B for over a decade now. Pretty reliable dagger for the price.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 3:02 pm
by Someone
A decade, wow, it's even sturdier than I thought.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 11:34 am
by Xanatos
It's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed (so to speak) but being stainless steel it's easy to re-sharpen. The black finish is also surprisingly durable and so is the low-profile sheath. The rubberised handle is also extremely comfortable too and actually makes a great hammer for bump keys.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:02 am
by Psychlonic
Cheap stainless blades like that are usually fine for most usage especially in night ops as long as the design geometry itself isn't flawed. A lot of people act like lower quality stainless will break if you look at it cross-eyed. It's not my first choice, but it's also worth noting that I've seen D2 steel snap in half doing a job it should have been more than capable of thanks to poor heat treatment. If it works, it works, and ANY knife can fail.

BTW, not a big fan of S&W knives but I might opt for a SWHRT7LT myself. I like the aggressive tip a lot.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 1:35 am
by Spooky Alien
I surpose all of these are better than the penknife I have now.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:43 am
by Xanatos
Psychlonic wrote:Cheap stainless blades like that are usually fine for most usage especially in night ops
Given we're not usually batonning logs of wood, digging holes or sticking pigs, stainless works great for opping applications. I usually use my knife for cutting things but I've pried open locks & other things with my HRT9B before and it's held up nicely. The good thing about stainless, aside from its inherent corrosion resistance, is that it's cheap. You drop your stainless steel knife on an op somewhere and can't get it back? No matter, just buy a new one. Certainly beats losing/breaking a $400 custom-made 5120 carbon steel beauty signed by Doug Marcaida.
Psychlonic wrote:BTW, not a big fan of S&W knives but I might opt for a SWHRT7LT myself. I like the aggressive tip a lot.
The tanto with the glass breaker hilt? Looks like a nice little knife, although the handle seems a bit too slender for rough handling. I've got an MT2002 that I sometimes carry and, while it's a nice little fighting knife, it's not terribly easy to hold for someone with gorilla mitts.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:43 pm
by Psychlonic
I agree completely that 99.9% of the time, equipment should be picked such that there's no monetary or sentimental investment in it. Quality that you can afford to lose. Dropping a knife of course isn't optimal, but could be a lot worse. Plus if you have to rely on it to defend yourself, you can always completely destroy the knife with zero worries. Note that I didn't say "hide". Destroy.

Re: Anyone looking for a new blade?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 10:12 am
by Spooky Alien
Shit, I was at a camping shop yesterday and saw a cheap knife and multitool combo but I left my wallet at home. Oh well, I will try to go to that place again soon and hopefully they still have it.