Best Knives Under $200

[TheDan]

A lot of people get too hung up on whether CSMCMVPMCMP S-T-VV-300Tv9000 steel is better than CVMMVMVCVCPVPPPVCPv-AVOVVV92839 steel because one has 0.000110110123230898784787% more vanadium than the other.

As someone who does enjoy geeking out over lots of different subjects I can relate to that, but I have a "just practical" side as well.

 

[Bithabus]

Yep. Agreed.
A lot of people get too hung up on whether CSMCMVPMCMP S-T-VV-300Tv9000 steel is better than CVMMVMVCVCPVPPPVCPv-AVOVVV92839 steel because one has 0.000110110123230898784787% more vanadium than the other.
This causes them them go around saying ridiculous stuff like "1095 is not a good steel"

1095 is not a good steel. For something cheap it may work, but it is not a good steel.

 

[Se7en62]

After reading through and catching up on the thread, I want to interject into the 1095 "is no good" conversation. While Bithabus is right that 1095 isn't as good as other materials available (typically out of my budget), the fact of the matter is that for under $200, a 1095 with a ceramic coating and a hardness of about 58rc will hold a sharp blade and be tough enough to do anything I would ever need from a long term survival or EDC blade. They also sharpens easily and don't require constant upkeep even when being used for a lot of duty work like batoning/leveraging/prying/etc. From what I have read over on BladeForums is that 1095 is excellent up to about 60rc, before it begins to get brittle enough to begin causing issue for the user/owner and this is why TOPS, for example, hardens their 1095 to 58rc.

Thoughts on other materials/knife makers with narrower, stronger, sharper blades, from superior steel that are still under $200?

 

[pharmaco]

After reading through and catching up on the thread, I want to interject into the 1095 "is no good" conversation. While Bithabus is right that 1095 isn't as good as other materials available (typically out of my budget), the fact of the matter is that for under $200, a 1095 with a ceramic coating and a hardness of about 58rc will hold a sharp blade and be tough enough to do anything I would ever need from a long term survival or EDC blade. They also sharpens easily and don't require constant upkeep even when being used for a lot of duty work like batoning/leveraging/prying/etc. From what I have read over on BladeForums is that 1095 is excellent up to about 60rc, before it begins to get brittle enough to begin causing issue for the user/owner and this is why TOPS, for example, hardens their 1095 to 58rc.

Thoughts on other materials/knife makers with narrower, stronger, sharper blades, from superior steel that are still under $200?

People can just be a little silly.

I'm sure on another forum somewhere, there's a guy saying the stock 2014 corvette is trash because the ZR 1 exists.

The 2014 corvette is a good sports car and a good knife *can* be made from 1095.

The goal is to attempt human interaction with these individuals, then respond appropriately if they refuse. [Image related]

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