Folding knife for every day carry?

My current edc

CRKT SQUID

 

Benchmade Mini Barrage (stock photo).

 

Current edc rotation. Spyderco Dragonfly 2, Kershaw Leek, and Benchmade Mini Grip

 

I'm looking at the dragonfly. I carry a mini grip every day. It has been my favorite so far. I sometimes think it is a little big and have looked hard at the dragonfly. How often does it come up short in the place of your mini grip? There's a weird line where it becomes less of a tool and more of a finger nail cleaner... has the blade stayed tight?

 

Very different feeling knife. Extremely light, thin, and disappears in your pocket. I've never had it come up short compared to the mini grip, but I wouldn't call myself an abusive user of my edc knives. It handles opening boxes, letters, cutting twine and thin rope, etc. with ease. I would say if I was cutting up a bunch of cardboard, I'd use something with a little more heft (more than the mini grip as well), but it still slices up cardboard no problem. I also have dedicated knives for outdoors tasks and wouldn't take my edc knives along (moras, tenacious, crkt minimalist, knock off essee, and a schrade schf42d)

 

My new edc knife. It is a kershaw amplitude speed safe 2.5" blade. I went with a smaller knife to free up room in my pocket. Now I can fit my hand in my pocket.

 

Kershaw is making some great products in a nice price range. You have to pick and choose to find USA and sometimes it's hard to figure out which steel is in the blade. Quality is on par with benchmade and Spyderco in their higher end models. I carry the mini griptilian by benchmade and still kinda worry about carrying a $90 knife. The $250 knives are sweet, but I just can't justify it for edc

 

Kershaw is my favorite. I have owned 5 kershaw knives. The most expensive knife I've had was a $30 kershaw skyline. I use and abuse my knives and sometimes loose them, so I can't spend too much on a knife.

 

I bought a benchmade out of the bargain cave at cabelas. $50... had to see what all the hype was about. It has definitely held up and holds an edge. EDC for 2 years and still going fine. Found a second one on closeout and snagged it too. I saw a ton of $170-250 knives in the case. I seriously can't justify that for a edc much less a safe queen. The items in my pocket earn their spot and get used daily. The kershaw leek and scallion are very nice knives. I almost went with one until the 1/2 price benchmade showed up. Kinda funny how I try to buy American and talk about it in the Toyota forum. Some things obviously have to be outsourced for quality and dependability, but the "big three" lost my business 3 trucks ago. Back to the knives, kershaw is probably the best bang for your buck in knife world today.

 

For under $50 I would go with a Kershaw Blur. They come in a bunch of different colors if you don't like black. I carry a black one with an S30V blade which you can get for $70 on Amazon, but the one with the 14C28N blade is only $50. I have several stashed here and there. For some it might be a little big for EDC but I've found it to be the perfect size.

 

Grayman Dua or Satu built like a tank.

https://www.sofmag.com/grayman-satus-little-brother-the-dua-knife/

 

Kershaw Blur... Rule 9: Never go anywhere without a knife.

Now that I've owned one for a while and know that I like it, a color other than black may have been a better choice for me. It can be difficult to find if dropped in the woods, for instance.

I wish they made right or left hand open, not both... so I wouldn't have to file down the lefty thumb break to keep it from snagging my jeans watch pocket. Or they could just make them both even with the case body. My filed down lefty still works perfectly.

 

Current carry is a CRKT M16-10KZ. Hasn't let me down yet and is used almost daily.

 

Kershaw Blur

$5 over your budget but a lot of knife for the money.

$90 Kershaw Blur Black (1670BLK) Everyday Carry Pocketknife, 3.4" Stainless Steel Drop Point Blade, Cerakote Blade Finish, SpeedSafe Opening, Reversible Pocketclip; 3.9 OZ

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0009VCA0I

 

I've got a few things from this company and have been pretty happy with them. I have one of their carabiners. I use it all the time.

How do you like the knife so far?

 

I've had a Gerber cheapy for years. 3 deployments and countless "don't use a knife for this" tasks and it is still a solid knife. I've carried a Kershaw Oso Sweet before and loved the steel and form, but the tiny screws holding the clip kept loosening. Kershaw sent me a new knife and the new one did the same. It's a backpack knife now.

Now I carry a CRKT "Burnley squid folder" and love it. Good steel, all metal design. It's not tactical and quick open or anything fancy, it's just a blade. I think I paid $20 for it. I'd buy another if I lost it.

 

Cool, I'm gonna have to get one and try it out myself.

 

I have an Emerson/Kershaw CQC-2K. It's very compact, functions smooth, and sharpens nicely. Plus it was less than $20 from MidwayUSA.

 

Too lazy to take a pic, but I carry a Benchmade 940 everywhere I go just about! Best money I've spent on a knife!

$230 Benchmade - Osborne 940 EDC Knife with Green Handle (940)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QA9G2W/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I replaced the clip with a deep carry as the clip it comes with isn't that great imo

 

I really like the new Benchmade Bugout. Super light.