If you’re looking for an affordable pocket
knife with the best possible edge retention,
then it’s never been a better time to be
a knife fanatic.
I’m David C. Andersen, coming at you from
the KnifeCenter, and these are the best EDC
folding knives with D2 steel that you can
get for less than $50 right now in 2019.
Let’s check ‘em out.
In  this day and age of constant improvement,
there’s always new steels coming out claiming
to be the latest and greatest, but not everything
is happening on just the high end stuff.
Sometimes the classic blade materials are
still a phenomenal choice.
One of the most exciting things to happen
in the last couple of years is the proliferation
of D2 steel at a far lower price point than
we used to be able to get.
In fact, there are a ton of great options
to be had for $50 or less.
Why is this so great?
Two words: edge retention.
It’s gonna be hard to beat properly heat
treated D2 when you compare it to similar
low priced and entry level pocket knives.
The first one we’ll look at today has been
an affordable favorite for years, it’s the
Ontario RAT 1.
This knife was originally released and is
still available with AUS-8 for a more stainless
option; D2 of course being a tool steel that’s
only semi stainless, but ever since the upgrade
to D2, that keeps the RAT 1 among the ranks
of the best cheap pocket knives in existence.
The drop point blade is 3.6” long, although
there is a three inch model available with
the RAT Model 2, and it features a flat grind
and a versatile shape.
The RAT 1 has long been a favorite of campers
and bushcrafters, it’s efficient cutting,
and has enough belly to work as a hunting
or a skinning knife.
It also make a great bigger utility blade
for EDC or any kind of hard work.
Part of that is thanks to the roomy nylon
handles that are also thicker than some knives
out there to provide a solid grip, and you’ve
got dual full liners to back them up for strength.
Thanks to that girth, it makes it real easy
to grip this knife hard and bear down when
you really need a powerful cut.
Still there’s a nice section of recaso in
front of the handle that you can use to choke
up on for more detailed or controlled cuts.
You can get the handle in the OD Green that
you see here, as well as black, coyote brown,
desert tan and others.
Securing the blade, we have a nice liner lock
for safety, and we’ve got dual thumb studs
to open it.
Now, despite using simple washers, it can
still be made to flick quite nicely.
One last thing that Ontario gives us with
the RAT 1 that you don’t see on a lot of
knives out there is a four position pocket
clip.
Using this you can carry it either tip up
or tip down on either side, which is a really
nice touch.
The next great D2 design is an awesome tactical
knife, the Kershaw Emerson CQC-6K D2.
This knife is part of a series that brings
Emerson’s awesome combat knife designs to
an affordable price point through the partnership
with Kershaw.
The key thing this gets us is the Emerson
Wave opener, which is this hook on the spine
here.
It’s designed to rotate the blade open as
you pull it from your pocket by catching it
on the hem of your pants as you draw.
It can, of course, be opened more conventionally,
we’ve got an ambidextrous thumb plate here
that works well for lefties or righties.
We’ve got a three and a quarter inch blade
with a straight clip point.
It makes it good for more than just combat.
It’s also a solid everyday carry knife.
Comes with a two tone finish, stonewashed
hollow grinds, and a horizontal satin on the
flats of the blade.
As for the handles, we’ve got stainless
steel on the back side with a strong frame
lock, and G10 on the front.
It’s not quite as aggressive a texture on
the G10 as the texture on the true non-Kershaw
Emersons, so it’s not as much outright traction,
but by the same token they’re going to be
kinder to your hands.
They’ll be kinder to your pockets, too,
no matter which side you carry the knife on.
Since we do get a nice reversible tip up pocket
clip, both the smooth stainless steel and
the smoother G10 won’t abrade your pockets
quite as much.
Despite that we still get plenty of grip,
though, and that’s thanks to a prominent
finger groove.
It really helps lock the knife into your grip,
so that you can tackle anything you need to.
So we’ve seen a popular workhorse and a
tactical knife, so how about a capable style
piece?
Right now we’ve got the CRKT Large Pilar
designed by Jesper Voxnaes, featuring a broad
sheepsfoot blade, which is almost a pocket
cleaver.
We’ve got similar construction with this
knife as we had on the Kershaw.
We’ve got a stainless steel frame lock,
finished black in this case, and a black G10
front scale.
What’s cool about this design is it folds
up nice and small, so it doesn’t take up
too much space in your pocket.
But it opens either with the flipper tab or
the thumb cutout on the blade, and it reveals
a full working handle length, and that’s
thanks to a full sized finger choil ahead
of the flipper where you can place your index
finger.
This lets you get a lot of work out of the
two and three eighths of an inch of an edge
itself.
The blade itself features a black oxide coating,
which is going to help prevent corrosion on
that D2 steel, and the shape is great for
powerful cuts, or any kind of scoring cuts
as well.
With the tip angled down, it works great on
any type of draw cut, and because of the shape
the tip itself is very strong.
We’ve got a two position pocket clip, but
it’s set up for right side carry only, but
you do get options for tip up or tip down.
Now, you can get this knife with a stainless
blade option in this size, as well as a smaller
version, but no matter which you prefer, this
stylish folder with a minimalist aesthetic
is sure to turn heads.
Now, the next few knives I’m going to present
come from a brand called Steel Will, and this
is the Modus Mini liner locking flipper; a
great compact design with fluid lines and
a two and three quarter inch blade, although
there is a three and a quarter inch blade
option too.
But the mini version is a great length for
locales that have restrictive length limits,
and you still get a good amount of edge to
work with.
It measures just shy of even with the front
end of the scales.
The blade has a flat grind, and a continuous
curve to the edge, great for long sweeping
cuts as the edge follows the motion of your
elbow, and all of them keep the edge nice
and thin for efficient cutting.
Satin or black stonewashed finishes are offered
as options, as well as several different colors
of FRN handles and backspacer combos.
You get a tip up pocket clip, which is reversible
for left or right hand carry, and the knife
has a three finger grip mostly, but you can
still choke up a bit on the flipper tab, and
get a good gorilla grip on the knife for heavier
cuts when you need to.
Speaking of the flipper, it runs on bronze
washers, and the action is tuned perfectly.
It proves that while bearings are generally
regarded as the best way to go, a good flipper
can still be executed without them.
However, this next knife proves that those
bearings are a nice option to have.
This is the Steel Will Tenet, a great knife
for everyday use, or even as a backup tactical
knife with fantastic flipping action.
The black coated blade features a straight
clip point, and a fairly long one at that.
I love how far back along the spine it goes.
It gives us a nice point, but still enough
belly to be versatile for all kinds of tasks,
and it’s got that high flat grind and thin
edge too for great slicing, just like the
Modus Mini.
The G10 handles have a faceted look, but they’re
still comfortable to hold.
We’ve also got dual skeletonized liners
that add some extra rigidity without adding
too much weight.
We even get a reversible left or right side
pocket clip folded over for deep carry style
with only a little bit of handle sticking
up above.
This small detail on the Steel Will Tenet
lets you pack a big punch in your pocket,
without really advertising itself.
You can be nice and discreet until you’re
ready to cut, and that’s a task you’ll
have no problem with.
So, as you would expect, at these prices all
these knives have been imported, but it’s
no secret that the Chinese brands themselves
are doing a big part to lead the charge in
this segment.
The first we’ll talk about is CJRB, and
while they may be new, they’re setting a
new standard at this price point.
Essentially the budget subsidiary of ArtisanCutlery,
these knives are built on the same line by
the same people who build those knives, and
the Crag and the Talla are their most distinctive
designs.
The Talla coming with an angular wharncliffe
shape, and the Crag with a cleaver profile
that’s so popular right now.
These knives manage to bring ball bearing
pivots, strong liner locks and astoundingly
good build quality to a $40 price at this
point in time.
The Crag is available with flat G10 handles
or the carbon fiber you see here for a couple
bucks extra.
The flat ground blade is good and broad without
being too unwieldy.
It’s just a great shape and it has a stonewashed
finish, which is a personal favorite of mine,
as scratches tend to blend in when you use
the knife, which is great, because as soon
as you hold the Crag, you can tell that it’s
just begging to be used.
It just wants to cut.
The Crag and the Talla as well both have a
reversible deep carry pocket clip that keeps
it out of the way much like the Steel Will
Tenet, concealing the greatness in your pocket.
The Talla bumps things up a notch with a radiused
and milled G10 handles, rather than flat,
although you still get flat scales if you
opt for the carbon fiber version.
Because of the curve of the handle, it nestles
into my hand very well, and the blade itself
is really cool.
Flat ground and stonewashed as well, and here
at the KnifeCenter, we’re having a friendly
argument as whether this shape is a sheepsfoot
or a wharncliffe profile.
Be sure to let us know what you think in the
comments, but whatever you call it, it is
very cool.
The sweep to the spine on the back of the
knife here is great for indexing, either with
your thumb or your forefinger, and a couple
of facets lead down to a very acute point.
You can pierce well and get some good cutting
done with this blade shape.
Next up is one of my personal favorites here
today, the CIVIVI Wyvern.
Now, much like CJRB is the budget brand for
ArtisanCutlery, CIVIVI is in fact made by
WE Knife Company.
They’ve exploded onto the scene in recent
years thanks to their impressive materials
and build quality.
For the Wyvern, they trade the materials for
more budget friendly stuff, but the build
quality is still just as high.
Now, this knife is actually based on the WE
Knife Drakon, which is an integral titanium
frame lock, so the Wyvern makes a great way
to get most of that style at a very attainable
price.
The FRN handles have the same awesome dragon
scale texture, but rather than wrapping around
the spine for integral construction, we do
get a backspacer with a lanyard hole integrated
at the back end.
Also, since these scales are synthetic, we
also get a liner lock instead of the frame
lock on the Drakon, but there’s no blade
play at all.
Very nice lockup here.
In addition to black, there’s several other
colors, including your tans and OD greens,
but also brighter hues like orange and blue
as well.
They all get a milled titanium pocket clip,
which is a nicer touch than the folded clip
on the rest of these knives here.
Now it is removable, but it’s not moveable
to another point.
It is right side tip up only on this knife.
The blade itself flips open very nicely on
ball bearings, but you do have a thumb cutout
for more deliberate opening if you want to
be more subtle about things.
The blade and the edge itself is nice and
thin, and a hollow grind keeps things even
thinner behind the edge, which makes the Wyvern
a very precise cutter.
I love the flair of the fuller, too, that
starts at the thumb cutout and shoots out
the end of the blade.
The CIVIVI Wyvern is very cool, very stylish,
and a very capable EDC pocket knife.
Finally, we come to the SOG Terminus XR, which
is in the running to be one of the best budget
knife releases of the year, and it has all
the hallmarks of a great EDC.
We’ve got a sub-three inch blade, stonewashed
with a flat grind, G10 handles available in
crimson or OD green, and even a reversible
deep carry pocket clip for unobtrusive carry.
The real star of the story, though, is the
XR lock which holds this knife together.
Now, they can’t call it an AXIS lock, but
this is the same style of crossbar locking
mechanism that passes through both sides of
the handle and over the tang of the knife.
This secures the blade very nicely, and because
that bar does go through both sides of the
handle, this is a great option for ambidextrous
use.
Now, they have thrown their own spin on it,
namely by using a set of ridged plastic tabs
that make it easier to actuate the locking
bar.
This great locking mechanism provides just
one of three different opening methods.
You can use the dual thumb studs for more
deliberate opening, or hit the flipper for
a quick snappy action, or you can simply hold
the lock bar back and flick it open and closed
to your heart’s content.
Sleek, balanced and addictive to use, the
SOG Terminus XR is a fantastic companion on
your daily journey.
All right, I know I said that was it, but
I actually have two bonus picks for you.
Each is right around $52, so they just missed
our cutoff, but I wanted you to see them anyway.
First is the ArtisanCutlery Tomahawk with
a unique cleaver-style blade.
Almost looks like a really broad straight
razor.
Apart from that wicked shape, this is actually
pretty similar to the CJRBs we looked at earlier.
We’ve got G10, a liner lock, ball bearing
pivot, and a stonewashed D2 blade.
The reason this is part of the Artisan lineup,
though, rather than CJRB, is that this is
just the entry point to this model.
They also do higher end versions, including
full titanium options with S35VN or even Damascus
steel, but you can still get this great design
for just a hair over $50, which is pretty
nice for such a distinctive blade.
Lastly, and this time I mean it, is the Bestech
Kendo, which is just one of the few models
worthy of attention at just over $50.
The Bestech Swordfish and the Warwolf especially
are other great options.
With the Kendo, we get a tanto style blade
that flips open with fantastic action.
In fact, it’s probably the best on the table
in front of me right now, with the CIVIVI
and the CJRB running right behind.
The blade is held open with a liner lock,
and it folds into a G10 handle.
It’s straight in profile, but contoured
just right for comfort.
It makes the Kendo a stout, but still easily
managed folder.
It has a handful of different colors you can
choose from, and also like the Tomahawk you
can step up to titanium and S35VN if you want
to get fancy.
Now, D2 may have a reputation as being a little
bit harder to sharpen than some of the other
simple steels out there, but the fact of the
matter is this: There’s never been this
much high performance at this low of a price
before, adjusted for inflation of course.
So what did you think of our list of the best
D2 steel folders that you can get for less
than $50?
Be sure to let us know in the comments what
you think, or if you have another favorite
that we didn’t show here.
In the meantime, to get your hands on any
of them, you can click the links in the description
to head over to KnifeCenter.com, and be sure
to sign up for our KnifeRewards program while
you’re there, so you can earn money on a
knife you were going to buy anyway.
I’m David C. Andersen from the KnifeCenter,
signing off.
See you next time.
