How do YOU define "beater knife"?

[yablanowitz]

A "beater knife" to me is the one I reach for when I *know* what I'm about to do will trash the edge. For a couple of years, that was a Sprint run S90V/CF Military. Others have filled that role over the years. Price, materials, maker, country of origin are all irrelevant, it's just the knife I'm using at the time. I can always put a new edge on.

[TkoK83Spy]

A "beater knife" to me is the one I reach for when I *know* what I'm about to do will trash the edge. For a couple of years, that was a Sprint run S90V/CF Military. Others have filled that role over the years. Price, materials, maker, country of origin are all irrelevant, it's just the knife I'm using at the time. I can always put a new edge on.

I agree Jack, great user knife a lot of people tend to baby. I get it, with such nice materials...but it's made to work!! I wonder if the CF offerings with S90V make these exclusives/sprints "seem" more luxury than user/edc? S90V wants to be used!

[SpyderEdgeForever]

That Millie needs some TLC

[Manixguy@1994]

A "beater knife" to me is the one I reach for when I *know* what I'm about to do will trash the edge. For a couple of years, that was a Sprint run S90V/CF Military. Others have filled that role over the years. Price, materials, maker, country of origin are all irrelevant, it's just the knife I'm using at the time. I can always put a new edge on.

I agree Jack, great user knife a lot of people tend to baby. I get it, with such nice materials...but it's made to work!! I wonder if the CF offerings with S90V make these exclusives/sprints "seem" more luxury than user/edc? S90V wants to be used!

You guys nailed it ! I try to prepare my knife needs I morning . Regardless of knife it will be used if needed . Dan

[Evil D]

A "beater knife" to me is the one I reach for when I *know* what I'm about to do will trash the edge. For a couple of years, that was a Sprint run S90V/CF Military. Others have filled that role over the years. Price, materials, maker, country of origin are all irrelevant, it's just the knife I'm using at the time. I can always put a new edge on.

I agree Jack, great user knife a lot of people tend to baby. I get it, with such nice materials...but it's made to work!! I wonder if the CF offerings with S90V make these exclusives/sprints "seem" more luxury than user/edc? S90V wants to be used!

You guys nailed it ! I try to prepare my knife needs I morning . Regardless of knife it will be used if needed . Dan

This is a really summed up description of the kinds of knives I favor the most, I want to be prepared for anything by not having prepared at all. I want whatever I carry to be about to handle being used hard regardless of whether I'll need to or how often I ever need to. They say failure to plan is planning to fail but if all of your options are capable of worst case scenarios then they'll handle every lesser scenario too. It's minimal effort preparedness lol.

[Bill1170]

I have an older SAK Tinker with a chunk of one handle scale missing. It is otherwise in excellent functional condition, although it looks old and worn. That’s the backup to whatever Spyderco I’m carrying most days, and one I’ll consider loaning to a responsible friend. It’s the closest to a “beater” knife that I carry.

In my wood shop I have a 9C19Mo Mule Team with a nice canvas phenolic handle that’s a shop beater, for times I need a blade longer than a retractable utility knife and a chisel won’t do.

I also have an old Forchner bread knife that gets used for gnarly tasks needing a long blade I can lay flat against a surface.

[Bolster]

I'd consider cutting sandpaper the job of a beater knife.

I'm guessing Yab and Tko would not hesitate to cut up sandpaper with an expensive Spyderco.

I have so many knives, it's easy enough to reach for a downscale knife for cutting sandpaper. That keeps me from constantly resharpening my better knives.

[jmj3esq]

I define it as a knife that I wont mind too much if I break it in use.

[Pacu0420]

The Kershaw that I picked up at a pawn shop for $6 is my beater. Just used it to score and cut vinyl flooring. The square scratched the heck out of the blade. Certainly wouldn't use one of my Spydies for that job.

One time I had to use my m4 Para 3 to cut a piece of co-ax cable. Put a nice little ding in the edge. Luckily it sharpened out.

[cycleguy]

One you have no respect for

[VashHash]

One you have no respect for

I prefer something easily replaced. If you don't respect a knife it'll probably remind you why it demands respect in a painful way.

[Evil D]

One you have no respect for

I feel like this is the most summed up explanation so far, and this is why the concept doesn't really relate with me because even the ones I use hard and don't mind if they get scratched up etc are still ones I don't just not care about. If anything I tend to start liking them even more after I've put some miles on them.

[silver & black]

One you have no respect for

I feel like this is the most summed up explanation so far, and this is why the concept doesn't really relate with me because even the ones I use hard and don't mind if they get scratched up etc are still ones I don't just not care about. If anything I tend to start liking them even more after I've put some miles on them.

[Cletus]

Before I caught the Spydie bug, I only had one knife in D2 steel in my pocket. A mini Griptilian. As a heavy equipment mechanic, it got used to cut hydraulic lines, scrape gaskets, and anything else that came my way during the course of my job. Often times it would get tossed from the top of the rig I was working on because it was too oily to put back in to my pocket. Then over to the solvent tank for a good cleaning. Sharpening was an almost daily task. That BM was hard to hold on to when it got oily, and D2 was the best steel I could find back then, but it's what I had to work with.

[Wallach]

A "beater knife" to me is simply one I would grab when the task is one I wouldn't feel comfortable doing with a more expensive knife. Maybe it's preparing fruit or meat where I wouldn't want to use a reactive steel like K390, or doing particularly rough work with a steel like S110V where I know it'll be annoying to fix the edge if it chips out.

Right now my main "beater knives" are the new PM2 LW I got in BD1N and my TiRant Ultra with utility razor setup. BD1N doesn't have amazing edge retention (though it seems underrated in this regard by the average online poster, it isn't that much worse than S30V) but it has good enough corrosion resistance that a quick wipe will generally take care of it, and it's one of the easiest steels to repair an edge on. Nothing I personally own responds to a strop as much as BD1N. I'm not one of the people who enjoys sharpening that much so I really appreciate this aspect of a steel on something I use frequently.

This is also why I love my utility razors, sometimes you need to cut something that you'd cringe applying any decent knife blade to, or just not having to worry when someone asks you if you have a knife.

[silver & black]

It's not a "beater" knife but, I've carried nothing but my Endura 4 for the last two+ weeks. The K390 is fantastic. I needed to sharpen it after running into quite a few staples while cutting out upholstery on 8 chair seats. It sharpened easily and is better than the factory edge. Maybe beater is the wrong term. I'd say a knife you carry all the time and trust to perform whatever task you ask of it (within reason)... and maintenance is easy.

[KeepCalm&Carrion]

If I let someone borrow and use it, I guess that'd be my version of a beater. That's why I have several Mora companions.

[Flash]

All of my genuine beater knives are all fixed blades. I wouldn’t be prepared to beat on any of my folders.

I’d consider any knife where I allow its edge to come into contact with soil, earth, grit, mud or stone to qualify as a beater knife.

One of my favourite beaters is my Coldsteel GI Tanto. I thrash the living daylights out of that thing and in return it just asks for more.