Beater?

[fret]

What knife do you consider to be your "Beater" and/or what do you consider to be a good explanation of a "Beater"? :)

[i.v]

a beater is the knife you use for the messy or hard ones jobs. when you have only one knife with you & suddenly you just have to cut wire or a thin metal sheet, or meat & you think "i wish i had my ______ here!!".
the knife that you wouldn't mind if it's tip broke off & if it's dirty & scrached.
& it's also probably the knife you'll miss most, love the most & have the highest expectations from.
for me, it's the native :p

[Fisher of Men]

Well, I have just 3 knives. I would use any of them at any time. I guess if I had more maybe I'd think differently. I would use any of my knives to do anything. While I don't want to deliberately mess any knife up, I can always buy another one. They are just things. So, I guess you could say that all of my knives are beaters :) It just depends on what I put in my pocket that day.
:D

[Jimd]

I'm going with I.V.'s defenition of "beater"; it's perfect!
My beater is my Strider DB. I've cut wire with it, using the basically unsharpened tanto front edge. It worked great, because I don't have to worry about dulling that particular portion of the knife, since the grind angle is so incredibly steep.

Also, if I have any prying to do, that's the knife I do it with, as the tip is as close to unbreakable as I can think of.

I save my Spydies for finer cutting chores that require precision cuts. I enjoy having different tools to select from. :)

[KeithM]

I also think IV hit it. I keep a 30 year old Shrade Sharpfinger in my toolbox for the really really bad jobs. I also carry a SAK tinker along with a nicer locking blade knife, and if it's one of those truly nasty jobs that leaves deep notches in the edge, the SAK handles it if possible. So the SAK is a beater too.

For me, the next step up from a beater is a hard-use "user." That's a knife that's really broken in, has plenty of scratches on the blade, been sharpened numerous times, may have nicks and/or wear on the handle, and generally looks far from new. You really don't mind using it for more or less any task, save tjhe most nasty guaranteed deep edge chipping stiff. But when I get a new knife, I typically allow it a grace period before I really use it -- it gives me a chance to appreciate its "newness" for a short while. None of my knives are rare or valuable enough to be "safe queens."

The difference between a hard-use user and a beater is, to me, that you'd really be disappointed if you lost or completely ruined a user. The loss of a beater is not a huge deal.

[CKE]

My SS DragonFly is my beater for at work. I am around hydraulic oils, cutting fluids, grease...you name it. So the SS is nice to clean up at the end of the day. My EDC beater right now is my Strider AR. I have dug, pryed, gouged, scraped, and even cut a little with it :D I always have a Spydie on me for finer cutting and less violent uses. Take Care!!!

[dialex]

My beater knife is a SE VG-10 Delica I've been using (and abusing) for a couple years. I regind it to full flat grind and attached a wireclip instead of the regular one - it's more comfortable for me this way.

[Hellz]

My beater is an FRN Endura, and despite being a (heavy duty) beater it's held up really well. There is quite a lot of dried mud embedded in the FRN grips though :rolleyes:

Hellz

[hannes w]

I like i.v's definition
+
for me a beater knife is a knife which you can afford to loose

an example:

years ago my international travel combo was a C07 SE + LM Supertool (checked luggage only :D )

nowadays I travel with a Kabar Dozier Folding Hunter and a SAK Huntsman

200+ bucks vs. 35,- :)

and if TSA, customs or whoever take them, so be it...

by the way a beater mustn't be a cheap knife

I value the Kabar quite high and think that it is one of the best buys in the industry

Ok you don't get a HOLE & VG10 but for 17,- it's a very decent knife

g

hannes

[vampyrewolf]

Just added a kit knife yesterday(was waiting for a while)... 35usd on the linville site, I think it ran me 35cad. Still some tinkering to go on it, should make a workable beater though.

"10yr unconditional warrenty", and since it's a kit I'm allowed to dismantle and tinker. :D

[BLean]

Beater knife something I would through in the back of my truck bed overnight and not use it until weeks later. I use a Swamp Rat Howling Rat for the truck knife and a frn Native for the truck knife folder. Both have been really abused.

Both are awsome knives.

[fret]

All good answers and thanks for the info. I guess my 'beater" knife would be my older FRN Cricket ATS-55? The worst beating I have given it is to cut many cardboard boxes. envelopes, rope, things like that. Not really a beating for it tho. :) I bought it at a fair price because it has a broken tip. about 1/4" is broken off. It was used and probably abused. I did not regrind the tip. Instead I sharpened it with my crockstick and now it has two edges. I cleaned and oiled it. I've used it a lot in the kitchen also. I haven't had need of a "metal cutter tool" and I doubt I would use my Cricket for that unless it was an emergency. My other knife that I carry that is second most used is my FRN clipped older Delica AUS-8A that I also bought with a 1/4" tip broken off. It has a shorter blade but it looks ok and stays razor sharp and I really like it too much to cut anything that would dull it or harm it. When I can't use my Cricket and need a longer blade say for cutting bread, I'll use my Delica. Other than these two :spyder: ies, I guess I really don't have a "beater" the way that I.V. describes a "beater". I like to take care of my toys and make them last for several years. The fine crockstick puts a sharp edge on the blade and the leather strop makes it sharp as a razor. I hope I didn't wander too far off topic in this post? :) To sum it up, I like my :spyder: ies!

[Jimmy_Dean]

by my standards, a beater is a "disposable" knife. Means cheap, easy to find, easy to care for. On a SAK, the main blade I use to cut pretty much everything, but use the smaller one to scrape and cut stuff that are going to dull the edge. I like my spyderco too much to have a dedicated beater, but the ever present Endura is the one who sees a lot of hard use.

It also has to be a knife which has no emotional value for me....which proves to be the hardest part. You get to love a knife that gets the job done, no matter how messy it is!

-Dean

[gordonk]

I would agree with Jimmy Dean. My beater is a Gerber EZ-Out, combo edge. Cost was minimal (by CDN Standards - $24.00 on a clear out) - dug with it, cut wire, pryed out wall anchors, yard work. Dulls pretty quick, but easy to sharpen, serrated edge seems to stay sharp a long time (I think I just found an excuse to buy a Spydie with an SE :D ). Held up well, and yes, got to admire it one way. I don't think I would miss it if it got lost, but then I have left it out and forgot about it for a couple of days and then I found it again and I'm glad I found it. Sorta like cheap pens - have you ever noticed that they never get lost, and never run out of ink? :D

[i.v]

cheap pens never run out of ink because you always seem to have at least 10 & they always get lost :D

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha fret!

For me, it's my BM 555 CE, and a CS SE Voyager Tanto. A "beater" knife to me is one that "works" on stuff and do "things" that I will not put my good knives through...Like, will my C01 PE ever become a "beater"? NO way!!! My Caly' Jr. PE FRN Gray? Possibly as it gets older and more used...

Currently, that CE 555 is my yard beater (sorry, but I am hooked on the Axis!), the CS Tanto I carry in a bag I use for shakedowns...

Like my guitars, I got a Johnson "beater"...a guitar that I am not afraid to beat up, and I have a King Of Mars Custom that I treat like one of the family!!!

God bless :cool:

[chucklehead]

A knife you let other people use. &
A knife you do not care if it is stolen or lost.

brand or price doesn't matter, its all about attitude

[Ted]

My beaters are my PE & SE pair of G-10 Standards.
To me a beater is a knife that you'll use for anything that involves cutting, and don't worry about scratches/stains/dings and when you've worn it out, you just get a new one...uh...that last one might be a challenge with my PE G-10 Standard :o