Favorite "beater" or hard use knife?

[brick]

For some reason my UKPK is my go-to knife whenever I know that whatever I'm carrying is likely to get grimy and beaten-up. It's definitely not a "hard use" design so I don't do anything crazy with it, but I guess I've gotten used to the idea of getting it scratched-up and filthy. I'm inclined to call it my "beater" except that it always comes out the other end just fine.

What's your favorite "beater" / hard use knife?

-Tim

[Surfingringo]

[MattM68]

My Delica for sure. It's like $60, so I'm not too concerned about breaking it or losing it. I've done a lot of crazy things with my Delica, and the only thing that's wrong with it is there's scratches all over the blade from cutting open bags of rocks. The Delica isn't my favorite knife overall, but if I need to do a lot of heavy cutting, I know the Delica will do amazing.

Last summer I was doing some construction, and all the guys I worked with only carried utility knives/ box cutters. They had a really hard time cutting through insulation with those, and when I pulled out my Delica, they were amazed with how sharp it was, and how much easier you could cut insulation and other things.

Matt

[PayneTrain]

When I know I'm going to be doing something that may make a lesser knife tap out, or will almost surely damage or at least mark the knife, I grab my S110V Manix 2 lightweight. Here is why:

Blade: Crazy wear resistance and hardness that cuts as long as possible and resists scratches amazingly well, and if it does get any they hide among the roughest satin finish I've seen. Strength and toughness seem to hold up very well to abuse. Leaf shape offers a useable, yet strong tip. FFG for low drag destruction.
Lock: Probably one of the strongest locks available. I am 100% confident it will not fail. The pivot will surely rip itself from the handles long before the lock disengages.
Handle: Strong enough, light, and super easy to clean. Good secure grip, though not the most comfortable with those darn edges I keep whining about.
Price: All that for $100. If I break it, it won't be that big of a hit.

Now if it's beyond hard use, like not actually a knife job, but I'm too lazy to find the proper tool or just don't have one, I grab my sharpened pry bar: the Ontario Ranger Falcon. It's 1/4" thick 5160, so H1 will rust before that thing breaks, and it's easy to "sharpen" if you can call an edge that thick "sharp". It's an absurd object for doing absurd things.

[Ankerson]

Have a project going on right now, sent off some .176" thick CPM 10V to a custom maker for a harder use field type knife. :)

Working on finalizing the design, work in progress.

[BadFish]

[gaj999]

I've got a flat bar with a pretty good edge on it and I've been known to encourage it with a hammer ...

Gordon

[Cujobob]

I would probably consider my S110V mule to be my beater because I don't have to worry about needing to re-sharpen it during a lot of cutting tasks. I have several custom knives, so for that reason, I consider my Spyderco knives beaters...only because I can replace them without spending much (by comparison). I've purchased many expensive knives I intended to EDC but didn't feel comfortable doing so because I didn't want to scratch them.

[gbelleh]

Tenacious.

[twinboysdad]

Standard Millie, although I have a Buck 110 that is from high school (1992) that handles the really BS cutting jobs

[npad69]

delica mostly..
and resilience for bigger jobs which sometimes include batoning

[bdblue]

A couple of years ago I bought a used 154CM Manix 2. At first I wasn't impressed by it but I quickly learned how to operate it and how smoothly it worked. When we moved I used that knife to cut a lot of boxes and I learned that it made a good work knife. I more recently found a franken Manix 2 with black G10 scales and M4 blade and made it my go-to work knife. I now keep the 154CM version in my toolbox in the garage.

But I have a lot of knives and I've been considering making my Bradley folder and my Cruwear Manix 2 my work knives. I also have the S110V Manix 2 but I don't have faith in S110V as a tough steel for possibly rougher use so I keep that knife in my EDC rotation.

[bh49]

Easy for me: it is Forum Native5

[OldSarSwmr]

I've used my 154CM Manix2 for all sorts of chores and have never really worried about it. It has become my toolbox knife. I love the way it fits my hand and feels good even when wearing gloves.


Dan

[SpyderNut]

Easy for me: it is Forum Native5

Roman, I sure hope you're just joshing us. :eek: :p

My beater knife? I just use a Stanley knife. Just swap the blade when it gets too dull. :)

[Chumango]

My brother sent me a Paramilitary unannounced years ago when they first came out. It came from the factory with a very thick edge, 0.035" if I recall correctly. At some point I grew tired of such a thick edge and thinned it with a belt sander. The results were great with even bevels. It was much improved, so much that I later thinned it out more. The second time I must have been tired and really messed up the bevels and the tip. Those belt sanders sure remove metal fast. It was not pretty. But it was now a great cutter. I figure I can't hurt the knife now, it is already ugly, so it gets the dirty and hard work. Which means it may actually be used more than any of my knives.

[Surfingringo]

Easy for me: it is Forum Native5

Roman, I sure hope you're just joshing us. :eek: :p

My beater knife? I just use a Stanley knife. Just swap the blade when it gets too dull. :)

Haha...I hope he's NOT! :) I was actually super proud of him when I read that.

[SpyderNut]

Easy for me: it is Forum Native5

Roman, I sure hope you're just joshing us. :eek: :p

My beater knife? I just use a Stanley knife. Just swap the blade when it gets too dull. :)

Haha...I hope he's NOT! :) I was actually super proud of him when I read that.

Hehehehe! :p

[Jstory]

An old plain edge Rescue. I'm an industrial electrician. I've used this knife for ten years. Opens boxes, strips wire the size of your thumb, opens high voltage splices, pries, turns screws and cuts sheetrock, cardboard, paper, and my lunch. Its been seriously abused. I busted the tip off, re-profiled it and it keeps on going. Best knife ever. Bummer I can't get a new one.

[3rdGenRigger]

Any SE Salt model, and the Tenacious is a good beater knife too. I have faith in all of my Spydies, but some are easier to replace than others and some are better suited to harder use tasks, though I do try to rotate through them all. My favourite knives to carry at work are probably what I'd call my "Beater" knives, and are my CruWear Millie, S110V Manix2 LW, SE Dragonfly Salt, 204P PM2, and Schempp Tuff. I carry many of my other knives at work, but those are the most commonly found in my bib pockets of my coveralls. I tend to carry different knives after work when more trivial chores are to be expected, though occasionally the odd "Trivial" chore can turn out to be quite vigorous when hobbies as diverse as mine are involved.