Last year when the Miguron Norsa came out for $28, I was so impressed that I bought several other ultra-budget knives to compare to try to decide if it was the absolute best value you could get. I decided that it pretty much was, but it does have one big drawback: D2 isn’t stainless, and I think that’s a dealbreaker for a lot of everyday, non-enthusiast knife users. It seems like the industry has pretty much settled on 14C28N as the default budget stainless steel, so I went searching for the best value knife you can get in that steel. Here’s what I found:

The Contenders

From L -> R in the photo:

• Remette RT Cool Whale – Contoured G10 over steel liners, liner lock, $42
• Miguron Katou – Aluminum over nested steel liners, crossbar lock, $46
• Tenable Shard – Diamond pattern aluminum over steel liners, crossbar lock, $60
• QSP Kali – G10 over steel liners, plunge lock, $69 but I got it on sale for $50

Best Value – Remette RT Cool Whale

This is a pretty clear winner in my eyes, to the point that it really only leaves a few niche reasons to even consider the others, in my opinion. The biggest thing is ergonomic comfort, with the contoured and sculpted scales, and thumb ramp, and good jimping. This thing just feels fantastic in hand. I cannot think of any comparison in this price range, and instead find myself wanting to compare to the Shaman and XM-18. Which is just crazy for a $42 knife. My one and only complaint is that the deep carry clip hangs slightly off the back edge of the handle, and could potentially make a hot spot with certain grips. I’d still take it over the stock Spyderco clip, though.

Overall fit and finish is also best in class, yes even better than Miguron. The flipper and the thumb studs are both perfect, no notes, and the detent feels great with both. The action is unusually nice as well, a step above what I would normally expect from the big Chinese OEMs, even in the $1-200 range. It generally gives a sense of tight tolerances and rigidity, like the way it clicks into the locked position. The lock bar is slightly proud of the show side scale, and scalloped for a very nice unlocking experience. And I think it looks fantastic, too. The layered G10 looks cool, the blue pivot collars are a nice pop, and it also has subtle orange liners, which are a nice touch. And I’ve never seen a bead blast blade finish like that in this price range, either.

It’s fairly thin behind the edge and it cuts nicely. You get almost identical cutting edge and ergonomic space to a PM2, but in a folded package that is much closer in size to the Para 3. Overall this design is not just a fantastic budget knife, but I think it could find its way into my top 10 or so favorite designs out of ALL knives, and I would recommend it to anyone.

The Skinny One – Miguron Katou

For me, this one is damned by the recurve grind. I hadn’t tried one in years, so I thought I’d give it a chance, but nope. I still hate them. If that doesn’t bother you, then it’s a fine knife, although I still personally prefer some of Miguron’s other offerings. They have a whole line of these knives with these simple metal handles and crossbar locks, and this one is inexplicably skinnier all around than the others. The handle is 0.416”, compared to 0.449” on the Vakor and 0.469” on the Norsa. By comparison, a Para 3 is also 0.469”. Similar story on the blade stock, it’s only 0.088”, which is the same as the Vakor, but the Norsa is 0.129”. Now on the one hand, that does make it light, just 2.7 oz vs. 3.4 oz for the Norsa with similar other dimensions. And the thin blade stock does slice well for sure. But to me, it just feels a little bit cheap, tbh. If size or slicy-ness are your absolute top priorities, then maybe this is for you, but otherwise I’d say look on.

The Robust One – Tenable Shard

This would be my second choice out of the bunch, and my recommendation for someone looking for something on the more robust side. It’s the longest blade (3.5”), with the most cutting edge (3.35”), the thickest blade stock (0.140”), the thickest edge, and as long as the omega springs hold up, then a crossbar lock is definitely stronger than a liner lock. The narrow design means it’s actually not overly heavy, though, just 3.9 oz (the Cool Whale is 4.1 oz). It basically gives chunky Benchmade 940 vibes, and I generally like that. It’s not overly thick behind the edge, either, so it cuts fine (better than a 940 factory edge, tbh, at least when I bought mine many moons ago). Comfort is fine, nothing to write home about, but no big complaints, either. I’m not really a fan of the opening hole, it’s hard to get both my thumb or finger in there to flick it open. But I usually just fling crossbar locks open by the lock anyways, though, so it’s not really bothering me much.

The Grippy One – QSP Kali

Or maybe it should just be the cool looking one? I do like a clip point, and the little compound grind is kinda neat. But on the other hand, those both seem designed for poking things, and the last lock I would want on a knife specifically designed for poking is a plunge lock. It did hold up just fine to some decent spine whacks, which is more than some plunge locks can say, so fair enough, but still. Ergonomically, any time you have really heavily defined finger spots like this, it will be hit and miss. For me, this one feels a little bit cramped (size 10/XL gloves). You do get that fidgety button lock action, though. The button felt a little crunchy at first, but it seems to have broken in now after a couple days. But my goodness. The grip on this G10. Those cross cuts are aggressive as hell, and even the areas without them have an aggressive peel ply texture. This one is a pocket destroyer for sure, but if you are constantly using your knife with wet or slimy hands, then look no further.