Suggestions please - cheap utility food prep knife

[50ft-trad]

I'm looking for a cheap portable fixed blade knife for food only. Stainless blade and easy to sharpen. No folders, no Scandi's and ideally a sheath that can be sanitised (ideally avoiding wood scales for hygiene too)

Top of the list at the moment is a Cold Steel Roach Belly. Polyprop handle, thin blade with hollow grind and a nice sweeping curve for slicing. I've had reasonable results off the Canadian Belt Knife and Finn Bear (the FB is normally primary knife for this role). I own both the CBK and FB but am considering something a little more precise. Something that can handle anything from peeling to chopping to more delicate tasks like fantail potatoes, or other thin slicing.

Are there any other options I should consider before taking the plunge on the Roach Belly?
Portable small kitchen knife - what have we got?

[jekostas]

Victorinox Fibrox 5" mini chef knife.  $16, same steel as the Roach Belly but a substantially better food prep type blade (flat stamped instead of hollow ground).  Also rated food safe.


Add a 5 inch plastic edge guard (you can get them at restaurant supply stores or online) for $2 and you're set.

[Gareth]

For a dedicated camping kitchen knife I use a.......kitchen knife!   A modern Santoku knife to be exact, that comes with it's own sheath.  Blade is about 4.5" long.

[WhichDawg]

MORA! I use a 711 or 911 and my 2000 (stainless) and they work great! Easy to sharpen, easy to clean, long time around and tested and tons of models for really cheap prices.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I put my old Gerber Pro Guide 950 in the camp kitchen gear we use.  I'd suggest something like a Gerber Big Rock.  You can get them in either CE or PE blades, they have removable scales for cleaning, the scales are a very grippy rubberized material, and they have a nice thick (4 mm?) blade so they can handle some tough use; I wouldn't hesitate to use the one I have for some emergency wood chopping if necessary.  They're also full flat ground as well, so they slice very nicely.  You can find them online for less than $30.  Crappy sheath though.

[rp252]

MORA! I use a 711 or 911 and my 2000 (stainless) and they work great! Easy to sharpen, easy to clean, long time around and tested and tons of models for really cheap prices.

+1 to that.  A stainless Mora seems to fit the bill nicely.  Cheap too.

[Sazabi]

The reason why I didn't mention Mora when I read the thread was because of 50ft not wanting a Scandi grind; with that in mind, I'd suggest any Victorinox/Forschner kitchen knife or even an Opinel kitchen knife.

[WhichDawg]

The reason why I didn't mention Mora when I read the thread was because of 50ft not wanting a Scandi grind; with that in mind, I'd suggest any Victorinox/Forschner kitchen knife or even an Opinel kitchen knife.

if he's gonna use it in the kitchen he's gonna have to learn to sharpen! and not many blades are as easy to sharpen as a Mora, and if he sharpens the other side (few simple passes) it won't be a Scandi anymore! lol

[theonew]

For a dedicated camping kitchen knife I use a.......kitchen knife!

Now that's what I call 'thinking outside the box'

[50ft-trad]

The reason I initially said no Scandi's is that they don't tend to be the best options for food as they force it apart rather than cutting it - to see what I mean try slicing an apple failry thin with a Clipper or Puukko and note how it breaks rather than slices clean. No worries on sharpening, I'm fine with that - my comments on ease of sharpening were aimed at the steel choice (no fandango steels) rather than the grind style 

I'll look into the Gerber options as I'm not familiar with their knives, though I think thick blades may be counter productive for the same reason as the Scandi's

There's something quite wholesome and poetic about using a kitchen knife as a kitchen knife  I'm all up for that providing it has a sheath - for what I'm wanting I'll need a sheath rather than just a blade guard. I only trust blade guards if they're sitting in a drawer, not if a rucksack etc. So basically, that's what I'm looking for - a 4" to 5" kitchen utility knife in a sheath 

[Gareth]

I totally agree with scandi's not making great kitchen knives, your apple example is exactly why.  Just the same issue with potatoes, carrots etc.  I'd definitely stick to looking for a flat ground, thin blade for general food prep.

Here's the one I use:




There's no belt attachment on the sheath, but normally it's being chucked in my camp utensils box or in a bag, so it really doesn't need one.  Has a couple of retaining 'lugs' inside the mouth of the sheath that nicely hold the knife in place.  Never been an issue yet.  Even better it was only £5 from TK Maxx.

[jekostas]

I totally agree with scandi's not making great kitchen knives, your apple example is exactly why.  Just the same issue with potatoes, carrots etc.  I'd definitely stick to looking for a flat ground, thin blade for general food prep.

There's very little a true scandi grind is actually good at.  There's a reason why Mora's have secondary bevels, even if they're very small.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I totally agree with scandi's not making great kitchen knives, your apple example is exactly why.  Just the same issue with potatoes, carrots etc.  I'd definitely stick to looking for a flat ground, thin blade for general food prep.

Here's the one I use:




There's no belt attachment on the sheath, but normally it's being chucked in my camp utensils box or in a bag, so it really doesn't need one.  Has a couple of retaining 'lugs' inside the mouth of the sheath that nicely hold the knife in place.  Never been an issue yet.  Even better it was only £5 from TK Maxx.

Santoku's are great food prep knives, though I find the whole thing with the channeling on the blade to reduce food stickage to be barely effective.  The best thing about them is their blade shape; it's excellent for slicing, which is most of what one does with a kitchen knife.  They're harder to use for fine chopping and mincing though... a traditional chef's knife with more belly that allows you to rock the blade more works better for me for that.

[50ft-trad]

I totally agree with scandi's not making great kitchen knives, your apple example is exactly why.  Just the same issue with potatoes, carrots etc.  I'd definitely stick to looking for a flat ground, thin blade for general food prep.

Here's the one I use:




There's no belt attachment on the sheath, but normally it's being chucked in my camp utensils box or in a bag, so it really doesn't need one.  Has a couple of retaining 'lugs' inside the mouth of the sheath that nicely hold the knife in place.  Never been an issue yet.  Even better it was only £5 from TK Maxx.

That is a nice looking knife Gareth, and to be honest I've never used the Japanese style knives. Am I right in thinking these tend to be chisel ground? 

I have found another contender, and a Mora at that - but a thin one:
http://www.heinnie.com/Knives/Mora-Knives/Mora-Craft-Line-Flexi-Knife/p-92-304-4271/
Having a flexible blade doesn't fill me with confidence for chopping duties though or for harder veg 

There's got to be a Mora priced, Mora sized, Roach Belly shaped FFG blade somewhere. The 5" Seaman's knife in the Big Knife Passaround looks like a contender too as Nowills/Adams do them in stainless as well as carbon - but I'm back to a wooden handle and leather sheath 

[jekostas]

That is a nice looking knife Gareth, and to be honest I've never used the Japanese style knives. Am I right in thinking these tend to be chisel ground? 

Actually, Santokus tend *not* to be chisel ground knives.  Sashimi knives are the generally the chisel ground ones.