Testing Fixed Blades Under $40 To Find The Best! Part 1.

We've found the best Under $40 Budget Fixed Blade. See if you agree.
Tested are the Beavercraft Nightfall, Cold Steel SRK-C, Sitivian ST14, Odenwolf W-Flat, Schrade SF31 Fixed Blade and Schrade Wolverine.
00:13 Selection Criteria
01:00 Measuring and Sharpening
01:30 Knife Specs
03:57 Handles Removed, Tangs Viewed
04:05 Ergonomics and Design
06:54 Sheath Drop Test
08:08 Handle Durability Test
08:53 Edge Retention Test
12:30 Edge Impact Durability
16:25 My Balls Toughness Test
17:50 Tip Retention Test
18:37 Odenwolf and SRK Tangs Exposed
18:48 Conclusion
You can donate to greenbeetlegear @ y@h 0 0 on PayPal to support the channel.
Affiliate links:
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This video content is copyrighted and may not be reused, published, sold, traded or distributed without my express, written permission.

[@MadBenStyke]

Finally, Project Farm for knives!!! Glad I subscribed to you back when you made that Mad Max style wrench knife years ago. Great content as always!

[@GreenBeetle]

I was gonna get to this eventually! Glad you're digging it.

[@PotbellyTurtle]

I really appreciate the time, effort, and expense you go to to provide this information to your viewers. I think it’s extremely helpful for someone who is looking to get into a budget knife. Thank you for providing really useful and informative content.

[@MushroomSnake2077]

Another knife to add to your consideration if you aren't too worried about a Scandi grind - Mora (or Morakniv) make a heavy duty knife that's genuinely built like a brick outhouse. for around the same price as these. they also make a whole slew of other styles, I've had a stainless one with a ferrocium flint built into the handle in my camping gear for years now and it's still going strong. Though as ever with advice on the internet, your situation may require something a little more specific.

[@matrixlockdown2975]

Cold Steel SRK-C is one of my favorite EDC fixed blades. You can't beat it for the money imo. Great video, very comprehensive testing being applied which is appreciated.

[@ArthurHerbst]

I really love this kind of content! Knife testing coupled with your calming voice makes the perfect video for me.^^ Thank you!

[@Mortem_Tyrannis_24]

Outstanding and thorough review!! I have the Odenwolf and it’s held up well! Thank you!

[@Mangowaffle]

Very interesting video GB! It would be cool to see these compared to a known extremely high quality knife, as well as a knife you've made? Anyway thanks for the video, looking forward to more! I was really rooting for the BeaverCraft, such a handsome looking blade, not mad about the Odin doing well though.

[@GreenBeetle]

I was hoping for the Beavercraft too. They’re a good company and the knife probably does enough for most people but it got solidly outperformed.

[@jasonharrison25]

Plus one for test one of your knives to see how a custom heat treat and better care compare to a mass produced knife

[@jblewis1975]

I'm really glad I came across your channel and this video today, man. I was debating getting the Odenwolf knife, and your testing sold me on it. Thanks! Awesome job! Subbed! 😁👊🏻

[@GreenBeetle]

😁👊🏻

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Great testing and review. Thanks for sharing.

[@mmgross144]

Good budget test. I have many knives which I bought for specific purposes. My go to knife is the Cold Steel SRK cpm 3V.

[@JohnSanders-p7o]

Wow!! Just found this channel... good job awesome!!! Ty!!

[@GreenBeetle]

Glad you found it!

[@michaelwaldeck7081]

Very good tests and confirmed my suspicions about Eathengrow and Sitivien. Disappointing about Schrade but expected. Thanks for a great video.

[@Tactical-practical]

You spent a ton of time in this. Thank you 👍

[@GreenBeetle]

YW

[@bluemarauder6997]

i love this kind of content! please make more!

[@tfwwhennofitlitgf3300]

SRK, SRKC, and Recon Tanto are the budget kings for good reason

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic testing, Steve! Thanks! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@GreenBeetle]

Ty for watching and the good vibes!

[@davidlagno7717]

Awesome Review 👌

[@GreenBeetle]

Ty

[@stuartb9194]

Of these, I have the SRK-C, mine is flat grind. Great knife for the money. Cool test protocols, thanks

[@GreenBeetle]

I didn’t expect much from sk5 but it’s legit budget steel.

[@fireside9503]

Insanely through review. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Subscribed.

[@vasuhardeo1418]

excellent vid, very cool

[@hadeez2651]

got that odenwolf half a year ago, im very satisfied with it and this shows why

[@GreenBeetle]

I loved that knife. Finally, a GOOD budget knife.

[@MFD00MTR33]

Where did you find that portable hardness tester and how much are they? Never seen one before and it looks really cool. Great test, looking forward to more videos like this.👍🏻

[@GreenBeetle]

eBay and Amazon

[@mikesummers8141]

@@GreenBeetleHow trustworthy is it? Have you been able to test its accuracy with a Rockwell tester? Would love to know how it compares. Thx!

[@DrewEdwardBacklas]

I’m glad you tested the knives against ball bearings. Cutting through 1.5” ball bearings is something i do almost daily with my edc knives so this is helpful 😂. In all seriousness great video.

[@GreenBeetle]

Do not taunt my balls

[@paranoiia8]

Great test! (especially cutting that wood part, I hope your hand doesn't hurt too much :D ) If I take in to the account your criteria, I could recommend two knives that I bought and used as I normally don't buy bigger knives(only EDC) so they are pretty small but after almost year-two of using them, including in garden when I just drop them on rocks/pebble patch all the time and leave them on rain, I never had issues with them. First is Lothar FOX. Its not tank to beat with hammer, but it fit in my hand sooo perfectly. D2 it have is pretty nice just like kydex sheath, and overall its nice sleek blade that I got for around 42 bucks. Second is Drachenander S077 with 14c28n steel. Again is not super big, as its not my thing, but I was so surprised on quality of it I keep it in my car. Micarta handle is my top pick as I always liked it over G10/FRN. 14c28n they used is not super hard(Im guessing around 58 if I compare it with other knives that I know are 58-59) but its still great steel, easy to keep sharp and I always had soft spot for it as lots of my folding knives use it...

[@GreenBeetle]

Good recs thanks

[@davidlagno7717]

I use the Odenwolf for all types of beater jobs. I have a regular SRK I don't really use it. It's too thick. I'm not out in the woods. I'm mostly using knives in my garage or back of my truck cutting plastic, zip ties, tow straps, packaging and occasional skinning big wire. It works great for me and comfy handle

[@ColdHarborOP]

I'm sorry to see the SRK-C is now hollow ground. The original US and Japan made SRKs were all saber grind, as was the SRK-C when it first hit the market. I love the video and its concept, by the way. Great content here. Liked and subscribed.

[@paradoxworkshop4659]

I have a regular SRK, and the Odinwolf, and think the only issue with the Odinwolf is that it "feels" cheaper... (But I do like the light weight for my camping packout), and think that the lanyard "D" out the back is better for a lanyard, but not as good on that part of my hand. I do like it for food prep, and that's mostly what I will use it for. I carry the bigger CS Voyager XL folder for bears.

[@SuperJnne]

great work, and a lot of it, so thanks

[@GreenBeetle]

Glad you liked it

[@david6920-r6z]

Nice blades. Hi from 🇳🇿 New Zealand

[@cylentone]

Love these kind of budget finds. Have a look at the Flissa or Eafengrow fixed blades. Especially the Flissa D2 with Scandi or flat grind for $25 is unbeatable.

[@GreenBeetle]

I’m testing eafengrows now

[@joepublic573]

nice testing. odenwolf seems to be a very decent deal for what you get. kudu's for the content :)

[@GreenBeetle]

Ty

[@stevealford230]

STEVE! I was reading the Excluded list... and I really wanted to see "guns" at the end. lol

[@GreenBeetle]

😂

[@ibpositivemostly7437]

Dam you do some hard testing 😮.

[@masy8525]

I would still buy a Sitivien knife with these results. But only if the quality doesn't deteriorate any further.

[@ApoMaTu3aTop]

If I had to pick one from the bunch and go with it for general camping use - I'd probably go for the SRK-C. I do like the Odenwolf, but D2 (can be tricky to dial in for toughnes) and full flat grind (great for slicing but not so much for battoning) + QC variables may result in a broken knife. I've seen people break those with light batoning. Otherwise, I'd probaly go for the scandi version of Odenwolf, because It'll probably be a stronger allround knife over the full flat grind one.

[@GreenBeetle]

Yeah the scandi version might do better outdoors

[@WinterXI]

60 HRC for a 1066 blade seems abit high right?

[@marcusavron47]

Almost none of these knives would test out at 60 hrc. Something's wrong with his tester.

[@GreenBeetle]

Why not? The tester works great on the calibration blocks.

[@GreenBeetle]

Not at all. A small knife meant to cut gets better edge retention from a higher hrc. A chunky beater gets less edge retention but better toughness and more durability from a lower hrc.

[@SiliconeSword]

That ball test is brutal lol

[@GreenBeetle]

😎

[@Snarlacc]

I own the Odenwolf and batoning is quite different to chopping. Chopping even at soft wood with any hard (60+HRC) D2 will chew up the edge pretty much instantly. Not that it won't be sharp anymore but running it over the fingernail it was grabbing after hacking twice at a green piece of maple while all other steels I have did not. Batoning seems much less rough on the edge than chopping with the knife. Under the microscope I could see a ton of chipping on the Odenwolf, even tried 3 other D2 I had, same result while my old 440C Odenwolf, the 12C27 Moras, other 440A, 440C and a ton of other carbon steel knives had no such problem. Batoning these same D2 knives resulted in no chipping, I think when you chop there is more twisting to the apex than when batoning. Kind of surprised your SRK is of similar hardness to the Odenwolf, my Odenwolf can easily make deep scratches in the SRK. Most of these results are what I expected, but that the 8Cr Schrade does better than the AUS10 surprised me. Really interesting. What would have interested me was on the ball drop test it seemed like the first 3 rolled/dented/compacted while the others look to have broken/chipped, is this true?

[@GreenBeetle]

No chipping just rolling and compression. I’ve changed the ball drop test to hit the edge at an angle from here out so it’s clearer what’s going on.

[@krissteel4074]

In a way, half of them aren't complete write-offs in the sense you may not personally like some parts about them like thickness, handle shapes and edge geometry, but down in the lower end of the cutlery bargain bin its really not the worst result. One was also way above the others with two that would probably be kind of ok with some slight changes and a good sharpen. That said, some are pretty awful and quite obviously so! Hopefully it helps people figure out a few pointers to look for in a cheap outdoors knife, which I am a fan of cheap outdoor knives as they're remarkably easy to lose and no one wants to turn the car around and go back looking for an expensive item at the campsite!

[@GreenBeetle]

Exactly. I’m not sure fixed blades are used as often as people envision in some cases so dropping $200 + on something you’ll leave in a national park doesn’t always make sense. Unless you are a knife geek or appreciate custom work which ARE good reasons to own expensive knives. But I don’t think that represents many buyers. The market does a good job at making us all feel like we need expensive stuff.

[@krissteel4074]

@@GreenBeetle At this budget you can take a hit-miss, by far the more disgraceful is the very high end of the spectrum of bushcraft knives. Now this isn't an area I typically work in but last year I had a long term customer ask for a custom and I'll hook a guy up for only that reason. Course, this means some research so I know what the kids like in bushcraft knives as things had more than likely changed since I did survival courses and stuff. So fully absorbed into the geometries, what they do with these things there's no way I'm going to give anyone what is essentially a knife shaped chisel out of O1 and there's no way I would ever charge someone roughly shy of what works out to be a bit under 900USD _thats right not a typo or extra zero_ Needless to say I didn't take much of a leaf off the commercial exploitation end of the market! So our fella got a 3V at 60HRC with stabilised lace sheoke burl, 316SS bolsters and enough pins into it that it was literally bomb proof with a good kydex holster with some secondary retention features for about 230USD mates rates I'm honestly still shocked to this day how much people charge for this junk because its not complicated, the finish isn't great and frankly charging more than 80USD for some stuff at the high end is really some degree of shameless commercialization

[@cae2487]

I've been curious what sharpening system it is that you use in your videos? Thanks for sharing.

[@GreenBeetle]

Kazak m10

[@cae2487]

@GreenBeetle awesome thanks 👍👍

[@jeffallen3382]

That was brutal to watch!

[@olafkliemt1145]

nice picks, but have you seen the recent fixed blade series EF121 to EF157 by Eafengrow ?

[@GreenBeetle]

I’m testing the ef127 and 130 right now

[@olafkliemt1145]

@@GreenBeetle sweeeeeet

[@X4Alpha4X]

man i really dig the look of the schrade knifes, but looks dont matter if they dont make good knives

[@GreenBeetle]

Yeah is too bad

[@handlesaredumb1]

Why are knives the only tools we test by using them for things they aren't meant for?

[@chadrobinson3504]

I'm confused why Mora was on the exclusion list. Is it just a personal preference? It seems to meet all the other criteria except not having separate scales (but to me, that's an advantage). I own two of the knives in this video that I never use because my Mora just outperforms them.

[@GreenBeetle]

Their performance is already pretty well established. I guess I could look at a few in the future.

[@chadrobinson3504]

@@GreenBeetle I don't think it's really necessary - I was just wondering. If anything, a more useful follow up might be just covering what qualities folks should look for in a knife for various uses. I think a lot of folks try to get a one-size-fits-all answer but even just "carbon steel vs stainless" isn't something you want to do randomly...

[@tetsubo57]

That Odenwolf W-Flat looks like a must-have for me. Thankfully they make one without a blade coating. Not a big fan of those. I am also not a fan of scales that don't actually cover the spine.

[@GreenBeetle]

Protruding tang bothers me too in hard use knives. They are very common in the price range unfortunately. TY Odenwolf and SRK.

[@Ceriva09]

you sure that srk-c is a hollowgrind? mine seems to be a sabre grind while the normal bigger version is hollow

[@GreenBeetle]

It’s hard to tell. Visually it looks saber but when I run my finger over it, it feels like a shallow hollow grind. I guess I could have put a 123 block up to it to check.

[@blacklion79]

What is the model of this hardness tester? Never seen one like this

[@GreenBeetle]

Phr-1

[@blacklion79]

@@GreenBeetle nice! Still rather expensive, but much cheaper (and smaller) than the classic model with weights. I hope, it is more precise than «ultrasonic» (or how they works, I mean digital pietable ones) models too!

[@gregrowan843]

i held onto my schf31 for at least 5 years before a major malfunction ended in the blade snapping but that was entirely my fault for doing something extremely stupid with it 😂

[@juansmith3169]

The thing is that a guy who has a sharpening device which allows him to obtain a specific desired edge bevel is not the guy who is going to be using a 40 dollar fixed blade knife. The real question for this low price point is which knife is best out of the box.

[@Smallathe]

Awesome test. Next up - Japanese knives vs US brands? Just kidding - skip the suffering... I prefer your knife diy projects anyday... :)

[@CanItAlready]

After all the positive things you said about the nightfall i don't understand why you essentially eliminated it.

[@GreenBeetle]

It seems like a decent knife and company I don’t fancy up wood when I go outdoors so it’s not for me.

[@blacklion79]

unbelievable low rope cut results. Good (not perfect or amazing) knife should make something like 100 cuts on a typical 1" rope, not 10. Competition custom knives could make 400+! Do you have SO special abrasive rope?

[@GreenBeetle]

S35vn went 15 cuts i would be shocked to see a knife do 100. Can you point me to such a knife?

[@blacklion79]

@GreenBeetle Previous knife you've reviewed? Oh, I see, rope is different, I'm used to ropes like in previous review.

[@justingoodman5600]

I’m with mikebabb, bought two different blades from Cold Steel years ago. One came with one bevel not even finish ground (most likely 24 grit. The other had offset bevels that placed the edge over 1/3rd of blade width off of center. Gave them both away to people who don’t know what a good blade is. Sworn off ever since. Great testing, I might incorporate some of those into testing my blades

[@GreenBeetle]

When the shop was open, 2012-2018, we sold cold steel in our budget cabinet. They weren’t very popular and I think quality was pretty bad at that time so I wasn’t expecting much from the srk but it did well for the money.

[@RobPollen]

i feel sorry for your hands surly you can make rope cutting Jig

[@andreaburroni2213]

you got to admit what all the real users say about Sk5. Wrong geometry and not that amazing steel too

[@GreenBeetle]

It is a budget steel

[@mikebabb2155]

I have to be honest I am pretty surprised by the results you got from the Cold Steel knife. I bought some Cold Steel knife close to 18 years ago and it was easily one of the worst knives I have ever purchased and there was basically no customer service. It was so bad that I tossed it into a box and said never again. If I still have that box after all these years and all of the moves then that knife is probably still sitting there in the cheap nylon sheath rusting away. I think that that is the only knife that I have ever regretted buying. So needless to say I was just about expecting it to come apart in your hands.

[@brandonwilson896]

i feel like alot of these testers really go to the extreme. the average fixed blade user carries that knife once or twice a year so i feel like any of these hammers would do them well. i dont see the need for the extreme destruction test. i think the majority of people watching this video doesnt even know someone who has battoned a log. great wwork brother

[@GreenBeetle]

Yeah I don’t baton either or featherstick, make deadfalls, carve tent stakes or spoons. And I don’t know an outdoorsman who does. But if you don’t check blades on wood people complain. 🤫

[@hillbillyfromtheswamp6223]

Interesting. I've battoned many many chunks of wood with several of my fixed blades.

[@stuartb9194]

I'm not sure how else you test a knife on YT other than this, as 'usual' use (opening packets, cutting Amazon boxes, larping, etc) doesn't give you much to go on. Also, I don't want to do all this to my knives, so I'm happy to see GB beat them down for me.

[@escapetherace1943]

@@GreenBeetle batoning is braindead but the rest of your comment's sarcasm hit home