What does the word “cheap” really mean? It’s easy enough to pluck out a definition from a denotative source like Merriam-Webster (“charging or obtainable at a low price”) or The American Heritage Dictionary (“inexpensive or comparatively inexpensive”). But these official explanations don’t fully capture the way the word hits in real life. “Cheap” doesn’t just describe how much an item costs, although that is certainly a part of it. Cheap things also tend to be shoddily made or inferior to similar goods in the same price range. While you can certainly purchase a cheaply made blade and enjoy a reasonable amount of use, doing so carries risks — and those risks aren’t necessarily the same when it comes to cheap folding knives and cheap OTFs.  

In this article, we will discuss some common characteristics of cheap knives in general, as well as practical things unique to both folding knives and OTFs that you should be aware of.

Common Characteristics of Cheap Knives

Different types of knives will necessarily have varying characteristics simply because they work in different ways. However, when blades share manufacturing similarities, they also will likely have related characteristics. This definitely holds true for both cheap OTFs and cheap folding knives, so much so that they’ve earned their own nickname. Some call these “mall ninja knives” or “tacti-cool knives” or “flea market knives.” The most commonly used category, though, is “gas station knives.” When someone says a cheap knife — any kind of cheap knife — is a gas station knife, this is what you can expect …

Low Prices. This characteristic is right there in the name. Cheap knives necessarily don’t cost very much, and blades that you can pick up while refueling your car or truck also won’t carry a hefty price tag. Sometimes, you can get these sorts of knives for $10 or less. Note, too, that while many of the qualities we’ll list in this section are, uh, less than complimentary, this one isn’t. Knives don’t necessarily need to be expensive to perform their tasks, and budget blades can work quite well indeed.

Ubiquitous Availability. Because of their affordability, you can find cheap knives just about everywhere. You may not be able to categorize them according to a brand name (more on that down below), but you will discover similar sorts of blades in secondhand stores, community markets, yard sales, gun shows, novelty stores, outdoor retailers, and (naturally) gas stations.

Garish Designs / Themed Art. We all know that you can’t buy taste, but when it comes to knife design, higher budgets and greater cost tend to translate into more aesthetically acceptable offerings. The plain fact of the matter is that super-cheap knives tend to be ugly. Eye-searing fluorescents. Tasteless artwork that prominently features drug references, patriotic imagery, edgy illustrations, or the instantly recognizable Punisher logo.

Unidentified Steel. Steel matters in a knife, and we’ve discussed the importance of selecting the right steel for your preferred folding knife or OTF more than once. However, cheap knives almost never disclose what kind of steel is used in their construction. The most you might get is a throwaway clause like “designed in the U.S.A.” or “made in China” or the succinct-but-less-than-descriptive “stainless steel.” Stay cautious: Such lack of disclosure could mean that your cheap knife is just waiting to break, chip, or rust.

Blade Coatings. Because so many cheap knives employ low-grade steel, one step that manufacturers take involves covering their blades with some sort of inexpensive protective coating, such as a matte-black material meant to mimic anodization or decorative, oil-slick rainbow sheen. In quality knives, blade coatings complement certain steel types, but cheap blades use them to cover up shoddy craftsmanship.

Unconventional Integral Accessories. Why do manufacturers of cheap folders and OTFs so often integrate poorly matching tools into their knives? Why include seat-belt cutters in folding knives or lighters in OTFs? (Those are real examples, by the way.) We may have more or less concluded how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, but when it comes to why one sees the constant inclusion of strange tools on cheap knives, the world may never know. 

Handle Modifications. This characteristic goes hand in hand (no pun intended) with the previous section on tools. Perhaps producers want to make their products stand out in a crowded market and maybe they think the inclusion of handle alterations such as extremely wide finger grooves, chunky diameters, or brass knuckles wil help. They generally just make them harder to hold or illegal to carry. Still, such changes often appear on cheap knives. 

Lack of Branding. Even if a cheap knife catches your eye, you will likely struggle to Identify its manufacturer. Anonymity is de rigeur when it comes to cheap knife manufacturers.

Lack of Reliability. Browse knife related forums a bit, and you will soon see that it’s not uncommon for owners of cheap knives to need to fix them very quickly — sometimes after only a day of use. Handles break, blades wiggle, and catches fail to engage. Obviously, this is a strike against cheap knives, but as we will see in the next section, the specific ways in which OTFs and folding knives can break pose very different risks to users. 

Practical Differences Between Cheap Folders and Cheap OTFs

So far, we’ve made it sound as though there are very few differences between cheap folding knives and cheap OTFs. When it comes to appearances, stylings, steel selection, and the like, that’s largely true. However, allow us to focus on our final point, namely the fact that cheap knives tend to not be reliable. Because folding knives and OTFs function in such fundamentally different ways, that tendency to fail can lead to very different user experiences.

A key concept to remember when discussing lack of reliability is the idea of production tolerances. Raw material variability, human error, equipment failure, and other variables conspire to ensure that no single batch is exactly the same as the others. Usually, these differences are negligible, but sometimes they’re significant. Manufacturers with low tolerances produce parts with very little variation, meaning that they dispose of any less than ideal components. Those with high tolerances will include parts that vary considerably in their final products — which can cause problems. 

OTFs: Risk of Misfire. The dramatic snick-snack of an OTF deploying and retracting in an instant is made possible by an array of springs attached to a slide that is also attached to a switch; that slide slots into divots at the front and back of the handle. That’s a fairly large number of moving parts for a knife, and those parts need to move in very specific ways in order to work properly. If they don’t, your OTF might not deploy at all. Similarly (and far more scarily), an OTF with lots of part variability may accidentally fire when you don’t want it to.

Folders: Risk of Handle Damage. Even cheap OTFs often feature handles made out of metal or some similarly hardy composite. You’ll find a wider range of materials in folding knives, including low-quality resins and knock-off carbon fiber. Parts not properly produced can wiggle, rub, or overlap the frame, which may lead to chipping or cracking.

OTFs: Risk of Permanent Knife Damage With Lock Failure. When OTF locks fail, the blade will drop back into the handle, and you’ll no longer be able to deploy it. What you’re left with is a completely useless tool with a blade that flops around and can’t reliably cut anything.

Folders: Risk of Injury With Lock Failure. Most folding knives feature some kind of blade lock. Shoddy manufacturing increases the likelihood of that lock failing, and do you know what often happens when it does? Well, there’s a reason why some knife afficionados say that the true cost of a cheap knife is measured in lost fingers.

We sell high-quality OTFs and folding knives that won’t bust your budget. You’ll find them all here.