My other half loves the Dollar Store and finds all sorts of good stuff that's inexpensive. I went along a few months back and found a set of kitchen knives, two Santoku, one large, one smaller -- the set for $4. They are very good knives.

I love my Moras. Good quality blade and inexpensive (NOT cheap). Can't remember all the models # but I know I have a 905, 711, High-Q Robust, Bushcraft black, and a couple more. The Black has the best blade but the Robust has the best handle ergonomics.
I also have a heavy Ontario Rat-7, a stainless steel Helle, an RSK MK3 and an old '70s nondescript noname fixed blade from my youth.

But yesterday I laid out the wampum for a brand new custom handmade knife from Diving Sparrow that probably costs as much as ALL of the rest of my fixed blades together. (No, I am not going to say how much as I am a little embarrassed! And besides which I needed to rob my piggy bank!) It will be 2-3 months before it will be ready to ship.

I admire a well made knife that's inexpensive but I still love the expensive ones, too. What can I say, a knife junkie will always be a knife junkie!

Mankind has been putting sharp edges on rocks or metals for well over 100,000 years, so it is not surprising that we have learned to embellish edged items with values that go well beyond utilitarian usage. We do this with all kinds of stuff.

When it comes to sharpening, the sharpest possible edge is produced by flaking off a chip from a piece of obsidian (volcanic glass), its more common modern day equivalent, the bottom of a glass beer bottle. The edge will not last long, but it is about a molecule wide at the tip, which is pretty darn thin. Not very expensive, either.