Altoid's Size PSK - Inexpensive Knife Suggestions

I'm looking for an inexpensive knife that would fit into an Altoids sized PSK. Any suggestions? I found one yesterday (not sure of the brand) but it was $25.99 - more than I'm able to spend - I'm looking to make several of these kits to stash in various bags, pockets, truck etc. I normally EDC several decent knives - but I'd still like to have one in the PSK just. in. case.

Sometime in my past, I picked up a small (approx. 2.5”)lockback knife from Blackjack Knives Blackjack-this is not my stuff, just some examples , it had a keyring arrangement. The knife fits nicely in the Altoids tin. I ran a search, but am unable to find this particular model. It was not too expensive, $10-15 maybe less (IIRC).

Pete

Wolf, sent you a PM.

Dave

The trouble with folders is bulk. Razorblades and hobby blades are compact but limited in usefullness. My solution was a small scandinavian unfinished blade with a rattail tang. Mine fits diagonally in my BCB tin. It requires making a field expedient handle, but is a nice compromise and leaves room for additional stuff in my tin.

I have several Gerber Microlight LST scattered around my various kits. One on my survival keychain, my wife's keychain, and a backup in my main kit. Just $15, available pretty much everywhere.

You might also consider packing a few flat arrowheads. Sharpened on one edge you could use them as utility knives. Sharpened on both edges, you could use them as -- well -- arrowheads. -- Bear

How about one of these things

Wyoming knife

With the holes it has it could be lashed to a stick to make it more like a knife. The only problem I see is it has 2 edges on it. You could maybe dull the straight edge, or take something like credit card type plastic and make "handle slabs" to cover it.

Although I wonder if this thing isn't just a glorified razor blade.

I found a gerber ridge knife for around $15 at wal mart

Remove the belt clip, and it's very flat.

The gerber ridge and mini-ridge ($20 and $18) are good knives for an altoids tin, since they're nice and flat with the clip and thumbstud removed. That's still probably more than I'd want to spend if I had to buy half a dozen of them. If you could find a cheap knock-off, you'd be set.

Knifezilla.com has a few things that might be close, judging from the specs they list, but I've never seen any of them. Their $8 KISS half folder is a ridge-style knife, but it has a 3" blade compared to the ridge's 1.75". It's probably just slightly too large to fit the diagonal, but you might be able to "fix" it with a hacksaw and file, taking off the rounded end with the lanyard hole. Even if you cut it down, a 3" blade may take up more space than you want to give up. The $8 keychain CQC7 with a partially-serrated 2.1" blade looks like a better candidate. Or the $7 thumb fighter. Shipping is going to cost you another $6, so it still gets expensive if you want to order one, see how it fits, and then order the rest.

For one you might be able to look at locally, there's the gerber mini-paraframe with a 2.25" blade at bestknives.com for $10. I've only seen the full-sized one and it's fairly thin, but that's still a lot of space to devote to a knife. Maybe you could pack the holes in the handle with tinder or something.

I don't know if any of those knives would work for me; I'd have to make some hard decisions if I went with anything larger than the ridge.

Ah - that's an interesting idea.

AND thank you very much!

Thanks to everyone who replied - I didn't expect so many replies, - there are a bunch of really helpful Ideas for me in this thread - I'll be checking out a bunch of them.

This looks kind of interesting - I live not far from a Cabellas so next time I"m over there I'm going to take a look at the thing in person and see what possibilities wander into my mind. Last time I was there I just drooled over all the knives, but was put off by the prices.

Wolf,

I use a Spyderco Jester with Lime Green handle. That way, if I drop it I can find it. It is compact, like those small buck knives, which might be another option, as they both cost less than 20 bucks, especially on eBay.

Garrett

One that has always worked well for me are the razor blade scrapers that Home Depot sells. The scraper is barely larger than the razor, bright yellow plastic, and you can turn the blade around inside the plastic to protect it. Very, very handy. It also takes standard razor blades, which I think is a plus.

I was recently thinking of finding a knife to put in a PSK. I found one I like, but haven't actually packed it into a PSK yet. Its the Victorinox Moneyclip. I'm sure you can find it cheaper, and it has more than just a knife blade on it.


Robert

Prior to PWYP IV, I spent a good deal of time revamping my primary PSKs and FAKs. Since my EDC SAK is a Pioneer Farmer, Pioneer, or Soldier; I typically had no toothpick, tweezers, or scissors. Hence, I added a new SAK to each of my kits - the SwissCard Lite in blue.



The little SwissCard Lite proved a valueable addition to the PSKs. On night one, I went to sleep and must have knocked my primary gear from its resting place. I woke and couldn't find a thing except the PSK container on my belt. I reached in and easily found the SwissCard and it's light. While the diminutive light isn't worth a darn for navigating a dark trail; it can't be beaten for illuminating a tent interior, bivy, truck interior or aircrew cabin. Using the light, I found what I needed and was able to get back to sleep.

On day two, a pesky sliver kept bugging me. Using the SwissCard's magnifying glass, tweezers and pin, I was able to rid myself of the sliver.

On day three, I used the scissors a number of times - from personal grooming to removing a couple product tags that I found irritating. I also used the phillips screwdriver to replace some batteries in a Photon II.

I never got to use the knife blade until the ride home. It makes a heckuva cream cheese spreader for bagels and a heckuva Croghan bologna slicer.

All in all, the little SwissCard Lite made a worthy inclusion in my kits. Worthy enough to merit buying another two yesterday - one for Care, one for Mom.

If you're a certified GAK or alox SAK EDC type, the SwissCard Lite makes a heckuva addition to either your PSK or FAK. I highly recommend them...

M

[The SwissCard Lite will fit into an Altoids tin.]

I have done this once before and worked so well it was stolen. Buy a good quality steel file ($5-$15) then cut it down, grind, and power sand it till you have a workable edge then sharpen. I did this using a small file that had a tang on it so I could improvise a handle latter. This was a small fill and did not need much grinding. You could buy a larger file and cut it down and tool it to make several knives. I recommend starting with something small.
Note good files are usually very hard and this process even with a small file was tedious.

I like the Schrade "switch-it" -- do they still make these?

TRO

TeacheRO:

Shrade went belly up recently. It was a matter of discussion on this forum and you should be able to find it with the search feature.

Bountyhunter

Zippo hes a small plastic lockback called the cutabout. Mine is very slim and seems quite strong. They go for about six bucks on eBay.