Looking for a quality all purpose knife for use around the house and whatever else may come up. My primary features are that the blade be less than 3.5 inches long and the steel be the strongest possible for under $200. I a, new to the knife world and trying to do my research on steel types, but much of this is over my head. Right now I have my eye on the Benchmade mini griptilian with cpm20cv steel, or the zero tolerance 0350st with cpms30v steel. I do prefer a more tactical look to the knife as opposed to just an ordinary everyday carry type of knife.

thoughts or suggestions?

Just to add - strength of blade and ability to hold an edge/sharpness are the priories in steel type.

I have a Grip and it's awesome.  It goes everywhere with me.  I've beat the poop out of it and it just keeps coming back for more.  

I don't sharpen my own knives.  I have a guy that shows up on Sundays at the Whole Foods across the street.  For $5, it's worth it to me.  I have enough learning to do in my current hobby.

 

Good luck.

Benchmade 556 Mini-Griptilian: Reference EDC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFjqzFusDRE

From Nutnfancy (9 years ago)

Been pocket-carrying either a victorinox swiss army or a Buck trapper / canoe for 40+ years.

In my pocket today - a buck canoe.  $31 retail-caught in on-sale for about $12:

 

https://www.buckknives.com/product/canoe-knife/0389BRS-B/

 

 

Check out cold steel knifes. I love the mini tuff lites but sadly they don't make them anymore .

Benchmade Griptillian or the mini Griptillian are excellnt choices.  Mini-grip is friendly looking enough that people won't raise eyebrows when you break it out to open packages and such.

My favorite small folders under 3.5inch are Benchmade 940 Osbourne and Spyderco Sage 5 or Spyderco Para 3.  All have S30V steel which holds an edge well and very corrosion resistant.  I prefer S30V for EDC or S110 if I can get it

spyderco native. fits a wide variety of hands. s30v steel (unless you want the salt version that exists now using very,very corrosion resistant LC200N steel which I didn't even know about until I went to look up current pricing and now I want one damnit. or the maxamet sprint run, CPM-4, 154CM, S35VN, S90V, S110V or... lots of options all of them good to better). And runs $95 to about $180 depending on features you go for (excluding some very limited sprint runs that are probably too nice for EDC and you can drop near $300 on). 

Me and my wife both have one and like them. I have size 11 1/2 mitts she has teeny 5'2" lady hands.

unfortunately not as cheap as it used to be, I picked mine up for $42 back when the options were serrated or not and wal-mart still sold them. 

As for other reocmmendations:

griptillian - decent knife in the right steel at the right price. Not my fave in terms of ergonomics but a usable size and blade shape. 

mini-griptillian - don't buy until you meet one, especially if you have larger hands. 

Cold steel - the code 4 knives are a great value if you catch a sale (got mine for $60 last year), but are pretty large and are at 3.5" by the manufacturer claim. Their smaller length blades are either weird shapes that are less than broadly usable, or they are not as cheap as they should be for the foreign manufacturing and quality of steel. The tuff lite being maybe the only exception. They are a solid design for $25. 

 

Whole tons of good things in your specs really. 

https://www.bladehq.com/cat--Manual-Knives--45?page=2#/filter:country_of_origin:USA/filter:blade_length:2:3/filter:blade_length:3:3.49/filter:price:100:250/filter:blade_material:154CM/filter:blade_material:CPM-S90V/filter:blade_material:ATS-34/filter:blade_material:CPM-154/filter:blade_material:CPM-M4/filter:blade_material:CTS-XHP/filter:blade_material:Maxamet/filter:blade_material:CPM-S30V/filter:blade_material:CPM-S35VN/filter:blade_material:CPM-S110V/sort:price_sort_asc:asc

 

Don't overspend because you think you have to. Take a look at the Ontario Rat-2, with D2 steel. It's a great choice and will do everything you ask it to do. It's inexpensive enough that you won't worry about it all the time.

Also, consider than Esee Zancudo.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Yeah, don’t need to be expensive to meet your needs, as a matter of fact you might be better off not having to worry about taking a big hit if lost, stolen, or damaged due to misuse (don’t lend your EDC to anyone).

Kershaw Cryo (1555TI), meets all of your requirements and cost less than $40 (might even do better if you shop around). There are several sources out there where you can have it engraved with military, patriotic, sport, etc ensignias. 

On 8/2/2018 at 10:59 AM, always_an_eagle said:

Check out cold steel knifes. I love the mini tuff lites but sadly they don't make them anymore .

I have the following Cold Steel in stock!

20NPF     Finn Wolf OD Green

20NPH	Finn Wolf Red
20NPLUZ	Finn Wolf Blue
Tuff Lite Plain (RED) Tuff Lite Plain (Black) Tuff Lite Plain (Dk Earth) Tuff Lite Plain (BK Serrated)   Khan Counter Point 1   Frenzy III     (Grey & Black) Frenzy II    (Blue & Black) SR1 Tanto Point   Broken Skull IV (Blue)

You want a bulldog of a knife? You won't be disappointed with a Kershaw Barge 1945.... You cannot kill them.
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/KS1945/kershaw-1945-barge-folding-knife-stonewashed-sheepsfoot-blade-zytel-handles

On 8/2/2018 at 10:59 AM, always_an_eagle said:

Check out cold steel knifes. I love the mini tuff lites but sadly they don't make them anymore .

I have these COLD STEELS- tuff lites, working man, Finn wolf, (ALL COLORS) Kahn,Grik and broken arrows in stock ALL Japanese steel.

I also have over 100 CRKT's in stock.

Great pricing!

Pick-up or ship...

 

I love $200 + knives, they just don't like me, I lose them, and then some else gets to love them even more!

pm me of your interest.

To the OP, why under 3.5"?

ZT0566 although that elmax is hard to sharpen (at least, IMHO). I also carry a ZT0450 which is more of a "gentleman's folder" (plus it's an unassisted) and I like that S35VN a bit better.

Benchmade Mini Griptilian around $100, you can send it back to benchmade to be sharpened for free for life, and every time I did it they replaced other stuff for free as well. Holds edge great. 

Maybe not the best steels, but I am fond of both the Kershaw Blur and Leek.  

pelosiblows resurrected an ancient thread here I would hope the OP found his knife in the last three years