Elite TacticalFolding Knife - ET-1025ST

This is a fantastic budget EDC knife. In my opinion it is the quintessential EDC knife and for the price it cannot be beat. I feel confident that this beast of a knife can and will handle most everything I can throw at it. The only reason that I do not give it a 5 star review is that I have not tested the knife to its fullest potential in heavy use areas like survival and bush craft. Even though it is made in China with Chinese steel, don’t let that deter you, it is a fantastic knife for the price. (Please read further for pros, cons, and final thoughts.)Pros:Rugged, heavy duty construction.“Rapid Lock” (Axis lock derivative. One of my favorite lock types as this type lock has yet to fail on me.)Spear point blade. (Ideal for most EDC tasks as well as survival and bush craft.)Smooth as silk opening. (Just a flick of the thumb and a pop of the wrist deploys the blade faster and smoother than most assisted knives I own. It takes a while to master the "flick" opening, but with practice it can be done faster than most assisted or automatic knifes. I tried to film myself using this method, but the deployment was so rapid my phone's camera could not track the action.)Smooth contours. (Not a sharp angle on this knife, even the scales are smooth to the touch, but have enough traction to be effective when hands are wet. Smooth handle also allows for ease of draw from pocket.)Springy but strong pocket clip. (There is enough give in the pocket clip to allow it to easily slide over even the thickest reinforced pocket seam, yet strong enough to not bend out of shape.)Razor sharp 3.5 inch blade with good blade retention. (I cannot confirm that this is the blade steel advertised, but from what my experience with 8CR13 tells me, is that it is a decent quality steel that offers a good balance between resilience and ease of maintenance. For a few years now I have carried the Kershaw Fatback as my EDC knife and it too has an 8CR13 blade which has held up to everyday use fantastically. From personal experience, regardless of steel, running my blades over a strop from time to time reduces the overall number of sharpenings I need to perform. I expect that, like my Fatback that with regular stropping, especially after heavy use, the blade will remain sharp for a long time.)Well balanced in the hand. (The heavy handle counterbalances the thick blade which shifts the balance to roughly the center of the knife.)Nonaggressive, aesthetically pleasing shape.Recessed lanyard hole.Deep pocket carry position. (Left or right handed)Ambidextrous thumb stud.Cons:Non-aggressive decorative jimping. (Jimping is largely non-functional, especially when hands are wet. I would prefer either no jimping or more aggressive functional jimping than decorative jimping, but I have to admit that on this knife it is stylish.)Small lanyard hole. (Too small to get a para cord lanyard through the hole without difficulty.)Branded as a “Tactical” knife with the word “Tactical” appearing on the blade and pocket clip.Wide and heavy handle.Heavy to carry, despite skeletonized steel liners.Difficult to change pocket clip. (The enter knife has to be disassembled to switch the pocket clip to a tip-up left handed pocket carry.)Very, very, very slight side-to-side blade play, almost unnoticeable. (This is something that I have noted with every folding knife I have, with the one exception of my Cold Steel Rajah III knife, which has 0 blade play even after years of abuse.)Final Thoughts:For a budget folder this knife is a win in almost every way for me. While I have and carry much more expensive knives from top name knife makers, I have to admit that this knife has quickly become one of my favorite EDC knives that I have ever owned, and I have had and used hundreds of knives over the decades. I would strongly recommend this knife for anybody looking for a good quality EDC knife or as a backup folder for camping, survival, or SHTF; though I would not feel naked using this as a primary camping, bush craft, survival, or SHTF folder, unlike some other folders.