>>2375108I know a bit about budget knives, so let me help you out.
The Ontario Rat is the standard for cheap but good knives. The RAT 2 is cheap and durable. Perfect for camping and stuff, but it has a few flaws as an EDC. For one it uses a liner lock, which makes one handed opening and closing harder, which is not important to everyone, but for me is a deal breaker. It's made with D2 steel as well, which is more of a tool steel than a blade steel, so it can be hard to sharpen, but for under $50 D2 is mostly what you'll find. The RAT 1 is bigger, but it's mostly the same thing as the RAT 2. Both are perfectly fine options, but $50 can get you more bang for your buck.
The CIVIVI Elementum is a contender. It has G-10 scales on the handle, which have a better hand feel than the nylon on the RAT, which if this is an EDC blade, might be important to your brother. The Elementum also has a button lock option instead of a liner lock which is both functional and just looks cool, but that puts it outside your budget and isn't legal everywhere, but is legal in Canada! The cheapest version is D2, but you can get other steels. The Elementum is what I would call the "everyman's knife" it looks good, it works well. While it isn't the Rolex of pocket knives, knife guys will probably take you seriously if you tell them you have one. Overall a good option worth considering.
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