The borderline fighting knives now on sale at Home Depot for under 20 bucks.
https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-48-22-1920-Duct-Knife/dp/B017SACCEQI bought one tonight, just couldn't help satisfying my curiosity for the price, and a tradesmen I spoke to liked his. I suspect others here have noticed them on the shelf and may be interested in what I know so far.
First and foremost, there is a reason why Milwaukee wants this to be Taiwan mystery stainless. I don't know what kind of steel it is, but I can whittle the edge easily with a 440c blade, and the 440c shows no wear marks. Further, simply shredding the plastic packaging it came with resulted in noticeable wear to the edge. I had contemplated doing a multi week use test, but this steel is in my opinion junk intended to be cheap and rust resistant, and I won't be doing so, reference collection material instead. That said, it comes sharp, and the serrations are aggressive. You could use it and keep a pocket sharpener handy to keep it going, but I am way too impatient for that.
The tip is a bit on the thin and wide side. I would have preferred fatter for durability because I have broken better blades in the field, but it should slice decently.
The info they provide says it's "full tang" which is nonsense, it's a hidden tang. Not such a big deal, but you'd think they'd want to get such a simple detail right.
The handle is very interesting. It looks to a non tool person/knife person like it's probably for a paint brush/chisel/strange saw/some other leftist approved useful tool. Combined with a bland and fairly effective I think injection molded sheath, it really doesn't look like much to someone who isn't aware, at least when combined with a couple other tools on a belt. The belt mount is a clip on with an effective belt grabber hook underneath. The knife locks into the sheath somewhat securely by a little protrusion that the cross guard interferes with. I would prefer a rubber top loop or a strap that snaps for something I would actually use for safety, but I suspect they omitted this sort of feature to maintain inconspicuousness. Also important to mention about the handle is that it's fatter than an actual fighting knife should be in my opinion because it reduces maneuverability, but make no mistake it'd work just fine, and if you were going to cut with it all day the fat handle might even be better for comfort.
They say it is for cutting insulation. When I was in the asbestos abatement business and shredded through a lot of it, I used better knives, and knives of a similar quality that cost less and had less features. I have a hard time imagining where I'd pick this over something else for that chore.
This thing isn't even remotely useless, but I do think it's one of those things where you get what you pay for. It's a throwaway well suited for using and abusing while making money, or for a circumstance where politically correct clients need to be pleased and you want a rapidly available weapon. It could also be fine to be left in a trunk or glovebox due to it being no big deal if it gets stolen, and its good rust resistance. Just don't expect the world of it, they are cheap for a reason.
