The CJRB Pyrite Keeps Showing Up in Budget Carry Photos for a Reason
Budget knives earn their reputation in photographs like this one: a CJRB Pyrite resting on a porch railing, no styling, no background. The first comment was from an owner calling his Pyrite one of his favourite knife purchases of all time, which is the kind of statement that carries more weight than a spec sheet.
The Pyrite's design logic is straightforward. It is a compact button-lock folder with a wide, thin blade that cuts well and a handle that leaves enough room for a full grip despite the small footprint. Button locks at this price are still relatively rare, and the mechanism is what separates the Pyrite from the crowd of liner-lock budget folders: it is ambidextrous, fidget-friendly and easy to operate one-handed.
The thread also surfaced the upgrade path. One owner is paying off the all-steel, blacked-out BladeHQ exclusive in S90V and plans to swap scales with the micarta version in AR-SFII. That is the pattern with good budget designs: the base model gets people in, and the dealer exclusives give them a reason to buy the same knife again in a better steel and a different handle material.
Whether the exclusive is worth it depends on what you do with the knife. S90V holds an edge noticeably longer than the standard powder steel in the base model, and it is also harder to sharpen and less tough, which matters if you pry or hit staples. For a knife that mostly opens packages, the base model is the better value, since the steel will never be pushed to the point where the difference pays for itself. For someone who cuts a lot of abrasive material and sharpens on a fixed-angle system, the upgrade is sensible.
The verdict is that the Pyrite remains one of the strongest sub-$100 recommendations for a first serious folder, and the exclusives make it a reasonable second purchase for someone who already knows the design fits their hand. If you are choosing between the two, buy the base model first. Confirm which steel and scale material a given listing uses, because the Pyrite name covers several configurations and the prices differ accordingly.