There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Right now on Massdrop I think the Kizer vigor is an excellent option. https://www.massdrop.com/buy/kizer-v3-vigor-framelock
Outside of Massdrop. General hard use EDC under $50. This would be my run down.
Ontario Rat 2, they run around $30 ish pretty much everywhere. AUS 8 steel, which is well respected as a budget blade material. Also a fairly reputable and well respected company in the community. The Rat series is a staple in the EDC community, for good reason. They are great knives.
Esee Zancudo, basically an upgraded Rat 2 in D2 steel for only a few bucks more. Get the Rat 2, honestly. This knife says Esee but is not made by them, so it doesn't come with the crazy good Esee lifetime warranty, if it did, this knife would probably be the front runner.
Kershaw Skyline, the down side to the skyline is that it probably has the same blade steel as your current M16, the upside is that in my opinion it is a far more ergonomic knife. A much better flipper, has a nice slim pocket profile with a good blade profile. I have one, I have beat the ever loving crap out of it. They come in right around $50
Tangram Santa Fe, ultimately this is the knife I recommend you get. It is a great value for the price. Has Acuto 440 steel, which is supposedly an upgraded version of 440c which is a well regarded blade steel for a hundred years or more. Super smooth thumb stud deployment. Feels really good in your hand, great over all construction. This knife is made by Kizer, and is my current budget folder of choice. I have had my Santa Fe for around a month now, it is holding up very well and still gets carried even though it is a budget folder!
If you really want to upgrade to something with nicer blade steel, I would save that fifty bucks you got burnin a hole in your pocket and wait for another one of Kizer's mid range drops to come back. I have been loving my Kizer Guru that I snagged off here for ~$100 shipped. If you step up into S35VN, or CPM154 blade steel territory you will notice a huge difference in how often you have to sharped. But that is nearly impossible to do in your price range, cept for that Kizer Vigor!
Just my thoughts, sorry for rambling :D Also, how much do you hate that dumb unnecessary locking mechanism on the M16? I hate mine with a passion, decent knife, bad lock! So silly. That's why mine never gets any pocket time anymore.
If you don't like the Vigor, then I would go Santa Fe or Skyline. Unless you want something that is a little slimmer then the Rat 2 is definitely for you. I have been working on a video that features 10 knives that I own, all less than $50. Mostly Kershaw knives, cuz I live in Oregon and I can go to their factory sale and pick them up dirt cheap.
To stay on topic with the OPs thread. Zancudo in D2 is tops.
Edit. I see you edited your post. Should I edit mine to make myself look better?
A brief history. Bearing steel, which is what most modern blade steels are modeled from was invented in the 1920s. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20120008557.pdf 440c was illustrated in 1906 but not used in cutlery until the mid 60s. (I cant seem to find the exact date knife makers began using 440c). And lastly modern true hardend stainless steel was arguably synthesized in 1914 by Harry Brearley. https://www.bssa.org.uk/about_stainless_steel.php?id=31
I am just a blue collar working stiff. Warehouse. Lot's of manual labor, forklift, boom lift, scissor lift, all of the lifts.. Mostly sweat and forklift though. Not a rich man by any means. A regular guy who carries and uses a knife every single day. Also not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I just know what I like!