1.

Rough Rider- While these are chinese made, their quality beats anything Frost makes
overall. They make them in liner lock models and a quick search of that auction site will
turn up quite a few of them. I don't own any yet, mainly because I've been hunting down
the more rare sodbusters out there. I will buy some eventually.
2. Boker- You have several options here. Their soddies are made in either China or Brazil.
They have lockback models (the Plus line I think) made in China, and the Cinch series,
made in Brazil. The Cinch sodbusters are discontinued and hard to find, a few pop up
on the auction site every so often for short money (15-35 USD price range, depending
on auction). I own both types, and both are pretty good options.
3. Moore Maker- Made in the USA they contract their knife production mainly to Queen
Cutlery and Bear & Sons Cutlery. They make slipjoint sodbusters with half stops and
lockbacks in materials ranging from Delrin to cow bone. The ones I've bought are pretty
solid with good fit and finish.
4. Case- They made a few liner lock sodbusters years ago, and when last asked they
have no plans of bringing them back into production. Good luck finding one of those, I'm
still looking.
5. Italian/Spanish sodbusters- Google or the auction site will turn up some decent
lockback soddies if you stay on it and keep looking. The original Italian brown mules
and coal miners are solid soddies.
6. Great Eastern Cutlery- Their #71 (smaller) and #21 (larger) models are the best
sodbusters in production right now. Smith & Sons commisioned a Special Factory order
of the #21 with steel liners and 1095 steel and a lockback called the Mudbug. Google
can help you out finding them. The other option from them is the #99 F&F lockback. It's
essentially a sodbuster with a square handle. I don't own one yet, as I've been busy
tracking down some rare SFOs and not had the money to divert to them, but I will be
getting all of the handle material options eventually.
7. Vintage German/French/Italian/Spanish sodbusters- These are usually pretty pricey
(priced for hardcore collectors) in good condition. I have a Hugo Koller I bought from a
guy's private collection that cost as much as all my GEC 71s together. J.A. Henckels
lockback soddie in good condition will run you between $75-$150 depending on where
you find it and who's selling it.
8. German Eye- The vintage stuff is really pricey, but their recent sodbusters come in
slipjoint and lockback, and are excellent quality and will run you around 50-60 bucks.
Anything in good condition with Carl Schlieper on it will be a good choice. The older
stuff costs up into the hundreds, newer prices will vary.
9. No-name pakistani sodbusters- stay away from these if you want to actually use the
knife. Bad steel, poor construction, cheap feel. Some of Frost's trademarks have
Pakistan on the blade.
10. Hen & Rooster, Bulldog Brand sodbusters- If you can find the older stuff (1999 and
older) grab it up. Frost bought Hen and Rooster a few years ago, and recently Bulldog
Brand. Both are made in China now (Thanks Frost for cheapening the knife world so
very much in the last few years).
11. Kissing Crane- If you can find the old German made ones, snatch them up.
12. Queen Cutlery- They make a green linen micarta lockback medium sodbuster in D2
steel,, the #1500. Easily found on that auction site from time to time and on collector's
knife sites.
13. A.G.Russel- very solid sodbusters, two sizes (smaller and larger) with a few handle
materials to pick from. Chinese made but the QC on these is excellent.
14. Bear & Son Sodbuster- They've made very very few lockbacks, but overall they are on
par with Case as far as quality and price point.
15. Custom Sodbusters- there are a few knife makers out there making these, but you'll pay
through the nose. I've got an order in with Fall Creek Cutlery for a custom lockback
sodbuster and it'll cost me $325. For some reason these take a lot of work to make, and
unless they make a large batch they have to charge high prices. Mine will be one of a
kind, so it's all cool.