When I got into knife collecting, my purchases were determined by the logo, letters and numbers stamped onto the blade. I utterly dismissed plastics, polymers, G10s as inferior handle materials for the sake of fancy/flashy aesthetics, e.g. carbon fiber, MokuTi, exotic woods, mammoth ivory, bone, etc. However, those alleged inferior materials are far more performance driven and practical for actual cutting tasks and daily carry.
Oh yeah, during that phase, anything manufactured outside of North America or Europe was instantly deemed inferior. (Reate/We Knives/CKF/Svord/and many others proved me wrong!
).
Only after acquiring many expensive knives (my personal definition: >$200.00), I would notice myself deeply hesitate prior to using them. Indeed, with the exception of "art knives", all knives were created for use; but using a fancy knife to cut down a cardboard box feels like driving a supersport car off-road.
The constant anxiety of carrying and using a HEC knife greatly outweighs the satisfaction of actual cutting.
Nowadays, I love carrying sub-$100.00 knives (current favorites : birk75 / delica). The satisfaction of nonchalantly using them without a worry makes me ever-smile.
My apologies if my minimalistic tendencies offend anybody.
TL;DR: Cheaper knives feel better to use!
