Are $400 knives worth it?

tueller said:
IMHO if your buying a knife as a tool then no. At a certain price point the price tag exceeds the functionality of the tool. However, if your buying a knife as a piece of art then yes. The mona lisa has horrible edge retention but look at the price tag on that :)
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I disagree with you 100%. One should look to buy a $400 knife, not a $400 paperweight.

By definition, something is only considered art when it serves no other function than to be itself. A knife can be artistic, but not art.
 
For a custom maker, sure - if the craftmanship is up to the price. For a factory knife - not in my book. There are other things I'd rather spend the $400 on.
Of course, it is your money and you must decide the question.
 
It is your money, spend it how you want. I have purchased guitars that costs thousands and thousands of dollars even though I do not play out anymore. Some people would think that there is no reason to spend that much on a instrument.

That being said, I personally can not think of any reason to ever spend that much on any knife. Especially if it is basically a glorified boxcutter. Maybe some full on custom or I was a collector and had no intention of using it. No offense intended, I just don't see the value in it.

No matter what you get, post pics :thumbup:
 
I personally could never spend $400 on a EDC knife. My Vic Tinker was only 14 bucks and handles everything i throw at it. :)

If you can afford it and know you'll get $400 worth of use out of it then by all means go for it!

If you need someone else to convince you to buy it then maybe its not the right choice for you right now?
 
Everybody has a threshold in their mind about how much they could spend on a knife and carry and use it. Those numbers continue to climb for me. you get what you pay for, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy, enormously, knives that cost very little. Good luck with your purchases.
 
Matador said:
No "knife" is worth $400.00 imo, yet most of mine cost as much and more. It's just pride in ownership of something that's a little different than the rest.
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So If a maker spends a few weeks or months making a knife, it is not worth 400 bucks. What is his/her time worth. Should they be able to support their families, pay mortages or rent? What if they use more than 400 bucks in materials on a knife with 100 or more hours of time.

One style I collect is daggers. I have no use for them, just appreciate the difficulty in making them. I am concerned about damage.
 
The way I see it, if you're going to spend your hard earned money on knives, you should buy the ones you really want. (I got lucky with a fascination for Opinels and Douk Douks)
 
In terms of cutting ability, my 65.00 Endura far out performs my one of a kind Crusader Forge. However, I've been offered over 800.00 for my original 450.00 investment on the CF folder.

Yes, I know this did not answer you question- Sorry

Scott
 
Ankerson said:
That also translates into use, if one is worried about damaging it they couldn't really afford it to begin with.

Like I posted before, if the person won't miss that money at all then go for it, if they will then get something else.
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I have to disagree with your first statement. I have several discontinued and handmade knives that I absolutely love but I admit that I do worry about damaging them. That doesn't stop me from using them but if I really need to torque something or use it prybar style, I generally go for my Leatherman or just carry a knife that isn't as important. I don't miss the money at all, but knowing that I can't replace my favorite knives makes me think twice about really hammering them.

Price is irrelevant to me because I consider some of my discontinued knives and ones I've customized to be more valuable than my $400 range ones. Value can be really subjective. If you have the money, then buy it, but don't expect it to magically cut better than a knife that costs less. For me, style is what makes me want a knife, not price. Personally, I'm hesitant to buy a Strider because of all the negative things I've read about them. There's a lot of guys who love them though, so don't let that stop you if you like it!
 
I was also hesitant to buy my first strider due to things I'd read. But I bought one anyway and I really like them. I've got 5 now and I'm not selling any of them. Not sure what it is, they just do it for me.
 
The joy i get from owning highend knives is worth more to me than the cost. I saved for a long time to get the knives i have and by now ive already forgotten the struggle getting ahold of them gave me because of how they make me feel.
 
I have carried my Umnumzaan and Sebenzas with my SAK Pioneer. You can find a used Sebenza out there for about $250 if you look hard enough.
 
Again,this is a completely subjective question obviously. If you are at the station in life that allows you to afford 'highend" items,then depending on the item(s) ,it might be worth it.
Bill Gates $400 knife (Probably not)
Keith Richards $400 knife (probably several)
I am of the opinion that if you use it on a daily bases,it is well worth whatever you spent on it.
 
Bastid said:
So If a maker spends a few weeks or months making a knife, it is not worth 400 bucks. What is his/her time worth. Should they be able to support their families, pay mortages or rent? What if they use more than 400 bucks in materials on a knife with 100 or more hours of time.

One style I collect is daggers. I have no use for them, just appreciate the difficulty in making them. I am concerned about damage.
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It is good to hear that!

I can easily have 30-50 hours into a $400 knife not including my communication time. Add on $80 worth of belts, $100 in supplies and 10k of equipment and it is actually a bargain for the buyer.
 
I told myself I have to use them then the end I love it too much to use them. What I use are $40 knives and I love them....I even hv trouble using $100+ range knives.
 
100eyes said:
I disagree with you 100%. One should look to buy a $400 knife, not a $400 paperweight.

By definition, something is only considered art when it serves no other function than to be itself. A knife can be artistic, but not art.
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Actually, your definition of art is completely wrong, if you're going by the literal definition of the word "art."

Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill or imagination. I'm pretty sure knives are the application of human creative skill, so therefore they are art.
 
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