Are $400 knives worth it?

Some are, and some are not, as it all depends on what you are expecting in the knife. I just bought a $400 knife at the end of last week and to me it is worth every penny I spent, the knife is a LionSteel SR-1-B. You do expect certain things in a $400, and up, knife that may not be present in a knife costing less. Butter smooth action, tight and early lockup, top of the line fit/finish, and a razor sharp blade that has symmetrical grinds, are some of the things I would expect, and some of the things that are present in the SR-1. Also the materials should be higher end. I haven't read anything but the original post and I'm sure what I've said has already been said and repeated. I don't know if you have already decided on the Strider, but I would suggest looking at one of the LionSteel SR-1's, and one other thing you get is a one-piece handle of titanium. A single block of ti is milled out to create it and this is not done by any other manufacturer, and only by a couple of custom makers.
 
Worth is subjective.

If 400 bucks knife really appreciated you that much, it could be worth.

Anyway, people around you would still say any >30$ knife is nonsense though.
 
People talk about the fit and finish of custom knives being dramatically better, and for the price of some customs, they better be. But when we are talking measurements that are almost microscopic, most people would never be able to tell the difference, and there are knives that cost 200 or less that have impecible fit and finish. Ironically, quite a few of them are made off shore... This is an observation, don't turn it into a U.S / Taiwan argument.

I have a friend who passed away about 7 years ago, who was a very famous custom rifle maker. Some of his rifles sold for upwards of 20,000, and were beautiful.
He was also a very accomplished hunter, who went to Africa every year. He had taken every game animal he could hunt in Africa, and that was his passion.

One day we were standing in his shop talking guns. Particularly a 375 H&H I was going to have him build. He told me, " Custom rifles are the biggest waste of money there is "... Buy a nice Remington 700 or Winchester Model 70 off the rack, and spend the rest of the money going on hunts. The money spent on those hunts will make memories you will have the rest of your life.

There is a lot of pride in owning things that are "higher end" though, and I appreciate the workmanship in some of them. IMHO, you are paying quite a bit more for certain knives, just because of the name that is on them.
If a person makes 20,000 a year, a $400 knife is a huge investment. If they make 200,000 a year, a $400 knife isn't a big deal. It's all relative..

Life is short. Do the things you want, while you can.
 
338375 said:
People talk about the fit and finish of custom knives being dramatically better, and for the price of some customs, they better be. But when we are talking measurements that are almost microscopic, most people would never be able to tell the difference, and there are knives that cost 200 or less that have impecible fit and finish. Ironically, quite a few of them are made off shore... This is an observation, don't turn it into a U.S / Taiwan argument.

I have a friend who passed away about 7 years ago, who was a very famous custom rifle maker. Some of his rifles sold for upwards of 20,000, and were beautiful.
He was also a very accomplished hunter, who went to Africa every year. He had taken every game animal he could hunt in Africa, and that was his passion.

One day we were standing in his shop talking guns. Particularly a 375 H&H I was going to have him build. He told me, " Custom rifles are the biggest waste of money there is "... Buy a nice Remington 700 or Winchester Model 70 off the rack, and spend the rest of the money going on hunts. The money spent on those hunts will make memories you will have the rest of your life.

There is a lot of pride in owning things that are "higher end" though, and I appreciate the workmanship in some of them. IMHO, you are paying quite a bit more for certain knives, just because of the name that is on them.
If a person makes 20,000 a year, a $400 knife is a huge investment. If they make 200,000 a year, a $400 knife isn't a big deal. It's all relative..

Life is short. Do the things you want, while you can.
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Wow. Well said, Sir. And with this, we can now close thise thread. :thumbup:
 
338375 said:
If a person makes 20,000 a year, a $400 knife is a huge investment. If they make 200,000 a year, a $400 knife isn't a big deal. It's all relative..
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Looks like this year I'll pull in a whopping $10000. Wow!!!
Yet somehow, I've managed to acquire all the knives I want, pretty much.:)

If you want it, get it. If you don't, then don't.

It ain't gonna impress anyone that you have a $400 knife, but you know what? I don't care about your Rolex, BMW or platinum jewellery.
If you want to impress people, then your life sucks ass and you need to grab some self esteem.
 
Good thread really. The same sorts of things get repeated, but it really boils down to your value system. I have $400 knives, not many, but a few. They sing to me everytime I handle one. But I can't bring myself to use one the way it was intended to be used which is the big quandry for me. My value system just won't allow me to take a chance on damaging one of these beauties. But that is me... still working on the personal quandry.

So for me, it is pretty darn hard to justify buying a $400 knife to use as I would say one of my SAKs. Some would ask, why buy them at all then? What can I say? I don't have an answer for that one other than I wanted them.
 
I would spend the money for a show piece or a user. The former simply because it would be beautiful to look at in a display, and the latter because I'd be confident that my custom knife is probably the best money can buy. My choice for either if I had the money? One of Daniel Winkler's custom blades.
 
An interesting post and some interesting responses. I'll offer a slightly different perspective. Despite all the talk about worth being subjective or in the eye of the proverbial beholder, worth is quite objective and the function of what the market will support. Is a Strider worth $400? Is a Hinderer worth $800? Of course they are.

Is it because they are superior knives? Maybe. Is it because of maketing hype? Maybe. I don't own either, so I don't know much about of their pros or cons. But I do know that when either is listed for sale here on the forum, they sell at about those prices. Any retailers that carry them seem to sell them rather briskly, again at those prices. This obviously means that there is a "marketplace" of people willing to pay those amounts.

If you approach someone with an XM-18, or whatever they're called, and explain that, to you, the knife is really only worth $200, odds are you aren't going to get that knife, because there are a whole bunch of folks who will pay $800; the fact that it is "worth" less to you is not relevant to the seller.

So the knife is worth what it is worth. The questions are 1) will you dig it and 2) will it do what you need it to do? It looks pretty cool and you're obviously interested in it, so the answer to #1 is probably yes. As to #2, it's a pretty tough knife, so unless you're that guy in the hockey mask that destroys knives on YouTube, it will probably do what you need it to do.

Another question might be "will a $400 knife do things a less expensive knife won't?" Generally, no. At this price point, you've definitely experienced the law of diminishing returns. I mean, a $200 knife is a pretty well-built knife in most cases. And this one is twice as expensive; you're definitely not getting twice as much knife. Instead, you're getting subtle differences and probably paying a premium for collector value.

Nevertheless, I think you should get it. If you don't like it, you can always sell it for about what you paid.

ERG
 
Chadahoochie said:
Have you seen the ZT0777? Sure did convince me! I never thought I would spend that much on a knife, but the addiction just keeps growing stronger.
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So true. The bottom line is, if you have to ask, then it's probably not worth it. In a strictly analytical line of thinking, a $400 knife is not going to "outdo" a $40 knife (Or under $100 or whatever). Sure, some have higher end steels, more expensive materials, & original designs, but performance-wise, it's probably not going to matter.

Now, having said all that, my 2 most carried/used knives when I'm not working are an Umnumzaan & a small Insingo. Both are well used & worth it to me. They are also not my most valuable knives, either, but I also own & use some knives that are considerably less expensive.

Heck, the 1st "expensive" folder I got was a small Classic Sebenza with bocote wood inlays. I traded for it (I think 4 knives) & never could bring myself to actually use it. I ended up trading it for a CGG small regular Seb & couldn't bring myself to use that one, either. I think the 1st Seb I actually carried/used (I've owned about 8 different Sebs, 3 different Umnums, & FB or 2 from CRK) was a small 21 micarta Seb & that was mainly because it was already used.

If you feel you need convincing, then you should probably not get it.
 
The problem I see with buying high end knives on a low salary is that there are other things you need to be saving for: a 6-month emergency fund, 401(k) and Roth accounts, and paying off medical/credit card/auto/home bills.

If you don't have all those things squared away, then I'm sorry but you only hurt yourself by buying luxuries. It actually doesn't even matter if it's "worth" it or not. You can afford it or you can't, and being able to "afford" a Sebenza doesn't mean you happen to have $400 in your bank account at some given moment. It means having your financial house in order and having an income stream that justifies such an incredible luxury. The solution is to find a way to bring in more income/make more money. Yes, that sucks, but it's reality.
 
Magnaminous_G said:
The problem I see with buying high end knives on a low salary is that there are other things you need to be saving for: a 6-month emergency fund, 401(k) and Roth accounts, and paying off medical/credit card/auto/home bills.

If you don't have all those things squared away, then I'm sorry but you only hurt yourself by buying luxuries. It actually doesn't even matter if it's "worth" it or not. You can afford it or you can't, and being able to "afford" a Sebenza doesn't mean you happen to have $400 in your bank account at some given moment. It means having your financial house in order and having an income stream that justifies such an incredible luxury. The solution is to find a way to bring in more income/make more money. Yes, that sucks, but it's reality.
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Sounds like someone listens to Dave Ramsey
 
One thing I have always done in trying to justify price is to "reduce it to the ridiculous".

If I bought a $500 watch with a common resale of $350 and I own it for a year, I am spending about $12.50 a month to own it for that year. If I wear it ten times a month, that's $1.25 a day to enjoy it.

Now... If I know I plan on keeping something forever, the timeline is infinite, justifying a more expensive purchase becomes easier provided it is something that gets actual use. It all breaks down to cost per use.

If you USE your knife very day, how hard is it to justify $1.10 a day for the first year to have a knife you enjoy using, holding, taking pictures of and staring at?

The argument changes for me with something I know I won't wear or use. Then it breaks down to resale value (why else would you NOT use or wear something unless to preserve value on secondary market?).
 
Umm... you do know that "reducing to the ridiculous" is a tactic used by salesmen, right? I know because I used to sell $5,000 water softeners to broke idiots.

It's called "reduce to the ridiculous" for a reason: because it's ridiculous. You can justify anything that way. Heck, if you buy a $200,000 sports car and drive it for 20 years, why that's only $27.40 a day! You can't even rent a Ford Focus for that daily rate. I mean, it's only $1.14 per hour! So it totally makes sense to buy it. Even if you work at McDonald's, you can afford $1.14, right?

That's how it works.
 
Magnaminous_G said:
The problem I see with buying high end knives on a low salary is that there are other things you need to be saving for: a 6-month emergency fund, 401(k) and Roth accounts, and paying off medical/credit card/auto/home bills.

If you don't have all those things squared away, then I'm sorry but you only hurt yourself by buying luxuries. It actually doesn't even matter if it's "worth" it or not. You can afford it or you can't, and being able to "afford" a Sebenza doesn't mean you happen to have $400 in your bank account at some given moment. It means having your financial house in order and having an income stream that justifies such an incredible luxury. The solution is to find a way to bring in more income/make more money. Yes, that sucks, but it's reality.
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With any $400 knife this is not true at all. I could buy a used sebenza, use/carry it for a year & it would hold its value. I could always sell it later, lose zero dollars & have experienced a very fine knife. Even if I bought new I may lose $50, but that cost would be incomparable to most recreation. Buying a television is a stupid investment. Owning a car -any car- paying thousands on gas, upkeep & insurance is way more ridiculous than owning a few expensive knives. This hobby is certainly a form of recreation. Considering that this may bring you joy AND be a reasonable investment to any sane person I would say definitely go for it!
 
Magnaminous_G said:
The problem I see with buying high end knives on a low salary is that there are other things you need to be saving for: a 6-month emergency fund, 401(k) and Roth accounts, and paying off medical/credit card/auto/home bills.

If you don't have all those things squared away, then I'm sorry but you only hurt yourself by buying luxuries.
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Nope, I ain't been hurt by not having those things.

And let's see, how much good did savings do my mother when she died at age 48...yep, those retirement savings really are helping out now...

Reality is that dead is forever. Think about it.
When you're sitting there dying, you won't give a crap about money in the bank, or how many cans of food are sitting in the pantry. You'll look back fondly at having done what you wanted to do...or else cry over things regretfully left undone.

Don't be that sad dying fool who didn't do what they wanted because it, ahem, "wouldn't be prudent."
 
This thread is starting to stray off course. Please stay on topic.
 
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