Are $400 knives worth it?

Poez said:
Are $ 2000 watches worth it? They do not show any better time than $ 20 ones.
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Heck, $20 is too much for most people these days...most of them just look at the time on their phone or MP3 player.;)
 
I have no problem with people spending their hard-earned money in whatever way they want. Heck, it's their money. But let's make a few points on personal finance clear. An investment provides a return or appreciates in value. Stocks are an investment. Property is an investment. Precious metals are investments.

A Sebenza is not an investment. It's an expense like the television you mentioned, except that a television is not a "bad investment"... rather, it's not an investment, at all. And I have seen plenty of threads in the "for sale" forums where Sebenzas were price reduced several times before selling. At best, a Sebenza is like a bank deposit account, but one that yields no interest and is easily lost or stolen. If people want to buy Sebenzas, then more power to them. But call a spade a spade. It's a rich man's game.

As for refusing to save for retirement because you might die early... I'm just speechless. If you were a new member who joined BF today, I'd swear you were joking or trolling. Tell that to the guy who's 55, lost his job after the recession, and can't afford to put gas in his car. Ask him if he regrets not saving more for retirement.
 
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I'll give you that point. Nobody knows what the right thing to do is nowadays. I have friends I trust who say, "Buy rental property, buy gold, put it all in stocks and hold on and pray, etc." It's a scary world. The best thing is to have skills that are rare and in-demand and a good job with a high-salary. Of course, easier said than done!

If a young person asked me for advice--not that young persons listen to anyone these days--I'd say get a degree in petroleum engineering or something like that, don't hold debt, pay the credit card off in full each month, and live way below their means.

I think this discussion is on topic because it gets to the heart of the OP`s question. Is a Sebenza worth it? Well, I think for most people the answer is probably "No." But if your financial house is in order and you are experienced enough with knives to appreciate it (and not just want one because all the cool kids have one), then the answer is probably "Yes."
 
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Magnaminous_G said:
As for refusing to save for retirement because you might die early... I'm just speechless. If you were a new member who joined BF today, I'd swear you were joking or trolling. Tell that to the guy who's 55, lost his job after the recession, and can't afford to put gas in his car. Ask him if he regrets not saving more for retirement.
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If he had more $400 knives, he could sell them and put gas in his car.
 
Magnaminous_G said:
If a young person asked me for advice--not that young persons listen to anyone these days--I'd say get a degree in petroleum engineering or something like that and live way below their means.
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You mean you wouldn't tell them to go to university, get a degree in history and a $40000 student debt, and then a minimum wage security guard job?
I guess I did it wrong.:D
 
Magnaminous_G said:
I'll give you that point. Nobody knows what the right thing to do is nowadays. I have friends I trust who say, "Buy rental property, buy gold, put it all in stocks and hold on and pray, etc." It's a scary world. The best thing is to have skills that are rare and in-demand and a good job with a high-salary. Of course, easier said than done!

If a young person asked me for advice--not that young persons listen to anyone these days--I'd say get a degree in petroleum engineering or something like that, don't hold debt, pay the credit card off in full each month, and live way below their means.

I think this discussion is on topic because it gets to the heart of the OP`s question. Is a Sebenza worth it? Well, I think for most people the answer is probably "No." But if your financial house is in order and you are experienced enough with knives to appreciate it (and not just want one because all the cool kids have one), then the answer is probably "Yes."
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Things are really never that simple, in this economy anyone can lose their job at anytime and with little or no warning.
 
There is no knife worth more than $4.58. I refuse to spend more than my great, great, great, great grandfather did on a knife back in the 1700's.
 
Magnaminous_G said:
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.
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I did say that it is how I justify it right?? ;)

Been in sales for the best part of twenty years, and selling myself is sometimes my best work.
 
You certainly do not need a $400 knife, or much of anything else that surrounds you. We can put you in a jumpsuit, house you in a shed, feed you bread and water and you would still be able to function. The vast majority of people get along fine without ever owning a $400 knife. But, it is certainly nice to be able to enjoy the aesthetics that life has to offer, and whether a knife represents art, or a technologial curiosity, or perhaps serves as a historical artifact to man's ingenuity, to many of us it is more than just base functionality and we should be allowed to enjoy that.

n2s
 
Almost everybody spends a considerable amount yearly on nonessentials. How much per year is spent by the average American on their morning coffee? Or the average man on beer? It may not seem like much in a day, but over a year I'm sure it would exceed $400, probably by a very wide margin. Yet you don't hear anyone saying people are wasting their money on these luxuries. For a high-end knife or any other such luxury, if you have the slightest doubt about its worth to you, then it probably isn't worth it. It does not mean that those who do find it worth the cost are being foolish with their lives and are on their way to complete financial ruination for that one $400 knife.

Jim
 
Sharp Knives 86 said:
That being said, I doubt I'd be EDCing a $400 Sebenza. I'd be WAY to nervous I'd loose it or it would get stolen
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I've never understood this line of thinking. With a pocket clip, I've never worried about losing a knife. I don't know how it would get stolen as long as I keep my pants on. I carry my Umnumzaan as easily as a Spyderco Caly3.
Sonny
 
RABII said:
Watch your ego, however, with an expensive knife. It let's quite a bit of air out of the 'ol sails when someone has never heard of your 'XYZ' knife that you may have paid $600 for!
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This is very true, but I buy the expensive knife because I enjoy the design, craftmanship and materials that went into making it. I wouldn't expect a non-knife person to have ever heard of Chris Reeve. And I don't feel the need to advertise what I paid for it.
Sonny
 
dark impaler said:
It will take you to faraway places of magical dreams. Where women scream your name in rapture and men hail you with respect and honor and join in chorus as they sing of your awe inspiring, legendary feats with your knife.

By the way, I have a CRK Umnumzaan that I'm selling on the exchange for about $400- and it's worth it.
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I hadda laugh. :) Thanks, I needed one.
Sonny
 
Magnaminous_G said:
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.
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Cars do have a whole lot of extra costs attached to them though. Your Sebenza will never need a $10,000 tune up, or $500 a month on insurance, and it doesn't need expensive fluids to work. If there were such a thing as a car that only cost you the purchase price, I think a lot more people would be driving a Ferrari right now (or even have collections of them).

"Reduce to the ridiculous" sometimes makes sense to me (ironically), where knives are concerned the catch is that you can only have one. As soon as you have a second, the "cost per use" goes way up as there's no guarantee you will ever use the first one again. That's what I was thinking as I looked at my wall of knives a few months ago (before deciding to sell them all off).
I doubt anyone on Bladeforums has ever come here, picked up a Sebenza, and been satisfied with having only that one knife for the rest of his life (or a decade, or even a year. I would believe a couple of months).
 
Just like a 200k car doesn't get you to the store faster, a 400 dollar knife doesn't open a box better. But it sure looks good doing it! I have several 400+ folders. I use them all to justify the cost, but also look at it as a hobby like anything else.
 
Sonnydaze said:
I've never understood this line of thinking. With a pocket clip, I've never worried about losing a knife. I don't know how it would get stolen as long as I keep my pants on. I carry my Umnumzaan as easily as a Spyderco Caly3.
Sonny
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I've lost a couple clipped knives myself.
 
After collecting for awhile, my price range has changed. Now, I don't really look at knives under $200. It isn't that I think they are bad; I just don't find them particularly interesting anymore.

I'm not rich, but I do ok. I don't smoke, drink, or gamble. I drive a 4 cylinder car, when it's my turn to carpool.
 
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