Are expensive knives worth it?

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Stahlmann said:
Not really, nope. There's an entire field of study that deals with this. It's called "economics." 😉
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It is really, yes. They even discuss this in economics: it's called the Subjective Theory of Value. :thumbsup:

Might be best to keep academics out of this argument. Tis' a dark rabbit hole.

How many "are expensive knives worth it" threads have we done over the years? Hundreds I'd say.
 
Quiet said:
I should say that I don't think inexpensive knives are bad. After all, you can get plenty of knives for under a hundred bucks that I myself would carry, no problem. They won't be pretty, and will be pretty utilitarian, but they work.
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And great for when your buddy comes running up to you with a sledge hammer, a piece of rebar and a wild look in his eye asking to borrow your knife.
I love my father-in-law, but I've seen what he does with tools and I'd rather not have the "I can't lend you my knife" conversation.
I always keep a SAK on hand for such occasions.
 
craytab said:
It is really, yes. They even discuss this in economics: it's called the Subjective Theory of Value. :thumbsup:

Might be best to keep academics out of this argument. Tis' a dark rabbit hole.

How many "are expensive knives worth it" threads have we done over the years? Hundreds I'd say.
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Liu Kang and a bunch of Henderson flippers be saying like, hell yeah they're worth it. 😁
 
craytab said:
It is really, yes. They even discuss this in economics: it's called the Subjective Theory of Value. :thumbsup:

Might be best to keep academics out of this argument. Tis' a dark rabbit hole.

How many "are expensive knives worth it" threads have we done over the years? Hundreds I'd say.
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Yep. What amuses me is that it's always a few folks who are like "Well, it's always fun when people who spend a lot of money on knives have to try to justify...." with this tone that makes it clear that they're attempting to cast aspersion on people who spend money on knives. Always a head-scratcher there, because it's like, why are you on BF then? This is the place for people who spend money on knives, soooooo..... 🤷‍♂️

It's in these moments that you know some obscene jealousy is in play.
 
The threshold of “expensive” is subjective for any item. It’s a personal inflection point that’s unique to each individual and circumstance.

Whether items priced above that threshold are “worth it” is also subjective. Purchasers with identical definitions of “expensive” can experience significantly different levels of value with the same item.

There are no absolutes regarding value perception.

Anybody who tries to claim absolute truth concerning subjective matters is always mistaken.

…see what I did there? I proved the fallacy of absolute claims; a broken clock is spot-on twice a day while still being quite broken. Being correct occasionally by default doesn’t make it an accurate timepiece.
 
I_have_3_dollars.jpg
 
Lee D said:
Just like any hobby, the definition of “expensive” will change over time.
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One thing I find fascinating is that this is true both hobby-wide and in terms of one's own personal "hobby journey."

Annual price increases from major manufacturers mean that common benchmarks, like the PM2 and Grip, cost more than they did a few years ago; that moves the baseline for knives at that price point higher.

And then personally, like a lot of us, I know my threshold for "expensive" has increased over the years. I've said "I'd never spend X on a knife!" multiple times, and made a liar of myself some months/years later. 😆
 
I've probably spent enough on knives to have bought a couple really high end ones, but I have to admit that I enjoy variety.
I like that once I get tired of pocketing the same knife for a few months I can change it up.

And I'm sure we've all been in a funk before and started yearning for a new acquisition to pick our mood back up.
Inexpensive knives do that pretty well.
 
Let's be honest here: for some, getting the best deal, sitting in front of a dealer's website and refreshing every few seconds to make sure one get the latest exclusive is part of the hobby. The excuse being (1) to get really great value, and (2) for the few flippers that we have to try to make money of others in the hobby.

I considered myself mostly cured of (1), but the latest CPK fun Fri sale makes me wondering :D
 
The OPs question is “are expensive knives worth it?” I think after a certain price point that expensive knives are not really worth the money. This is also a very subjective question but I think once you get past the $75-$100 point then you are buying a knife for some reason othe than value for your money. There are plenty of knives under $100 that are very good knives. Many of the knives made by Buck fit the category of good value for the money. There are several Kershaw products that are also excellent knives for the money. My Chris Reeve Mnandi doesn’t open my daily mail any better or worse than a Buck lock back do a similar size like the Buck 501. My Mnandi is a wonderful knife that I enjoy immensely but does it somehow cut better than my Buck 501 for my daily tasks? No, but I get great pleasure out of using my Mnandi so I am glad that I spent the money but for a purely functional tool then expensive knives are not really worth the money.
I guess it comes down to a ”need” versus a “want” type of thing.
 
DavidABQ said:
The OPs question is “are expensive knives worth it?” I think after a certain price point that expensive knives are not really worth the money. This is also a very subjective question but I think once you get past the $75-$100 point then you are buying a knife for some reason othe than value for your money. There are plenty of knives under $100 that are very good knives. Many of the knives made by Buck fit the category of good value for the money. There are several Kershaw products that are also excellent knives for the money. My Chris Reeve Mnandi doesn’t open my daily mail any better or worse than a Buck lock back do a similar size like the Buck 501. My Mnandi is a wonderful knife that I enjoy immensely but does it somehow cut better than my Buck 501 for my daily tasks? No, but I get great pleasure out of using my Mnandi so I am glad that I spent the money but for a purely functional tool then expensive knives are not really worth the money.
I guess it comes down to a ”need” versus a “want” type of thing.
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Even if we attempt to answer this correctly, and try to define what "it" exactly is, we won't be able to agree on what it exactly is. I will be different for everybody.
Short of that, he might be even asking if this hobby is worth the money we spend on it.
And even then, the answer is purely personal.
 
DavidABQ said:
The OPs question is “are expensive knives worth it?” I think after a certain price point that expensive knives are not really worth the money. This is also a very subjective question but I think once you get past the $75-$100 point then you are buying a knife for some reason othe than value for your money. There are plenty of knives under $100 that are very good knives. Many of the knives made by Buck fit the category of good value for the money. There are several Kershaw products that are also excellent knives for the money. My Chris Reeve Mnandi doesn’t open my daily mail any better or worse than a Buck lock back do a similar size like the Buck 501. My Mnandi is a wonderful knife that I enjoy immensely but does it somehow cut better than my Buck 501 for my daily tasks? No, but I get great pleasure out of using my Mnandi so I am glad that I spent the money but for a purely functional tool then expensive knives are not really worth the money.
I guess it comes down to a ”need” versus a “want” type of thing.
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By this logic, an Opinel would do everything at a fraction of the price of a Kershaw, you know?

Also, it’s reasonable to say that people (like me) who buy expensive knives aren’t doing it for value of our money. Quality, a desirable maker’s design language, materials, a lot of factors go into it, all entirely valid. Nothing wrong with wanting value for money, but let’s be honest. If it’s solely “I need the most amount of decent knife for the least money”, we’re not really talking about all the elements of value. Remember, for every knife enthusiast on this board, there are probably fifty people out there who buy a cheap Kershaw at Academy or Wal-Mart and use it for whatever, then toss it in a drawer when it gets dull and just buy another one. I know a few guys like this personally. They’ll never see the value in spending more than $30 for a knife, and frankly, I don’t see anything attractive about their way of doings things either.
 
Quiet said:
Yep. What amuses me is that it's always a few folks who are like "Well, it's always fun when people who spend a lot of money on knives have to try to justify...." with this tone that makes it clear that they're attempting to cast aspersion on people who spend money on knives. Always a head-scratcher there, because it's like, why are you on BF then? This is the place for people who spend money on knives, soooooo..... 🤷‍♂️

It's in these moments that you know some obscene jealousy is in play.
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Could not agree more.
 
Quiet, you are absolutely correct about an Opinel being a very functional knife at the fraction of the cost of something like my Mnandi. The title of the thread was about expensive knives being worth the money so my approach was strictly along the lines of value provided by inexpensive knives versus expensive knives. Again, I think it boils down to need versus want and to how much pleasure you get from using the knife.
 
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