Are expensive knives worth it?

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IMHO you will get the most satisfaction with knives in the range between 100 and 300, maybe 350 USD. I used to have more expensive knives (around 500 USD) and realized that I wasn‘t 500USD-excited with them.

Take a Spyderco PM2 or a Benchmade Stryker II. If you do not get a dud, you have an excellent designed and build knife, which will serve you well over the years. Both knives should be available between 150 to 200 USD.

Below 100 USD you usually have to accept shortcomings in design, quality or materials. There are nice examples, and there are some better to avoid.
 
TheEdge01 said:
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Or some folks use keys… or even rip the envelopes open with their bare hands like barbarians… it makes me sick.
 
After all the knives I've had, I think $600-$1000 is the sweet spot. You can really feel and see the difference in form and function, especially in handmade customs. The amount of attention one person gives to his product is obvious in the hand.
Is it worth it? hell yes.
As far as diminishing returns...the watch analogy: a cheap quartz tells time better than a Swiss mechanical, but which would you prefer to wear?
Being a knife enthusiast, walking around with a knife that cost me 4 digits is absolutely worth it! I mean, that's why I bought it, no?
YMMV
 
EatingSarma said:
Months ago, I made decision to get myself Viper Berus 1 and use it as EDC.

Before that I carried Boker GoBag.

That are 2 different steels (D2 and M390) at 2 different prices (30€ and 150€). So you can get 5 Bokers for 1 Viper, so is it worth it???

In my experience - yes.
It stopped me from buying more and more cheap knives in hopes of finding "the one". So you get yourself what you really need (or want) right away instead of spending that much or even more money on cheaper options that still won't do it for you.

I switched to Viper and didn't look back ever since.
1. More comfortable handle
2. Slicier blade with taller grind
3. Holds the edge longer
4. And is even easier to sharpen (few swipes on fine ceramic or diamond + strop and it's hair popping again)
5. No dots and spots of corrosion on it even if I sweat
6. It looks a lot friendlier to people and is kind of modern gentleman's knife
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In terms of collecting and "jewelry value" or bling value (e.g. Rolex watches) are expensive knives worth it? It's all up to the consumer.

A far as actual performance? No way. Most consumers will never realize the performance "benefits" of knife blades made exclusively from extra-virgin, Unobtainium 0427HiX-K2L(CXb5)-(XSa).

Same with product quality. Knives are not highly complex mechanisms. Thus, the "build quality" of sub-$100 knives can easily be that of knives priced much. much higher.
 
It's worth it if you can afford it and it brings you joy without financially affecting your loved ones!

No answer will be the same, you have to find what works for you!

I'm lucky enough to use my knives a lot daily, so for me thinner grinds and steels I like for my use and ergos are my focus now (spyderco usually nails it for me with the military, manix 2 ,pm2 and shaman)
 
I've paid more than I'd like to admit on chopper type fixed blades....

folders and EDC stuff I wouldn't really consider paying a premium on. I carry a cold steel AD15. that's about as fancy as I'd get I think. even that is a bit more than I'd like to spend on a folder when there are plenty of less expensive options that will do the same things as it relatively.
 
I guess it depends on what you mean by expensive. That Boker is @ $40 US and dirt cheap IMO. So I’m sure it’s pretty low on the quality scale. So clearly the Viper is going to be a better knife. And the Viper price isn’t something I’d consider “expensive”. But it’ll get you a higher quality knife. The point of diminishing returns is different for everyone. For me after about $200 the increase in quality gets smaller and smaller. But everyone’s different.

I considered my Large Sebenza 21’s at
$485 and $525 to be good deals for what you get. But now with similar 31’s going for @ $600 , I'm not so interested. It’s not worth it to me.
 
Wolverine666 said:
...That Boker is @ $40 US and dirt cheap IMO. So I’m sure it’s pretty low on the quality scale. So clearly the Viper is going to be a better knife...
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Not so. One thing is for certain. The old adage "you get what you pay for" doesn't hold anymore, if it every really did. More expensive, doesn't necessarily equate to higher product quality. Particularly when it comes to cutlery it seems.

I suspect you could run both knives through a series of cutting performance, durability and maintainability tests -- in other words, product quality tests, and the differences between the two would be negligible.

THEN you consider the "pride of ownership" factor. For many it means little. Their focus is on product quality at the best price. For others, it really means something. It's tangible and that's fine. Difficulties only arise when they try to justify their pride of ownership in terms of product quality, rather than the extra utilities they receive from owning a certain brand name, something with a certain look, something with a certain bling or something that is known to be expensive.
 
Stahlmann said:
Not so. One thing is for certain. The old adage "you get what you pay for" doesn't hold anymore, if it every really did. More expensive, doesn't necessarily equate to higher product quality. Particularly when it comes to cutlery it seems.

I suspect you could run both knives through a series of cutting performance, durability and maintainability tests -- in other words, product quality tests, and the differences between the two would be negligible.

THEN you consider the "pride of ownership" factor. For many it means little. Their focus is on product quality at the best price. For others, it really means something. It's tangible and that's fine. Difficulties only arise when they try to justify their pride of ownership in terms of product quality, rather than the extra utilities they receive from owning a certain brand name, something with a certain look, something with a certain bling or something that is known to be expensive.
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That’s your opinion. Enjoy it. I don’t agree with you. I very much believe in “you get what you pay for”. Just like I agree with “If it’s too good to be true then it probably is”. These sayings have been around for a long time for a reason.
 
Wolverine666 said:
That’s your opinion. Enjoy it. I don’t agree with you. I very much believe in “you get what you pay for”. Just like I agree with “If it’s too good to be true then it probably is”. These sayings have been around for a long time for a reason.
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Not really, no. There are indeed quantitative, objective measures when it comes to product quality and product assurance.

On the other hand the "pride of ownership" factor is indeed subjective. It depends on the customer.

For some, wearing a Rolex watch, and having people seeing you wearing the watch is very important. To others, it makes no difference at all -- they just want an accurate timekeeper. Yet others look down upon wearing one because they realize the objective/quantitative benefits of wearing a Rolex in say 1950 (e.g. accuracy, durability, etc.) have long been surpassed by Casio G-Shocks (and their lower-priced cousins) at a small fraction of the price.
 
Stahlmann said:
Not really, no. There are indeed quantitative, objective measures when it comes to product quality and product assurance.

On the other hand the "pride of ownership" factor is indeed subjective. It depends on the customer.

For some, wearing a Rolex watch, and having people seeing you wearing the watch is very important. To others, it makes no difference at all -- they just want an accurate timekeeper. Yet others look down upon wearing one because they realize the objective/quantitative benefits of wearing a Rolex in say 1950 (e.g. accuracy, durability, etc.) have long been surpassed by Casio G-Shocks (and their lower-priced cousins) at a small fraction of the price.
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I appreciate your viewpoint and your comparisons. But concerning the $40 knife question , I remain unconvinced. I feel that a $40 knife will very rarely be on the same level quality/fit&finish-wise with say a $175 knife. I’d like to say that it would never be on the same level. But I’ve learned to never say never. I’m happy to agree to disagree.
 
For whatever purpose I've used a knife for, in the last 15 or 20 years a $30.00 or $40.00 Swiss Army has been completely satisfactory except for some wood carving. An $80.00 Boker Congress does the carving. I'm not big on spending a fortune on knives.
 
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