are Frost Cutlery knives any good?

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

will62

Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Messages
372
I recently got mobilized to Okinawa for security duty. There are several of the younger troops here carrying knives from Fost. Some of the Okinawan police officers on the base also carry them.

Maybe I am a snob, but I have steered clear of these knives since they sort of look like some of the $2.99 chinese specials. The younger members of the security force seem to like them.

Have I missed an inexpensive knife that is actually a good deal?
 
Could be talking apples & oranges here but the Frost Cutlery I'm thinking of sells knives on TV in the U.S. About 2 years ago I bought a package deal, & found out most of the blades are made in Pakistan, China, Japan, & Taiwan. Some were better than others but the quality, fit & finish & sharpness retention were nothing like any of the well known brands!
 
There are 2 companies that come to minf when anyone mentions Frost. One is Frost, the other is Frosts. I forget which is which, but one makes Scandinavian knives for a cheap price that are a GREAT knife! The other makes crappy knives, sells them for dirt cheap to "why the hell did I pay THAT MUCH for this junk", and laughs all the way to the bank. If the knives are the "puuko" type blades, usually with a roundish plastic handle and a plastic pouch sheath, then they are good. Otherwise, STAY AWAY!

That said, wanna buy a Frost Cutlery bowie with a serrated clip, brown painted surgical stainless steel blade, and injection moulded plastic crap handle? You'd be a hit among the younger troops! :)
Why the heck did I pay $70 Canadian for that knife...
 
the other frost, I think is just a distributor or "reseller" of a hodgepodge of low end makers.

I've purchased over 20 of these Frost "Swedish Army Utility Knives" for use in a food processing plant, as well as my kitchen. One sits in my camping pack, and I use one every day when prepping my lunch. I believe the "laminated steel" concept was used by the swedish before "Cold Steel" used it as "San Mai 3".
FT760.jpg


the knife takes an excellent edge, impervious to rust, and quite strong for almost every reasonable task. The blades are thick enough (2mm) for everyday use, but not for any type of chopping duty. I might even go as far as saying that you might use one as a fighting knife, providing that you don't have to punch through any sort of heavy clothing.

When you say that you're being "mobilized", do you mean that you're military? and if so, would they not issue you a M9 Bayonet? If so, I would suggest that you use the M9 since you probably have to wear it on your LBE, and bring with you a sturdy folder.
 
the first thing that comes to mind are the frost knives headquartered in tennessee. originally they were mader in Japan, some still are, while the majority of them are made in china, taiwan and now pakistan (pakistan for the last 5, 6 yrs?, not sure). the qaulity isnt high, even the Japanese ones are not that nice. The only frost I ver owned that was decent quality, was a parker frost brahma bull made in the early seventies.

The second thing that comes to mind is mora frost knives from sweden which are preyy good for the buck, good using knives, but no-frills.

If your in Japan you can get some good cultlery!!! especially from seki city, but frost wont be it!!!
 
Frost - junk

Frosts (sweden) - great

just one little letter on the end of the word makes a HUGE difference.
 
The knives that are actually made for Frost Cutlery, Chattanooga, TN, run from not very good to plain junk. On the other hand, some of the pocket knives they distribute are pretty good. Hen & Rooster and Buck Creek are decent, but I think Hen & Rooster are overpriced.

By the way, some of the knives they sell are the $2.99 Chinese specials.
 
Originally posted by Clydetz
About 2 years ago I bought a package deal, & found out most of the blades are made in Pakistan, China, Japan, & Taiwan.
Click to expand...

I've now seen a few people imply that blades made in Japan are inferior in quality to those made in the US and Europe. China and Pakistan I can understand, even Taiwan doesn't make the BEST knives, but very serviceable, as Gerber and CRKT have a lot of their knives made there. I personally Carry Spydies and BM's, and when i look at my Spydies, the ones made in JAPAN are CONSISTENTLY better than the ones made in the US.

This isn't the 1970's, Japan actually makes good stuff now... I find it interesting that people would lump Global Knives and Spyderco in the same group as Frost and Master Cutlery.
 
Japan can and does make very good knives. But, whoever, makes the Frost stuff in Japan is a cheap hack. He probably makes frying pans and ash trays when he is not making knives for these gutter slimes.

There is a place for inexpensive knife makers, like Opinel, Mercator, and the unfortunately recently demised Colonial. I just find it hard to generate any respect at all for a maker that produces nothing but the lowest grade of junk, especially one that targets kids and novice users.

n2s
 
my bad, didn't realize that Frost had knives made in Japan... i thought they were all made in pakistan and china.

Opinel makes exceptional inexpensive knives. They actually make good users, whereas Frost makes knives that people just buy cuz they don't know any more. I was at the local mall cutlery shoppe (they call it a shoppe, not me), and this kid was buying a knife for his dad's birthday. He was looking at all the ones he could afford, which was $40CDN. The lady showed him a bunch of Fury knives and Frost knives... I was watching and i said, why dont you get him a spyderco? and i whipped out my endura and showed him how sharp it was, popping hairs off my arm. He couldn't afford the $130CDN the store was charging for it.. I paid less than half of that at an internet site's mailing centre less than 5 minutes away... i could have hooked him up with a delica for $46, but i didn't want to do that to the store. But it sickens me to see a shop like that in the mall selling a $5 knife for like $40 :mad:
 
Should it really surprise anyone that knives sold by used car salesman tactics on paid TV spots, often in "packages" of 100 knives for about a buck a knife, are not good quality? I always used to get such a kick watching that show when it was on in my area, i love watching how slimy some people are willing to be to make a sale, in a morbid way, its entertaining to see them do their absurd, manipulative song and dance. I believe the same company had a similar show on, only selling sports memorabilia, same tactics, and same junk. Most people though i think are savvy enough to see them for what they are. When i would watch these shows years ago, i was not at the time at all knowledgable about knives or sports mem., but i could easily tell it was a snow job, it seemed pretty obvious to me.


"Friends, we could sell these at $50 a knife and sell every single one tonight, but friends, we're going to do something crazy, Hank? Are we really allowed to do this? Well, OK, if you say so Hank. Friends, we're going to blow these quality knives out to you tonight for $1 a knife! These are $100 knives retail folks, for a buck a knife!!! Buy a hundred and sell them to your friends. Friends, buy them quick because its just a matter of time before all the dealers call in and clean us out... " :)
 
Originally posted by Megalobyte
"Friends, we could sell these at $50 a knife and sell every single one tonight, but friends, we're going to do something crazy, Hank? Are we really allowed to do this? Well, OK, if you say so Hank. Friends, we're going to blow these quality knives out to you tonight for $1 a knife! These are $100 knives retail folks, for a buck a knife!!! Buy a hundred and sell them to your friends. Friends, buy them quick because its just a matter of time before all the dealers call in and clean us out... " :)
Click to expand...


:DLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another funny thing is that when I used to watch that show, and I first came to BFC. I would have swore that Tom Mayo was the guy on the show!! (Big Tom, the bowie guy). Wish he would sell his knives in groups of 100 for $99.99 with half price s/h if you order online:D
 
Frost use to put out quite quite a few nice knives when they were aligned with Parker (Parker-Frost), and a bit afterward. They were either Schrade contract's, or high-end imports.

Now near everything they produce are turds, and not even good looking turds.

I must agree the Frosts, Sweden knives are nice for the money.
 
The package deal I bought from the TV show (different people involved than TheBadGuy's show but probably the same knives!) was only 6 knives. I only liked one of the knives but what the heck for $19.99 I got 6! I blame poor judgement for even buying these six, but after coming home at 2:00am, dead tired & not ready for sleep, seeing these guys 'hawking' knives for the first time, what else could it be?
They often talked about "In the catalog this knife goes for $199.95 but we're offering it for $22.27 + 8.99 shipping & handling." I'll never forget when a caller asked "Who do you send your catalog to & how can I get your catalog?" You never saw so much sidestepping & change of topic as with these 2 salesmen & the obligatory "Thanks for calling" - click. :D I think I'll go & find The Knife Collector's Show on TV - I need a good laugh!:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Frost Cutlery gets a bad rap for all the junky Chinese and Pakistani
knives they sell, but some of their knives are made in Japan and these are actually quite decent in quality. They all seem to be original designs; no clones as far as I can tell. The prices of these are considerably higher than those of the junk knives, but still inexpensive. And they're much better made. If you're considering buying a Frost Cutlery knife, take a close look but don't instantly write it off. They do have some decent knives. They're just not as commonly known as the junk.
 
I was given a frost cutlery knife for Christmas, 2012.
This past summer the thumb stud fell of and is lost.
I went to the frost and saw they had a limited (VERY LIMITED IN MY OPINION) lifetime warranty .
All I wanted was a replacement thumb stud.

I was told they had no parts and a replacement would be found and they would get back to me.
I had to call them a week later.
The replacement offered was nothing like the knife I have, they wanted me to send my knife to them at my cost, and sent a money order for $5.00 to cover their costs.
I mentioned that I could buy a new more similar knife from them for less that all of this was going to cost me, and was told that was my only option.
In my opinion, if you want to deal with a company that values their customers, frost is NOT the one.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top