Brand Loyalty

Insipid Moniker said:
Sorry, didn't make that clear, your initial response to me was a non sequitur.
Click to expand...

Aha - well that is very different then!

I will be more see-kweeter in the future. :o

best

mqqn
 
The brands that I own the most knives (as in >3) are; Case, Great Eastern Cutlery, SOG (from about 5-10 years ago), Kabar Becker, Victorinox, Bark River, Queen, Spyderco, and Buck. Almost forgot, I own three Frost Cutlery knives that I bought to try out (probably no more of those). That is a fair number of knives if you total them up. But I am more quality/value oriented than brand loyal.
 
Benchmade can suck it.

Spyderco is what I own the most of, and I love the spydiehole.

Zero Tolerance would be next, with three, as I love flippers. 0801, 0561, 0770 CF.

Everything else is individual brands:
LionSteel Opera
Three Sisters Forge Beast
Brous Bionic
Kizer Ki423
 
I don't allways buy knives, but when I do, I prefer the "STAINLESS PAKISTAN" brand above all others. Go Land Crabs!
 
Blues Bender said:
I'm a diehard CRK fan, due to many reasons. They're not meant to be Tacticool or fancy, they're meant to be trusty knives. The rich history of crk, the excellent warranty and CS are also important to me.

I'm also a big fan of South African Knifemakers, their designs really speak to me. I don't see anybody else with designs so sexy:) Chris Reeve hails from SA too:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Agree 100% :thumbup:.
 
While I do tend to stick with a few companies, I think it has more to do with them offering models that have most of the particular features I happen to like, as opposed to just blindly following them. I also tend to find members who seem to troll certain brands or knives to be more annoying than fanboys. Some guys must believe they're on a mission from God to post goofy comments that knock certain knives and their fans every chance they get. Off topic, I know, but the haterz are just as bad as the fanboys.
 
I'm pretty brand-loyal to KAI, Leatherman, and Benchmade-- but for a completely practical reason. I've had to use the warranty on each of them, and rather than mailing a knife off and waiting a few weeks, I just drive to the factory or store and get it fixed or swapped out while I wait. I suppose if I lived in Golden, Colorado or Post Falls, Idaho, I might have different loyalties. Or to Gerber if they made better stuff.
 
I used to be a stifler to Benchmade, basically because friends and family had trusted them so much overseas. But as I have gotten more into knives and collecting I've realized there is a lot more out there to explore than just Benchmade.

That being said I still haven't found a Spyderco that I would consider buying (mainly due to aesthetics).
 
I like the following brands and pretty much stick with them as I feel they meet my expectations for what I require from my knives;
Cold Steel - innovative knives that I'm not afraid to use, I feel I can rely on their strength and I like their (somewhat cheesy) open and clear testing which they make public.
Kershaw - generally quality knives, the ones I own (Blur and Blackout) are nice and compact, well made and reliable.
Ka-Bar - tough fixed blades that once again are made to be used. I have a 1217 and the D2 Extreme and they are great utility knives which fit the bill for what I need.
SAK - classic, well made and reliably useful, also a public friendly knife.
I have one Spyderco, a UKPK, which is a handy and well made quality knife, I might be tempted in the future with other Spyderco knives.
 
Last edited:
I've never been totally loyal to any one brand, nor do I think I ever would be. There are far too many great knives out there. To be locked into one brand seems extremely limiting.
 
I am loyal to features, designs and quality control more than brand X. With that being said, I am a fan of Benchmade but don't care for most of the products they offer. I guess that I am more of the Axis Lock design.
 
I'm not sure I have the experience to limit myself to only a few brands. I would like to try every steel, every handle material and every design out there. Then maybe I'll be able to pick a favorite.
 
I used to be a solid Benchmade supporter, until I became curious about Spyderco and bought a Manix 2 :D I don't like being locked into liking/carrying/buying one brand, but there are brands I almost always choose to avoid.

As for the made-in-USA loyalty, there are very few knives made any where else that I am interested in. I generally buy American. That being said, the overseas stuff has it's place, and China (the old boogeyman of cheap knives) is beginning to recover the traditions of quality blade making (Reate comes to mind) that were lost when they decided to be that go-to country for cheap mass production.
 
For a long time I was a benchmade guy all the way. Went to my local knife shop and picked up a zt560 and fell for the flipper Which introduced me to hinderer. No I only own xm18s and that's all I see myself owning in the single blade tactical folder column. I love the design, materials and the fun and toughness of getting them at a good price. I also stick to victorinox for SAKs and multitools.for hawks/hatchets/axes it's RMJ and Gransfors Bruks. They are both high quality and meet my various needs. For fixed blades I will pick from Busse, Spartan, Hinderer (once the new shop is open and there is more production in that area) And I like hinderer design fixed blades like the TDI from Kabar or the field tacish knife from ZT.

I used to have nearly 100 knives and 100s more in wishlist at different knife sites, I felt like I was headed for an episode of hoarders so I sold them all off, took a deep breath and chose the brands/designers above to limit my numbers to knives I would use and increase the quality while making a huge reduction in quantity of my collection. Now I am around a dozen edged tools and much much happier with the few I have now than the huge collection I had before.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top