Bugout price

When it comes to what we think is reasonable to spend on a knife, we all have our own ideas and budgets, and those change over time and depending on your circumstances. 30-25 years ago my knife budget was being cheap and I just wanted a tool that was reasonably well put together (Spyderco Walker and Ka-Bar Utility). My money was focused more on other outdoor gear. What I'm willing to spend on a knife has changed a lot during the last decade, but I still have limits on what I'll spend and what I'll spend for what.

I've purchased 13 Benchmade knives and I really like them. There are a bunch more I'd like to get, but there are a lot of other brands out there I'd also like to sample. The Bugout is generally either over hyped or overly hated, but I think it's great for what it is: a reliable, well made, compact folder made with decent steel that weighs next to nothing. That lack of mass and size also means I can always add it to whatever I'm carrying as a backup or use it in camp to cut packages and cord, to save my fixed blade's edge for bigger jobs. People freak out about the fact that you can sort of squeeze the scales, but this is a tough knife.

 
P_A_S_1 said:
Ive been looking at grips/bugouts for a while but the price, for me, is what keeps me from picking one up. It's mostly a curiosity as I rarely carry pocket knives, I much enjoy sharpening them though, so spending that much for a tinkering knife would be silly...for me.
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There are still SOME brands left that haven't skyrocketed their prices in the last few years. Check out Kershaw's US offerings, for example.
 
Reswob said:
There are still SOME brands left that haven't skyrocketed their prices in the last few years. Check out Kershaw's US offerings, for example.
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Imho Kershaw has kept their prices low by not keeping up with the market in terms of innovation or quality.
 
I have been trying to hire people requiring no skill, training, or education at 20 bucks an hour and having an incredibly hard time.

I wonder why that is? (I have some pretty good hunches).

Prices of everything is up. Regulations are up. Tax is up. Interest is up. Consumable inventory is down.

As mentioned earlier, it's a miracle any small businesses are still hanging on.

Benchmade is attempting to compete in an unfair market, and I am rooting for them to stay afloat.
 
SomebodySomewhere said:
This is true and at the same time, I think there are other factors. Kershaw has stopped making a few US models, and the materials are also getting somewhat dated, which effectively lowers the value somewhat as time goes on. Still, a $50 US-made Leek really is an impressive accomplishment in this world. Can they hold out? They have deeper pockets than BM, I would guess, so they may be giving up margin to try to hold onto market share.
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I've gotta disagree on the materials being dated. Kershaw regularly pumps out "limited editions" with the latest fad blade steel.
While BM has started to change, their "base" steel is still 154CM (talk about dated!).

That aside, I would much rather have a perfectly serviceable "regular" steel like CPM154, for $100, than a "super" steel that chips and is a pain to sharpen, for $250...

As far as quality, unless BM has drastically improved in the last 5 years or so, I would say a US Kershaw is easily equal in quality.
 
SomebodySomewhere said:
Admittedly it’s my quick take on overall steel balances between the two. BM’s base may be 154cm, but there aren’t many sold with that from what I know. The Bugout starts with s30v, I believe. And we could argue about that for sure, but people seem to think it’s good s30v. But aside from sprint runs, most of the Kershaw stuff is still going to be budget or mid grade steel. That said, a Kershaw and a Benchmade in equivalent steel, Kershaw is going to win on price, I concede. But it’s less of an edge in that subset, and you’re definitely getting older designs for that rather than an ultralight knife with what was a proprietary lock. I do think Kershaw does well price wise for being made here, but I think they have some advantages of scale with ZT and also in really not making much that’s new (at least in the US) for quite a while. (Federalist aside.)
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Benchmade is definitely sitting on a mother lode of S30V and I have zero problems with that because it's good steel. This year was probably their biggest variation of base models in different steels in a while.

I don't think that Kershaw suffer from a lack of innovation. They have a lot of new models this year. The offshoring of models has been a bit of a problem. I might compare Zero Tolerance knives with Benchmade, but Kershaw are generally budget knives so it's not a fair comparison.
 
SomebodySomewhere said:
Prices from Asia are the illusion. And prices from Asia are catching up as people there slowly stop working for nothing. I’m not anti-Asia, but these are facts. This is what it costs to build things in America. As others have said, if that’s not important to you, there are options (of which I have availed myself, lest this sound preachy).
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China. Not "Asia".
Thanks.
 
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