Chris Reeve- Financial Wizard

Cliff,
1) Spyderco sells a knife for $100 because (a) it injection molds plastic handles; CR machines titanium, (b) Spyderco subcontracts out where labor rates are less; CR, I assume, pays his people US rates, (c) Spyderco has far more volume, they can amortize setup costs over more knives, (d) Spyderco uses lock-back designs on their $100 folders which, when setup correct, are basically snap-together units, CR hand mills each piece, etc.

Why are knock-offs $3?

Are you sure you have the right term here???
Don't you mean rip-off instead of knock-off???

I think both Sal and McClung have gone into great detail on this issue before. The $3 knock-off has big advantages (a) because the knock-off manufacturers had to spend $0 in design, prototyping, etc. and (b) labor rates are lower in China than Taiwan, Mexico and Japan, (c) materials - can you be sure that on a $3 rip-off knife when it says ATS34 on the blade, are you going to believe it???
 
Corduroy, even if they are posted in a somewhat hostile manner what good does it do to attack them. No useful information comes out of it and anyone else from the outside looking in just sees people fighting. Either ignore them or write at a class level above them.

-Cliff
 
Cliff, you are correct again. I'm letting finals week and many other stresses get the better of me. I apologize to all involved.

------------------

-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)
 
Well, I think that both Sal and Mission have suffuciently explained costs to us and I agree that if you want quality you better be willing to pay for it.

Corduroy, I agree that the initial comment seemed a little agressive to me. It was definitelly a slam. Jedi, glad to see that that is not the way you meant it to come off. I have done the same in the past.

Cliff, Since we are discussing torque, let's say that I have a typical 3.5 to 4 inch blade knife. The handle is 4 inches(assumed). If 400 in-lb.'s is the breaking point, I assume that we are talking at the lock. If I put my hand on the handle, the effective center of the force will be near the center of the handle which is, let's say 2 inches from the pivot. If I put my body weight of 200 pounds on it, then the lock will fail? If this is so, then I would say that lock strength needs to be increased a little. In fact I think that 600 to 700 in-lb.'s would be a good number. I don't expect a folder to equall a fixed blade, but should at least handle more serious weight.

Rick, I remember you mentioning that someone did a pull up with one of yours and it did not fail. This means that your lock will easily exceed the 400 to 500 in-lb number.
 
Rick, sorry, but you are not going to convince me that demand does not factor into the equation. Being a name is a huge part of what price you can sell for no matter what it is you are selling.

As for rip-off vs knock-off, they mean the same to me - neither is ethical and I would stay far away from all of them.

Cobalt, I see it the same way. REKAT is making an excellent lock according to the numbers, I will definately be keeping an eye for blade shapes and materials. The Talonite versions look interesting.

-Cliff
 
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