Chris reeve, strider, hinderer?

Krav

Krav

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I don't know what I don't know? I have been hearing so much about these knives. All are in a class of there own, top notch I guess.

But what makes these amazing knives?
 
In my opinion, mostly reputation. Hinderers and CRK's and striders (I believe) all get attention to detail on the individual level, and the first two certainly have excellent fit and finish, but in the end, they don't really cut things better than many hundred dollar knives. Its sort of like owning a ferrari, its nice, you can brag about it, and if you somehow get into a street race, you'll be damn glad you have it, but it doesn't really make the morning commute better. And it does cost a whole lot more than a civic.
 
pretty much fit and finish and their designs. Also agree with adin. Its like a car all get you from place to place but some are more reliable and fun to drive.
 
I have a Hinderer, won't likely get another. Fit, finish, and design are excellent, should flip a little smoother for its price.
I have two CRKs, most likely won't get another. Fit, finish, and design are phenomenal, blades should be a bit harder.
I don't, and will likely never, own a Strider. Lots of reasons.
 
All three are high end production, almost mid-tech, knife companies. There is a lot of hand work, hand finishing and fitting into putting one together.

There are full customs and mid techs out there that aren't much more money than them if you want the true, one dude built this himself, experience.
 
Krav said:
I don't know what I don't know? I have been hearing so much about these knives. All are in a class of there own, top notch I guess.

But what makes these amazing knives?
Click to expand...

This topic might be the single most discussed in this section. A search for previous threads would bring you up to speed in no time.
 
I've had a few Hinderers and a bunch of Chris Reeve folders, fit and finish has always been excellent. I have yet to find an imperfection with any of them.
Just got my first Strider a few days ago, and to say I'm disappointed in it as a $475 knife is an understatement. Thumb stud/blade stop pressed in unevenly(sticks out more on one side than other), lock up is almost at 100%, if I flick it open I almost need a prybar to push lock bar out to fold blade.
Yeah, that's nitpicking, but not on a $475 knife. I don't get the hype on these, unless I have a lemon, but after reading some reviews it seems to be a common thing. And yes, it has the new lock-up.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread, but if I were you, I'd leave Strider off your grail list.
 
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I'd suggest you look at the youtube videos of the Chris Reeve factory tour. Chris himself shows you around the factory, and shows you the different processes they use to get the final result.

I own two CRKs,a small sebenza and mnandi. I used to think they were kind of expensive, until I saw how much trouble it is to make them. Now I think they are a pretty good value, if you want that level of precision. They really do go to great lengths to make things very precise, although I admit their level of fit and finish is probably much greater than what is really necessary to make a functional knife. There are lots of small details that you might not notice, such as the hollow grind on the sebenza blade has a decreasing radius towards the tip.
 
I like Striders; dependable, tough, and service department and warranty is the best. I've had many.
I like CRK. He gets (and deserves) the Blade Show Manufacturer's Award every year. Should tell you something. I've had many.
Hinderers are good quality. The 3" XM-18 is too small for me; the 3.5" XM-18 is too fat, but very heavy-duty. I've had one of each.
All three of these are basically good $450 knives that will serve you darned near forever.
The Hinderer is about $450 also...if you're LEO, EMT, or active military. They are $800 if you're not. They are worth the $450.
Of course, this is my opinion. This is a knife forum. The OP asked about the knives...not politics.
 
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Honestly, and I might take some heat for this, but I really think in the past (say 10-15 years ago) a knife like the Sebenza had a significantly larger gap in quality on what was say a "high end" production knife than it does now. Now days, there are some amazing quality knives, with the same blade steel, that are less than half the price of any you listed. That's not to say that those knives do not still have a quality difference compared to a $150-200 production knife but I believe that gap is a lot smaller than it used to be. I've enjoyed my striders, sebenza's in the past, and still do, but some of the benchmade, spyderco, ZT, hogue, etc. knives are coming a LOT closer than they were years ago. I also think the quality control is better with the sebenza and hinderer and they do put much more hand work into them that justifies the price, I haven't been impressed with what I've seen from strider in that department, but I only had one.

Not trying to steer you away, I just think that the quality/performance gap is smaller than it used to be. I don't think the Hinderer is worth the price unless you get the LEO/Mil/Fire price. If I had to pick one for everyday casual use the sebenza, probably the 25 because I want both ambi thumb studs and I'd like to check out the new "upgrades". If I thought it might have to endure more abuse probably the Hinderer if I could get the "service" price. I don't feel they are worth $750-850 you see them go for, but many do because they sell.
 
Sebenza 25, that's the one I have really been looking at, a lot .

Is there any other knives of this quality and price range that I am over looking?

Thank you all for your responses.
 
In the 300-400 dollar range the makers the OP mentioned holds a certain "brand recognition" resell value, much like the Omegas and Rolexs compared to other luxury watch brands. I have a hand made (It's not really a custom since it wasn't built to my specs. just my choice of material) Sacha Thiel Citizen ordered. Physically it's about the same dimension as a small Sebenza, for something a little bigger he offers a few other models in the same-ish 300-400 price range. It makes sense to me because if I ever wanted a Sebenza-something, I know for sure the factory will eventually have them available at some point in time. Same goes for the Strider, but a Hinderer to me is out of reach, I'm not a first responder and I'll never be able to get one at MRSP.
 
I still can't get over the fact people continue to pay the premium on Striders. it just boggles the mind, when you can find many great production folders with equal or better materials that aren't plagued with horrible design defects. even if they supposedly fixed those issues, the precedent is there, especially for a "high end" company. (I don't think they would have been worth the asking price even if they had not had horrible reliability. but with that history? no thanks)

I feel like mid tech folders now just survive on prestige alone. there may have been a day when that titanium, s30v folder was a really hot ticket and fetched the premium. Now that's middle of the road stuff and you can find so many production folders with great fit and finish that can outperform these mid techs.
 
I have owned or currently own all of the above mentioned knives. The only one I feel is overpriced is the Hinderer, only because I'm not a Leo or first responder and can't get them at that price. If I could it would be worth it. At the $700 plus price tag on the secondary market no way. My strider sng is buttery smooth and has zero issues. I picked it up for a good price on the secondary market and its worth every penny. Same with my cf inlay Sebenza. The difference is these knives will last you a life time.
 
Heres the thing with hinderers a lot of people wont appreciate its design...it was made to be extremely simple you can take the damn thing apart with a quarter and to absolutely never fail you its not overbuilt but its a tank. I think a lot of people forget that rick made several revolutions to the knife world and checks every knife himself from what I understand which to me makes it worth it either way if thats what your looking for in a knife. (some companies you dont even know if the maker ever touches the knife you receive or not and cost the same or more not gonna name names)
Chris Reeves is freaking brilliant to say the least he has basically made his own machines to make engineering his sebenzas easier, more efficient, and better quality he also made revolutions to the knife world. 1 thing that all the mentioned knives will have is way tighter tolerances on their knives which leads to basically everything better smoothness fit finish etc. Its just that classic knife that all else is compared to and everyone owns or they should anyways
Strider I really dont know much about Ive owned 1 and it just didnt fit right in my hand and some other issues so I sold it not to hate on strider they have a huge following and I dont think they would if it wasnt deserved
 
As stated abouve there are many good knives on the market these days.
You have to ask yourself what you expect in your knife.
Is it just a cutting tool, what about the environmet you are going to use it in, how much do you want to spent...
If you have narrowed it down to those you mentioned maybe this helps.

The Striders have a kind of military flavor to them.
Rick Hinderer is a firefighter who incorporates his first-hand experience in his knives (which others adopt).
Chris Reeve is the inventor of the "Sebenza" which means "work" in Zulu language.

IMHO to pretty different approaches.

red mag
 
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