Considering purchasing a Brous one-off - looking for advice

[Sereby]

First, I'm new to the forum and glad to be here!

I'm thinking about purchasing a Brous one-off: a Sal Manaro with custom scales. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to investing in knives, so I'm looking for any advice. Would this be a worthwhile investment, or would I be a gullible amateur for paying a couple hundred dollars more for custom scales on a manufactured blade?

Thanks!

 

[bendixenknives]

There's a really nice one right now on Instagram. And they are well worth it. If you want a caliber there isn't a better one, it has the silver twill carbon fiber scales on it.

 

[craytab]

First, I'm new to the forum and glad to be here!

I'm thinking about purchasing a Brous one-off: a Sal Manaro with custom scales. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to investing in knives, so I'm looking for any advice. Would this be a worthwhile investment, or would I be a gullible amateur for paying a couple hundred dollars more for custom scales on a manufactured blade?

Thanks!

I seriously hope your investment strategies do not consist mostly of knife collecting.

Buy a knife because you like it. Even if you don't use it, if you like it, equate what you pay for it to how much you like and enjoy it. Could you make some money on investing in said knife? Sure. But that shouldn't be the reason you buy, unless you intend to retire in a cardboard condominium by the bay.

 

[PURPLEDC]

Knives are poor investments to begin with. But if you are going to collect with the intentions of minimizing loss you have better options. I personally have found brous knives to be lacking in areas and the customer service IMHO is non existent. It seems you need to be jasons friend to be able to speak to anyone of authority within the company.

 

[craytab]

Knives are poor investments to begin with. But if you are going to collect with the intentions of minimizing loss you have better options. I personally have found brous knives to be lacking in areas and the customer service IMHO is non existent. It seems you need to be jasons friend to be able to speak to anyone of authority within the company.

I wasn't going to say anything because I have no first hand experience but this is exactly what I have heard and what has kept me away.

 

[PURPLEDC]

I wasn't going to say anything because I have no first hand experience but this is exactly what I have heard and what has kept me away.

Yeah, that is the only reason i am saying something is because I have experienced it first hand. Im not gonna drag the company through the mud but I feel I would regret not saying something more than mentioning it. But I dont need to hammer it home any more than that.

 

[Sereby]

There's a really nice one right now on Instagram. And they are well worth it. If you want a caliber there isn't a better one, it has the silver twill carbon fiber scales on it.

Thanks for the pointer! I don't peek at Instagram very often, but Brous definitely has some *eye candy* up there.

 

[Sereby]

@craytab - Ha! Certainly not. When I used the term "investment," I was speaking in a more general sense; "Should I buy the Craftsman hammer or the Estwing? Which will give the most value for the money? Which will last longer?" etc., etc. Not "will this appreciate in value so that I can sell it and buy a summer home?"

I have certain criteria for purchasing knives - not necessarily in this order:

- Do I like it? Does its style appeal to me?
- Are there special features that I like?
- Is it legal for me to own and carry in my home state?
- Is it sturdy/well-built? What kind of materials are used?
- Can I afford it?

I have no illusions about collecting knives - it's not a retirement plan, it's a hobby. I treat myself to knives that I can use as EDCs, and ones that I just like to own for the sake of owning because of whatever appeal they might have for me.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Sereby]

Knives are poor investments to begin with. But if you are going to collect with the intentions of minimizing loss you have better options. I personally have found brous knives to be lacking in areas and the customer service IMHO is non existent. It seems you need to be jasons friend to be able to speak to anyone of authority within the company.

This is interesting information. I find it odd that in some of the videos I've seen about Brous blades, Jason is often talked about as if he were a personal friend of the video's producer. In any case, customer service - GOOD customer service - is key. I wouldn't want to find out first hand how poor theirs is. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[craytab]

@craytab - Ha! Certainly not. When I used the term "investment," I was speaking in a more general sense; "Should I buy the Craftsman hammer or the Estwing? Which will give the most value for the money? Which will last longer?" etc., etc. Not "will this appreciate in value so that I can sell it and buy a summer home?"

Well, you should certainly consider changing the language in your post. Turns out that when some one asks about investing in knives, I thought you meant investing in knives :thumbup:

 

[Misanthropia]

The value of knives as an investment is highly questionable, but a Brous "one-off" is something that will surely plummet in value. They're just a production model with custom scales, in which he charges double the price for it. I find it absolutely insane anyone has ever bought one.

 

[jdspaw]

If you're new to knives, you're going to find that one direction you can go in this hobby is buying knives, then selling them on the exchange to move on to another knife. This cycle repeats itself pretty often for many of the people here. There's always another knife out there that is better than the one you have, and unless you've got tons of expendable income, it becomes more practical to sell than to keep stockpiling blades you don't use any more. I'd say if you're interested in designs like Brous, you should pick one up, but be prepared to see something else at that price point or higher and get the itch to sell one to get the other. And if you sell, you will almost certainly take a loss. Even light use knocks the price down significantly. The bottom line is that if you're going to jump into this hobby, keep in mind that you're always going to want to try something else. I've been moving through knives for years and have only begun to settle down on a select few.

 

[Sereby]

The value of knives as an investment is highly questionable, but a Brous "one-off" is something that will surely plummet in value. They're just a production model with custom scales, in which he charges double the price for it. I find it absolutely insane anyone has ever bought one.

Not having had much experience with knife collecting, I'm curious about what would cause depreciation on a semi-custom knife. I suppose there's a lot of hype out there that I need to learn to cut through...

 

[Sereby]

If you're new to knives, you're going to find that one direction you can go in this hobby is buying knives, then selling them on the exchange to move on to another knife. This cycle repeats itself pretty often for many of the people here. There's always another knife out there that is better than the one you have, and unless you've got tons of expendable income, it becomes more practical to sell than to keep stockpiling blades you don't use any more. I'd say if you're interested in designs like Brous, you should pick one up, but be prepared to see something else at that price point or higher and get the itch to sell one to get the other. And if you sell, you will almost certainly take a loss. Even light use knocks the price down significantly. The bottom line is that if you're going to jump into this hobby, keep in mind that you're always going to want to try something else. I've been moving through knives for years and have only begun to settle down on a select few.

Thanks for the advice. I completely understand the cycle you mentioned, as it can apply to many other hobbies of this type!

 

[mtangent]

Not having had much experience with knife collecting, I'm curious about what would cause depreciation on a semi-custom knife. I suppose there's a lot of hype out there that I need to learn to cut through...

I think the point is that semi customs shouldn't cost twice the price to begin with.