does a xm-18 compare to a strider?

I'll throw in. Is a any CNC knife a custom? How about the Sebenza? I consider it a limited production, not custom.

I have a SnG, and comparing it to a Hinderer implies that both knives were made for the same purposes. Probably not, considering the price, availability, and who buys them to use.

Lots of folks like to downrate Strider's fit and finish: I like to think that it's made to function, not look good - and Strider does pretty well with their handmade customs in fit and finish, so comparing apples to apples, I like to see some folks chime in with real world comments on their CC's and Dwayne Dwyer signature models. Then we'll be talking fit and finish on a level playing field - hand done by the maker.

As for ergonomics, Strider knives do quite well, and are the best knife I have ever used in gloved hands - which is a definite design feature for their customer base. Others design for barehand use, and it's a different ballgame - just like the spanto point, which is also used on the CRKT Lightfoot collaboration. For me, it doesn't work as well as the drop point in utility use, as it's too blunt and approaches the point at too steep an angle. I'd rather have an all out American tanto rather than the rounded off deal.

Lots of other points to make, but if your looking at high end knives - $500 and up, take into consideration what is the maker's design intent. Not all are making pocket jewelry to stroke egos, some are making tools that perform (albeit very expensively.) A $35k Lexus is not the same as a $35k Caterpillar, which is not the same as a $35k custom '32 Ford Hiboy by Boyd Coddington.

Nobody seems to confuse that as much as knife buyers.
 
What is Hinderer's warranty like? Can I go and break a knife and send it in and have it replaced like a strider?
 
I sent Rick an email so hopefully he'll chime in with his Warranty as I couldn't find anything on his site about it.
 
Rick wrote back to me and he'll check this out later when he get's time but it sounds like the Strider warrenty for the most part. If you break one of Rick's knives while doing something it was designed for he'll replace it. If you break one just to break it you get the standard warranty of If you break it you get to keep both pieces.

Doesn't get much better than that.:thumbup:
 
Personally I'd rather buy a nice knife, that happens to have a kick butt warranty.
 
The XM 18 is WAY better than any Strider. The fit and finish of Ricks knives are better as well. I have owned 2 Striders and they were not for me but some people like them. Ricks knives are for cutting as Striders seem to be more of a folding prybar than a cutting tool. Striders are not customs but productions.

:p
 
I like the Hinderer better, it looks better and I think rick is great, But I need that good warranty. I break to many $100 knives by just doing simple tasks.
 
If you CNC any part of the knife, which allows continuous manufacture of the pieces, like the screws, how is that different than production?

If the knife made is one of several hundred that year, a catalogue item, and entirely of the makers concept, how is that a custom knife - a knife conforming to the buyer's design vision, like the first hollow handled knife Randall made to order?

I think the industry is calling these "mid-tech," not custom. I wouldn't even call the Buster Warenski King Tut dagger a custom unless I knew (better) that it had been specifically commissioned by a patron. The old school definition (just mine, IMHO) usually meant "one of a kind, hand made (very few power tools) and offering an innovative line even if a common pattern."

I don't see any CNC made knife as very much custom these days, but I understand the line is blurring a lot, and that a custom can certainly be done on the machine. But where do we draw the line -is two of a kind as repetitious as one hundred?

Again, is the Sebenza a custom or production?
 
My take is if you CNC the material, it then becomes non custom. If you take a block of steel and grind it down to a knife and handle and stuff, then yeah its a custom. I dont expect the maker to make the screws by hand, not the lube, But everything else.
 
This whole attempt at differentiation between custom, production, mid-tech is a nuts. There's only two things that matter: 1) quality 2) aesthetics.

Everything else is just romantic puff of smoke that only exists in the fevered mind of the believer.

Custom means you can get want you want on a knife, It has no bearing on how it's made.

Sole authorship might have meaning, but how many people make their own screws for example?

Production means nothing other then the inference that a knife is made in a automated manner. If you look at the CRK DVD there are many hand steps.
 
DaveH said:
This whole attempt at differentiation between custom, production, mid-tech is a nuts. There's only two things that matter: 1) quality 2) aesthetics.

Everything else is just romantic puff of smoke that only exists in the fevered mind of the believer.

Custom means you can get want you want on a knife, It has no bearing on how it's made.

Sole authorship might have meaning, but how many people make their own screws for example?

Production means nothing other then the inference that a knife is made in a automated manner. If you look at the CRK DVD there are many hand steps.
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Dave I think you may be wrong. To many people, they want a knife made by hand. They want a knife made by another person who shows their skills, expertise and the stuggle of the fabrication of it. To some its a honor to hold, use and own a knife made by a master of his craft. This does not only hold for knives. It is apparent in almost every field. Let's take a look at Grado Headphones. Why will people spend upwards of thousands of dollars on a pair of Custom headphones made and soldiered by John himself. There is a reason for it. Another example. Why do people who race cars want fully custom handmade parts, when they could have a machine make it. Well again, the machined parts just don't stand up. Why have a broker trade your stocks, when a computer program could do the same.

I love Spyderco Knives, but I would spend alot more than there current costs for a Sal Glesser Custom. I believe almost 70% of this entire board would do the same.


To many, a custom job and a human element is major.
 
. To many people, they want a knife made by hand.
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A serious question why would making by hand matter? Does it give one anything other then a warm fuzzy feeling?

They want a knife made by another person who shows their skills, expertise and the stuggle of the fabrication of it.
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And making a knife via CNC or with a grinder doesn't show skill, doesn't show expertise, doesn't show struggle?
 
tirod3 said:
I think the industry is calling these "mid-tech," not custom. I wouldn't even call the Buster Warenski King Tut dagger a custom unless I knew (better) that it had been specifically commissioned by a patron. The old school definition (just mine, IMHO) usually meant "one of a kind, hand made (very few power tools) and offering an innovative line even if a common pattern."
Click to expand...


Allow me to educate you.

The Tut Dagger was PURE custom, comissioned by Phil Lobred, who also provided the gold for the knife. Buster did ALL the work for it, which at Tut's time, was done by experts in the individual disciplines(repousse, cloissone, engraving.....)

There can be no question by anyone that the Tut Dagger personifies "custom".

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
DaveH said:
A serious question why would making by hand matter? Does it give one anything other then a warm fuzzy feeling?
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Yes it does, it gives a better made knife. The maker can be dynamic in its fabrication rather than just having it go onto a assembly line. lets say if Rick Hinderer saw a problem, he could change it right there and use his expertise to know the outcome. While machines are not very predictable and a lot more work will need to be done.

DaveH said:
And making a knife via CNC or with a grinder doesn't show skill, doesn't show expertise, doesn't show struggle?
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No using a grinder does show skill. Its making a fresh batch of cookies and shaping them by removal.

But using a CNC machine does not. Using a CNC is like getting Pillsbury Cookie dough and getting a cookie cutter. Not to great if ya ask me.


Its like saying there is no benefit from making fresh food. why don't we just let machines make it all. We dont because it sucks and doesn't taste well. There is a reason Tombstone pizza doesn't taste as good as your local pizzeria.
 
i call it the human factor-
i enjoy my yuna hard 2 in a personal way that i dont get with the hinderer xm18- yes its a flawless piece of work,the hard 2 isnt its human-shows individual marks left by the maker,has flaws like people i guess-
 
Yes it does, it gives a better made knife. .. While machines are not very predictable and a lot more work will need to be done.
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You are actually not an engineer are you? You can't mean that seriously. I think you're confusing fixing problems on-the-fly with quality. *unless you think fixing things on the fly _is_ quality. Fixing things on the fly to me means more planning an/or more process design is needed.

Using a CNC is.. Not to great if ya ask me.
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I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.
 
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