Ever broke a Custom Knife???

WILLIAM.M · Feb 28, 2010

I was having a talk yesterday with a man about why I think some of the Custom knives I own are worth the $ I have into them.

One of the main reasons is I have never seen a photo of a damaged Custom knife by Siegle,Gossman,Krein,Lamey,etc

I've seen photos of Broken Cold Steel,Becker,etc(AND I have and love both of those brands) and do not want to start a flame war.

Have any of you reading this ever broken or seen a broken custom made knife
(by broken--I mean something other than the tip broken off.

Like SEVERE Blade chipping or Blade snapped off)

Thanks in advance

Dr.Bill

fugawee · Feb 28, 2010

I would guess that many of the custom knives
never see any use.

That said,the custom knives I have seen looked
extremely well built and I doubt "normal" knife use
would have harmed them at all.

somberbear · Feb 28, 2010

custom knives are also in very few hands .... i bet if you hand every person in the military and leo 1 knife/gun/backpack etc the same thing and let em rag it out ... you would find failures.

the more out there the more the chance to get damaged.

also i think the users drawn to the knives are also more careful and know more about how to use them. if they are used at all. the investment is also higher and tends to make people take care of em more.

that being said ... craftman ship is the reason. to own a nice functional thing, and know that a guy made it thinking and putting that energy and passion into an object goes a long way. also the non mass produced personalized thing.

SpookyPistolero · Feb 28, 2010

Among the WSS 'user' blades that are from bladesmiths, I don't recall having seen a broken one. I feel that makers are likely able to be more selective with the bar stock they use, and offer an experienced and focused level of attention during the heat treat and grinding processes.

midnight flyer · Feb 28, 2010

fugawee said:
I would guess that many of the custom knives
never see any use.

That said,the custom knives I have seen looked
extremely well built and I doubt "normal" knife use
would have harmed them at all.

I think that idea certainly has a lot of merit. Considering the guys I know that have custom knives, they baby them a lot since they like them so much.

And they actually use them as knives in a more traditional sense, and that is for slicing, cutting, a little light chopping and some camping/hunting/hiking chores.

They don't baton, dig, heavy chop, clear brush, or routinely split wood with them.

They all use hatchets, saws, and a knife of the sharpened bar stock variety for those chores.

The knives I am thinking about were purpose bought, mostly for routine camping and game prep chores.

Robert

Rotte · Feb 28, 2010

Differential heat treat?

I've got way too many knives, so I don't use any one excessively hard. But I've put several through some tough use. They do great. It may also be that the type of person who is willing to order and wait for a custom is also the type of person of values his or her knives and knows how to use them properly.

I've got more money in fly rods and knives than my truck is worth. I don't feel the need to justify that to anyone. It's just a question of priorities.

mneedham · Feb 28, 2010

I've had a handle slab crack while chopping, it was kind of a freak thing... The reality was that if I was at camp when it happened, I would have just wrapped it with duct tape and drove on. BTW, I was beating the knife pretty good and I'm not sure the blade or handle were designed for heavy chopping. The maker replaced the grip ASAP, better than new:thumbup:

pitdog · Feb 28, 2010

I think that as most makers are such nice guys and quick to replace any damaged blades I doubt most people would show broken ones on the forum even if they did occur !

cybrok · Feb 28, 2010

I've seen a chipped Koster once.

I'd like to put the emphasis on "once"

If it happens often, it's a real problem. Once... well sh*t happens.

Gaurdian_A1 · Feb 28, 2010

i personally would never use a custom knife to the extremes that i use my BK2..Why? Price difference...If i EVER EVER break my BK2, it would be from abuse that I alone could not deliver to the knife without help of a big sledge hammer . My body weight cant break it when i am prying a stubborn piece of fatwood from a stump, i havent broken the tip off ( good luck)..Tough as tough gets, for well under 100 bucks.

How much would a custom cost, built to BK2 specs ( length, stock thinckness, blade width) out of the same or better steel...? I dont know..a wild guess would be 200 to 400 bucks...

AND thats why you dont see alot of broken custom knives. I would beat the living piss out of a custom if i had one. But i dont. lol.

-Gaurdian_A1

tonym · Feb 28, 2010

Out of the 20 + fixed blades I own, I think maybe 3 or 4 of them are production. The ones that get used and used hard are my custom / handmade knives.
I have rolled and chipped edges, but never broken any of them. I have had a Long 1/8th thick koyote knife bent in a position a gymnast would be proud of and it came back true! I have used my David Farmer Golok as an axe, hammer, prybar etc, and it amazingly is in 1 peace still. I am very confident in the knives I own, and will continue to use them as I have.

I agree with the statement that most people don't use their customs as hard as their production knives, but there are a few of us that do.

Zombie Zeke · Feb 28, 2010

Seems the short answer would be that people are less apt to do hard work with expensive knives and beat the snot out things they can easily replace. As an aside thats why I really like and patronize companies that have great warranties ie Ranger, ESEE and the like.

resinguy · Feb 28, 2010

Cliff Stamp broke a few custom knives, doing relatively normal knife tasks.

There was a thread on the Busse forum a few years ago, where some guys in the San Francisco area got together for some chopping fun. I think it was Justabuyer who blew out the edge of a custom while chopping a 2x4.

I was using my Crowell in a backyard chopping competition, cutting through a 2x4 that was made of hard maple. Each chop gave a little pinging sound as the edge torqued. I was sure it was going to look like a saw blade when it was done, just from the sound.

But it survived, and went on to slice a doubled hanging rope.

sitka · Feb 28, 2010

The Chef said:
Seems the short answer would be that people are less apt to do hard work with expensive knives and beat the snot out things they can easily replace. As an aside thats why I really like and patronize companies that have great warranties ie Ranger, ESEE and the like.

I'll second that and many of the other fine points mentioned. I know that if I damaged a high end custom through extra hard use I would never make it public knowledge and just take responsibiliy for it. If on the other hand I felt like a knife failed unreasonabaly, I would give that maker a chance to make it right before telling others about it. Like some one earlier stated, stuff happens.

crackerjax · Feb 28, 2010

I dont own too many custom knives but I have never broken ank of my chris reeve knives or any randalls and I use them pretty hard, for big camp chores like chopping and shelter making I will use a randall 14 or a chris reeve shadow 1 for light duty I use a randall 17 or an 18-5.50 or a chris reeve avaitor or pacific....I have never had a problem with any of them but im sure if I did chris or gary would make it right.

Rockywolf · Feb 28, 2010

I've batonned and chopped with my customs, no worries. I don't pry or dig with them-never needed to. I have 20+ fixed blades, almost all customs and all are users. I have strong faith in many makers here, and own multiple blades from many.
Closest thing to any issue was dropping one on a rock and dented the blade. Sharpened right up!

chenko · Feb 28, 2010

I use my 300+ euros knives whenever I have the chance to do it. Life's too short to carry a bad knife, I once read. And it's true!

Bushman5 · Feb 28, 2010

Gaurdian_A1 said:
i personally would never use a custom knife to the extremes that i use my BK2..Why? Price difference...If i EVER EVER break my BK2, it would be from abuse that I alone could not deliver to the knife without help of a big sledge hammer . My body weight cant break it when i am prying a stubborn piece of fatwood from a stump, i havent broken the tip off ( good luck)..Tough as tough gets, for well under 100 bucks.

How much would a custom cost, built to BK2 specs ( length, stock thinckness, blade width) out of the same or better steel...? I dont know..a wild guess would be 200 to 400 bucks...

AND thats why you dont see alot of broken custom knives. I would beat the living piss out of a custom if i had one. But i dont. lol.

-Gaurdian_A1

The Chef said:
Seems the short answer would be that people are less apt to do hard work with expensive knives and beat the snot out things they can easily replace. As an aside thats why I really like and patronize companies that have great warranties ie Ranger, ESEE and the like.

both of these posters sum it up very well. +1 :thumbup:

Todd A · Feb 28, 2010

My customs are not super high end safe queens. I have a few made by board members (Stomper and koyote) and they are users. I do use them, and use them hard.

I have rolled edges ,when prying things I shouldn't

. But I have never broken one of my knives.

I don't baby them. And I have been known to do things that are considered abuse. Like,use a heavy enough baton and Stomper's Hiker will easily pass through the bottom and both sides of a canteen cup.

As an aside thats why I really like and patronize companies that have great warranties ie Ranger, ESEE and the like.

I read that a lot on BF. I personally feel that a warranty is a nice thing to have, and it helps to sell knives.

However.The warranty is worthless to me if I am stuck holding two pieces of steel in my hands when I really need a tough knife. Can't mail a knife in for replacement in a "real" survival situation.

mneedham · Feb 28, 2010

Rockywolf said:
I've batonned and chopped with my customs, no worries. I don't pry or dig with them-never needed to. I have 20+ fixed blades, almost all customs and all are users. I have strong faith in many makers here, and own multiple blades from many.
Closest thing to any issue was dropping one on a rock and dented the blade. Sharpened right up!

I'm with Rocky on this, I beat the crap out of my customs. For example, I chop, dig holes and pry with my Koyote Bush Beater (I trust that beast for any task). I do have a lot of blades though, so no one stays in circulation for long periods of time.