Ever seen a custom knife fail or break?

B

B.B.M

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Dec 3, 2009
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I was thinking the other day about how i have seen (on youtube or forums) pretty much all popular brand survival/bushcraft knives fail kabar, tops, becker colds steel..etc. I have even broken a cold steel and condor myself:( but i have never seen a custom break, my thoughts are maybe quality control seeing how they are made one at a time, and the maker's reputation is on the line. anyway have you guys ever seen a custom knife fail or break?
 
i haven't seen one yet but that's probably due to a custom knife being more expensive so the owner puts more thought while using it instead of senselessly beating on it?
 
I'm waiting for the guy to deal with the maker before I'll elaborate but custom knives fail, break, just like production knives. Even under normal use. I've never broken one though, and I've given them hell (normal use hell).
 
It can happen. Just a lot less customs than production knives so it's less likely to be talked about.
 
I've seen it. Usually it happens during extreme testing. I've seen a few that we're the result of some people shouldn't have nice things. Let's not baton with hammers, wrenches, rocks, and axes MM'k? :) Custom knife or factory, steel is made out of steel not magic Fairy dust. Behave appropriately.
 
I think the major difference is in how the break or fail is handled. Lots of production knives probably don't have much of a warranty but most of the makers will take care of the customer and stand by their product if it failed doing what the knife was meant to do. If they don't, then why not just buy a production that cost 1/3 the price?
 
JV3 said:
i haven't seen one yet but that's probably due to a custom knife being more expensive so the owner puts more thought while using it instead of senselessly beating on it?
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Agreed. The price may dictate level of abuse. I will go nuts on a $30 knife. $200 not so much.
 
Bill Siegle said:
I've seen it. Usually it happens during extreme testing. I've seen a few that we're the result of some people shouldn't have nice things. Let's not baton with hammers, wrenches, rocks, and axes MM'k? :) Custom knife or factory, steel is made out of steel not magic Fairy dust. Behave appropriately.
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What? They told me the fairy dust was included!
 
bush-haus said:
Agreed. The price may dictate level of abuse. I will go nuts on a $30 knife. $200 not so much.
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Im thinking the opposite. I'd rather pay $200 for something that can withstand more than just cutting tape on ups packages. To me, an expensive knife is meant to be pushed and used. That's one reason why it costs.
 
Like anything, it can happen. I think partly its the one-off nature that means the user tends to think about things. But every once and a while a thread pops up with a custom or semi-custom that broke, generally because the owner couldn't get in touch with the maker and tried the forums. So far it seems like they generally get looked after. There was a Winkler a few months back that was just a QC problem that hadn't been noticed, so the guy was wondering about it, since he'd bought it second hand. As far as I know he was looked after.

If I buy a 300$ knife from a maker, and that maker tells me, don't bash it up, and I do, and break it, I doubt I'd make a big stink about it. If the maker had said, beat it to death and I'll fix it, I'd want to let others know how much punishment it took. Failure is just another point to learn.
 
I have not personally broken any of my custom knives, although I use them hard. On the other hand, I've not broken any of my factory made knives either. Might be that I don't abuse them even though they get a lot of rough use.
 
Fail or break ?
Not yet, except destructive testing(severe abuse).
That's one of the reasons why I buy customs.
Broke a couple of tips on production factory knives, though.

DC
 
What are you guys doing to your knives to break them? I have never broken a knife, because I use them for what they were intended for. Cutting!
 
BenHarris said:
What are you guys doing to your knives to break them? ....
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They are generally wedging them into blocks of hardwood while beating them with big sticks. Although chopping through bones and rocks is an equally good way to damage a knife. :(

n2s
 
Yes...
I gave a friend a custom knife I had, with D2 steel, and the most beautiful burl on the handle you ever did see.
Nice file-work on the spine of the blade as well.
It had a somewhat narrow tang though; would have held up to use all day/month/year long, but was not for throwing.
I told him, "Don't throw it, or it will break."

So, he threw it a bunch of times...and it broke.
 
Bill Siegle said:
I've seen it. Usually it happens during extreme testing. I've seen a few that we're the result of some people shouldn't have nice things. Let's not baton with hammers, wrenches, rocks, and axes MM'k? :) Custom knife or factory, steel is made out of steel not magic Fairy dust. Behave appropriately.
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the baton we used was not a hammer, wrench, rock or axe so we're in the clear :p

073_012_zps4aafb86d.jpg



disclaimer: this pic was done as a joke...no spam was harmed during filming :D
 
Well, i believe some knives can handle abuse. Luckily this company will forgive me no matter how much abuse I throw at it.

This is some kind of oak.
 
not2sharp said:
They are generally wedging them into blocks of hardwood while beating them with big sticks. Although chopping through bones and rocks is an equally good way to damage a knife. :(

n2s
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Batoning through wrist thick wood. That's what made the knife break. I Baton with almost all my knives and I've never broken one. But if I purchased a "hard use" knife in 3V for more than $200 or even $350, I'd expect to be able to use a legit bushcraft technique such as batoning some firewood. So people may abuse their knives and beak them but that doesn't mean we should all blindly defend every knife maker on bf. Sometimes knives fail. Sometimes they fail because of the process in which they were made. I'm not a knife maker so I don't know all that good stuff but if something I made failed during reasonable use, I'd replace it, or repair it. And gain a great reputation in the process
 
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Many times but I have been at this game for a lot of years. I'm sitting here looking at a $400 custom folder that the backspring broke while sitting in a drawer closed. I'm guessing the maker used a factory spring from a well known commercial cutlery company that seems to have had a very bad run of springs a few years ago. I could go on but customs are no more infallible than factory made knives.
 
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