Expensive knives that look significantly cheaper than their actual price?

[Velitrius]

At first glance, Emerson knives appear not worth the asking price.

Closer inspection confirms this.

 

[sabre cat]

At first glance, Emerson knives appear not worth the asking price.

Closer inspection confirms this.

LOL. I liked that . Caught me completely off guard.

 

[BloodyDonnie]

Yea I just got it on Tuesday from W&W. There was one left after I got it, but now it's all sold out.

I was originally gonna order the 21 large Ladder Damascus with bog oak inlays that they also had, but went with the 31 as it was the "new thing". Kind of regret it now cause I really wanted an inlay with damascus combo.

If you're interested in it, I'll keep you in mind if I ever decide to sell.

Lol, i know where you got yours then haha. I had my eyes on it for a while. But then again, i backed out and see who gonna buy it. Sometimes, i feel W&W are so expensive.

 

[BloodyDonnie]

At first glance, Emerson knives appear not worth the asking price.

Closer inspection confirms this.

Hahaha this made me laugh. I was an Emerson fanboy once upon a time. Before I held a ZT in my hand lol

 

[22-rimfire]

To me, $200 is expensive for a folding knife, and $500 or $600 is a small fortune. Understated? I prefer understated myself. I think many folding knives today cost a lot more than appearances would suggest. Basically I think that many people have not stepped up to the more recent pricing-value niche that so many factory knives hit.

 

[OrangeBlueOrangeBlue]

Randall Knives are generic-looking enough to be confused with random wall-hanger or novelty cutlery.
This is a $725 knife, but you can find knives that look alike (at least superficially) for a small fraction of that.

Maybe the biggest "offenders" are the hollow-handle survival knives (aka "Rambo knives").
We all know you can find janky versions for next to nothing, "licensed versions" for under $200 (below, top), or a legit Jimmy Lile version (below, bottom) starting at $2,000.

 

[Quiet]

To me, $200 is expensive for a folding knife, and $500 or $600 is a small fortune. Understated? I prefer understated myself. I think many folding knives today cost a lot more than appearances would suggest. Basically I think that many people have not stepped up to the more recent pricing-value niche that so many factory knives hit.

Yep. In many ways, I think knife companies have priced themselves completely out of the range where they would attract folks who are new to the hobby. I've got a few friends who came to me for help as the "token knife guy" friend, and when they'd ask about some of my knives and advice for what they should buy, they liked my high-end knives but always ended up with a cheap knife. "That's way too much for a knife." was a common statement. You go to Academy and see a wall of cheap SOGs, Kershaws, Bucks, and Gerbers, and most of them are Chinese made, but "decent enough". The action, they come sharp (blade steel isn't important if you don't know or care about why it's important), and they're cheap. Kinda hard to tell someone that if they'd just spend $280 on a ZT, they'd have a much better experience than they're having with their Kershaw Whatever* and expect them to believe you.




* Seriously, they put out like 7,863 new models every year, and I can't name any of them off the top of my head. "Cheap 3 or 8cr assist open black scales knife". There, that's the name.

 

[22-rimfire]

Yep. In many ways, I think knife companies have priced themselves completely out of the range where they would attract folks who are new to the hobby. <snip> Kinda hard to tell someone that if they'd just spend $280 on a ZT, they'd have a much better experience than they're having with their Kershaw Whatever* and expect them to believe you.

You know, I think those people (non-knife knuts) may have it right all along.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Yep. In many ways, I think knife companies have priced themselves completely out of the range where they would attract folks who are new to the hobby. I've got a few friends who came to me for help as the "token knife guy" friend, and when they'd ask about some of my knives and advice for what they should buy, they liked my high-end knives but always ended up with a cheap knife. "That's way too much for a knife." was a common statement. You go to Academy and see a wall of cheap SOGs, Kershaws, Bucks, and Gerbers, and most of them are Chinese made, but "decent enough". The action, they come sharp (blade steel isn't important if you don't know or care about why it's important), and they're cheap. Kinda hard to tell someone that if they'd just spend $280 on a ZT, they'd have a much better experience than they're having with their Kershaw Whatever* and expect them to believe you.




* Seriously, they put out like 7,863 new models every year, and I can't name any of them off the top of my head. "Cheap 3 or 8cr assist open black scales knife". There, that's the name.

Yeah, I absolutely never start my recommendations to non-knife friends with anything that costs more than $50 and I usually try to keep it at or around $30. If they're straight up that they're willing to spend more I might try to talk them into a PM2 or something similar, but I actively try to stay on top of what quality, inexpensive options there are for folders, fixed blades and kitchen knives just so I can give friends at least a couple of recommendations to keep them away from complete junk.

 

[Kmikaz3]

Yea I just got it on Tuesday from W&W. There was one left after I got it, but now it's all sold out.

I was originally gonna order the 21 large Ladder Damascus with bog oak inlays that they also had, but went with the 31 as it was the "new thing". Kind of regret it now cause I really wanted an inlay with damascus combo.

If you're interested in it, I'll keep you in mind if I ever decide to sell.

That is generous of you! But, i found a 31 for slightly cheaper at S&R



Around ~879$ CAD IIRC.

 

[vjb.knife]

A few years back I was watching some Gerber LST knives on Ebay and they ended up selling in the $300 range. These were not the common black ones but in various colors. I have quite a few older Gerber knives myself but I knew of a knife shop in SC that had a bunch of the LST's in three sizes. The next time I was down there I went into the shop and they were still there. I bought every last one that he had at around $12 apiece, probably 25 of them. The shop owner gave me a hard time because he said I did not know which knives in his shop were valuable.

I kept a few rare ones, but over a period of several months I sold the rest of them as high as $400; I made about four grand on that bunch.

Prior to the internet I used to call Gun Stores and Hardware stores all across the country trying to find Gerber Knives from the 1960's and 70's. I would buy them at or below retail price. And at one point I had over 400 knives primarily Gerber, AlMar and a couple of others. It went pretty well.

 

[Kmikaz3]

Back on the subject, i had shown once this knife to my brother’s friend. He thought it was max around $250. I was like, are you kidding? What blasphemy are you blabbering?!

Some of my colleagues, when i talked about my hobby, they thought im crazy to spend $300 or $500 on a knife, let alone a thousand knife. They show me their SAK and i said that's cute.

I think when you haven't dove in this hobby of ours, they would understand the real value.

 

[WValtakis]

This Scott Sawby Self-lock toothpick certainly qualifies

 

[AntDog]

At first glance, Emerson knives appear not worth the asking price.

Closer inspection confirms this.

Took the words right outta my mouth. I was just about to post “every Emerson ever made.”

 

[CarsonWayne]

Spyderco FRN sprint runs always make me wonder if I'm a complete idiot, spending 170 euros on a knife that looks like it cost $15 to make...

So much this. I have one Native 5 LW in S35VN that is a total user, and I like it. All the other FRNs are on the way out. If you're willing to turn the FRN/LW into a beater, then they are totally worth it. That's it.

 

[Julian Williams]

Dont underestimate that MTech; that steel was hand forged folded thousands of times and left out in the sunlight for a thousand years to achieve the rainbow effect. It is a knife only wielded by a true blade master; its quick dulling blade is not a flaw, but a sort of "gatekeeper" if you will; as to repel all but true blade masters to pick it up, for only they can handle sharpening it 10 times a day.

How could I forget the sunlight heat ano . And definitely not ready for the sharpening, that'd take the patience of a Zen master. Well I'm off to go meditate for 50 years now, maybe then I'll be worthy

 

[sabre cat]

A few years back I was watching some Gerber LST knives on Ebay and they ended up selling in the $300 range. These were not the common black ones but in various colors. I have quite a few older Gerber knives myself but I knew of a knife shop in SC that had a bunch of the LST's in three sizes. The next time I was down there I went into the shop and they were still there. I bought every last one that he had at around $12 apiece, probably 25 of them. The shop owner gave me a hard time because he said I did not know which knives in his shop were valuable.

I kept a few rare ones, but over a period of several months I sold the rest of them as high as $400; I made about four grand on that bunch.

Prior to the internet I used to call Gun Stores and Hardware stores all across the country trying to find Gerber Knives from the 1960's and 70's. I would buy them at or below retail price. And at one point I had over 400 knives primarily Gerber, AlMar and a couple of others. It went pretty well.

I used to have an orange LST. I miss that knife.

 

[sailfish]

Back on the subject, i had shown once this knife to my brother’s friend. He thought it was max around $250. I was like, are you kidding? What blasphemy are you blabbering?!

Some of my colleagues, when i talked about my hobby, they thought im crazy to spend $300 or $500 on a knife, let alone a thousand knife. They show me their SAK and i said that's cute.

I think when you haven't dove in this hobby of ours, they would understand the real value.

View attachment 1362130

What is that one?

 

[Planterz]

* Seriously, they put out like 7,863 new models every year, and I can't name any of them off the top of my head. "Cheap 3 or 8cr assist open black scales knife". There, that's the name.

I've got one of those., the Fraxion. KVT bearing flipper rather than assisted. Carbon fibre accents glued atop G-10, 8Cr13MoV blade. It's pretty decent. I bought it to take on vacation rather than lose something more valuable to the TSA. BUT, it is definitely a $30 knife. Despite the "premium" handle materials they feel cheap. Put it next to a USA made Kershaw and there's nobody that wouldn't guess which the better knife was. The name irritates the hell out of me. I don't know if it's "Fracks-ee-on" or "fraction". The only reason I haven't given it away is because presumably I'll travel again some day. Who knows, maybe Kershaw will come up with some other cheapo that I like more. Or maybe a Natrix.

You go to Academy and see a wall of cheap SOGs, Kershaws, Bucks, and Gerbers, and most of them are Chinese made, but "decent enough". The action, they come sharp (blade steel isn't important if you don't know or care about why it's important), and they're cheap. Kinda hard to tell someone that if they'd just spend $280 on a ZT, they'd have a much better experience than they're having with their Kershaw Whatever* and expect them to believe you.

At least they're not fooling themselves with a Ganzo or Eafengrow.

 

[Kmikaz3]

What is that one?

Its a William Henry Spearpoint Copper Butte #283/500