Folding knife, medium-large, $500 budget - Go!

nwmetalbug said:
Not sure what you mean the 0600,0777,0560 is short bladed ?
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I havent held every one of them, but the plain edge ones ive held were not impressive to me.

they were ok, the moment I tried them out in my slacks pocket I gave them back to clerk and said no thanks.
 
@ evanPGH, care to elaborate about that rather bold statement? I'm not saying that there aren't a large number of customs that are very nice. To say that at $500.00 "There are a lot of other custom makers in that price range that'll beat out any production folder in that range in quality by a mile." Is an INCREDIBLY bold statement. In this day and age of amazing production knives, I don't know what you think is SO much better. CRK hold their tolerances to the .001, that's a thousandths of an inch. Hinderer uses titanium, various high end steels, and has super fine fit and finish.

I'm not being argumentative, just asking?? What is so much better at $500 that you can share?
 
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For that price I would spend a little extra and get a Field Grade Bodega which would stand up to any use you put it too and plus the looks are gorgeous especially the compound grind.
 
ZT 0600, F3

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Look into the ZT 0777 M390. You wont get any closer to a midtech/custom than that for under 500. Light weight super high end materials great fit and finish ( not bulky and short bladed)
 
Go custom.
If possible visit a show and get a knife taylored to your "needs".
red mag
 
BePrepared said:
That is one of the weirder grinds i've ever seen on a knife.... i can't even imagine what that would be useful for... it's just strange
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Each to their own i guess. I happen to think it's one of the more beautiful and functional pieces around. Not just more of the same.
 
HwangJino said:
I havent held every one of them, but the plain edge ones ive held were not impressive to me.

they were ok, the moment I tried them out in my slacks pocket I gave them back to clerk and said no thanks.
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They are undoubtedly large knives. The look bigger than they actually are, and I doubted I'd ever carry my 560cbcf in the front of slacks. That being said, I generally wear jeans and my big folders ride in my back pocket so it isn't an issue either way for me. What is shocking is how light something this big can be can. The 560cbcf weighs in at 5.8 ounces and a large sebenza 21 with micarta inlays, just as an example, weighs 4.7 ounces. To each his own, and if you are willing to chip in a bit more and spend some time shopping I'd go for a Hinderer. If not, the 560cbcf is an excellent conciliation prize.
 
If I had $500 to spend on a knife, I think I would spend $15 on an Opinel #9 and the rest on beer, pizza and gas for driving to the mountains.

I'll wager my that Opinel will outlast the $500 custom too.
 
Vegas Blade said:
@ evanPGH, care to elaborate about that rather bold statement? I'm not saying that there aren't a large number of customs that are very nice. To say that at $500.00 "There are a lot of other custom makers in that price range that'll beat out any production folder in that range in quality by a mile." Is an INCREDIBLY bold statement. In this day and age of amazing production knives, I don't know what you think is SO much better. CRK hold their tolerances to the .001, that's a thousandths of an inch. Hinderer uses titanium, various high end steels, and has super fine fit and finish.

I'm not being argumentative, just asking?? What is so much better at $500 that you can share?
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Well, first off, I'll say its a $500-600 range, not $500 exactly.

Tolerances are a nice bragging fact, but I have yet to find a production knife that compares in f&f, feel and action to a custom of that level. I think that any examples from Jeff Vandermuelen, Les Voorhies, Pohan Leu, Jason Clark and Steven Kelley fit the bill nicely.

I find CRKs to be incredibly overpriced, I've owned them and while they're nice, a Large Sebenza with inlays should not be that close in price to the aforementioned makers and many others that I didn't mention. I would rather pay $550 for a knife that one person spends 20-30 hours handcrafting versus $475 for a couple cookie cutter titanium slabs and soft s35vn.

Not trying to hate, just IMO, YMMV, blah blah blah...

I've owned a ton of knives in the 4-700 dollar price range and that's what Ive taken from it.
 
Go with a custom Pohan Leu Bluephin with blue anodized titanium and a carbon fiber insert....would imagine the price to be close to your ceiling!
 
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