Good Times In The Knife World?

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VorpelSword

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What I am seeing here:

Whenever someone asks for recommendations on a knife for one niche-use or another, be it pocket folder, bali-song, Survival, camp knife or hunter, the responses bring forward a wide variety and large number of suitable knives. Often, they range in price from Walmart special to near custom. All will look good, sharpen=up and cut . . . some longer than others to be sure.

The question of blade steel is universally unanswerable, as there are so many modern formulations, and so many bladee3 steels today are pretty good to really great.

What I am saying is that there seems to be a healthy market out there for knife makers and knife buyers.

Life is good in the knife world.
 
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VorpelSword said:
What I am seeing here:

Whenever someone asks for recommendations on a knife for one niche-use or another, be it pocket folder, bali-song, Survival, camp knife or hunter, the responses bring forward a wide variety and large number of suitable knives. Often, they range in price from Walmart special to near custom. All will look good, sharpen=up and cut . . . some longer than others to be sure.

The question of blade steel is universally unanswerable, as there are so many modern formulations, and so many bladee3 steels today are pretty good to really great.

What I am saying is that there seems to be a healthy market out there for knife makers and knife buyers.

Life is good in the knife world.
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it is a great time to be a knife enthusiast/user. You can find a huge variety of knives in a broad spectrum of prices that will fit your needs, whatever they may be. We certainly are in the age of variety and choices.
 
VorpelSword said:
What I am seeing here:

Whenever someone asks for recommendations on a knife for one niche-use or another, be it pocket folder, bali-song, Survival, camp knife or hunter, the responses bring forward a wide variety and large number of suitable knives. Often, they range in price from Walmart special to near custom. All will look good, sharpen=up and cut . . . some longer than others to be sure.

The question of blade steel is universally unanswerable, as there are so many modern formulations, and so many bladee3 steels today are pretty good to really great.

What I am saying is that there seems to be a healthy market out there for knife makers and knife buyers.

Life is good in the knife world.
Click to expand...
Still a fairly niche hobby compared to the watches and sneakers crowd, but it’s a great time for the knife world, I agree.
 
marchone said:
We’re in a Golden Age for many mass manufactured goods. Mechanical and quartz watches, electric guitars, digital equipment of any kind. Knives are no exception.
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And it is not just a golden age for the production knife makers. Go to any knife show and count the tables of hand-crafted knives,. Many of thoise makers will make on up to your custom order.

It is my (rapidly declining in value) $00.02 worth of opinion that there is cutlery available today that beats the performance of most quality blades ever made in history. Material Science alone would be one reason, but the overall level of craftsmanship is up there too.
 
VorpelSword said:
And it is not just a golden age for the production knife makers. Go to any knife show and count the tables of hand-crafted knives,. Many of thoise makers will make on up to your custom order.

It is my (rapidly declining in value) $00.02 worth of opinion that there is cutlery available today that beats the performance of most quality blades ever made in history. Material Science alone would be one reason, but the overall level of craftsmanship is up there too.
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Agreed. I think anyone alive 100 years ago would be in awe of even a very middle-of-the-road knife made today. It's a good thing for us to remember.

And yeah, from my perspective, the independent/small batch knifemaker scene is as strong as ever.

It's a good time to be a knife knerd.
 
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I agree in most parts, but as a end consumer, what do we think about todays prices?

Many knifes around 400-500$ i wish to have and that range is kinda my breaking point pricewise. But a long way from usa (yes usa has 90% of all the knifes i desire) Taxes on import over here (Sweden) makes a 400$ knife around 600-650$ and the hassle if its a folder with flipper it can be confiscated by the border police. They are kinda illegal here.

But Hey, just realised im just butt hurt for not being able to aquire all the american knives i would like to but that is just another reason the knife world is doing very well 😁
 
I've been through more knives than I can count since I was a kid, and choices have never been better than today. The advances in steels, synthetic grips, design and manufacturing over the last half a century (dating myself :rolleyes:) are unprecedented. I still cherish and use my 30+ year old Grohmann Canadian Belt Knife but my most recent EDC is my Bradford Guardian 3 in Magnacut.
 
DangerZone98 said:
Still a fairly niche hobby compared to the watches and sneakers crowd, but it’s a great time for the knife world, I agree.
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Doesn't surprise me much. Knives are a useful tool that will last several lifetimes. While watches aren't that much different in that regard, they are still ostentatious attempts to display they have more than others.
 
Tore_krok said:
I agree in most parts, but as a end consumer, what do we think about todays prices?

Many knifes around 400-500$ i wish to have and that range is kinda my breaking point pricewise. But a long way from usa (yes usa has 90% of all the knifes i desire) Taxes on import over here (Sweden) makes a 400$ knife around 600-650$ and the hassle if its a folder with flipper it can be confiscated by the border police. They are kinda illegal here.

But Hey, just realised im just butt hurt for not being able to aquire all the american knives i would like to but that is just another reason the knife world is doing very well 😁
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Without getting into politics, unfortunately EVERYthing costs more in America right now, and it's reflected in the prices of the knives made by our companies.
 
Meh, I miss the days of obsidian, and even bronze. Oh and the days of an $80 Benchmade Griptilian.

While the variety of the market is now completely saturated with anything you want, even the "low end" stuff is getting expensive.
 
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Quiet said:
Without getting into politics, unfortunately EVERYthing costs more in America right now, and it's reflected in the prices of the knives made by our companies.
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Yeah i have noticed, same thing here in Sweden. Material, labor, taxes etc are all skyrocketing so overall everything is expensive. You don’t want to know what they charge for gasoline and diesel over here, but its over 7$ a gallon 😅
 
I want a vibro-blade like those in sci-fi, where the blade vibrates so fast that it will cut through almost anything. Just need a really small motor to fit in the handle.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
I want a vibro-blade like those in sci-fi, where the blade vibrates so fast that it will cut through almost anything. Just need a really small motor to fit in the handle.
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The future is now!

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dryflytrout said:
Doesn't surprise me much. Knives are a useful tool that will last several lifetimes. While watches aren't that much different in that regard, they are still ostentatious attempts to display they have more than others.
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Indeed, my $15 Casio is peak luxury. (Kidding aside, Casio makes awesome reliable products).

It depends on the man of course, but I like how knives are sort of less showy compared to other collectibles, if that makes any sense. You can more easily “impress” others with your complete comic book collection and watch box full of vintage dive pieces. But a quality collection of reliable knives is really just there to assist you in day to day tasks, and perhaps someday our children or friends after we pass on. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
Many of us have been around, and lived through, many changes in the world of knives. Here are the ones I've personally experienced:
-The rise of the Buck 110. There was a time when it was on every belt (thank Dukes of Hazard)
-The hollow handle survival knife craze
-The decline of "traditional" folder carry
-The rise of the "tactical folder" (one hand opening included)
-The rise of the multitool
-The increase in popularity of assisted openers
-The advent of the chunky, overbuilt folding knives
-The rediscovery of traditional folding pocket knives (at much higher prices...I'm looking at you GEC)
-The decline of chunky, overbuilt folders
-The decline of assisted openers
-The increased popularity of "nail nick" folders

All of these "fads" have never caused the death of a certain genre, but it's interesting to watch the ebb and flow of the industry.
 
Charlie Fox said:
-The rediscovery of traditional folding pocket knives (at much higher prices...I'm looking at you GEC)
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To be fair, this has less to do with GEC's pricing and more to do with flippers and the secondary market. GEC releases are reasonably priced through most retailers. The problem is that they sell out in mere minutes and quickly find their way to that one auction site for double or triple their retail price. The crazy thing is that they are so popular and collectors have such strong FOMO that the knives are still selling for these absurd asking prices.
 
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