Grail knives

[eisman]

The thing you'll spend your entire life chasing, foregoing everything else, is a production piece that they made hundreds of? I don't get it...

Grails, like unicorns, heros, and way too may other overused terms have lost value and meaning.

 

[RBid]

If I understand correctly, the OP’s question is about which production companies are the elite in terms of fit & finish, quality control, and consistency. I’ll fight my compulsion to dig into the way “grail” is used these days, and focus on answering the core question.

As of 2018, this is a list of companies I’d rate as high in QC as Chris Reeve Knives, who were the gold standard for QC for years. The list is in no particular order:

Reate
Koenig
Olamic

I’m stopping it there, because those are the only companies I’m 100% comfortable describing as similarly, consistently vault-like in their construction. You can pick one up, get a feel for it, set it down, pick up a different sample, and feel like you’re holding the first. Everything from the seams to lockbar tension are going to feel the same from one sample to the next. Every design element is executed very well, every time.

If you ever get a chance to go to one of the big shows and handle these back to back to back with other brands, you will really appreciate how well they stand up to competitor construction.

 

[AlphaDog86]

I don't know. You've thrown me off a little bit with your list. I think a big part of what we all call "grail knives" is their obtainability (or lack thereof). On price point alone, Shiros and Rocksteads are in another league than CRKs.

I agree. To ME price usually doesn’t play a very big factor in what I consider a “grail knife” but limited production and availability do. A knife that I’ve been searching for for a long time or that was very difficult to acquire.

 

[Lee48]

I don't have a "grail" knife. At one point I guess I did because I thought a Sebenza was out of reach and the epitome of great cutting instruments. Then I got one. And I didn't like it. In my head I could hear the old song "Is That All There Is?" playing every time I picked it up.