Has a knife ever destroyed your sense of value?

BusyBailey

BusyBailey

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Jun 19, 2015
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I know a lot of people move steadily up in terms of quality and investment but has anyone ever had a knife completely ruin that progression? For instance, if you got a ZT for mid-tier Kershaw money would you ever be able to buy Kershaw again?
 
I wouldn't say destroy my sense of value, but I've had knives make me realize and reaffirm that my reason for looking higher end knives is not practicality. I recently got a Spyderco Resilience and it makes me realize that I didn't pay 3 times as much for my Spyderco Police 4 because it's 3 times as useful a knife. Same for the Steel Will Roamer R300 I have. I have a Busse HOG Badger on order and I won't pay 2-3x the price of the Roamer for the Badger because it's 2-3x as useful a knife. Both sets of knives are basically in the same use profile. But as a knife enthusiast I don't just buy knives for their practical value.
 
warning for language.
For a negative experience as you are referring to I would say not really anything major... the only time I felt screwed on a knife purchase was when I bought a SOG Flash II. I paid a bit more then the $40 base price because I got the coated/camo blade, so maybe like $55 or $60. I was so disappointed when I got it. What a piece of SNICKERS it was. The way it came it had side to side blade play that was so bad I wanted to puke. This was a little bit after I got into quality knives and I think I had just bought my Tenacious and Blur for less money a few weeks before this. So needless to say I was not happy. Anyways after I tightened the pivot screw down to kill the blade play the damn knife would no longer deploy properly because the screw was too tight. If I loosened it the play would return though so I wasn't having that. I took the knife apart and tweaked the spring in the poorly designed assisted opening mechanism and that fixed the issue. It was able to deploy while still being tight and the the lock release was no longer falling in its slot on its own. The knife also had front to back blade play as well though which wasn't fixable because it was just due to the bad design. If you put pressure on the spine of the blade while it's deployed you can literally move the blade forward a bunch. Just crappy. Sure it was only $55 but wow I've had $15 knives that I liked better then the Flash II. Currently it sits in my bed side drawer and hasn't been touched in a couple years.

For a positive experience though I would say absolutely. My collection isn't as immense as some of you big dogs here but this has to do with the most expensive knife I ever bought. It was the ZT 0562cf. I believe I paid like $250 or something like that a few years ago. I bought it on a whim because I was a little skeptical about how good it could actually be - the only other knife I had bought prior to that in a higher price range was my PM2 at half the price. I love the PM2 and think it's an amazing knife so I was weary about spending $250 on one. Anyways I got the knife and DAMN. Talk about LOLLIPOPS perfect. I mean holy crap. This was my first time handling a ZT too and with one as nice as the 0562cf I was blown away. The goddamn thing was perfect in every single way.... and it was built like a goddamn tank. That knife feels like a fixed blade when it's locked open for KITTENS sake. Everything about the knife was perfect and I was absolutely fine with having paid $250 for it because it made me realize there was a level of quality that I wasn't familiar with yet and hadn't experienced. So that's a positive one. Actually just sold the ZT a month ago because I got laid off from my job and needed some money pretty bad... FLOWERS sucks. I would have NEVER sold that knife if I didn't have to :(


EDIT - Sorry, I replaced the harsh terrible language with more appropriate words because of all the children that are apparently here. Please forgive my ignorance.
 
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Sorry Converge. Hope things turn around and you get your beloved 562 back.

Me, I find I too can’t go back to ‘budget’ knives now that my toe has dipped into mid tech range. Just get no pride of ownership from them no matter how much they perform. I think it comes down to the fact I don’t do this stuff cuz I actually need to cut much. I just appreciate the craftsmanship, beauty, and design of knives.
 
So far I have not sold any knives out of need. Starting to sell firearms because I think it's time to give a lot of them new homes. I'll use the money to pay for my pickup. Yeah.... that many.

Lots of folks really like the ZT 0562CF. I have been tempted. I bought my first ZT a couple years ago when the O770CF came out and it was in fact my most expensive folder at the time. It is hard to go back to lesser knives once you see the quality of construction. But, Big BUTT, I still like good lesser priced knives a lot.
 
I've gone both ways with it. My Freeman 451 BLF ruined a lot of inexpensive, and even higher end, knives for me because it's so well thought out and well put together.

On the other end, my Spyderco Urban in K390 put me back to balking at purchases over $100 because it just does so much so well for so long at under $70.
 
J.E. Made slipjoint (with G10 handle covers).

For $130 U.S., it's extremely hard to beat (assuming you can even get your hands on one). Yes it's made in China and not the U.S., but so are a lot of Spydercos. It's super-well made, pretty easy to sharpen and holds a really nice edge while looking really good, too.

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Thank you FourD, now I've got something else to look into...

What really inspired this for me is that I'm really a budget blade kind of guy because I can usually only afford one budgetish knife a year. I've found two jaw dropping deals of late (a BM 581 and a ZT0770CF) that I will probably never be able to top but I can't really complain about that. I guess I'll just have to start going two years between knives so I can keep up the stream of good stuff.
 
I went all the way up to very high end customs. I came to a realization, that since I am a user and not a collector of knives, that I don't need a knife worth thousands of dollars for an EDC, especially when there is little to no performance increase. I sold all my high end knives, and all mine now range from $10- $1500, most of them being between $150-600.
Also, I have been using fixed blades a lot, and you can get an awesome custom fixed blade for 200 give or take, so that helped me sell my spendy folders.
 
This 10$ knife made me realize that I don't need a 200$ + knife to cut stuff. Doesn't mean I won't buy another 200$+ knife though. :D
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I’m perfectly happy in the $70 - $200 range. Then there are Mora and Opinel which are great value. And now I’m reading that I need a RAT D2 for $40. Still on the fence though. But right now my fav knife is the Endura. That is an awesome knife for the $$.
 
flatblackcapo said:
This 10$ knife made me realize that I don't need a 200$ + knife to cut stuff. Doesn't mean I won't buy another 200$+ knife though. :D
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I've got the same MAM. Heck of a knife when you don't want to use a $200 knife to cut stuff. Opinels and MAM are the true beaters/budget knives in my book. Except the No 6 in bubinga I've got coming later tonight. That's not a beater.
 
Positive - Mercator Black Cat. Great value.

Got me interested again in cheaper production knives. Bought a vintage Seki-made Sog Stingray (i think) midlock with kraton covers for $25 at the show.
 
Yes and No. I try to keep an open mind and rotate from a budget blade to a mid tech or user custom. Just as long as it is a blade that is fun to carry. If it is not the best quality, it may have a something that interests me. Ergos, design, new feature (like a front flipper) or materials.

However, new standards in production knives in USA, Russia and China have really shown better quality and performance for your dollar. And because of that, a few dollars more will blow other companies out of the water that put quality last like CKRT, Boker or Kershaw.
 
I know that many companies, certainly including the three quoted below, put out knives that are CRAP. But Boker and Kershaw definitely make some good, quality knives as well - and even CRKT occasionally puts out a good knife.

Low_rez said:
... a few dollars more will blow other companies out of the water that put quality last like CKRT, Boker or Kershaw.
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I went from buying ZT, Benchmade, ESEE and Spyderco to buying Bucks. I have dozens of great $75-175 knives and really don’t see the need to go more expensive (over $200).

I may buy a CRK or Hinderer down the road to treat myself, but for now I am having fun buying $30-50 Bucks that I will use the hell out of. It’s actually fun (and different!) to start buying/using more traditional knives after being more of a modern tactical knife guy.
 
Planterz said:
I've got the same MAM. Heck of a knife when you don't want to use a $200 knife to cut stuff. Opinels and MAM are the true beaters/budget knives in my book. Except the No 6 in bubinga I've got coming later tonight. That's not a beater.
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Hard to beat for around 10 bucks, that's for sure.
 
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