How do you rate each brands on a scale of 1-10 and why?

S

shqxk

Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
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ZT = 6
-lack of their original design.
-too much collaboration.
-obviously too much limited edition

Benchmade = 6.5
-hate the appearance of axis lock
-new MSRP suck.
-too less frame/liner lock

Spyderco = 7.5
-I don't like that most of their higher end model are made in Taiwan...
-I know its their signature but hole on a fixed blade is ugly and useless as hell.

Strider = 6
-great unique design but the smelly history of Mickey Ray Burger alone make me want to stay away.

Busse = 8
-kind of pricy for powder coated production knife... even with proprietary steel + awesome heat treat.
-should offer more non coating model.

CRK = 9
-by far the best fit and finish of all production
-I love simplicity

Emerson = 7
-great looking design
-best ergonomic
-quite rugged f&f
-their 154cm doesn't hold an edge too well
 
This is like the ultimate fan-rage thread in the making. Ohhhh boy.

Let me get some popcorn before this gets started.
 
Comments below for companies I like, and have tried a few knives from for a decent sample size.

Benchmade = 9
I like them, they make good knives. Axis lock is great. Secondary market is where its at for BM.

ZT = 8.5
make nice heavy duty knives. Awesome quality, but too heavy for me much of the time.

Spyderco = 8.5
great quality and innovation. I just don't like many of their designs as much as others.

Boker = 7.5
cool designs, and good quality, but not as good as the others

CRKT = 7.5
See above for Boker

Kershaw = 8.5
Currently have none of their knives, but recognize they provide great quality for price. Need more USA made with better materials than 8Cr steel.

Chris Reeve Knives = 9.5
All around awesome, but pricy, but worth it.

GEC = 9.5
Gold standard for currently produced traditional. Good materials and good price. Need more availability of popular patterns

Case = 8.5
Good quality, decent materials, overall solid company. Need more CV steel options.

Buck = 7.5
lots of imported options, good quality, little pricy for nicer models with better materials.

Gerber = 4
just an example of a lower tier in my opinion. mostly imports with poor materials and poor quality.

Strider = no comment
Emerson = no comment
 
ZT = 9
+Best warranty in the business
+collabs with in demand relevant makers supplying great alternatives to customs most cant afford
+Great limited edition pieces that obviously sell well and are in demand by a loyal following.

- I wish they would use less continuity between models. I like each knife to be unique. Sometimes I feel only the outline changes.

Benchmade = 7
+Great fit and finish as well as a huge catalog of what they will build. They have a dna but they aren't afraid to diversify and build a knife the way it was designed instead of doing their best to share platform design like a car assembly line.
- MAP pricing is enforced to strictly

Spyderco = 6.5
+great fit and finish in most of their products regardless of the factory its produced in.

- I still feel pricing is artificially high on some models

Strider =2
- I don't like the "history" the company made its name on
- Quality is questionable depending on production date. I didn't care for lockface issues, off centered blades and some fit and finish issues
- I think they are probably one of the most overpriced products available. They are overbuilt but to me lack finesse and justification for the price (just my opinion settle down)

Busse = Cant comment as I have very limited experience as I don't really do fixed blades

CRK = 5
+ great tolerances. High quality product

-I don't care for Mr. Reeves handling of customers at shows
-I dont like the rough sandblasted finishes
-I dont like that they wont do something if they aren't the first. I think they could improve many knife technologies but they want to be first out of the gate with things and I think other companies are pushing the limits of what is possible while chris reeve is sorta in a writers block phase with knife development.

Emerson = 2

- Very spotty quality over the years
- Very expensive for what you actually get
- IMHO many blade shapes of theirs cater to the mall ninjas of the world.
- I really dislike the wave feature and rumors of how it came to be.
 
Emerson: 5 - bad prices, great products.
CRKT: folders 5, fixed 8 - bad folders, great fixed blades
Spyderco: 8 - something for everyone (unless you don't like the spyderhole)
Benchmade: 6 - kind of pricy, but quality
Kershaw: Used to be 8, now a solid 4 - terrible unless you really like assisted 8cr knives. Bring back manual and 12c27!
Zero Tolerance: 8 - incredible variety and quality.
Kizer: ??? - I have a hard time with this one because they make very well-priced well-made knives that ALL completely miss the mark for me so far.
Cold Steel: 9 - Huge variety, great pricing and amazing quality. Silly but still incredible company.
GEC: 10 - no contest in the traditional world in my eyes. I've handled some custom slippies with worse for and finish than some of the GECs I have owned.
Boker: 8 - where else am I going to get loads of cheap fixed blades with Kydex sheath? CRKT, of course, but I like both!
 
Spyderco = 7.5
-I don't like that most of their higher end model are made in Taiwan...

Just curious why it matters if the "higher end models" are made in Taiwan. I could kind of understand if you lived in the U.S. and just wanted a U.S. knife. But your profile says you live in Thailand.
 
Busse: 10
Spartan Blades : 9 1/2
Survive: 8 1/2
Swamp Rat: 8 1/2
Bench made: 6
Zero tolerance: 3
 
Comeuppance said:
This is like the ultimate fan-rage thread in the making. Ohhhh boy.

Let me get some popcorn before this gets started.
Click to expand...

Yep. :D

How about Mantis gets a 16.7, and all others get a 0.0000000002?

That seems like it should work here. ;)
 
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