How does the Price of a Knife Affect You?

The most I spent was $180 on the White River Caper. I like White River but I do think they are high priced. When knives get that high I have a hard time using them. Just a mental block I’m in right now
 
Compared to a trip to the grocery store or gas station nowadays , knives are a damn bargain :rolleyes:
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I don’t have a ton of money for knives and have historically gotten them as gifts for some key milestone or accomplishment. The exception is SAKs, and I have plenty of those.

At this point, I don’t see me spending less than $450 or more than $1750 on a future knife. I also don’t see me buying more than three in any year, with most years one or none.

My most expensive to date is $675. I consider all my “keeper” knives users.
 
The other interesting aspect is that sometimes a mass produced blade is good but you have to spend $30 for the sheath and $40-50 for new handle scales. That increases the bad price of the knife
 
Leo Greer said:
My price barrier has gone quickly up as I’ve tried out and realized the differences between these different price tiers of knife. About $325 seems to be about my happy range, where I can buy it, love it, try it, and still probably sell it for what I paid and move on without too much trouble.

I maintain a relatively tiny knife collection compared to many, because I’m moving pieces and buying new ones often. So far I’ve gotten to try easily over a dozen brands without having to keep the several dozen knives.

$325 is my happy medium, but I’m not below going higher.

I paid $675 for a Hinderer Emmett and XM-18. $400 for a CRK Inkosi. $450 for a Brian Tighe Custom Breaker. Those knives have all since moved on from my collection, definitely losing me a bit of money in the process!

It just annoys me to have that much money kinda sitting around in a static object.

The next prize will be a Shiro Quantum, and if I don’t carry that sucker, it’s going!
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I guess I'm totally opposite. I like knowing that my knives will perform even if TSHTF. That kind of quality is not very cheap. Plus, if I think that I might want to sell a knife, I don't even buy it. Of course, maybe I'm spoiled because I only live a few miles from the House of Blades?
 
RugerNurse said:
The other interesting aspect is that sometimes a mass produced blade is good but you have to spend $30 for the sheath and $40-50 for new handle scales. That increases the bad price of the knife
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I don't mind buying extra sets of scales for knives because that adds to its usefulness. I'm not going to leave my nice hardwood scales on my knife if there's a chance that they may get damaged. Also, $30 is cheap for a sheath.
 
000Robert said:
I guess I'm totally opposite. I like knowing that my knives will perform even if TSHTF. That kind of quality is not very cheap. Plus, if I think that I might want to sell a knife, I don't even buy it. Of course, maybe I'm spoiled because I only live a few miles from the House of Blades?
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My deal is that I love to try new things, but I don’t have the sort of capital to keep everything I buy! Also not living near any sort of good knife store has it’s downsides.
 
Leo Greer said:
My deal is that I love to try new things, but I don’t have the sort of capital to keep everything I buy! Also not living near any sort of good knife store has it’s downsides.
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I would probably do the same. I'm an old fart so I'm pretty much set in my ways with what I like. Carothers Performance Knives hold their value very well. You should try them out. Here's my gorgeous Carothers DEK1 in D3V steel with Swedge, Penetrator Tip, and Cocobolo scales.

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One example is the Cold Steel Taipan. I have been eyeing one for a while and the price is as low as $154 something on Amazon. I still won't pull the trigger because I am unwilling to spend $154 hell even $100 for a Taiwan made safe queen(which is ultimately what such a model would become in my collection) unless I am really sold on the design. I am not. I'd rather save a bit more and buy a $200 Fox Knives FS, for example.

Not to say... I wouldn't mind being gifted such a knife lol. But I won't buy it myself.
 
Ajack60 said:
It really doesn't matter what the price of a knife is as long as someone has the disposable income to enjoy this hobby. Everyone is going to be different on why they buy what they do, but the most important thing, IMO, is to have fun, enjoy what you have and show it off regardless of what anyone thinks.
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Very well spoken.
 
I like knives and I want a quality knife made in the USA
I also like some of the fancy steels.
Although I have a $200 limit.......first it's budget and I limit myself to buying a couple a year. Second over that price I would be nervous to carry it.
 
000Robert said:
I guess I'm totally opposite. I like knowing that my knives will perform even if TSHTF. That kind of quality is not very cheap. Plus, if I think that I might want to sell a knife, I don't even buy it. Of course, maybe I'm spoiled because I only live a few miles from the House of Blades?
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I think you can find many reasonably priced knives that will perform plenty good enough for any valid survival usage . :cool:

My favorite being Cold Steel , but many others qualify .
 
I used to have a tough time carrying my nicer knives when I initially got into collecting. I had a strong compulsion to try and keep them like new so that I could sell/trade and try out new knives.

Now that I have a smaller collection that I really like (almost all are repeat buys) I just carry them because they make me happy. I work damn hard and carrying my knives reminds me of all the BS I put up with at work in order to have them.
 
My spending limit is $500, and I will not own any knife that comes from China. My preference is USA blades as I prefer to support the local market. I buy my knives with the intent to carry, but most of my Midtechs get light home duty lately. I’m in construction and I’ve been working at a steel mill for the last 6 months. The conditions are very dusty, dirty, and hot, and the chance of loss or damage is pretty high. Here I mostly carry blades in the $150-$200 dollar range to play it safe. The only exception is my Inkosi but I’ll only carry it on days I’m not in the powerhouse or blast furnace areas. My typical work carry is my Native 5 which has been my primary work/ beater knife since 2018.
 
glassjawTX said:
I used to have a tough time carrying my nicer knives when I initially got into collecting. I had a strong compulsion to try and keep them like new so that I could sell/trade and try out new knives.

Now that I have a smaller collection that I really like (almost all are repeat buys) I just carry them because they make me happy. I work damn hard and carrying my knives reminds me of all the BS I put up with at work in order to have them.
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Glad I wasn’t the only one. I would buy knives to try then sell because I didn’t like them. Now I have a smaller collection, most of which are repeats
 
I have found that $200 is my point of diminishing returns. Anything over 200 better have premium materials and quality control.

I lusted after a sebenza 21 and finally bought one. Thats also when I decided to try a spyderco military. The sebbie was really nice, but at over two times the price it didnt do anything better than the military. Thats when my threshold was established. I have a couple $500+ handmade traditional folders, just because I thought they were beautiful. I do actually carry and use them.

Nothing burns me up more than spending extra money on a knife only to discover that it cant cut.
 
Riz! said:
I have found that $200 is my point of diminishing returns. Anything over 200 better have premium materials and quality control.

I lusted after a sebenza 21 and finally bought one. Thats also when I decided to try a spyderco military. The sebbie was really nice, but at over two times the price it didnt do anything better than the military. Thats when my threshold was established. I have a couple $500+ handmade traditional folders, just because I thought they were beautiful. I do actually carry and use them.

Nothing burns me up more than spending extra money on a knife only to discover that it cant cut.
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I’m struggling with this now. I currently own a PM2 and a Manix 2. Both with premium steel, DLC and G10 and lately I’ve been eyeing a ZT 562 CF. But at almost $100 over the price of those Spydercos I’m hesitant. I’ve even thought about scraping the whole ZT idea and just buy a spare PM2 without the DLC because I like the knife so much. The non DLC PM2 with CPM S45VN at $171.50 looks like a deal.
 
rampco88 said:
I’m struggling with this now. I currently own a PM2 and a Manix 2. Both with premium steel, DLC and G10 and lately I’ve been eyeing a ZT 562 CF. But at almost $100 over the price of those Spydercos I’m hesitant. I’ve even thought about scraping the whole ZT idea and just buy a spare PM2 without the DLC because I like the knife so much. The non DLC PM2 with CPM S45VN at $171.50 looks like a deal.
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I have PM2s (plural) and a couple 0562s as well. They're not the same category in my book. Th steel options may be as good, but for overall build, I find the 0562 to be much sturdier. I'm a stickler about blade play (it's why I ditched my Benchmade 940) and it's pretty easy to tune an 0562 to not have any blade play while still having great action. My PM2s are much more fickle. And it's maybe that I haven't run any of them long enough, but I can either have a no blade play lock up, or good action, but not both. So if that's a factor for you, that's where the extra money is.

For me, that's why I've been willing to spend premium amounts on ZTs, CRKs, SHFs, a lefty Hinderer xm18, and a couple Grimsmo Norseman. Can I get blades of the same materials for less money? Absolutely. But I take the whole build into account. Ergos, action, fit, finish, blade play, etc. I'm not saying focusing on only cutting performance is wrong, it's just the limitation point I regularly see that caps people at 200 or less. A PM2 or BM940 can cut as well, but the whole package is different.
 
rampco88 said:
I’m struggling with this now. I currently own a PM2 and a Manix 2. Both with premium steel, DLC and G10 and lately I’ve been eyeing a ZT 562 CF. But at almost $100 over the price of those Spydercos I’m hesitant. I’ve even thought about scraping the whole ZT idea and just buy a spare PM2 without the DLC because I like the knife so much. The non DLC PM2 with CPM S45VN at $171.50 looks like a deal.
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How do you feel about flippers? I love the action, but i cant stand the feel of the flipper tab against my index knuckle. This is one of the reasons I love my Militaries. I had a couple zt flippers when they first came out. The tab and the sabre grinds are what made me decide to move them on. I like this blades and versatile handles.
 
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