How long?

B

BeyondTheBox

Joined
Apr 13, 2016
Messages
199
... do you actually expect knives of different categories to last?

1. Gas station trash sub $10 (+/-)
2. Chinese "Saturday night specials", like found on DHGate, Amazon, AliExprs & GearBest $10-40 (+/-)
3. Cheap name brand junk like Gerber and CRKT make at their lowest price points $10-40 (+/-)
4. Mid level stuff made by brands like Kershaw & Spyderco $40-100 (+/-)
5. Higher end mass produced stuff such as Benchmade, Fox, ZT, etc... $150-300 (+/-)
6. High end, hand made knives like CRK and alike $300-sky's the limit

What I mean by how long they would last, is assuming you never lost it, nor intentionally tried to destroy it. Just from normal everyday use and the amount of sharpening a steel in these categories would require to continue to use.

1. I'm guessing like 3Cr garbage, 3-5 years +/-
2. Anything from 5cr to "D2", 3-10 years +/-
3. 7Cr, 8Cr up to 440 variants, 5-10 years +/-
4. 440C and into more premium steels, 10-20 years +/-
5. Mostly premium to super steels, still not much more than 20 years +/-
6. Same as above
 
About any knife will hold up under normal use for many many years. Look at Rough Rider traditional folders, pretty good quality that costs less than 10 bucks.
As far as sharpening a knife enough to wear a blade out. This would really depend on the equipment used as well as how frequently the blade was sharpened.
 
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I really don't mean to be picky, but one thing (of many) I have learned on BF is that "normal use" varies enormously. :eek: For a construction worker cutting drywall or warehouse worker breaking down boxes the time would be greatly different from an office worker opening the occasional parcel or some mail. Add in the hunters who may dress/skin anything from birds to wild hogs and the parameters are waaaay different. In general, I would expect any higher end knife, with moderate use, to outlive the user (especially at my age where a rough rider would probably do the same :(). #s 1 and 2 probably not so much. ;) Do you wish to give us some usage variants? :thumbsup:
 
BeyondTheBox said:
... do you actually expect knives of different categories to last?

1. Gas station trash sub $10 (+/-)
2. Chinese "Saturday night specials", like found on DHGate, Amazon, AliExprs & GearBest $10-40 (+/-)
3. Cheap name brand junk like Gerber and CRKT make at their lowest price points $10-40 (+/-)
4. Mid level stuff made by brands like Kershaw & Spyderco $40-100 (+/-)
5. Higher end mass produced stuff such as Benchmade, Fox, ZT, etc... $150-300 (+/-)
6. High end, hand made knives like CRK and alike $300-sky's the limit

What I mean by how long they would last, is assuming you never lost it, nor intentionally tried to destroy it. Just from normal everyday use and the amount of sharpening a steel in these categories would require to continue to use.

1. I'm guessing like 3Cr garbage, 3-5 years +/-
2. Anything from 5cr to "D2", 3-10 years +/-
3. 7Cr, 8Cr up to 440 variants, 5-10 years +/-
4. 440C and into more premium steels, 10-20 years +/-
5. Mostly premium to super steels, still not much more than 20 years +/-
6. Same as above
Click to expand...

Not sure how long they will last. It depends on the use/abuse or if they are pure collectors. One very hard weekend and they might be toast. About 10 of my 75 knives are in a daily EDC rotation and they are almost all from categories 5 and 6, but they only get lightly used. They could well last 20yrs plus, or a hard weekend. I'm not worried. I bought them all to use and pass on.
 
All depends on how they are used. I probably could keep even the worst alive for my life. Another person could kill off the best in a few days. Use a knife as it is intended, don't obsessively sharpen and they all can hold up. I however prefer to carry a nice knife such as a Sebenza or custom-just a much better feel to it, that is worth the money to me, but if you just need something to cut it really doesn't need to cost a lot-Mora being a great example.
 
How long .. do you actually expect knives of different categories to last?
. . .
. . .
4. Mid level stuff made by brands like Kershaw & Spyderco $40-100 (+/-)
5. Higher end mass produced stuff such as Benchmade, Fox, ZT, etc... $150-300 (+/-)
6. High end, hand made knives like CRK and alike $300-sky's the limit
Click to expand...
A life time.
There is no reason in the world that one of my knives shouldn't last 50+ years easily.
The way I sharpen (Edge Pro Apex or Ceramic Rod touch up) takes off almost no steel. Even if I were to knock a divot out of the edge, which I have only done on one knife (arced on a battery post to grounded battery hold down . . . I ground it out and put a full polish on the blade while I was at it) . . . still have it after more than thirty years . . . see photo of little Buck lock back below.

IMG_3341.jpg
 
This would very greatly with a person's use. I think knives from groups 4-6 could last a lifetime under the average persons use.
I carried a SOG Flash 2 in Aus8 nearly every day for about 11 years. During that time I worked in logging, agriculture, and the electrical field. The Sog was used to cut vines, cardboard, plastic, rubber, rope etc. Basically anything that has ever been cut by a knife, that sog had probably seen it at some point. I'm sure I used it for a gasket scraper, pry bar and a screwdriver some to.

There's no telling how many times it had been sharpened over the years. Despite all that it was still going strong when I lost it a few years ago. It had developed some blade play but it was still functional. I was surprised I never had to replace the springs.
It broke my heart a little when I lost it:(
 
Price alone is not a very good predictor of longevity in knives . The use and abuse , care and maintenance (or lack of ) is more significant .

Of course , some knives are designed and built specifically for durability , to survive hard use and abuse . Whereas others may focus upon aesthetics , art , mechanical perfection and close tolerances , frictionless flipping etc .
 
I've seen someone destroy a spyderco in less than a week. I gave them one due to them losing their knife on the job. thought I did them a favor. realized when I saw it with a snapped blade, resharpened to a shorter knife via a benchgrinder used and handle destroyed in a handful of days.......I didnt do them any favors. I just wasted a perfectly good spyderco.

point is even a good quality production knife wont last long if used wrong and abused. the inverse could be applied to a cheap 3cr steel knife taken care of and used properly and lightly.
 
I don't think one can nail it down with so few variables. I once had a Lower grade steel CRKT M-16 last 25 years until I lost it. I was a bench Jeweler/diamond setter during that time and used it to cut and scrape all sorts of things. I kept it sharp and clean and have little doubt it would have easily continued to work for me for many more years. The only real obvious indicator of age was the zytel was worn completely smooth (most likely why I lost it) From my point of view a S110V Spyderco or the like should last me a lifetime if properly cared for.
 
jbmonkey said:
point is even a good quality production knife wont last long if used wrong and abused. the inverse could be applied to a cheap 3cr steel knife taken care of and used properly and lightly.
Click to expand...
That's it.
That's why I underlined in my post
There is no reason in the world that one of my knives shouldn't last 50+ years
Click to expand...
I swear some people could break an anvil.
 
Unless I lose one, I expect all of my knives to still be largely intact when I die sometime within the next 30 years.
 
I think many missed the point of my post. I was saying you, as in each of you, individually. Not what you think could possibly happen with some other unknown bloke you've created in your head.
 
BeyondTheBox said:
I think many missed the point of my post. I was saying you, as in each of you, individually. Not what you think could possibly happen with some other unknown bloke you've created in your head.
Click to expand...
Long ago , I used to put all my new fixed blade knives to a test of worthiness for survival . I'd lash the knife to a long pole to form a spear , then beat hell out of it ! I destroyed quite a few that way and others by simply using as throwing knives into hardwood . My Cold Steel Carbon V SRK and Recon Tanto suffered only scratched off black coating and some superficial wear to the the rubbery Kraton handles . Bought in the 80's , and still perfectly functional after considerable abuse .

Most of my current collection are Cold Steel , Spyderco , and KAI . All fairly good quality , durable knives . Except for some emergency or deliberate destruction , they should all last for a VERY long time , even the folders . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup: Note that , normally I'm very careful with my tools and prefer to always use the proper tool for the job at hand . I have pry bars , scrapers , splitters , screwdrivers , hammers ,wedges , axes , saws etc galore and have never felt the need to baton a knife , as yet . :rolleyes:
 
BeyondTheBox said:
... do you actually expect knives of different categories to last?

1. Gas station trash sub $10 (+/-)
2. Chinese "Saturday night specials", like found on DHGate, Amazon, AliExprs & GearBest $10-40 (+/-)
3. Cheap name brand junk like Gerber and CRKT make at their lowest price points $10-40 (+/-)
4. Mid level stuff made by brands like Kershaw & Spyderco $40-100 (+/-)
5. Higher end mass produced stuff such as Benchmade, Fox, ZT, etc... $150-300 (+/-)
6. High end, hand made knives like CRK and alike $300-sky's the limit

What I mean by how long they would last, is assuming you never lost it, nor intentionally tried to destroy it. Just from normal everyday use and the amount of sharpening a steel in these categories would require to continue to use.

1. I'm guessing like 3Cr garbage, 3-5 years +/-
2. Anything from 5cr to "D2", 3-10 years +/-
3. 7Cr, 8Cr up to 440 variants, 5-10 years +/-
4. 440C and into more premium steels, 10-20 years +/-
5. Mostly premium to super steels, still not much more than 20 years +/-
6. Same as above
Click to expand...
They will all last as long as you want.
???????

There's no expiration date on any knife.
 
DocJD said:
Long ago , I used to put all my new fixed blade knives to a test of worthiness for survival . I'd lash the knife to a long pole to form a spear , then beat hell out of it ! I destroyed quite a few that way and others by simply using as throwing knives into hardwood . My Cold Steel Carbon V SRK and Recon Tanto suffered only scratched off black coating and some superficial wear to the the rubbery Kraton handles . Bought in the 80's , and still perfectly functional after considerable abuse .

Most of my current collection are Cold Steel , Spyderco , and KAI . All fairly good quality , durable knives . Except for some emergency or deliberate destruction , they should all last for a VERY long time , even the folders . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup: Note that , normally I'm very careful with my tools and prefer to always use the proper tool for the job at hand . I have pry bars , scrapers , splitters , screwdrivers , hammers ,wedges , axes , saws etc galore and have never felt the need to baton a knife , as yet . :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

More recent stupidity , same method . This knife could have lasted fine if not abused ! : https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...gth-is-that-true.1607970/page-4#post-18382473
 
How long it will last is akin to sharpening some ones knife,what are they going to cUT and so on.They may want a razor edge to have bragging rights in there circle of associates,but it may have to last and you give them a toothy edge,it depends
 
BeyondTheBox said:
... do you actually expect knives of different categories to last?

1. Gas station trash sub $10 (+/-)
2. Chinese "Saturday night specials", like found on DHGate, Amazon, AliExprs & GearBest $10-40 (+/-)
3. Cheap name brand junk like Gerber and CRKT make at their lowest price points $10-40 (+/-)
4. Mid level stuff made by brands like Kershaw & Spyderco $40-100 (+/-)
5. Higher end mass produced stuff such as Benchmade, Fox, ZT, etc... $150-300 (+/-)
6. High end, hand made knives like CRK and alike $300-sky's the limit

What I mean by how long they would last, is assuming you never lost it, nor intentionally tried to destroy it. Just from normal everyday use and the amount of sharpening a steel in these categories would require to continue to use.

1. I'm guessing like 3Cr garbage, 3-5 years +/-
2. Anything from 5cr to "D2", 3-10 years +/-
3. 7Cr, 8Cr up to 440 variants, 5-10 years +/-
4. 440C and into more premium steels, 10-20 years +/-
5. Mostly premium to super steels, still not much more than 20 years +/-
6. Same as above
Click to expand...
Get your facts correct please. Crk are not hand made. Knives will last as long as you want them.
 
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