I want your views on quality.......

TattooBlade

TattooBlade

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Apr 4, 2009
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I've been playing with knives on and off for about 25 years. I've owned all the major production brands and many custom blades over the years.

My current favorite brands are Emerson, Hinderer and Spyderco. I'd say the runner ups are Chris Reeve, Strider and Benchmade. I am not a collector, I am more of a user that spent many years in the military and law enforcement, so I am pretty tough on my knives.

I decided a while back to do some testing with my blades and the results suprised me. I didn't do any torture tests, as I believe blades should be used for cutting and slicing, especially folders. I do have a few fixed blades I used for bushcraft, like my F1 and ESEE-4.

I was curious, based on cost, was a more expensive blade better for the task at hand than the lesser expensive blades. Now I know for collectors, this is a whole different ball game, so I'm not talking about collecting. I'm talkng abot use.

We carry a blade more or less for two reasons; daily cutting of food, packaging, string, and objects of that nature; we also carry for self defense. So, I spent an afternoon cutting all the listed objects with a bunch of different blades. To simulate the self defense cutting, I sliced and stabbed a bunch of steaks, burgers, chicken (it all got cooked after), and I also tested on some cooked meat and some frozen meat. Wish I had a video cam, but I don't so I couldn't recored all this.

Basically what I found is my Spyderco Manix, which is one of the least expensive blades, cut and sliced the best. Nextly my Emersons and Striders and CR were all about the same. The Hinderer sliced great and had more oomph I guess you could say in the stabbing department and felt more sold with the frozen meat, though the Emersons and Strider felt solid too.

I think I went into the test thinking that the higher priced models were going to blow away the lesser ones and this was not true. I'm curious if other folks have tried anything like this and what your thoughts are on the different brands and overall performance.
 
I think Ankerson would be one of your go to guys as he has probably tested quite a few folders and knives i would think. :D:thumbup:
 
You might want to consider trying a couple of Zero Tolerance knives and seeing if they tickle you.
It's very difficult to beat the value and performance of the ZT's I have (121, 301, 350 and soon the 550).
Truth be told, if I'd have stopped buying blades after my first really nice folding knife, the ZT 301, I'd be a happy man.

As much as my Spydie GB is the best work knife I've used, if I go for a long backpacking trip I'm pretty sure a ZT will be on me.
So will a SAK, or two.... they are invaluable.
 
Funny you should post this now. My post on my first Spyderco experiences (Delica4 and Manix2 sprint) is page one now. Essentially, the Manix feels much more flimsy than my Hinderers and ZTs to me, but slices fantastic (as I guess one should expect with a FFG blade). Bottom line is "right tool for the job". Light EDC? FFG Spydie of choice. Heavier EDC duty? I'll count on my XM or ZT.
 
In my experience its less about cutting better or worse, since in general my taste in blades ends up with me buying a lot of similar blade shapes and geometries, and more about holding up long term. There was a while where I was going through a folder a summer, lower cost but still very good knives.

For instance I wore out the liner lock of a Kershaw Chive, destroyed the pivot and lockbar of my Delica from sand and grit wearing it in along with a lot of heavy rope cutting. My 110 also developed blade play after a month and I needed to tighten up the pivot with a few mallet taps, these are all good knives considered to be less expensive by most of us, and I recommend them still to friends and family.

Then I picked up an A100 that took the same hard use in stride. Sure it doesn't cut better than my delica did, and it doesn't open as fast as the Chive, but so far I'm sold on some designs being better at soaking up very heavy use than others. But where my slightly less expensive knives started to loosen up and get gritty, needing a bit of refurbing, my A100 has only gotten smoother, and need to get the concrete, pocket lint, and sand/muck cleaned off a few times. The pivot is scarred and scratched to hell, has a few very deep rubs on it, but the darned thing still opens smoother than anything else I have. I know some day the liner will wear out from use, but Its already been used as a chisel for a lockset install once, I think its earned its retirement when it eventually needs it.

I'm not saying just Emersons are like this, I think its a design difference. I hear ZTs are the same way, as well as some Spydies like the Manix or Para, that just take the whipping with good form.

All that said and done, I think this Blur I just picked up might be the compromise between it all, its fast, sturdy, open backed, and simple. I bet there are other companies with options out there like it.

Yeah, that was some rambling for sure, but maybe it'll help somebody pick up a great work knife. IMO few things are more important knife/tool wise, than a long life, cost per year of use above almost all else.
 
I have beat my spyderco military to hell and it is allways in good working order. I have used it for everything i use a knife for and i love it. Im also getting a cold steel recon 1. I heard it was the toughest out there.
 
There are going to be a lot of variations even within the same companies knives depending on price range and intended use.

When it comes down to it as long as the knife does what you want it to do then fine.

They are all good, just different.

Spyderco, Cold Steel, Strider, CRK, Benchmade, Kershaw (ZT), Busse and Bussekin are all on my list for production blades.

Spyderco and Strider impress me the most when it comes to folders and Busse for Fixed Blades.

I am sure some will disagree with me and that's fine as it's my opinion, but I like simple clean designs with great steel that just plain work. :)
 
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IMO, the vast proportion of the tasks for which we carry blades can be suitably accomplished with a $40 US-made blade or a $20 Chinese-made blade.

As the price increases from there, the increase in performance you get with each additional dollar spent drops off. You start paying for aesthetics, rather than performance. Or you pay for more performance than your daily tasks really require.

edited to add:
Example: A CPM M4 blade will hold an edge way longer than one of AUS8. But for the vast majority of us, a blade of 8Cr13MoV will hold an edge as well as we really need. I can buy an 8Cr14MoV bladed knife for about $20 bucks and it will do everything I need to do with an EDC.

Example: A Buck 110 can be had for ~$40 and it will do most of the things I really need a knife to do and it will do them well.
 
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knarfeng said:
IMO, the vast proportion of the tasks for which we carry blades can be suitably accomplished with a $40 US-made blade or a $20 Chinese-made blade.

As the price increases from there, the increase in performance you get with each additional dollar spent drops off. You start paying for aesthetics, rather than performance. Or you pay for more performance than your daily tasks really require.
Click to expand...

A $20 SAK will handle most of them I think if you get right down to it. :D

It's that extra 10% of use that really makes the difference and why there are some knives that take it over the top.
 
In the performance dept with my knives (Emerson, BM, ZT, Strider). I would put Strider#1, ZT and BM tied for #2, Emerson #3. The Emerson is a better slicer than the ZT. I seem to be able to get the chisel grind on my CqC-11 wicked sharp all the time. I hated the chisel grind when I first got it but now I love how easy it is to maintain a razor edge. The Strider just has better balance in the hand than all the others and is built like a brick without the excessive weight of the ZT. I guess they all excel in different areas.
 
i feel the same way about lasting through all the stuff i will USE it for. i have on order a zt 350 a benchmade 755 mpr and also a spyderco phoenix. all of these knives will see use probably more than they are designed to or not. i just want a tough knife i can clip in my pocket and have it be there for me for any of the reasons a person would carry a knife. now for fixed blades i have to admit this whole obsession started a month or so ago with a couple of becker knives. more specifically a bk9 a bk2, and a becker necker lol. beckers are made strong and are priced so that a person like me can take them out and abuse them in the woods and not feel bad about it at all. you have got to love that bk2 man that knife is cheap solid as the day is long and and a joy to hold in the hand. micarta is the only thing missing from the bk2 and bk9 i already have some micarta on the necker and its a great knife. if i had the scratch and the balls to order a large busse for bush craft/ survival i would, but unless you are really hard on it the bk2 should last to the end. now i have owned knives for years and used to collect and use them as a kid, but since got out of the scene so i'd like to think that that combined with the chef experience i have lends me a decent opinion on what at least a good fixed blade is. the folders previously mentioned will be my first probably ever lol so we will see how this goes, but i heard good things about them all. i will have some more feed back for you in a couple of weeks when i get a chance to actually use them all.
 
I think you need to get a Spyderco Gayle Bradley. It has great quality, but also very advanced blade design. The CPM-M4 holds an edge great, but is also tough enough for the high hollow grind they put on it. The result is a thin edge that cuts well even when dull, but it won't get dull fast. I think the hollow grind of the Manix 2 is why it performed so well for you; the GB does this even better.

I'm curious, why is CRK second tier by your estimation? I've been considering getting a higher end folder way down the road, and it would be interesting to hear how they fall behind in the long term with your heavy use.
 
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