I'm ready to spend $400 to $500 on a knife that's worth it - ideas?

hardheart said:
It was 7 months from my first email to my knife being delivered.
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Tell me hardheart - was it a "grail knife" as some try to make it out to be, where you under or overwhlemed? The blade grind looks awfully "raw" compared to say, a custom grind put on my Rick Hinderer for e.g. They seem to be deeply ground (meaning the lines left on the finished blade). Looks like a freshly plowed & planted soybean field, made out of steel. :)
 
Hard to say what a "grail" is even for myself. I've been feeling a bit underwhelmed by some of my high dollar knives, mostly due to the fact that it doesn't house the newest flavor of super steel. While I like my XM-18, I find the grind isn't exactly for EDC. In fact, I'm not sure what task in particular would make that specific grind shine outside of some light prying.

Actually, I haven't a clue what sort of use would call for a "hard use" knife in general without falling under the "list of things you should never use a knife for". I mean, I don't see why you wouldn't carry a dedicated tool for the job(machete, hammer, or prybar) rather than a compromise.

I'm getting to be a lot more appreciative of my Spyderco Para2 in S90V and Carbon Fiber, as it covers a good 99% of the cutting tasks I need it for, AND it has a top tier steel that really sits up there in edge retention.

Though I still couldn't help myself from sending in my Large Sebenza to have a sapphire put into the handle as well as adding in a small silver contrast design:thumbup:.
 
Mr. Clean said:
Reeek, go full custom. It's where you're going to end up anyways, trust me. My Yuna is one of my favorite knives, well worth the wait and the wait isn't even that long. I have a soft spot for Striders but don't own any anymore. Good knives at their USED price, not worth the sticker price in my opinion. Ray Laconico here has a great new pair of framelocks too. There's custom stuff on the exchange all the time too but there is so much good stuff. I'd say grab one good custom and then grab some semi-prod knives, such as:

CRK
Strider
DDR
Hinderer
Les George
RJ Martin (A must, I think)
Randy Doucette (more custom than not?)
Dozier (more custom than not?)

For custom check out:
Yuna
Todd Rexford
Deviant Blades
Ray Laconico
Anso
Crusader Forge
Chuck Gedraitis
Sniper Bladeworks
Kirby Lambert
David Mosier
Willumsen

You're welcome, and I'm sorry :D
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Les George, RJ Martin, Randy Doucette, and Dozier should be on the Custom list. These are not semi-production or mid-tech knives.
 
No one has mentioned Martin Knives that I can see. Their Tejas folders are very nice and has been my constant edc since I got it 2 weeks ago.
 
400 to 500 to me is the sweetest spot for selection of a quality folder, their are soooo many choices.

all this talk about a demko folder makes me glad ive had mine for awhile. their are hard use folders, and then their is a demko custom. to me its like comparing an armored car to a tank, overbuilt vs darn near indestructible. the only downside to having it? knowing that each new tough, overbuilt folder i buy isnt going to be as impressive to me.

speaking of which, ive got a grayman satu folder coming to me next week, a whole new entry into the tough folder field.
 
I'd get a Darrel Ralph HTM Madd Maxx.
For smaller folders there are plenty of production knives that (IMO) are just as good, if not better than the more expensive stuff.
Big high end folders are hard to come by.
 
cziv said:
Tell me hardheart - was it a "grail knife" as some try to make it out to be, where you under or overwhlemed? The blade grind looks awfully "raw" compared to say, a custom grind put on my Rick Hinderer for e.g. They seem to be deeply ground (meaning the lines left on the finished blade). Looks like a freshly plowed & planted soybean field, made out of steel. :)
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Over - mostly from the feel in hand. I expected great F&F because it's a custom, but I didn't expect such a big folder to also be quite so buttery in the ergonomics.
 
Tony8179 said:
Les George, RJ Martin, Randy Doucette, and Dozier should be on the Custom list. These are not semi-production or mid-tech knives.
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This is a hundred percent true. I put them on the top of that list because as I've found, they're easier to get ahold of then some of the other makers but you are certainly right.
 
If I had 550 bucks to spend on one knife, this is how:

sorry I don't have a picture but i'll tell you how you can see it

1. go to this site: http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm
2. click Build a Buck Custom Knives Get Started
3. Select 110 folding hunter
4. scroll the bar and select mirror polish
5. click choose a handle, select Nickel Bolsters
6. scroll bar and select Paua Shell
7. There it is, what d'ya think?

I think it is stunningly beautiful.

Peace Out. :cool:
 
This is beautiful too, if you're looking more for a fixed blade:
BU976PUMLE.jpg

its a:
Buck File Dagger Paua Shell
costs $321
 
hardheart said:
Over - mostly from the feel in hand. I expected great F&F because it's a custom, but I didn't expect such a big folder to also be quite so buttery in the ergonomics.
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That's great news hardheart! Jim said the same about his Demko custom. Mine's done at the end of this month. I got the email over the weekend. "AD-10" (don't know if that's the model number or the 10th one he's made :confused:)

It's like Ankerson's knife with a 4" CPM 154 blade and Ti backspacer, contoured G-10 handle. It'll be a tank and probably require a belt sheath. I'm getting pretty stoked about it! :D
 
cziv said:
That's great news hardheart! Jim said the same about his Demko custom. Mine's done at the end of this month. I got the email over the weekend. "AD-10" (don't know if that's the model number or the 10th one he's made :confused:)
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It's the model number. I placed a custom order with Andrew about a week ago, and he referred to the knife as the AD-10 in our communications too. Either that, or he's sending me your knife. :D
 
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neuron said:
It's the model number. I placed a custom order with Andrew about a week ago, and he referred to the knife as the AD-10 in our communications too. Either that, or he's sending me your knife. :D
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Heaven forbid! :eek:
 
This thread is rich in excellent choices in that price range. I've owned about 75% of the recommendations at one time or another and have found them to be great knives.

As happened with me, a person can get jaded and become picky for the the tiniest reason and end up selling/trading outstanding knives for no other reason that something else beckons. The brand in your price range that I've found that gives the best chance at long term satisfaction is Chris Reeve Knives; the Sebenza and Umnumzaan in their various forms in particular.
 
I have to add that I think the Demko's look amazing. I plan on getting one for myself sometime.

Someone mentioned fixed blades. If I were to get a fixed blade at the moment, I would seriously consider a Ban Tang custom. Sometimes I get on his forum on here and just drool over his gallery. As far as I can tell, he just started out recently, but man he has a gift. His knives are beautiful. In my opinion.
 
I dont mean to offend anyone, but I personally think striders feel like junk compared to the sebenza. I find the umnumzaan to be meatier than the PTs.

Then again I'm not a fan of overbuilt, heavy for no reason knives. To me, when you pick up a strider, it just doesn't seem to be of the same quality as a chris reeve knife, and therefore isn't worth the price IMHO. I realize many out there disagree, this is just my personal opinion (for me).
 
Well I ended up getting an Umnumzaan. I had the large 21 on order for a couple of weeks but asked if I could change to the Umnumzaan and retain the 10% off and shipping credit and they said no problem. So, now I'm waiting on a backordered Zaan instead of the BO'ed large 21 :D A Brand New Zaan delivered for $360 from a well regarded dealer :D
 
Nice man. I love my Zaan. I rotate it in my edc. Something I didn't anticipate was the break in for my zaan. When closing the zaan, it was pretty stiff when I got it. It took it awhile to get comfortable. My thumb literally had a blister on it after the first day of opening and closing it. After a couple weeks either my thumb got tougher or it got easier to close, not sure.

Anyways, the zaan is an excellent purchase. Smooth buttery action. Mine has yet to develop any blade play and I have used it just as hard as any of my other folders. Which is impressive. An overall fantastic knife.
 
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