In your opinion, what is the most OVERrated knife currently available for purchase.. and also list the most UNDERrated knife currently available? Why?

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Murdamooktemp said:
Fair play to Strider, their production wing no longer exists. Any production releases are produced by Mick and Josh exclusively I believe. He’s carried a lot of his custom stuff over to the production models. Any old stuff is probably fetching a mint on the secondary.
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This is true - I was referring to the actual design of SMF / SNG - they , in my opinion , are overrated. I’ve tried many different variations of these knives over the years, can’t get past the blade / handle ratio. I loved SNG’s, until I actually needed them to work ( cut stuff ). They look incredible in photo shoots, tactical and mean. In my experience they snag when used quickly. I love a few Strider fixed blades, MSS , MFS, DB’s and WP’s in tougher steels. The folders though.. not so much.

They do have great heat treatment, fit / finish is better than ever past 4 years. Not worth secondary market scalper prices to me. Better options for 1/3 the price.
 
luethge said:
This is true - I was referring to the actual design of SMF / SNG - they , in my opinion , are overrated. I’ve tried many different variations of these knives over the years, can’t get past the blade / handle ratio. I loved SNG’s, until I actually needed them to work ( cut stuff ). They look incredible in photo shoots, tactical and mean. In my experience they snag when used quickly. I love a few Strider fixed blades, MSS , MFS and WP’s in tougher steels. The folders though.. not so much.

They do have great heat treatment, fit / finish is better than ever past 4 years. Not worth secondary market scalper prices to me. Better options for 1/3 the price.
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My hollow ground z-wear SnG cuts like a laser. I can confirm my 3/4 ground SMF was a hard cutter. I don’t know if it snagged much, but anything deep and it was splitting more than cutting. I sold that a while ago.
 
Overrated- Shirogorov. $400-$700 knives that sell for $700-$1000 because one retailer basically has a monopoly on the brand's distribution in the US.

The most Underrated has, is and will be for the foreseeable future the Ontario RAT 1&2.
To me it is the best no frills, "one and done" knife for under $50. If they made a lefty I'd probably own about 6 of them.

I do think that Cold Steel will join the overrated ranks in the next few years. After my brief dealings with GSM post buyout, it seems like they are headed to Gerber/Schrade status.
 
NorthernSouthpaw said:
The most Underrated has, is and will be for the foreseeable future the Ontario RAT 1&2.
To me it is the best no frills, "one and done" knife for under $50. If they made a lefty I'd probably own about 6 of them.
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I'm sorry, aren't the RAT 1 and 2 both made with dual thumb studs with tip up and down mounting positions for the pocket clip on both right and left side?

EDIT; I just realized that you probably meant a left handed liner lock! It's funny, the few lefties I've known personally dislike left handed frame and liner locks, saying they feel "strange".
 
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Overrated, anything by Strider IMO a blocky handle and a blade that is all choils an weird grinds, with point like a cold chisel.
Underrated, anything by Civivi, thin blades and grinds, good designs, decent materials and excellent fit n finish, regardless of price.
 
elasmonut said:
Overrated, anything by Strider IMO a blocky handle and a blade that is all choils an weird grinds, with point like a cold chisel.
Underrated, anything by Civivi, thin blades and grinds, good designs, decent materials and excellent fit n finish, regardless of price.
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Have you owned a Strider? Flat grinds and hollow grinds are pretty standard. And I’ve never owned one with a “point like a cold chisel”. Are you referring to the edge apex?
 
I'll refrain from doing the "overrated" thing, as it's not my style to crap all over things that someone else might dig. Furthermore, I feel like I would need to experience something before calling it overrated, and though I have had knives that just weren't for me and I passed them along, no particularly negative experiences spring to mind.

I'll go with this...Deep carry clips are overrated :p

As for underrated, I'll go with the Benchmade 757 Vicar (Seibert design). I myself looked past it for the longest time, only buying it at a substantial discount when they where liquidating them after they got discontinued. The action of this knife impressed me right out of the box. I've considered selling it a few times, but every time I do I open and close it a few times only to decide that it is worth more to me than they are fetching used. I really need to get some custom scales made up for this thing to breathe new life into it and get it some more pocket time.

EDIT: Have since noticed the title says "currently available", but oh well, I never was one for following the rules ;)

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Knives&Lint said:
I'll refrain from doing the "overrated" thing, as it's not my style to crap all over things that someone else might dig. Furthermore, I feel like I would need to experience something before calling it overrated, and though I have had knives that just weren't for me and I passed them along, no particularly negative experiences spring to mind.

I'll go with this...Deep carry clips are overrated :p

As for underrated, I'll go with the Benchmade 757 Vicar (Seibert design). I myself looked past it for the longest time, only buying it at a substantial discount when they where liquidating them after they got discontinued. The action of this knife impressed me right out of the box. I've considered selling it a few times, but every time I do I open and close it a few times only to decide that it is worth more to me than they are fetching used. I really need to get some custom scales made up for this thing to breathe new life into it and get it some more pocket time.

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I regret not buying that knife when I had the chance! Good to hear you're getting some real mileage out of it.
 
luethge said:
This is true - I was referring to the actual design of SMF / SNG - they , in my opinion , are overrated. I’ve tried many different variations of these knives over the years, can’t get past the blade / handle ratio. I loved SNG’s, until I actually needed them to work ( cut stuff ). They look incredible in photo shoots, tactical and mean. In my experience they snag when used quickly. I love a few Strider fixed blades, MSS , MFS, DB’s and WP’s in tougher steels. The folders though.. not so much.

They do have great heat treatment, fit / finish is better than ever past 4 years. Not worth secondary market scalper prices to me. Better options for 1/3 the price.
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I agree some of the fixed blade are simple, med to rough use designs.
The folders though...just keep going with the choils right up to the tip, sharpen the concave...I think Spyderco call 'em serrations.
 
I can not understand the hype with Busse, I have no experience with it, just my opinion of being too big and too thick. I do like some of the smaller ones. So I will ask just out of curiosity, do they start pretty high on the grind so they do have a good edge?
The most underrated is Opinel or Alox SA. Opinel is thin and slicey and the SA is just so useful with the basic tools.
 
ShadyMethods said:
I'll second that one.

Underrated goes to the Tashi Rowdy Hi Tech for me. It's a midtech that better built and better tuned than most customs. One of the best flippers I own.

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Thirds. I hate deep carry clips. I despise the look; think they’re functionally faulty (for my purposes), as they remove gripping real estate; and most of them being folded over, they result in hotspots the way I tend to hold a knife. I actually asked Benchmade for standard clips, so I could replace all of my BM-drilled knives with standard clips. The only exception is the Bugout because I don’t mind it aesthetically and the big BM clips overwhelm it.
 
cbach8tw said:
I can not understand the hype with Busse, I have no experience with it, just my opinion of being too big and too thick. I do like some of the smaller ones. So I will ask just out of curiosity, do they start pretty high on the grind so they do have a good edge?
The most underrated is Opinel or Alox SA. Opinel is thin and slicey and the SA is just so useful with the basic tools.
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Respectfully, I’m going to approach this with caution 😂. I’m definitely a Busse fan. That said, when I reach for a knife to cut something, rarely, if ever is it a Busse. The Busse knives I own are definitely for chopping or smashing things. They are fun. They are also EXPENSIVE. I can see how they would be considered overrated.. but if you like the idea of a knife that will most likely never break, and if it does - it’s replaced or fixed without question, they are great. They have built a very loyal fan base with their knives, and excellent customer service. Their knives are an acquired taste I guess. They do make thinner stock knives that cut really well also.

I guess that might have had more opinion in it than I intended. ( yeah - I love Busse knives ). Big choppers are FUN, not so practical though.
 
Ok I’ll chime in. I have many in mind but for overrated I’m going to have to go with the PM2. It’s a decent knife, that’s it. Definitely don’t see all the hype. It usually just uses decent materials (except exclusives) and it’s priced with some knives that I think have better locks and materials and feel. Don’t get it at all

As far as underrated I think there are so many but if I have to choose 1 knife I’m going to say the Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter. I picked mine up (well my gf actually got it for me) on sale for under $90 and it has S35VN steel, a super solid lock and great ergos. Honestly IMO it puts a lot of others in my knife box to shame for the price/what ya get statistic. If I had to say a brand that’s underrated I’m going with Hogue. They really are putting out some excellent offerings in the last few years and stepped up their knife game
 
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