Is it worth actually it to spend $100+ on a knife?

I'd say from a "cutting tool" perspective a ~50$/€ knife is going to do everything you need.
Above that its just nicer materials, better worksmanship and want-factor
 
zl1 said:
Are there really any major upsides to spending more for "quality blades"?
I'm considering purchasing a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 but $100 seems steep even though I'm very interested.
What I'm asking is, where is that point where you'd see diminishing returns?
Click to expand...

Welcome to BF. We are knife junkies here, not mind readers! :)

Only you can answer those questions. If you are using sub-100 dollar knives, are happy with their performance, and you feel the para 2 really doesn't do it for you for its price (you are not lusting after it)....then there is no upside to it for you. You would be throwing your money away. We can't figure what's in your head out for you.

I can tell you: 1) Plenty of members here love the Para2; and 2) there are a ton of great knives under $100. That info we can help you with.
 
I would encourage you to try it. If you get it and don't like it just sell it on here. For 10-20 bucks you will have answered your own question.

I bought a BM Landslide to see how I would like a cheaper knife. I did not like it.
 
Executive said:
A few items from the McDonald's dollar menu will suffice as a lunch. Compare the few dollars you spend at McD's to a more expensive lunch prepared by an expert chef using the finest ingredients. The chef lunch is going to taste better, be better for you, and be generally more satisfying, although it will cost more. Only you can decide where your "sweet spot" for pricing is. For me, the $75-150 range provides excellent design, materials, and assembly of a folding knife. Below $75 and I don't trust the quality. Above $150 and I don't want to risk ruining/losing/breaking the knife. Hope this helps.
Chris
Click to expand...
Chris,
I agree with your example on McDonalds, but IMHO there are plenty good quality knives under $75: Spyderco Centofante3/4, Native, Delicas, Enduras, Dragonfly. Many good SAKs are under $75 as well as other brands.
zl1 said:
Are there really any major upsides to spending more for "quality blades"?
I'm considering purchasing a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 but $100 seems steep even though I'm very interested.
What I'm asking is, where is that point where you'd see diminishing returns?
Click to expand...
Para2 certainly worth $100 for most of the people. Will it worth for you? I am not sure. Never buy a knife, which you feel is expensive, most likely you will not use it. Few cuts, few days carry and it lost about 30% value.
I used to carry SAK, which I bought for $20 for many years. One day I decided that I need "modern" knife and bought Gerber for the same $20. Reading BF, I realized that steel on that knife is not so great and bought Griptilian with 440C for around $50. At that time, it was so expensive that I was baby it for a month. It took me a while to hit $100 barrier, but knives were much less expensive back then. Unfortunately now an average knife is pushing close to $200 and many nice ones are over:(
So buy Para only if you can afford to use. There are quite a few good knives, which are less expensive, but again Para2 well worth $100.
 
If its going to be a user--- Yes, the enjoyment will be worth at least $100. Or say you sell it used later. It only costs you the difference between the price and the used price for the time you spend with it.

If you are going to buy it to collect--- Yes, but as a wise man once told me all good investments are made in the buying!
 
Anyone realize the OP hasn't posted since the thread was started. ;)
 
$100.00 isn't much when you truly think about it.......... Don't buy any more cheap knives, dont buy sharpening equipment or pay to have those cheapies sharpened and get a good long lasting blade like the spyderco.
 
zl1 said:
but $100 seems steep even though I'm very interested.
Click to expand...

I think there is little qualitative gain when going over $100. A $60 FFG VG-10 Delica will vivisect a box just as good as, and in many cases better than a $230 or $445 superknife. For the most part, people will justify the spendy knife by claiming it has quality materials, great fit-n-finish and "better" steels than reasonably priced knives. While this can be true, these "improvements" translate to very little if any objective improvement in performance. A Sebenza 25 at $460 shipped is not objectively 8x "better" than a FFG Delica. Yeah, you will cry with joy the first time you feel how smooth it opens. But that doesn't make it cut cardboard or peel an apple any better. Fit and finish are quiet separate from performance. [Street creds: my Umnumzaan opens like Angel butter. :thumbup:].

People - me included - buy spendy knives to feel good. And feeling good is not a bad thing at all. We act like we do it for the titanium and the ELMAX. But thats bull. We do it to feel good. I should know. My 2nd ZT 0561 arrives tomorrow, and its not because the $30 UK Penknife in my pocket won't peel an apple or open a bag of mulch.

This view is not generally accepted, but that doesn't mean its not true. :thumbup:
 
Yes. Yes it is worth it. It is also worth buying inexpensive knives if you find one that meets your needs.
 
BePrepared said:
At about $3 you start the diminishing returns.

For $3, you can buy a steak knife from Walmart that will cut most anything you need cut, and will not break under normal use

For 10 times that, you can buy a knife that will cut most anything you need cut, and will not break under normal use, and will hold a decent edge

for 100 times that , you can buy a knife that will cut most anything you need cut, and will not break under hard use, and will hold an excellent edge for an extended period of use

neither of these are going to do ANYTHING 10 or 100 times better than the $3 knife... but they will be BETTER...

The same can be said for cars, shoes, or just about anything you care to name.

Don't choose your price point based on diminishing returns. Choose your price point based first upon your NEEDS, and second, on your budget
Click to expand...

Excellent post :thumbup:
 
Whether or not such-and-such-a-knife is 'worth it' or not is an extremely subjective thing - it depends entirely on your personal preference.

I can get just about everything I want or need out of a knife from knives that fall into the 50-100$ price range, give or take. At those prices, I can get the steels I like best, the handle materials I want, locking mechanisms that suit me well, and knives that are built very well. So, for me, it's not 'worth it' to go much above 100-120$ in pricerange. A lot of people have the attitude that "well if you get what you pay for, then every 300$ knife must be three times better than every 100$ knife!" or, for example, "A Sebenza costs way more than a Para 2, therefore it must be way better than a Para 2!" - I have found that these are not necessarily the case. For example, I've handled a couple of sebenzas and an umnumzan and wasn't really overly impressed with them - make no mistake, they were nice enough, but were they nice enough to drop a half a grand on? To me, no - not when I've found knives that suit me much better than those two particular designs at a much lower price - knives which can also, objectively speaking, accomplish every single task that you can accomplish with more expensive mid-techs or customs.

To ask whether or not a particular knife is 'Worth it' is a totally pointless question. The real question is whether or not that particular knife suits YOU, and that's something you have to determine for yourself.
 
I would say the point where diminishing returns starts is around $20 but for me I don't bother with most knives under $350.
 
Ankerson said:
Anyone realize the OP hasn't posted since the thread was started. ;)
Click to expand...

I'm here :)
Just taking in all the comments!

$100 definitely won't set me back.
As far as diminishing returns, I mean simply like, hey you buy a $100 knife and then later decide that you want to purchase a $200 knife. Is the quality getting any better at that point?
I'm sure the premium steels are nice but a few extra cuts for $50-$100 more? Where is the line drawn? That probably gets in towards the enthusiast side however hehe.
I bought a Spyderco Tenacious and my brother bought a Delica 4 FFG in Green which I was pretty impressed with. I felt that the Tenacious wasn't that great in my hand and just seemed crude by comparison and thats just $30 vs $50.

I can appreciate a nice knife when I see one :)
 
I personally feel that $125 is the point at which marginal benefit = marginal cost. For those who aren't business majors, that means it is the sweet spot where every dollar you spend in addition to $125 is not is not worth the incremental gains in quality that you get. The Military and Paramilitary being perfect examples of this.
 
Well any item is only worth what a willing seller and a willing buyer agree to...the rest of us don't matter.

Best.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top