Is there a breakdown of brand hierarchy?

J

Jersey Drew

Joined
Feb 9, 2022
Messages
65
I’ve been coming across more and more brands as I’m starting to look into this hobby. So I am curious to know which brands fall into which tier.
if we were to say these tiers:

god lever or grail level full customs
high end or small batch production
mid tier
entry level
 
Welcome to the forums.

I personally rarely spend of $150 on a knife, so I will let someone else try to put a tier list together.

If you are looking for a new knife, let us know what kind of tasks you will be doing, any legal info we know (for example, some places require a blade length under 3 inches), and most importantly your budget. We will gladly recommend some knives.
 
That is a really hard question. One made harder by the fact that it’s all subjective.

Personally, I suggest reading/watching reviews, asking here on the forum about certain knives to hear people’s experiences, and then buying and trying to determine your own “tier list”.

Personally, I’m finding Vero Engineering to be easily high tier, and they only produce relatively small batches. APurvis Blades is pretty high up there for me as well.
 
Like how are the italian brands, mkm lion steel and fox? I see some expensive toor and medford knives and never heard of the brands in my life.
 
I have been on the forum actively less than a year, and one thing I've learned is there are about a gazillion knives in the world. In fact, I have seen knife brands on this forum I had never heard of that are well known to knife enthusiasts: it's been very eye opening for me.
With that said, my criteria for choosing a knife,has changed. I now choose a knife based on 3 factors: what will I use it for, What is the better design for that use, and what is the better steel for that use.
From a personal perspective, I don't buy cheap junk - it's not worth the $15 except Opinel (my opinion). And I'm hard pressed to buy $400 knives (my economic position, and personally, it would really hurt if the blade broke or knife was lost). But I'm not opposed to the $100-$250 range as there are lots of good knives there that should last a lifetime. All these normally use more premium steels (my favorites are 3V Cru-Wear S35V and probably CPM154).
BUT, I carry a Rat 1(AUS8) and 2 (D2) around the place for general work, paired with a Spyderco Tenacious (8CR13MOV). And I like the Kabar Dozier in AUS8 too. And if one of these breaks or gets lost - I won't shed too many tears. I also have ESEE 3,4,6 which I really like because they fit my criteria of features like blade shape, handle design, and materials (1095 ain't bad). And if they break, I get a new one from Esee.
Still, I am always looking at those $300-$500 ones. And someday ...
 
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Jersey Drew said:
Like how are the italian brands, mkm lion steel and fox? I see some expensive toor and medford knives and never heard of the brands in my life.
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Go Medford for a pocket brick. Not all of them are crazy thick, but that’s what they’re known for. I think they’re overpriced, but that’s just me.

Toor makes nice ones by all accounts. Not my cup of tea, but no issues for the price range as far as I know.

Read and watch reviews before buying any expensive knife (I’d counsel), but some of the Italian brands seem to be especially hit or miss in terms of “blatant errors”.
 
SD747 said:
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Still, I am always looking at those $300-$500 ones. And someday ...
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You’ll get there lol I wish I did, sonner than later. When I started collecting knives I would buy whatever I thought looked cool and had speedsafe lol now I have a shoebox full of $30-$50 Kershaws…now I think more about my purchases, and save up for something special, since I have plenty of users anyway. Like right now I have $350 extra burning a hole in my pocket, and a Microtech really really tempting me, but if I can hold out a few more weeks I plan on buying a Wharncliffe Eklipse (which is my grail at the moment). I would put that knife in the “God” territory lol
 
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