Just wondering

[rick melear]

I bought my first custom knife in 1981 from a guy name Chris Miller in Hollywood, FL. I bought it as a game knife and because it offered edge holding performance that at the time i thought was unavailable in factory produced knives. The knife has performed well and i still own it. I have owned many "true" customs since then, some forged some stock removal and have enjoyed them all. This by no means is meant to start a flame but just a thought. With factory knifes of today being offered in the latest high perfomance steels who of you oldtimers like myself still by customs for performance reasons only. I very much enjoy the satisfaction of well made custom knife and always will.

 

[rick melear]

103 reads and no response

 

[J.Manuel]

I also bought my first custom in 1981 & am still buying them today for using and collecting . That said I also have some fantastic factory knives that are really well made . My most recent is a Strider folder I really like . Boils down to a personal choice I guess -

 

[rprocter]

I own a lot of custom knives and usually choose one of the Hunters to field dress what game i get during hunting season. These knives are in the $300-$500 range. Over the years i've dressed out over 60 deer, elk & moose so i have a moderate amount of experience doing this.
Just for fun a couple of seasons ago, i decided to try a Rough Rider Jumbo Trapper for this job. It's a $15 knife, one of the more expensive RR knives because of it's slightly larger size.
The results are here, post #356: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/582468-Rough-Rider-amp-Related-Slipjoints/page18
It's a good post with nice pictures, i do hope you look at it.
The results floored me. A $15 knife made this the slickest, fastest, easiest job ever, and was still able to shave arm hairs after all was done. This included cutting through from the hair side to amputate all 4 limbs at the lower joints. Deer hair is notorious among hunters for dulling a blade.
I still regularly buy custom knives but i can no longer justify this extravagance 'because they cut better, edge hold longer', because it simply is not true.
roland