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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
ka-bar
- Thread starter crazymountainman
- Start date
Ebbtide
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 7,958
Moine said:
No, you don't have to pay 300+ bucks to get a serious blade.
The Swedish Army Knife (FB) is a 10 buck serious blade. Serious enough for the Swedish Army, anyway.
One tenth the price of the knife you suggested. Does that make your knife overpriced?
[What? It won't stand up to the abuse you say?
Well, I wouldn't know. I don't abuse my knives. From the lowly SwAK, to my forged bowies...I cut with them. I don't dig holes, chop cinderblocks or pry things apart with them. And when it comes to "what if" scenerios, I'd rather think "what can I do to avoid a what if situation" A smart man said that you shouldn't plan to improvise.]
Then there is pride in ownership. You are obviously proud of your purchase. And if your purchase makes you happy that is good.
Just as I am proud of my 300+ buck forged blades and the $70 Marbles that I won for designing a logo on one of the other forums. And my SwAK makes me happy everytime I use it in the garden and garage. It'll probably come fishing this weekend too.
Let's not down talk other folk's choices though...
One has to keep things in perspective.
So back to the original question.
The KBar has been around for years for good reason. It is a good knife.
I fished, camped and hunted for ages (before the forums
) with a Schrade Sharpfinger and folding bow saw (Svensaw) I never felt like I was lacking. The Sharpfinger never rusted badly...once it had a light dusting of orange on it that came off with WD40 and 000 steel wool. (That was after a day of saltwater fishing, hot sun and too much beer. I didn't wash it with fresh water when I got home.)If I'm out in the woods this is what I'll take in my pack & pockets.
Queen D2 Canoe Slip Joint, Helle Jegermester 5" 12c7 Stainless and Gransfors Bruks Mini. The 2 knives are around 50 each the mini is up to around 90. All well worth the investment.
If the car is nearby then the bigger stuff comes along, like the axe, hatchet and golok.
At the East Coast Custom Knife show I overheard Bob Dozier talking to a perspective customer. He was explaining his choices in steel, grind and handle materials. At the end he said:
"And after all that, it's just a knife."
Moine said:
No problem David, its my money and my choice. Granted there are lots of knives out there that will cut well and hold an edge. I like things my way and I ordered it from those materials because they please me. I also have a few Rolexes and while a Casio will do the same I would rather die than wear one.
Style baby, you gotta be born with it...
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2003
- Messages
- 494
Okay guys...
Please don't take me wrong. I don't talk down to/of anyone's choices. I respect you guys and I don't think it's stupid or anything to buy a 300$ knife. Just please don't say that it's the only way to get good quality... Your Lingers really are wonderful blades, and they all got me drooling, but my point still stands. I was just asking not to say that quality HAS to be expensive.
As far as abusive treatment is concerned, I don't beat up my blades too much either, but I do like to have a tough knife, just in case. Avoiding knife beating is obviously a first option, but then again, you've got some weird situations sometimes. I know a guy who cut his way out of a SUV with a Camp Tramp. He had nothing else, and the blade did the job (check out the Rat Chats archive if you don't believe me).
Call me stupid, I prefer buying a 89$ knife that will do that rather than a 300+ blade that might not tolerate it.
But then again, I'm a user, not a collector. With time, I ended up realizing that to go fishing or camping or hunting or whatever, I'd always grab the cheapest, toughest knife I had. The other ones were just too nice. That's how I ended up using more moras and less nice blades... and that's also how I ended up using those rats a lot. As they're tougher than most, and superbly functional, I get more good edge use for every penny spent.
Better yet: this blade procures me something worthy: freedom. I don't have to take care and worry about it. I just go and do the job, period. I don't know for you guys, but I couldn't do that with a 400$ blade for sure.
That's just my choice. I'm not preaching down to anyone, here... There's nothing wrong with expensive blades. High-end craftmanship has a price, and in this case I think those blades are well worth their price.
Cheers,
David
Please don't take me wrong. I don't talk down to/of anyone's choices. I respect you guys and I don't think it's stupid or anything to buy a 300$ knife. Just please don't say that it's the only way to get good quality... Your Lingers really are wonderful blades, and they all got me drooling, but my point still stands. I was just asking not to say that quality HAS to be expensive.
As far as abusive treatment is concerned, I don't beat up my blades too much either, but I do like to have a tough knife, just in case. Avoiding knife beating is obviously a first option, but then again, you've got some weird situations sometimes. I know a guy who cut his way out of a SUV with a Camp Tramp. He had nothing else, and the blade did the job (check out the Rat Chats archive if you don't believe me).
Call me stupid, I prefer buying a 89$ knife that will do that rather than a 300+ blade that might not tolerate it.
But then again, I'm a user, not a collector. With time, I ended up realizing that to go fishing or camping or hunting or whatever, I'd always grab the cheapest, toughest knife I had. The other ones were just too nice. That's how I ended up using more moras and less nice blades... and that's also how I ended up using those rats a lot. As they're tougher than most, and superbly functional, I get more good edge use for every penny spent.
Better yet: this blade procures me something worthy: freedom. I don't have to take care and worry about it. I just go and do the job, period. I don't know for you guys, but I couldn't do that with a 400$ blade for sure.
That's just my choice. I'm not preaching down to anyone, here... There's nothing wrong with expensive blades. High-end craftmanship has a price, and in this case I think those blades are well worth their price.
Cheers,
David
Ebbtide
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 7,958
Well said David.
Glad to se you've thought it through and didn't just fall for the ad copy
If I were trapped in a car I wouldn't think twice about using my $400 knife though
One of the forumites here used his Fowler to cut himself and his buddy out of his truck. Now there is a knife that cost more than my first car
And despite it's price, it performed well.
A good knife is a good knife is a good knife.
So I guess the trick is to buy a good knife, whenever you buy a knife, regardless of price
I bought my buddy a CS Bolo and a Frost's of Sweden Clipper. Way under $50 for those two and they work. Even made him a dual carry "Frankensheath" for them.
Another sub $50 pair would be a Martindale Golok and a Schrade Sharpfinger.
Glad to se you've thought it through and didn't just fall for the ad copy
If I were trapped in a car I wouldn't think twice about using my $400 knife though
One of the forumites here used his Fowler to cut himself and his buddy out of his truck. Now there is a knife that cost more than my first car
And despite it's price, it performed well.A good knife is a good knife is a good knife.
So I guess the trick is to buy a good knife, whenever you buy a knife, regardless of price
I bought my buddy a CS Bolo and a Frost's of Sweden Clipper. Way under $50 for those two and they work. Even made him a dual carry "Frankensheath" for them.
Another sub $50 pair would be a Martindale Golok and a Schrade Sharpfinger.
David,
Agreed, you can get quality for a good price, I am not disputing that. (Victorinox is a shining example)
For me, the material and the craftmanship that went into it is more important than 'would a less expensive item do the same job'
I also think a common misunderstanding with high end items is that they are frail, Rolex is a prime example, I was given mine by my parents 13 years ago. I used to work in a steel plant and construction and wore it all the time. Yes it has a few dings but it never missed a beat. Another is a Bally purse my wife had and EDC'd for 10 years and it still looked brand new. Yes it was a $250 purse, but it still looks new over 10 years later and she has used it nearly 3650 times even if she only goes into it once per day, not an unlikely average.
The Sebenza/Rolex posts have and will continue to rage on this forum for ever, and I don't think the proponents for either camp will change their position on it.
If I go camping I take a $450 North Face tent, why? Well after touring Australia in winter starting in Melbourne and having it pour down every day for over two weeks, not a single drop came in, that in itself justified the money to me. I knew that when I got back, as long as I put on my 'in tent' dry stuff I would be dry and snug until I left its confines.
Meh, anyway I'm ramnbling off topic :footinmou
What was the original question? 
Agreed, you can get quality for a good price, I am not disputing that. (Victorinox is a shining example)
For me, the material and the craftmanship that went into it is more important than 'would a less expensive item do the same job'
I also think a common misunderstanding with high end items is that they are frail, Rolex is a prime example, I was given mine by my parents 13 years ago. I used to work in a steel plant and construction and wore it all the time. Yes it has a few dings but it never missed a beat. Another is a Bally purse my wife had and EDC'd for 10 years and it still looked brand new. Yes it was a $250 purse, but it still looks new over 10 years later and she has used it nearly 3650 times even if she only goes into it once per day, not an unlikely average.
The Sebenza/Rolex posts have and will continue to rage on this forum for ever, and I don't think the proponents for either camp will change their position on it.
If I go camping I take a $450 North Face tent, why? Well after touring Australia in winter starting in Melbourne and having it pour down every day for over two weeks, not a single drop came in, that in itself justified the money to me. I knew that when I got back, as long as I put on my 'in tent' dry stuff I would be dry and snug until I left its confines.
Meh, anyway I'm ramnbling off topic :footinmou
What was the original question?
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2003
- Messages
- 494
Temper,
I respect your choices, and better yet I agree with you. Expensive stuff, usually, is reliable, quality stuff. I own an old, second hand (300 000 km) Mercedes. It's still in perfect working order, and it's 15 years old. That's yet another example... Again -- and I think you guys actually agree with me too -- I just wanted to highlight the fact that reliable, high-performance stuff could be obtained for a better price.
Gentlemen, something very rare just happened. We seemed to slowly come close to an agreement
Cheers guys,
David
P.S.: I mean it: those are real cool blades !
Temper said:
I respect your choices, and better yet I agree with you. Expensive stuff, usually, is reliable, quality stuff. I own an old, second hand (300 000 km) Mercedes. It's still in perfect working order, and it's 15 years old. That's yet another example... Again -- and I think you guys actually agree with me too -- I just wanted to highlight the fact that reliable, high-performance stuff could be obtained for a better price.
Gentlemen, something very rare just happened. We seemed to slowly come close to an agreement
Cheers guys,
David
P.S.: I mean it: those are real cool blades !
MelancholyMutt
Doggy Style
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2002
- Messages
- 3,906
For many years, my only field knife was an Ontario K-bar clone. Served me very well for all outdoor chores till it was stolen.
As for something inexpensive yet sturdy, I'm interested in the Cold Steel Bushman.
As for something inexpensive yet sturdy, I'm interested in the Cold Steel Bushman.
MelancholyMutt
Doggy Style
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2002
- Messages
- 3,906
Hey Ebbtide...
Nice pic!
Where's some good hiking and camping around NYC?
Nice pic!
Where's some good hiking and camping around NYC?