knife company conversation (anything goes)

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i like knives

 

[vwb563]

Here are some quick and dirty opinions:

• Spyderco - owner participates here; great reputation for customer service, great knives, own many, never had a problem of any sort; probably my favorite company; prices are moderate although they seem to be getting more and more pricey.
• Kershaw - great company participation on the forum here; lots of designs in lots of categories and prices, something for everyone; I have used there customer service and it is second to none; the biggest flaw for me is that several of their knives that I've owned have developed rust
• Benchmade - really well made knives; AXIS lock is great; designs have been relatively unexciting lately and the pricing keeps going up; the company doesn't participate here and the two times I have emailed with a customer service question, I didn't get a reply.
• Victorinox - modestly priced; ultra reliable; honor their waranty; anonymous around here
• Buck - the US version of Victorinox to me, although I have owned that many; the Buck 110 holds its own against any knife made by any manufacturer, I wish I could say that about more of their models
• Cold Steel - crazy videos; they make some really good stuff and some really bad stuff; the most inconsistent of the major companies that I can think of; some of the good stuff is incredibly overpriced; wide variety of innovative offerings
• Emerson - great owner, great designs; not-so-great liner locks
• Strider - very poor customer service reputation and spotty QC; great designs and great materials; I love mine, but they are very expensive
• Leatherman/Gerber/SOG - mass-marketed; mostly junk
• Chris Reeve - well made and will last a lifetime, but even as an owner of several, I'm not sure they are worth what you pay

I agree with everything you have said except one thing. In my personal experience the Leatherman Tools are far from junk. They are excellent multi-tools and do not deserve to be classified as "mostly junk" or on the same level as the Gerber and SOG tools. Leathermans are a far cry above those two in quality and usefulness. Tmho...