Knifetests.com Project 1 Destruction Test.

And, I really hate to burst your bubble, but the fact that "a badass uses it" doesn't mean that said badass is any more qualified to rate it than the kid who delivers your newspapers.
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Um yeah. Whatever you do don't listen to the guys who use it, listen to the guy who breaks it on purpose. Cause that sure makes sense.

When a "badass" carries a piece of equipment around the world and uses has used said item across three continents, that's a pretty good field test.

You start to notice that Casio G Shock watches are pretty popular with soldiers. Your average grunt isn't any more knowledgeable about watches than he is about knives, but what works gets word of mouth approval and young guys imitate old guys.

So while educated metallurgists don't abound in the military services, there is something to be said for large scale field use testing.

Jimro
 
Uhuh...and I'm going to tell you again, there's a huge number of serious operators out there who would never dream of paying more than $40.00 for a knife. It's not that there's nothing to their opinions, but it shouldn't be the sole criteria to base your decisions on if you're looking for performance.

My cousin went the SEAL route (Army family eventually was able to stomach a Navy guy in our midst, though it was stressful ;) ), and would still be there, I'd guess, if he hadn't shattered his hip. Far more hooah than I ever was, and the knife he swore by was an Ontario USAF pilot's knife. Very sorry, but the fact that his war stories are more impressive than mine doesn't convince me that the pilot's knife is the last word in utility cutlery.
 
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Grampa said:
. . .
p.s. The filleting thing was not an example I brought up - I was just going with what another poster wrote. Obviously a fillet knife is not a combat knife. However, I'll bet the WWII Russian soldier who had his throat cut with the older cousin of a Normark fillet knife didn't have a chance to complain that the Finnish soldier didn't use a proper combat knife! ;)
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I have three pre-WWII Finn puukkos. All have a diamond cross-section with a fuller. Averaging out the three, we have a 3.874" blade, weight of 2 oz., and thickness of .197" (just under 13/64"). Compared to a Normark filleting knife, they are brutes.
 
J_Curd said:
A knife is a knife. Not a machete, not a chisel, not a wedge.
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You are implying that a person in a "survival" situation has free access to all the tools you've listed above and more. So, I assume pilots, navy seals and those unfortunate souls who get stranded somewhere in the woods by accident should be carrying full set of metal and wood working tools including axes, saws, chisels, screwdrivers and such?
From your perspective CRK PJ I and most of the CRK one piece line is as useless and expensive as it gets. 400$ for a 0.25 inch tool steel hunk? For what, just to cut? The best survival knife with that approach is a chef's knife.
 
Actually, a chef's blade could make a great weapon in the hands of a skilled user. The amusing thing here is that we all have different concepts of what a 'survival' blade should be, yet J. Curd has some sensible comments. Of course, I won't have my razor sharp Tuatahi work axe to cut myself out of a downed shopper when I need it. What will be in my reach is a well used SAK.

I also watch some of the tests. But a knife is really for cutting/slicing, so I am not swayed much by the strength or lack of strength of the blades that have been subjected to punishment outside the normal range of knife duties. My Basic 9 has nothing to worry about. Should I need to chop a limb off a tree, I can grab a reprofiled Ontario and be delighted.
 
I think that actually no knife is worth $400. When it comes down to it, you're probably paying about $200 for the name.

There is a huge problem with the cost/payoff ratio that knife nuts seem to want to ignore, because it makes the hobby seem silly when actual experience shows that pretty cheap knives perform nearly as well as MOST customs....

I'm sorry, but I think there is some wisdom in not paying more than maybe $150 for a knife. I think that's about the sweet spot. After that, its definitely a case of diminishing returns.
 
Abacus said:
I think that actually no knife is worth $400.
I'm sorry, but I think there is some wisdom in not paying more than maybe $150 for a knife. I think that's about the sweet spot. After that, its definitely a case of diminishing returns.
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Price and value are subjective, there is no "sweet spot". There might be a point of what a said individual could afford or justify, but that's about it.
 
Abacus said:
I'm sorry, but I think there is some wisdom in not paying more than maybe $150 for a knife. I think that's about the sweet spot. After that, its definitely a case of diminishing returns.
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Well, there's *some* wisdom in just about anything that comes down the pike.

There is definitely not a point of diminishing returns at $151 retail, though. You can't even retail the materials for some utility knives at that price.

There are plenty of honest-to-goodness, no B/S user knives that are well worth $400.
 
tsiloics said:
There are plenty of honest-to-goodness, no B/S user knives that are well worth $400.
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value is a purely subjective measure, and I personally do not agree with any user grade knife needing/having $400 of value. A knife is a hand tool, and I wouldn't pay $400 for a wrench or hammer.
 
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hardheart said:
value is a purely subjective measure, and I personally do not agree with any user grade knife needing/having $400 of value. A knife is a hand tool, and I wouldn't pay $400 for a wrench or hammer.
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Fair enough, but let's be honest. I mean, I doubt you'd come up with 4,600 posts on wrenchforums or hammerforums. ;)
 
My cousin went the SEAL route (Army family eventually was able to stomach a Navy guy in our midst, though it was stressful ), and would still be there, I'd guess, if he hadn't shattered his hip. Far more hooah than I ever was, and the knife he swore by was an Ontario USAF pilot's knife. Very sorry, but the fact that his war stories are more impressive than mine doesn't convince me that the pilot's knife is the last word in utility cutlery.
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Gotta love the pilots survival knife, 20 dollars at the PX. I carried a pilots survival knife for years on my kit, I was so cool I had the handle wrapped in BLACK 550 cord. It was a good knife and I still have it, I just replaced it with a cheap Cold Steel UWK that looked like it would be fun to play with for a while. The Jumpaster who showed me how to wrap the handle happened to be one of those badasses, time in the 75th, 10th SFG, etc, that you can wear in the Army also carried that same knife until he upgraded to a SOG Seal Pup (another good knife that is inexpensive).

There are two schools of thought when it comes to field gear, buy the best you can afford or buy something that will get the job done but not break your heart when you lose it. Hell, there are dang lot of Marines out there who still swear by their Kabar (or USMC fighting knife if it's not a real Kabar) even though NOSS destroyed one very quickly.

Which brings me back to my original point, that just because it doesn't survive long on an intentional destruction test doesn't mean that it isn't a good knife.

Jimro
 
tsiloics said:
Well, there's *some* wisdom in just about anything that comes down the pike.

There is definitely not a point of diminishing returns at $151 retail, though. You can't even retail the materials for some utility knives at that price.

There are plenty of honest-to-goodness, no B/S user knives that are well worth $400.
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I disagree. While maybe a solid gold knife would be worth more than 400 bucks in raw materials, how honestly good to you need a chunk of steel to be? Basically, within the 150 dollar price range, you can get a knife with steel that is as good as basically anyone ever needs a knife steel to be. I maintain that this is a reality ignored by lots of people. I think most of the fascination with customs is just the simple having of a custom knife with a sweet name on it. While these can be incredibly high quality knives, you still pay a lot for the name of the person who made it.

And as people have pointed out, price is subjective. I can't tell you that a baked potato isn't worth $400 if that's the price you're willing to pay for it. I can tell you that in actual performace, above a certain price point you can't really see much of a difference, barring overpriced crap.
 
Materials and the brand name markup do not add up to the total cost it takes to ship a knife out the door.

Labor is not free. Knife sales must pay for administrative overhead and design costs, advertising and promotional costs, quality control and testing (this is certainly worth the price), possible licensing for design features, acquisition/inspection/maintenance of all equipment, building construction/rent/lease, building maintenance and utilities, work safety insurance, training new employees, the material and labor costs of returned items and defective items/batches, website design and bandwidth, cost of bringing knives to and taking part in knife shows, etc.

If you want to buy a quality USA-made knife from a company that takes pride in its work and treats its employees fair it's going to cost you. It's a price I pay gladly.
 
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