Knives of all generations

CJZ

CJZ

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Dec 18, 2012
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Back in say, the 60's and 70's, a teenager or a regular guy probably had a trapper, a stockman, a Buck 110, etc... In his pocket. That was what knives looked like. Simple, reliable, good looking. Then the new age of knives slowly creeped up. We now have these modern, and claimed "tactical" knives, with fancy Titanium or G10 handles, some kind of super steel like S30V, and ridiclous price tags simply because of the name. (If you think about it, a $100 Spyderco probably only costs about half that to make and produce, maybe less, and since they're famous they mark up the prices). It's not completely about the quality of the knife that demands high prices, it's what people are willing to pay. Sebenzas are $400-$500 simply because that's what people are willing to pay. Dont get me wrong, they are still great products, (Had the chance to handle a few at ECCKS today, it was awesome) but is it really worth the money? I know i'll get flak for this. Also, no offense at all to Mr. Reeve. And it makes you wonder, if knives change so much in time, then what the hell are knives going to look like/ feel like/ cost in 20- 30 years?
 
"..then what the hell are knives going to look like/ feel like/ cost in 20- 30 years? ..."
- cjz

lets just say
that it could
still be the age of red mainland products
of whose prices
which by then
would most probably
cost 10 -30 times more
than what current prices are today...
 
i think my buck 110 was around $30. good knife, sure. is it worth the $30 compared to my $400 sebenza? not a chance. it isn't just about what one needs. i've never been in a situation where i needed anything more than a $7 opinel besides one handed opening. but my investment in a $400 sebenza is purely for entertainment. the fact that i get a knife that could last generations is just a bonus
 
No. That's what WE, as in "knife knuts", buy. The average plaebian nowadays that wants a pocket knife goes for garbage like Tac-Force, Gerber, or S&W. Also, I'm not sure if you've noticed this yet, but knives by reputable manufacturers (eg: Spyderco, CRK) tend to price their blades not only according to the cost of materials, but also labor, overhead, and equipment, among others. You'll also notice that the more expensive knives (again by reputable manufacturers) tend to have tighter manufacturing tolerances than cheaper ones (eg: Spyderco Tenacious vs Spyderco Para-Military 2).
 
In addition to the post above, I'd be willing to bet the president of buck makes 10x the salary that Chris Reeve does
 
I couldn't buy a Buck 110 when I was young. It was too expensive. I was working for maybe $1.25 an hour, and that $30 was an awful lot of money then. I was more likely to buy an Ideal, or Black Cat, and for a little less than the Buck, a Schrade in 1095. Imperials with their carbon steel blades and thin stock were just what I needed for slicing twine, cutting plastic for shading ( worked in greenhouses, we had to fool the plants into thinking it was another time of the year), opening bags of fertilizer, pearlite, etc.

We had tools for the difficult stuff so hard use knives weren't even thought of at the time.

One common myth I hear routinely was that 440C was a "supersteel" back then. I sure don't know where that one came from . The first super steel was 154cm, then later ATS 34. Custom users made plenty of 440C knives, but the users then were more likely to be W2, 5160, 10 series, etc. Re purposed files, "old chevy springs", and other good scrap from plows etc. Forged knives were the "super steel" blades, not some stainless steel that was outperformed by common, inexpensive carbon steels as far as the user was concerned. Forged was what you wanted to hear if you did buy or use customs. I still love W2, O1, and 52100. Mostly they were above my pay grade too, though.

Remember we had mostly Arkansas medium and hard stones. Norton stones were not as available and I only ever saw them advertised in magazines.440C then, as now in my opinion, comes up in the rear as far as good quality edges are concerned. Couple that with the extra difficulty involved in sharpening and it wasn't worth it. My carry knife was a camillus made ( other brand ?) barlow and it took nice edges very easily. It was worth more to me than a $125 custom art knife sold out of the back of gun digest.

Joe
 
CJZ said:
Simple, reliable, good looking.
Click to expand...

That's really subjective to personal opinion. A fixed blade knife is simpler than a traditional pocket knife, and I believe more reliable as well. A lot of the drive for new technology in handles and locks is trying to make a folder as solid as a fixed blade when open. People will always be willing to pay more for quality and technology. People get personal computers with 2TB hard drives, but they very rarely use anywhere near that much.

Convenience is another big driver. I hate knives with nail nicks because I barely have any thumb nails at all. Even as a kid, I had trouble getting them open. The first time I got a knife with thumb studs, I couldn't believe how nice it was. Then I started getting knives with flippers, and they're even easier to open. It's difficult to put a flipper on a lockback, so as more and more people began to use flippers, frame locks and liner locks became more prevalent. The tolerances required to provide a solid lock up with these means a little big bigger expense for a little bit more convenience.

As far as "fancy" titanium and G10, I would consider them substantially more reliable than wood, bone, or leather handles that used to be more common.

...and good looking? Now that's just opinion :D
 
http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php

If you want to compare the value of a $30.00 Commodity in 1980 there are four choices. In 2011 the relative:
real price of that commodity is $81.90
real value of that commodity is $92.10
labor value of that commodity is $76.80(using the unskilled wage) or $88.40(using production worker compensation)
income value of that commodity is $119.00

So the $30.00 knife is now (say) 90.00 if everything else was the same (but it is not)
The $30.00 knife had very little design and testing cost
Did not use the latest greatest materials.
The manufacturing plants have changed immensely (that has lots of noticable benefits but adds to cost).
ETC.....

Looks like the new $100.00 knife is the old 30.00 knife
And just as then you can move up from there.
 
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