Knives to avoid?

Steven Roos

Steven Roos

Joined
Jun 29, 2002
Messages
4,131
I just recieved a "1st Generation BRK" Spyderco Native today and I'm pretty disappointed. I didn't find out until now that the BRK Native is not really a Spyderco knife! It wasn't made by Spyderco! It was made by Camillius! :mad:

Any knives that just didn't meet your expectations? Are there any other clones like this junky BRK Native that I should watch out for?
 
im2smrt4u,

Yours is only the second complaint I can recall reading about a Camillus knife. Camillus has a pretty good reputation for quality. The only other negative review of a Camillus I have seen was in a review of 7 inch blade combat/utility knives by James Thurber. The Camillus Marine Combat was really lousy.

One brand I am leary of is Ontario. Cliff Stamp has told of seeing heat treatment problems in several Spec Plus knives. I have an Ontario Navy Mark III, and the edge grinding is very sloppy.
 
Originally posted by W.T. Beck
Yours is only the second complaint I can recall reading about a Camillus knife. Camillus has a pretty good reputation for quality.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not really faulting all Camillus products, but I sure don't like this second rate Spyderco knockoff...

In fact, I've been considering buying a Camillus EDC.
 
Here is a qoute from Mr. Glesser about the BRK Natives:

"Hi. I've heard your requests for the "story" behind the BRK Natives. Apologies on my end for being slow. Lots going on at this time. I'm impressed that you would be interested, thanx.

When the Native was first designed, oit was scheduled to be made by Camillus in New York as a subcontractor. The plan was for 440A. The Native was to be a less expensive offering than the Delica at the same size.

Camillus made a large number of blades out of 440A. They were very nicely made blades. For a variety of reasons, Camillus could not produce for us at the time, so we brought the mold (that Camillus made) into Golden and produced the GIN-1 version for years. Then we changed the blade steel to CPM-440V, the price jumped, and will probably stay with the exotic steels in the near future.

Blue Ridge Knives, a long time and very good distributor for Spyderco knives put together a plan to use the perfectly good
Camillus made blades, Camillus would make the locks and springs, Spyderco would provide the Native handles and Camillus would assemble them in New York. This made it possible to make the less expensive offering. All in all, it's a nicely made USA made piece, and as mentioned, for the price, its hard to beat.

Blue Ridge Knives had the plan and made it possible. So BRK has exclusive rights to the distribution of the model.

Hope that helps.

We'll still be making the Native in Golden from CPM steels. There is also a Seki-City variation variation coming out later this year." - sal

The thread has some pretty good info about these knives. It can be seen here:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=213872&highlight=brk

As far as knives to avoid, I stay away from the chinese made knives sold at the local gas station. Beyond that I am willing to give about anything a chance. I wouldn't buy just anything sight unseen, but I have been proven wrong lately about some preconceived notions I had. Namely S&W knives. Some of their models are actually decent for the money, namely the FL1 and FL2. There was a time when I vowed to never own a S&W knife.
 
Originally posted by shootist16
The thread has some pretty good info about these knives. It can be seen here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=213872&highlight=brk
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. Safety Guy's first post seems to sum up my feelings. The knife says Spyderco, but it just isn't the same. The blade is only moderately sharp, the action and lock is rough, and the blade looks like a recycled aluminum can...I guess I should have known you can't get a real Spyderco for $30. If its too good to be true...you know the rest. :(
 
If it says "made in Pakistan", I avoid it like a rabid pit-bull bitch in heat. I once had a "folder" (a Buck 110 knock-off) that was made "there", and I'm pretty sure that the blade was so soft that I could have BIT the blade in-half, and I couldn't get it sharp enough to even cut warm butter. Also, the lock wasn't much better than having been made out of wet paper...(In-fact, I didn't even need to depress the lock in-order to close the knife.).:barf:
 
I've bought knives that when they came in I learned they were Pakistan made (take note auction buyers). Now I always ask if there's any markings on the knife and if "Pakistan" is the reply I move on.

Another brand I'm not too fond of is Jaguar. Though probably pretty good beaters and the prices are right the quality seems to be all in the appearance and not in the blade IMHO.
 
Any "knives" from the Home Shopping Network!!! :barf: :barf:
 
Knives made from 420J2 have a bad reputation. They are very rust resistant, however, and might make good decorations for your salt water aquarium.
 
Definitely most Pakistani and Chinese POS, and Puma too.
Puma used to make very fine knives, top quality and almost custom-like even if industrially produced. But lately quality is non-existent. Crappy designs, poor execution, sloppy finish and a lot of sale hype (like the "rockwell test"on each blade).
Sad. :rolleyes:
 
Ive had problems with camillus before. 3 cyber cudas that came rusted, a couple of years ago. 2 420 edcs with blade pitting, 1 154cm edc that the black coating was half gone off the clip. 2 george washington pen knives with really bad pitting in the blades. 2 new w49s (you know they own western now) that the blades are a 1/4" shorter than they should be, not to mention bad grind lines, and handles that arent flush with guard (gaps). 2 trappers with liners uneven, rough edges.

as far as the native, I was going to buy one from smkw, and someone told me there the knife wasnt exactly up to "par", thank you to that anomonous individual!!!


now the good ones I have are 1 420 edc, good shape!
and 1 154cm edc good shape!!


...for anyone thats wondering, no I do not dislike camillus, only my experience,

...whats funny is the w49 I have from the "coleman"/western era is much, much better quality than the camillus ones I own now!!!! :rolleyes:
 
I ordered four of those Camillus Natives. Boy do they suck! The lock protrudes above the blade on all of them some worse than the others. The worse do not seem to open fully. I kept the best two as users since they seem to lock up tight although fit and finish were nothing to brag about. The other two were so bad I sent them back. The price is right but you are taking a chance unless you can handle them in person.

phantom4
 
I purchased one of those Natives PE, and was quite disappointed with it, though I've had problems with their Standard Native model as well. The local place hasn't been able to get them in recently either.

I found that my BRK Native was very stiff and hard to open, thought this isn't necessarily a bad thing... the blade has a really rough finish on it... dont like that, and the hole looks like it was stamped out, which gives it this ugly folding metal sorta thing on the inside of the hole. not cool.

unlike phantom mentioned on his, the lock on mine engages below the blade edge and the handle edges... most of the spydercos i have are fairly flush with the blade and handle, one or two might be half a millimetre higher.. but this one just sunk below. Strange.

But for like $22 its not bad.

neL
 
Originally posted by Alarion
Definitely most Pakistani and Chinese POS, and Puma too.
Puma used to make very fine knives, top quality and almost custom-like even if industrially produced. But lately quality is non-existent. Crappy designs, poor execution, sloppy finish and a lot of sale hype (like the "rockwell test"on each blade).
Sad. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I agree. The older Puma knives that I have are well made. I received a few newer model pocket knives that really SUCK. The fit, grind, and well just overall look cheap. :(
 
speaking of pumas, a while back I had bought a new puma handic from smoky. When I opened the box the stag inlay was hanging on by a thread of hot glue!!!! pretty disappointing!!! and the rockwell test being done where you can see it? not pretty, its a gimmick of theirs, and am ugly one at that!!!!! :barf:
 
Avoiding the knock-offs that fall apart in your hand are rather obvious. What about knives to avoid by reputable knife companies?

For me, the CRKT K.I.S.S. knives are artistically ingenious but rather hazardous by design and should be avoided for anything more than light cutting and slicing.

This used to be my EDC as I liked it's wafer thinness but even cutting corrugated cardboard is a hazard as there can be a tendency for the fragile frame lock to slip. I've had the blade jam; causing the liner lock to give way and the blade collapsing very close to my fingers.

On the bigger versions, like the Sampson, the large size gives the illusion that it is a rugged knife but it's not.

For lightweight use, they are great since they are wafer thin and easy to carry.

Don't get me wrong. It's a cool knife (as are CRKT's other knives)and makes a great gift as a gentlemen's folder, and an easy carry for EDC, but I had to learn to accept its limitations.
 
Originally posted by glockman99
If it says "made in Pakistan", I avoid it like a rabid pit-bull bitch in heat. I once had a "folder" (a Buck 110 knock-off) that was made "there", and I'm pretty sure that the blade was so soft that I could have BIT the blade in-half, and I couldn't get it sharp enough to even cut warm butter. Also, the lock wasn't much better than having been made out of wet paper...(In-fact, I didn't even need to depress the lock in-order to close the knife.).:barf:
Click to expand...

Haha. I remember having to do some yardwork about a year ago, and there was a huge patch of something, that looked exactly like wheat, except short and green. I didn't want to mess up any of my knives, so I borrowed one of my dad's, a Pakistani Buck 110 copy. The lock was actually pretty solid, but after taking one swing at the "wheat," I glanced at the blade and :eek::eek::mad::barf::grumpy:--looked like a serrated edge!
 
I don't know if they are still being manufactured, but I know some of the Schrade Cliphangers are still around.

I like Schrade Old Timers for their value and usability, and the company usually puts out a quality product. But they dropped the ball on the Cliphanger.
 
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