"Like leather seats on a tractor"....

Shorttime

Shorttime

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Oct 16, 2011
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A forum friend and I were discussing the Chaves Redencion, because he got to get personal with one at NYCS. I asked him what he thought of it, and he said he was.... puzzled. The size and blade shape of the Redencion would seem to indicate that it is intended to be used for whatever needs cutting, from envelopes to fertilizer bags, but the materials and fit and finish might lead some to conclude that this knife should be kept pristine. Like leather seats on a tractor, it doesn't quite make sense.

I was fascinated by the ideological collision. For whatever reason, the idea of "luxury/utility" is something I really like.

Which leads to my question: what makes a knife "feel expensive"? I believe it's mostly in the details of fit and finish, but I would like to hear your opinions.
 
I would also put F&F at the top of my list of what makes a knife feel or seem expensive. A close second would be the choice of materials and how well they fit the knife's intended purposes.
 
Shorttime said:
Which leads to my question: what makes a knife "feel expensive"? I believe it's mostly in the details of fit and finish, but I would like to hear your opinions.
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Quality of materials and build can make a knife feel expensive to me.

But, IMHO, the replaceability of the knife makes it seem "expensive" even more so.

To explain...

If I can have the exact same knife delivered to my door within say, two weeks, by clicking the "buy it now" button I'll beat on it like a rented mule. [emoji4] Regardless of actual cost.

However if I can't easily replace it, then it is "expensive". And I'll consider it a luxury item to be babied.
 
It's all personal opinion.

Personally, I don't think there is anything luxurious about the Redencion and I think it looks cheap and gimmicky. Again, that's just my opinion.

I'm also unsure how you can feel, see, smell, or taste "expensive":confused:

ETA: often times, the large equipment we use in construction does have leather seats. It's better suited for all the abuse it will see.
 
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Expensive is not the same as luxurious, elegant, refined, precise, rare, innovative, or even well built.

Expensive only means that someone is willing to pay the asking price.
 
Marcinek makes a fair semantic point.

The more a company or individual has to pay for materials, the more the final product will cost. A maker with limited equipment may have to pay somebody else to do heat treat, make sheaths, or anything else he cannot accomplish, and add that cost to the final price of the knife.

All of these things make a knife more or less expensive.

But they do not necessarily add to the "quality" of the knife.

So perhaps the more accurate (?) questions to ask would be

What makes a knife feel that it is the best a maker or manufacturer can make it? What things do you expect from a "high quality" knife?
 
Shorttime said:
What makes a knife feel that it is the best a maker or manufacturer can make it? What things do you expect from a "high quality" knife?
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Again, personal opinion.

Some people consider Hennessy VSOP a "luxury" drink, others lift their nose and only sip an old Hors d'Age.
 
I suppose one could ask why the Redencion costs 25% more than a Sebenza. Where does that extra hundred bucks of "expensive" come from?
 
The Redencion to me just looks like a EDC user.

After all its a knife, use it.

General rule of thumb (to me at least) "if you need to baby something and constantly worry about it, you can't afford it"
 
marcinek said:
I suppose one could ask why the Redencion costs 25% more than a Sebenza. Where does that extra hundred bucks of "expensive" come from?
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That's the cost of "not being a Sebenza".

It's that weird human urge to be part of an exclusive group but to somehow be unique within the group.
 
Danke42 said:
That's the cost of "not being a Sebenza".

It's that weird human urge to be part of an exclusive group but to somehow be unique within the group.
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This isn't a Sebenza, and I haven't seen anyone carry one before. It's also 250% less.

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It sounds like the OP has nothing to do with price, and everything to do with why a knife "feels" like it is high end/high quality. (And really, price has very little to do with production cost on luxury goods.)

I think humans have a very refined sense for things we don't have words for. When you pick up a mechanical object that lacks the tinny, rattly, plasticy, rough qualities that we associate with cheap devices, it makes a huge sensory impression. Our brains "know" what a pocket knife should feel like as it is handled, opened and used - when we pick up a knife that is smooth, tight, quiet, crisp and solid, it confounds those learned expectations - and that is fascinating. It lights up the brain like seeing a strikingly beautiful women or taking a bite of exotic, delicious food.


I have a SIG P210 pistol - often said the be the finest 9mm pistol ever made. When you take it apart you think there must be a layer of foam between the barrel and slide because the machined parts mate so smoothly and perfectly. If you hand those parts to anyone used to field stripping an autopistol, their eyes get wide because what their hands are telling them just doesn't fit with their experience.

That's what quality feels like to me. I find it in my favorite watches, knives, cars. I think Apple has a done a great job of tapping into how powerful haptic sensations are.
 
Blues Bender said:
This isn't a Sebenza, and I haven't seen anyone carry one before. It's also 250% less.
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Now now we already have "that" thread.

This thread is more; is an expensive knife a user (spoiler alert, yes it can be), with a sprinkling of why is Brand X so expensive. All those weird little semi custom houses get their day where their fans say yay and the fans of the other guys go boo.

It sure looks to me like there is a very healthy market for a Sebenza that's not a Sebenza.
 
A lot of people associate heft and weight with quality. If your friend is one of those people, I can easily see how he would think a Redencion would be high quality.
 
A perfect EDC for me should be made of "great materials and have perfect fit and finish"

I don't see the dilema here?
 
Danke42 said:
Now now we already have "that" thread.

This thread is more; is an expensive knife a user (spoiler alert, yes it can be), with a sprinkling of why is Brand X so expensive. All those weird little semi custom houses get their day where their fans say yay and the fans of the other guys go boo.

It sure looks to me like there is a very healthy market for a Sebenza that's not a Sebenza.
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So then what makes the Redencion 25% more expensive than a Sebenza?
 
Leather seats on a (real) farm tractor is pretty much standard equipment, along with air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, 2 way radio, AM/FM/CD stereo, GPS ... The days of metal seats are long gone. Only fitting, if you think about it. After all, cowboys have had a leather seat on their horse for hundreds of years.

In answer to the OP's question: Solid construction, proper fit and finish (may apply more to traditional knives than modern), no blade wobble open or closed, flush springs (if applicable) in all blade positions (closed, open, and half stop, if equipped) even grinds on the blade(s), sharp out of the box ... things like that.
 
Blues Bender said:
It's all personal opinion.

Personally, I don't think there is anything luxurious about the Redencion and I think it looks cheap and gimmicky. Again, that's just my opinion.

I'm also unsure how you can feel, see, smell, or taste "expensive":confused:

ETA: often times, the large equipment we use in construction does have leather seats. It's better suited for all the abuse it will see.
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Clothes and shoes are perfect examples of how one can get a feel for and see which ones are cheaper vs more expensive. There's a big difference in the way cheaper materials vs more expensive materials used for these things look and feel. When comparing a pair of shoes which cost $300 to a pair which cost $1500 not many people would have a hard time telling which cost more. This also is extremely true when it comes to the refined design and overall attention to detail. Visually it's extremely easy to tell.
 
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