Manufacturer Reputation Poll

Darryl Ralph... :barf:

Most of his ideas look stolen to me...but thats just my opinion!

I have to go with Anektos on this one, Striders For Life!

Whatever the model, fixed or Folder, the knives and the people behind them are First Class! Plus, the simple fact is, if you get a Strider and don't like it for some reason :confused: You can turn around and sell it quickly for what you paid in most cases, especially the Folders!

Get ahold of an AR/GB or SMF/SnG...you won't be sorry!
 
Victorinox: the top for swiss army knives! excellent quality, decent blades (drop-forged 420 I heard), very easy to sharpen.

Spyderco: ugly knives until you try one. very useful knives, I haven't tried them hardly enough to tell if thei're as strong as it is said.

Greco: I have a Falcon Folder, and it's a really beautiful piece of a knife! very sharp, carbon steel, coated blade, the coating is very tough. recommended by most people for those who want a folder that can be used as a prybar.

United Cutlery: cheap crap with nice designs. only to display, in my opinion.
 
Queen- Great traditional folders, with good, thin D2 blades. Tough to initially sharpen, but hold an edge for a very long time. Reasonable prices, great quality.

Case- Former powerhouse, may someday be again. SS isn't up to many people's standards, but there's a handle material to suit anyone. CV is their carbon steel, and is many people's choice for a working steel. Wide range of patterns, though quality control can be spotty.
 
When it comes to stainless fixed blades, I don't think any production company does it better than FALLKNIVEN. I've owned an A1 for several years and still love it as much as when I bought it. I can't recall ever reading anything bad about their knives (but alot of good). Sadly, Fallkniven is up for sale; hopefully, whoever buys the company will maintain the quality Fallkniven is known for.

Also, for a mid-tech knife, I think Fehrman Knives are hard to beat. They are up-and-comers to keep your eyes on.
 
Fool4Blades said:
Darryl Ralph... :barf:

Most of his ideas look stolen to me...but thats just my opinion!
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Opinions always work better when they have some fact or other to fall back on.

Darrel Ralph's designs may look stolen for the same reason Shakespeare always seems to write in cliches -- they're the ones who invented them. Darrel is a great, original designer. He doesn't need to copy.
 
I sure agree with that. When I see a Darrel Ralph design, I recognize it immediately. His design style is quite unique and original. The knife industry has its share of copycats but Darrel Ralph certainly isn't one of them.
 
For some unexplained reason, I have a lot of people come into the store and ask for Gerber knives. What's up with this? Is it just because it's the only knife maker name they've heard of?

~ashes
 
Probably because in the 60's and 70's the steel in their "Armorhide" knives was the best you could buy without going to a very expensive custom knife. Check out E-bay and you will be amazed what a knife that originally was $29.95 in 1968 now used will bring $155. I know, I just sold one. Too bad Gerber is now only for the uninformed. When Gerber was sold to the sissors maker, that was the beginning of the end of quality. Flame away, I sold hundreds in the sixtys and early seventies and NEVER had one returned other than for stupidity. Wish I had a hundred of those now unused in the original boxes.
 
Ashes said:
For some unexplained reason, I have a lot of people come into the store and ask for Gerber knives. What's up with this? Is it just because it's the only knife maker name they've heard of?
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that would be my guess. Gerber makes some OK users or beaters, but i think people ask for them because they're everywhere. Sports Authority and Big 5 and the like all carry Gerber (as well as S&W and some others), so i think that's why so many people recognize it. they're affordable, and for the most part, they work quite well.

abe m.
 
CRKT- Some of the most affordable knives I've ever seen, and in my opinion, though they don't use super steels like s30v or VG10, are right up there with some of the more expensive production knives.
 
Brands that have a very good reputation with me:
Buck, Gerber, AG Russell, CRKT, DH Russell - Grohmann, Opinel, Queen, Spyderco, Bark River, Northwoods

Brands I buy only if they're on sale or if they have a unique product:
Myerco, Schrade, Bear, KaBar, Marbles, Boker, Puma, Case

Brands I stay clear of:
Frost, United, Fury, Franklin Mint, "Made in China," "Made in Pakistan"

Best Wishes,
Bob
 
Well...

I'm not any type of "authority" but here are my thoughts.

Gerber is probably overrated. I think you get what you pay for for the most part with Gerber, but I've not been overly impressed with their stuff. I have both a LST and a COMPLETE set of their Balance Plus kitchen knives. The LST is actually a fair value, but the Balance Plus kitchen knives are not very good quality.

To clarify - I also have a Gerber Camp Ax and this is an EXCELLENT piece of gear. I guess it's actually made by Fiskars, but they are Gerber.

I have no experience with CRKT or S&W, but there are so many American made knives out there I can't see bothering with anything from China, Taiwan, India, etc. If I am going to buy a knife that is not made in the good ole' USA it is going to be from Germany, or Sweden, something like that.

I'd suggest these three companies for smart values, Benchmade, Spyderco, and Microtech.
 
I'll rate a few production knife companies on a scale from one to ten: fit & finish, design, steel quality, everything except for the "bang-for-the buck" department.

1 = crap
10 = perfect

In no particular order:

CRKT 4
Spyderco 6
Gerber 4
Smith & Wesson 3
Camillus 6
Swamp Rat 8
Schrade 3
Ka-Bar 5
Böker 3
Emerson 8
Masters of Defense 7
Kershaw 4
SOG 5
Cold Steel 5
Ontario 3
Meyerco 2
Microtech 9
Benchmade 7

Fool4Blades said:
Darryl Ralph... :barf:

Most of his ideas look stolen to me...but thats just my opinion!
Click to expand...

What Ed said. Nice analogy (the Shakespearean "clichés"), by the way.

Could you provide us with an example? Like, maybe a pic of a Darrel Ralph knife you consider a knock-off next to the supposed original design?
 
My favorite company: Cold Steel. Yes, CS. I know a lot of their stuff is crap. But my favorite folder (Zytel Ti-lite) and bali are both CS. I have gotten good, reliable use out of both. Try before you buy, I guess.
 
Danzz said:
My favorite company: Cold Steel. Yes, CS. I know a lot of their stuff is crap. But my favorite folder (Zytel Ti-lite) and bali are both CS. I have gotten good, reliable use out of both. Try before you buy, I guess.
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I think one reason we hear so much negative about CS is that the knives can't live up to the hype once the buyer begins to branch out to other, better brands.

But a lot of us started out with good working knives from CS and I still have a few that continue to work very well.

Rules of thumb: stick to AUS-8A and Carbon V, and shop around for a good price.
 
I have a mini-dilemma: I'm a total Benchmade Whore (I can't find anything else I like better) but I'm so fed up with Benchmade's Customer Service. Last year they actually sent out a letter of apology for their incompetence in the whole "customer service" department, claiming that they were under-staffed, and their knives are constantly back-ordered. I'm now no longer working in the store so much (back in the shop, sharpening most days) so I don't know if they've sent anything since then, but it seems that they are still not doing their best to fill orders and stuff.

Anyone else here have a dealership with Benchmade who can relate?

~ashes
 
Case knives from early 80's back are top quality, mostly CV (carbon steel). When you get to the 80's you see more stainless which is pretty much crap if you are gonna use it alot. The Case Classics are I think 440HC and much better than the current stainless, and some say better than the current CV. But you cant beat the older ones for good traditional slipjoint!

Tyler
 
I have a dynamite, coffin handled Gerber bowie, made in the U.S.A. Best $69 I've ever spent. I believe the knife is now discontinued.
 
Ashes, I can't comment on the service from a dealer standpoint, but I can from a end-user customer standpoint. Thier customer service is very hard to beat. I've never had a single issue when sending a piece in to have something done.
 
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