Manufacturer Reputation Poll

[Thirteenth Star]

Hey, Taylor Cutlery nay-sayers...

There was a time when Taylor Cutlery S&W knives were of poor quality apparently. However, the large SWAT I purchased in the Spring of last year is rock solid. There is no blade play, the liners are anything but flimsy, fit is excellent, and no, the rubber inserts have not fallen out. I cannot find anything about this knife to criticize at all.

Taylor Cutlery quality may have been poor some time ago, but the S&W's I've handled recently are just fine.

 

[digitaleopard]

I'm only going to evaluate companies that I have owned knives from. I've handled Microtech, Reeve, etc, but that's not a fair rating. SO - Rated from worst to best:

Cold Steel: When a company decideds to trade quality for profits, it's a one way trip. The original Cold Steel knives were great knives. I wouldn't have a new one now as a gift. :grumpy:

Emerson: The other offender in the reduced quality game. I have an old emerson folder that I would use for *everything*. The new ones are a dissappointment in comparison.

SOG: Not bad, not great either. Good user knives for chores, etc. around the house. Not EDC quality IMO.

CRKT: Pretty good quality for the money, really wish they had a better range of steels for some of the designs.

Kershaw: Only owned the Leek, neat little design, very slippery. Good quality, holds it's edge well. Haven't had to deal with customer service, so no idea.

Boker: Good knife, but the one I have (Titan 1) I think of as an art piece rather than a user. Still good for "Oohs" from girls, though.

Victorinox: Got an old Champion, I have beaten the crap out of it for 20 years and it's still good. What more can you ask for?

Spyderco: Disclaimer: I live less than 20 miles from the Spyderco factory. I don't know how many different Spydies I have owned (30?)...I go to the outlet sales and drop $300-500, give them away as gifts. Great customer service, knowledgable staff, Sal (the owner) likes talking to his customers - I'm still nagging him about bringing back the G-10 Standard model, and he's still listening patiently. Spyderco has something for EVERYBODY; I defy any knife guy/gal to not find something to like in their lineup.

(It's AMAZING how much a girl likes getting a good quality knife from a guy, as long as it's something easy to carry and compliments her - i.e, NOT chunky like a salsa, but slim, useable and attractive. Yes, she bases your opinion of her based on your gifts to her.)

Benchmade: Tied with Spyderco at the top of the production charts. I go back and forth between these two, based on their new designs...my beater EDC's are all Spyderco and Benchmade models. Customer service great for me, but hear they are horrid for dealers.

 

[lachine]

busse,busse is the best fixed knife

 

[madcap_magician]

Spyderco: Disclaimer: I live less than 20 miles from the Spyderco factory. I don't know how many different Spydies I have owned (30?)...I go to the outlet sales and drop $300-500, give them away as gifts. Great customer service, knowledgable staff, Sal (the owner) likes talking to his customers - I'm still nagging him about bringing back the G-10 Standard model, and he's still listening patiently. Spyderco has something for EVERYBODY; I defy any knife guy/gal to not find something to like in their lineup.

(It's AMAZING how much a girl likes getting a good quality knife from a guy, as long as it's something easy to carry and compliments her - i.e, NOT chunky like a salsa, but slim, useable and attractive. Yes, she bases your opinion of her based on your gifts to her.) .

Introduce me to the girls you know!!! And we're friends, right? Good enough friends for me to be a recipient of one of your gifts? Right?


Anyway, back on topic,

Tops Can't believe nobody's mentioned them yet. All their knives seem to be based on the same materials (1095 and Micarta), but I love them. Tough knives, the ones I have are extremely well designed ergonomically, and good buy for the price. Street Scalpel's a great knife, and my Prairie Fox is the best three-finger knife I've ever seen. (OK OK, so that's not very many, but it's still a good knife.)

Smith and Wesson Cheap knife, you get what you pay for. Mine hasn't let me down yet, but it's nothing special, either. They also seem fond of ripping off designs, but for copies I guess they're not bad.

Gerber Decent knife for the price. Good beaters. That's about it.

Spyderco Not sure yet, mine doesn't arrive till tomorrow... and I can't wait!

 

[dennis75]

1 = crap
10 = perfect


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

say what? you can't really be serious, are you? either you got really good specimens of bad brands or really bad samples of good brands, but these ratings seem totally off by miles.

in the real world, you'd end up with something more looking like this:

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

 

[STR]

First off. Cold Steel doesn't manufacture anything so I'm not sure they should even be included in these lists. Neither should CRKT since they contract out to manufacturers to make their knives as well.

Camillus makes many of Cold Steels knives and so does Seki City Japan.

Taylor and Blue Grass Cutlery make knives I think, but also contract out to Japan and Taiwan and particularly China.

I'd have to rate Bench Made high on my list of high end manufactures.

In the less expensive 'affordable ranges', also Kershaw and Buck. Sure they use a lot of rolled stock 420 HC steels but they make a great product from them. I have many of their knives and have no complaints with them at all.

Spyderco is a top notch company. No doubt about it. They contract with Japan for their knives but they use top notch materials and have done many firsts in the knife world starting many trends. Too many to go into here and besides it is all here already on these forums anyway. Does Spyderco actually manufacture anything though?

Case is a huge manufacturer. They have some of the best craftsman but are forced by circumstance to use steel I'm sure they would rather not use personally. Nevertheless they have within them the ability to make top notch 'world class' knives and do for a hefty price. They are one of the best knife manufacturers in the world even if they do use steel that doesn't cut that well compared to yesteryear when they made that great CV steel in everything they produced.

Soligen steel, and Boker are almost synonymous with quality and they deserve honorable mention even if they are German. They contract with American companies including but not limited to Case.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

First off. Cold Steel doesn't manufacture anything so I'm not sure they should even be included in these lists. Neither should CRKT since they contract out to manufacturers to make their knives as well. ...

Taylor and Blue Grass Cutlery make knives I think, ...

... Does Spyderco actually manufacture anything though? ...

Companies like Cold Steel and CRKT that contract out their designs nevertheless assume responsibility for sales and quality control and customer service. Their knives, whether made in their factories or not.

Taylor? Blue Grass? I doubt it.

When Spyderco puts "Golden, Colorado U.S.A. Earth" on a blade, it's made here, not in Japan.

 

[STR]

Didn't Taylor just buy Schrade? Making them a 'manufacturer. I did say ' I think' on those two. (bluegrass and taylor I mean)

 

[TheBadGuy]

say what? you can't really be serious, are you? either you got really good specimens of bad brands or really bad samples of good brands, but these ratings seem totally off by miles.

in the real world, you'd end up with something more looking like this:

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

Dennis, In your rating you have SOG rated the same as Microtech. Now thats just plain crazy!!! Then Master of Defense and Gerber both being the same?? Thanks for the morning laugh

 

[dennis75]

Dennis, In your rating you have SOG rated the same as Microtech. Now thats just plain crazy!!! Then Master of Defense and Gerber both being the same?? Thanks for the morning laugh

exactly, and i'm sticking with it. MT lost some of its credibility due to the recent QC-issues, and SOG's are quite well-built, even though it's an often overlooked brand. MOD is in the same category for me as Emerson, in that they often have issues with finishing and the lockups. Gerber is also not a very popular brand anymore nowadays, but their quality is still sufficiently good, although their multi-tools had their share of criticism.

enjoy your morning-laugh

d

 

[bob bowie]

I'm not sure if it's changed in the last few years, but Blue Grass Cutlery contracts out to Utica and Queen. Taylor bought Schrade, but I think their moving production off shore

 

[TheBadGuy]

Just to go further into what I said above instead of it appearing like critisim.

MT lost some of its credibility due to the recent QC-issues, and SOG's are quite well-built, even though it's an often overlooked brand.

While talk has been of slipping QC and zero customer service, I have it on good authority that things are turning around and of the 40 plus Microtechs I have owned you could take the worst specimen and put up against SOG's best and I still don't think there would be any contest. This is of my opinion of course but I am sure many if not a majority that have handled both brands would agree.

MOD is in the same category for me as Emerson, in that they often have issues with finishing and the lockups.

I wouldn't disagree with you in regards to this statement however I would say just the materials used along with design puts MOD head and shoulders above Gerber. While I also have heard reports of spotty QC with MOD, I have yet to experience it with the models I have owned.

I guess it comes down to what models you have owned from which company. As well as how many and what your experience was with them at the time. There is a thread going now about Cold Steel knives and allot of folks are giving favorable reviews. However if you did a search through my posts you would see that I thought so much of the models I have owned that I actually did giveaways with them. So obviously my rating would differ from someone who carries one as an EDC.

But from my experiences Quiet Storms ratings were allot closer than your own. Again, it comes down to who has owned what and how that ownership left you feeling about that brand. I choose to clarify alittle bit b/c my above comments seemed rash when I reread them and that was not my intention

 

[dennis75]

Just to go further into what I said above instead of it appearing like critisim.




I guess it comes down to what models you have owned from which company. As well as how many and what your experience was with them at the time. There is a thread going now about Cold Steel knives and allot of folks are giving favorable reviews. However if you did a search through my posts you would see that I thought so much of the models I have owned that I actually did giveaways with them. So obviously my rating would differ from someone who carries one as an EDC.

But from my experiences Quiet Storms ratings were allot closer than your own. Again, it comes down to who has owned what and how that ownership left you feeling about that brand. I choose to clarify alittle bit b/c my above comments seemed rash when I reread them and that was not my intention

exactly, correct, true and agreed. no hard feelings. i'm basing my 'ratings' on real-life fondling in shops and reviews from knife-magazines and forum-info and -experiences.

d

 

[edgetrip]

my ratings based on examples I have owned:

BRKT- 9
Protech-9
Spyderco-8
MT-9
Emerson-7
Gerber-6
BM-7
CRK-9
CRKT-6
CS-6

In some cases this ends up being very much like compaing apples and plums because of the extent of a companies offerings and the subjectivenss of design but thats what I come up with. I have had very good luck wiht almost all of my knife purchases from reputable companies but many of these are based on only a couple of examples. I also have not used any of these companies CS departments. I tried to base this on overall satisfaction with each companies products I have used and the price paid for the product.

 

[nelsonmc]

CRKT *
Spyderco *
Gerber 3
Smith & Wesson 1
Camillus 8
Swamp Rat *
Schrade 4
Ka-Bar 6
Böker *
Emerson *
Masters of Defense *
Kershaw 6
SOG *
Cold Steel 2
Ontario *
Meyerco *
Microtech *
Benchmade 10
Victorinox 9
Buck 8
Frosts (Moras) 8
Wenger 8
* = I don't have one, so can't rate.

 

[Quiet Storm]

but these ratings seem totally off by miles.

Too funny, that's what I thought when I read your assessment.

Ontario and Böker 6 points?

Dennis, In your rating you have SOG rated the same as Microtech. Now thats just plain crazy!!! Then Master of Defense and Gerber both being the same??

Let me second that.

 

[Fearsclave]

Becker Knife and Tool: a Camillus brand. great bang for the buck. I've got a BK-9 and love it, and am eventually going to get me a Campanion. The scales are much better in person.

Victorinox: have owned numerous SAKs over the years, but my favourites have been the Victorinoxes. My EDC is a Victorinox Rucksack.

Grohmann: Their D.H. Russell Trout & Bird knife is a gorgeous little piece of work.

Coghlan: crap.

Made in China: about twenty years ago, I picked up a little made in China lockback folder; visualize a Buck 110 with a 3" stainless blade and you've got it exactly. Edge retention is not the best, but otherwise it's been rock solid, tightly machined, and has survived a heckuva lot of abuse.

 

[prn]

A few random comments based on limited experience -- in some cases very limited:

Victorinox: the top for swiss army knives! excellent quality, decent blades (drop-forged 420 I heard), very easy to sharpen.

Very easy to sharpen and very easy to dull. Slit open two or three envelopes and you can see the edge dull from the first to the third.

Camillus Limited experience, but I have one of the BFC special EDCs with the 154cm blade. When I got it, the lockup was so tight that I almost couldn't close it one-handed. I bent the locking part of the frame to loosen it and loosened it too much so that it really didn't lock well. Stupid me! I hopped onto the Camillus forum here, told the story (including the fact that it was my own **** stupid fault) and asked for advice on whether there were any gotchas in disassembling it enough to rebend the locking bar, and in nothing flat I had a message from Will Fennel asking for my phone number so he could call me at his expense and another from Darrel Ralph saying that if I had a problem I could send it to him and he would fix it up (as if it were one of his $450 customs). Well all I needed (and what I got) was reassurance that I could just loosen the pivot and slide out the blade. That worked fine, BTW, and the knife has been fine ever since. I know that Will has moved on and that Darrel has never actually worked for Camillus, but it's not an experience that you quickly forget and I've told the story a number of times. Great customer service is never forgotten!

Kershaw Again, quite limited. I bought a lightly used Mini-Task from a fellow forumite here. After a while, the blade no longer snapped out quite as forcefully as it used to (in fact, I had to lock it manually). I contacted Kershaw's customer service and sent in the knife. IIRC, I mailed the knife on Friday from Indiana to Oregon and had it back in my hands the following Wednesday, working like new and sharpened very nicely, thank you. I don't have any of their other knives and I'm not exactly thrilled with the 440A or whatnot on the lower-end stuff. (The Mini-Task is ATS34.) But again, I have to say I was impressed as could be with the painless and speedy service.

Spyderco I guess I have more Spydies than any other folders. They make really GOOD and useful knives. I love the range of stuff they put out. It really is something for everyone and anyone. At first I thought they were ugly, but the ugliness really grows on you. I'd still like to get a few more of them with something other than an FRN handle. I've never had occasion to send them a knife for service, but I have absolutely no fear about the quality of service I'd get.

Benchmade I have a couple. Almost no matter what else I do, my BM705 seems to climb back into my pocket for EDC. I swap it out and carry something else for a while, but I keep going back to the 705. I really like the shape and feel of it and the Axis lock.

Himalayan Imports I don't exactly EDC a khukuri, but there is something about those big, handforged blades. And you'll never see better customer service. I'm not their biggest customer by any means -- I only have about 8-10. (I make a point of not counting.) Good stuff: Very satisfying feel and great to get out and chop with.

I have others too, but these are what spring to mind.

Paul

 

[chazz]

i like the bm's knives and i never needed to talk with customer service so i cant help you out on that. i know kershaw offers top notch service. if you have the papers they will most likely give you parts you need or install them for you, i dont know about breaking a kershaw, but they deffinately will give you the parts.

if you got the papers.

 

[razorsdescent]

my personal exeperiences


Chris reeve-10
Emerson-9
Benchmade-7
benchmade balisong-9
united-5
coldsteel-7
kershaw-7
Micro tech-9
dalton-10
spyderco-8