Maxam Knives

H

Hair

Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Messages
1,455
First off, I am a total knife newbie. The only knives I have are cheapo-junk, and I am just getting into decent-quality knives.

But I have noticed something. Of all of my swap-meet junkers, Maxam knives actually seem fairly okay.

I know their blade is made from bottom-of-the-line steel, but the construction is tight and the edge is sharper than I am used to in the price range. Most of them have no play in the blade when locked open.

Do any of you more experienced knife-lovers think Maxam knives are pretty decent (for the price at least)? Or do you think they are total crap and that I will think the same once I get some more experience with better knives?

For the record, my next knife will be a Buck 110, and then after that a Kershaw Blackout, and then a Spyderco. So please don't berate me for owning such cheapo knives. I'll be getting some "real" knives in coming weeks. I just own so many cheapos because A: all I need to cut at work is plastic wrap, straps, and tape, and B: I wanted to start my collection off with some variety and then get into the better stuff so that I already have most genres of knife covered before I start spending any real money (which allows me to put my money into the types of knife I need rather than worrying about getting a good knife of each type).

I know the knives I just named above (110, Blackout) are very good *budget* knives, but they are still 3 to 4 times the price of the "can be bought with change in your couch" Maxams. I consider Maxam to be "sub-budget". But are they good for their price range? Will I be blown away by the 110 and Blackout? Or will I not notice the different much since I only cut plastic wrap and tape?

Thanks for any input.
 
:D Fair enough

Would I have the same epiphany with a Buck 110? I want to get that first because it is sort of "the standard", and I feel it is a must-have for even a modest collection.

Or would a Spyderco or Benchmade shake me of my swap-meet-knife-love better than the 110?
 
Any decent knife should be dramatically better than swap meet crap. The 110 is a good knife for the money. Also consider KaBar Doziers, and Byrd folders for quality low priced blades at around $20.
 
I've seen only two Maxams, and those were definatrely junk, but I also handled some cheap, but surprisingly good chinese blades. My girlfriend still has a chinese framelock, and this particular knife can be found on several online stores for a mere $5.
I will try to find pictures, if you are interested, but
I think you'd be better off with Ka-Bar Dozier, a Spyderco Byrd, a Buck Bantam or a Benchmade Pika if you need a one-hand opener at work. Those are well under $20, and their quality is solid. Don't forget, you are a lucky guy, those aforementioned inexpensive, but wellmade knives are cost more than $40 here in Europe.
 
Thanks guys. I'm already planning on getting a Dozier sometime. I'll look into the others.

I don't make much money, but I make enough *extra* money (since I have few bills) that I can buy a $40-100 dollar knife each month if I want to (not that I have to EVERY paycheck). So I can get a 110, then a Dozier, then a Byrd, and just keep going from there.

About $100 will be my limit for now since I do need my extra money to buy other things I want for my other hobbies (guitar, motorcycles, cars), but I think good budget knives will keep my itch scratched for a while.
 
If you get a Buck 110 you will have a very decent knife. :thumbup: :cool:Hair.Welcome to the Forums!
 
Spyderco and Benchmade have a decent variety of very good folders in your price range. Too numerous to list actually.:cool:

Forget the swap meets and flea markets and find a good brick & mortar knife shop in your area. Or, find a quality online dealer and get a price break. Most B&M's have somewhat higher prices than the internet dealers because that storefront costs money to keep running. If you get fortunate like we are here in Central Florida, you can find a place like Ruff's Saddle Shop that have a great selection of new stuff at near 'net prices.:eek: :thumbup: There's nothing better than being able to handle what your interested in before you lay down the $$ for it.

Here are a few 'net dealers that are good folks to deal with:

www.newgraham.com

www.onestopknifeshop.com

www.gpknives.com

www.knifecenter.com

One Stop is our forum owner's store. Very impressive selection of cutlery. Sometimes they run really good specials on close-out items.

New Graham is famous here for their customer service and decent prices too.

There are many more to choose from. Others will be able to steer you in the right direction.

Welcome to the forums and your new addiction!:eek: :D
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

The knives you're looking at are all good, solid, inexpensive working knives. The Buck 110 is a great start. It's a bit more old-fashioned than the popular, "tactical" knives around here, but it is a classic for a reason, and will hold up to a lot of hard work.

The Blackout is also a popular knife. I would suggest you get one of the classic Spydies, also, something like an Endura or Delica (large and small models of the same pattern). But the Ka-Bar Doziers are very similar to Spyderco products, and a great deal for the price.
 
Welcome to the forums!

It is hard to say whether you'd notice a difference or not between a Buck and your Baxam.

I suspect you would, since you cut enough materials in your day to day life that you realize carryign a knfie around is a good, normal, rational idea!

On paper, it is obvious that you would see a difference: a Buck 110 has decent steel heat treated by one of the best in the business, has a great shape optimized for slicing, good edge geometry, etc. I suspect the Buck has most, if not all, of these beat on the Maxam. However, are you good at sharpenign a knife, even decently? A knife that holds an edge well or has great edge geometry or whatever by itself doesn't matter as eventually that edge will degrade or get a chip in it or whatnot. You will find an initial advantage over your Maxam with a Buck 110 for sure, and if you can take care o fth eedge, your new knife would stomp on the maxam for years to come!!!

You may be a pro at sharpenign already, so much of this may be moot. I hope it helps though.

If you don't have a lot of knowledge or gear for taking care of your knives, after that first purchase the next one I'd recommend is a Sharpmaker 204 from Spyderco. I'd say it is the easiest and most versatile set-up to use. I use mine in conjunction with other gear, but a Sharpmaker is a great start and a knife nut necessity. After you find you need to thin out edges before using that good 'ol Sharpmaker, then go out and buy a large coarse stone and you're set for a long long time.

For a first knife, that 110 would definitely be a classic that will last a lifetime of use. For a more modern classic, I'd recommed a Spyderco Delica or Endura. The prices will be about the same, and you get a more modern set-up with the pocket clip and one hand opening.

Enjoy yourself here, don't be afraid to ask many questions, use the search function to help out (when the "search function" is out of the shop, that is!) and enjoy your knives!
 
One of my hobbies, when I have the need to destroy something, is to find a cheap knife and see how much abuse it can take.

These are the typical knives that gas stations have by the bucket full. Master Cutlery, Maxam, other no name Chinese slipjoints.

I found that on one Maxam knife, I could bend the blade with my hands and nothing else (I also found this to be the case with a supposedly Tom Anderson designed Master Cutlery blade). That was a bit disconcerting, to say the least. If I could bend the blade with little force by hand alone, what could happen to the user who was actually putting some pressure on the blade while cutting?

After that, I tried to sharpen it to no avail. Interestingly I removed a LOT of steel from the edge and never came close to getting a good edge. I could get it to cleanly slice paper and almost shave, but one pass through cardboard left it chipped and needing another sharpening.

The liner on this particular knife was fairly beefy, so I decided to do some spine whacks. I've never really thought that the spine whack was a good test, but it's fun to beat on things, so why not :D. I've got a chain mail glove that I got from a meat cutter, so with that on I started hitting the spine of the knife on the railing on my back porch. To my amazement, the lock never actually failed, even with some impossible under normal cutting force. What went wrong though on the final attempt was the pivot pin shearing off sending the blade flying.

Ok, so now the knife doesn't have a blade... let's destroy the handle. What I thought was a beefy liner at first was flimsy despite its width (I'm not even sure if it was steel, it may have been aluminum). It was easily bent and then broken off with just my hand strength. Even the aluminum handle could be bent slightly (and I'm not overly strong).

Granted I only bought these knives to destroy them, and I guess they'd do the job if someone absolutely had to have a knife and couldn't afford or find anything better. But with knives like the Buck 110, Ka-Bar Dozier, Camillus Heat, Opinel or a good old Victorinox SAK easily available and all under $50, no one should have to buy a Maxam or Master Cutlery or modern Frosts.

Hair, don't take my post in the wrong way. Everyone learns and there's nothing wrong with starting out with a lesser quality knife. You obviously see the flaws in these knives, else you wouldn't be interested in moving up. Be warned though, once the bug catches you it's impossible to get rid of. I've spent well over $2000 in the last two years on knives with no end in sight.

Welcome to the forums and have fun. You'll learn a lot here. I've been collecting and using knives since I was six years old. In the 18 years between then and now I thought I knew a lot about knives, and I did. But I've learned more since finding this forum early this year than in the 18 years prior.
 
Welcome aboard, Hair, and have fun!

Thumbs up on the 110 (112's a bodacious handful, too) and would definitely second the recommendation for a KaBar Dozier. Heck of a knife for $20. I carry it frequently even though I've got other, much more expensive folders.

Also would second the 'net store ideas mentioned so far and would add that I've also had good luck with Oso Grande Knife & Tool out of California.

Would also give a hearty nod to acquiring a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Learned about it here, and it's probably the single most useful thing I've bought in the last 25 years of "wasting" money on knives!:)
 
Wow, thanks guys. Very friendly forum. But I knew that already.

Thanks for the links. I'll start cruising them right after this post.

Thanks for the sharpening tips.

Thanks for all of the input, everyone.

I have already learned a lot here and will continue to lurk around and try to soak up all of the information I can.

I wish all forums we as full of such friendly and knowledgable people. And I'm not just talking about this thread. I've been lurking on this specific forum for a while before I even registered (since it is viewable to non-members). Tons of nice people here.
 
I have a friend who has a maxam knife. What a piece of junk. The liner lock was so thin that it had worn down to were you could close the knife easily when it was "locked". And you can barely open the thing cuz either it is super tight or it rattles like crazy. I would not get a maxam.

TBG
 
Maxam is about as junky as it gets. A local sporting goods store (Big 5) always has these on sale for like 6 for $15 (a $60 value!). I swear that I could chew through the steel on the blade like it was an aluminum can. I'd drive in a demoliton derby without a seatbelt before I'd trust the lock on one of these. Either they're outragously designed (wtf is a guthook doing on a karambit?) or they're blatent knockoffs of real knives.
 
Welcome to the party! Always good to get some new blood into the forums.

Enough said about Maxams. Just don't confuse them with the Boker "Magnums" which are still inexpensive but great beaters around the house. I have a couple of the autos called AK-74's. One in the boat, one in the garage. So far no problems. Don't know what the local marine patrol would say if they found an auto knife on my boat but boaters are generally good with knives so it wouldn't be any great shakes. They are legal where I live in S. Fla (Hurricane Alley)!


Here is a review of the Boker FYI. Again, glad to have you in the forum and look forward to your comments and observations.

http://www.themartialist.com/pecom/bokerak74.htm
 
Forget about Maxam, I had one that I kept for opening quarts of oil and scraping my battery terminals in my truck. After just sitting in my truck door pocket, it actually came apart. The screws were tight, the blade was still semi sharp, but it just fell apart. You don't have to buy a Sebenza or a Strider, you don't even have to buy a Spyderco or Benchmade, just don't buy the Maxams, Frost Cutlery, etc.
 
Welcome to BF !
If you get a Spyderco Byrd you'll never regret it , for the price it is an outstanding knife , mine is easy to sharpen back to a razors edge.
You also might want to check out CRKT blades , good quality for the dollar.
I wont comment on Maxam.
If you want to check out some excellent very low cost fixed blades , give Mora a try , also Opinel makes some fine folders for the same price as those horrid Maxams.

Enjoy the addiction.
 
Thanks again guys.

The Ak47 knife looks great and is very cheap. And I am already interested in CRKT. They make a Desert Storm liner lock knife that I think looks great and like the large-ish blade.

I've decided my next knife purchases will be to get a decent knife of the following types:

Liner lock
Lockback
Slipjoint
Butterfly
Switchblade (button)
Assisted (Kershaw)
Fixed

And then from there I will just get more and more good folding knives (trying out as many brands as possible) since they are the type that are the most practical for me.

Does this seem like a good plan for a knife newbie? Keep in mind I am trying to start off a collection with some variety and some of the "standards".

Liner lock : ~3 inch honed edge Spyderco or Benchmade (I like the Pika)
Lockback : Buck 110
Slipjoint : Any ideas?
Butterfly : Spyderco Spyderfly
Switchblade (button) : A Buck? Any suggestions?
Assisted (Kershaw) : Kershaw Blackout
Fixed : KaBar? Any other good options?

I know there are tons of good slipjoints, switchblades, and fixed knives in my price range. But to narrow down the suggestions, I am looking for blades of 3-4 inches and want a knife that will last a long time without needing to be sharpened, even if that means sacrificing cutting performance and ease-of-sharpening.

I also prefer a more traditional look to a modern "tactical" look.

Thanks in advance.
 
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