Most over-rated production knife brand?

d762nato said:
I agree I have a lefty 7 in the drawer right now with the liner lock all the way to the wrong side pushing against the blade so much it sits against the frame and is scoring it up.
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If you don't mind me asking, what did you do with your knife that the liner is all the way over? I've been carrying an Emerson for nine months now without any significant problems, although I really have only used it for EDC-type tasks, not something like construction work.

Also, how much thicker should the liners be? At least the Emerson liners are twice as thick as the ones on the imported Gerbers a bunch of my friends are using.
 
lobo9er said:
RANDALL STAINLESS 440 series steel knives. Boom.
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I doubt you've ever used them, especially the stainless ones...

Here's another opinion from someone (me) who has never used or even handled the knife in question: Busse.

I've looked at some really clear close up photos of Busse edges head-on, and all I can see is that the level of toughness is achieved through extremely open edge angles and extremely thick edges...

You put those kinds of edge angles on most other well heat-treated steels, and you will get similar "toughness" results, up to and including cutting up cars and busting up concrete blocks...

And if you put INFI head to head to Randall's 440 at a similar fairly thin edge thickness, then you see Randall's lowly 440b stainless mopping the floor with INFI chopping up concrete cinder block... Too bad the photos are gone, but the comments are eloquent:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/645414-Randall-14-Vs-Busse-Sarsquatch

I particularly like the complaining about choosing the thinner edged Sarsquatch to roughly match the even thinner Randall... I guess a fan's idea of a fair edge toughness comparison is to pit a Busse 0.060" edge against the Randall's universal 0.020" edge.

Some like to forget that thread. :)

Gaston
 
This is a great post. Period. Dot.

Muaddib1116 said:
I'm not a huge knife flicker (I am definitely a compulsive opener/closer though), but nowhere does anyone say that a Sebenza can't handle some wrist flicking, nor does anyone say that flicking one open will immediately/definitely damage it. I don't even think that anyone has said that flicking it will void the warranty. What Chris Reeve has said (to my knowledge) is that he doesn't see the need for it and he advises against it, and that if you do damage it from aggressively flicking it open, then he might not fix it for free. I'm guessing though, that he'll still warranty defect damage unrelated to flicking the knife open.

Because there might be some confusion about how flicking might affect lockbar travel and cause damage, I'll comment on the lockup geometry philosophy of CRK's (the original) versus pretty much every other production titanium framelock I've seen. CRK framelock geometry is designed such that there is an almost parallel mating of the lockbar lock-face to the blade tang lock-face, which means a couple of things. First that there is very little unlocking force when shocks are applied against the lock (which is where a lot of criticism to framelocks comes from) and second (and more importantly to this discussion) that there is very little to no lockbar wear and engagement drift over the life of the knife. In fact, there are countless stories of very old Sebenza's that still have the same lock engagement as they did new, despite years and years of use.

This type of engagement geometry requires very tight manufacturing tolerances and individual hand lockface tuning (which CRK does for every knife) though, which is probably why every other ti framelock I've seen has the philosophy of jamming the corner of the ti lockbar against the blade tang, causing a lot of lock stick, requiring a long break in period, causing a lot of disengagement due to spine-whacks, and causing a lot of engagement drift over time (part of the reason that early engagement framelocks are so coveted).

What this also means, is that if you significantly alter the lock engagement of a Sebenza, say by flicking it so much that the stop pin is deformed and the blade opens further than designed, then you are also changing the angle that the lockbar lock-face and blade tang lock-face meet, which causes uneven pressure distribution and deformation of the lockbar lock-face.

So, TLDR: High quality, precision built does not necessarily mean that something can handle any treatment, especially if it was designed with a different treatment in mind.
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Gaston444 said:
Here's another opinion from someone (me) who has never used or even handled the knife in question: Busse.

Too bad the photos are gone, but the comments are eloquent:
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So, you are founding your opinions on a thing you have not used, on pictures that no longer exist?
Not a very good basis there. ;)
 
ridnovir said:
I own several customs but I loath the idea that any knife can cost more than $500-600. I mean this price should cover any labor and any materials (except precious metals and gemstones) once the price gets over that you get ripped off (often willingly :) you pay for the "cool factor," pixie dust and unicorn tears.
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Lol pixie dust and unicorn tears......Love it! :D


Personally, of the blades I own, I'd say Emerson. As others mentioned already, poor fit and finish and liner locks that do not inspire confidence.
 
shinyedges said:
For me Emerson asks to much for what they are, that said many dudes pay their price and feel satisfied with their purchase. Key words are for ME they are priced too high, I get Emerson fans like supporting Ernest Emerson and I sympathize with his opinion as well but it doesn't change the fact his liner lock "hard use" knives aren't exactly "hard use" knives. Hopefully this thread doesn't killed with butt hurt people.
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I agree. I do like the models but find the pricing high. Must be the taxes in Kalifornia.
Currently have a CQC-7A and A-100. Traded/sold all my others.
 
T.K.C. said:
Cold Steel.:thumbdn:
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How is a company that uses a high end blade steel with the strongest lock on the planet, with great fit/finish, and that actually cut better than most high end knives while being the cheapest out there over-rated? Given those facts plus a lot of peoples general dislike of the company due to their marketing style (silly videos) i would honestly say they are the definition of UNDER-rated in the knife world.
 
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Mick_1KRR said:
How is a company that uses a high end blade steel with the strongest lock on the planet, with great fit/finish, and that actually cut better than most high end knives while being the cheapest out there over-rated? Given those facts plus a lot of peoples general dislike of the company due to their marketing style (silly videos) i would honestly say they are the definition of UNDER-rated in the knife world.
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Yup!

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 
ridnovir said:
I own several customs but I loath the idea that any knife can cost more than $500-600. I mean this price should cover any labor and any materials (except precious metals and gemstones) once the price gets over that you get ripped off (often willingly :) you pay for the "cool factor," pixie dust and unicorn tears.
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I call BS on this. My good friend makes custom folders and is pretty good at it. If he were to sell his knives for 500-600 he would go bankrupt in a year. Materials alone can sometimes cost half that much. Not to mention labor, insurance utilities etc etc.
You got this all wrong. Getting a real custom from a good maker for less than 750 is a steal imo.
Cheers
 
EDCanAdamas said:
If you don't mind me asking, what did you do with your knife that the liner is all the way over? I've been carrying an Emerson for nine months now without any significant problems, although I really have only used it for EDC-type tasks, not something like construction work.

Also, how much thicker should the liners be? At least the Emerson liners are twice as thick as the ones on the imported Gerbers a bunch of my friends are using.
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I purchased it used on here years ago and it was in good shape when I purchased it and still is besides the lock issue. I guess I waved it some and maybe that did it. Now about the liner, I had a custom Emerson eight a few years back and I'm still kicking myself for parting with it.:( At any rate the liner lock on the custom was a thick one and wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Keep an eye on that liner lock It'll move especially if you wave it and that's what emerson's are known for or designed for. I really don't care for those fugly screws either, but that could be fixed fairly simple I would think. Maybe make the liner lock out of a thicker or different type of steel on the production models like the customs I dunno.
 
Mick_1KRR said:
How is a company that uses a high end blade steel with the strongest lock on the planet, with great fit/finish, and that actually cut better than most high end knives while being the cheapest out there over-rated? Given those facts plus a lot of peoples general dislike of the company due to their marketing style (silly videos) i would honestly say they are the definition of UNDER-rated in the knife world.
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Since when is AUS-8 a high end steel? Also when did CS start putting knives together with even good fit and finish? I've had a voyager and a lawman now and both were pretty much OK at best. They're not priced all that cheaply either, but I would still say they are a value for the price if you want something to be beat on.
 
folder geek said:
I call BS on this. My good friend makes custom folders and is pretty good at it. If he were to sell his knives for 500-600 he would go bankrupt in a year. Materials alone can sometimes cost half that much. Not to mention labor, insurance utilities etc etc.
You got this all wrong. Getting a real custom from a good maker for less than 750 is a steal imo.
Cheers
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You may have a point there my friend. Some makers can justify the higher prices, I say some because the majority use a lot of CNC in house or outsource to some other CNC shop and just "assemble" by hand then sell what is essentially a midetch for stupid $$$ - so my point still remains.
 
EricV said:
Since when is AUS-8 a high end steel? Also when did CS start putting knives together with even good fit and finish? I've had a voyager and a lawman now and both were pretty much OK at best. They're not priced all that cheaply either, but I would still say they are a value for the price if you want something to be beat on.
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Not sure if you're being willfully obtuse or haven't paid much attention recently, but Cold Steel has moved almost entirely away from AUS-8 and is using CTS-XHP primarily in their folders, with a healthy dose of CTS-BD1 and quite a lot of 3V in their fixed blades.

To be clear, I'm fine with people disliking them and thinking they're overrated, but I think we should keep the criticisms factual.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Not sure if you're being willfully obtuse or haven't paid much attention recently, but Cold Steel has moved almost entirely away from AUS-8 and is using CTS-XHP primarily in their folders, with a healthy dose of CTS-BD1 and quite a lot of 3V in their fixed blades.

To be clear, I'm fine with people disliking them and thinking they're overrated, but I think we should keep the criticisms factual.
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Haven't paid much attention since the AUS 8 days, hence the "since when" part. That is interesting and will definitely make me take a second look at their knives.
 
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