Most over-rated production knife brand?

DPC said:
I honestly dont think any knife enthusiast, regardless of personal taste, thinks the Bear Grills line is good at all. The only people I've known that thought it was the knife of knives where people who didnt know anything about knives.

As for the LMF II, I think it's good but overpriced. Many (MANY) soldiers of all sorts use them and I personally know a paratrooper that is very happy with his. Again, most of them dont know any better, and so did this paratrooper, who just wasnt into knives. You can get better than the LMF II for the price but it is not terrible in itself, it does the job.
Click to expand...

The LMF II was designed for a specific military need: a knife that can help the wielder escape from aircraft wreckage and serve as a survival tool and combat weapon. For your paratrooper friend, there exists only two options for this need: the LMF II and the Ontario ASEK.
 
Hiro-kun said:
The LMF II was designed for a specific military need: a knife that can help the wielder escape from aircraft wreckage and serve as a survival tool and combat weapon. For your paratrooper friend, there exists only two options for this need: the LMF II and the Ontario ASEK.
Click to expand...

There's also the ESEE 5, which I would much prefer to either of those options.
 
Gravy said:
Yea, it's the springs. They broke on my Minigrip, and on a 90 dollar knife, thats pretty annoying, especially since the refuse to send out replacements.

Also, ive found that very little lint or dust will gunk up the lock enterface quite fast and make it feel gritty and cheap.

Im not trying to piss anyone one off, Benchmade does make great knives, but they have a few things to sort out before I buy from them again.
Click to expand...

How dirty are your pockets? Maybe look into why the dryer lint trap isn't working ;)

I hear reports of omega springs breaking but have yet to experience this with all the benchmades I have. I have an Original 710 with ATS-34 from the 90's. Still has the original springs. If this were a serious problem benchmade wouldn't still be doing it.

And did you look into the APB yet? Most innovative yet functional lock I have ever seen. Easier to operate than the Axis lock.....
 
Last edited:
Kwon Kwang said:
There's also the ESEE 5, which I would much prefer to either of those options.
Click to expand...

Without a doubt! Not even a question really. I was at the local big box sports outfitter this weekend and they were selling the LMF II for $110 plus tax. Talk about a rip off! The packaging also said "full tang" which it is not. Liars piss me off.
 
Kwon Kwang said:
There's also the ESEE 5, which I would much prefer to either of those options.
Click to expand...

The ESEE 5's handle does not appear to be electrically insulated, so it cannot be considered a direct substitute. It also does not have lashing holes to make the knife into a spear, nor does it appear to be usable as a hammer, as specified by the ASEK requirements.
 
Last edited:
craytab said:
How dirty are your pockets? Maybe look into why the dryer lint trap isn't working ;)

I hear reports of omega springs breaking but have yet to experience this with all the benchmades I have. I have an Original 710 with ATS-34 from the 90's. Still has the original springs. If this were a serious problem benchmade wouldn't still be doing it.

And did you look into the APB yet? Most innovative yet functional lock I have ever seen. Easier to operate than the Axis lock.....
Click to expand...

I'm waiting patiently for them to put out a large manual that I dig with the APB. It looks like a winner.
 
Most overrated to me is spyderco! Ugly knives, god awful blade to handle ratios and their fanboy club is "really" special!

Case. All their recent stuff is complete junk
 
craytab said:
The packaging also said "full tang" which it is not. Liars piss me off.
Click to expand...

How do you define "full tang"? I've seen varying definitions of this term, which range from "a tang whose edges are completely visible" to "a tang that maintains the full thickness of the blade" to "a tang that encompasses the full grip of the knife". The LMF II does meet the latter two definitions as the tang is indeed long enough to be fully gripped by my hands. The remainder of handle encompasses the pommel attachment and some buffer space for electrical isolation.
 
The best Bear Grylls knife is the one on the room service cart at the Anchorage Sheraton. :eek::p
DPC said:
I honestly dont think any knife enthusiast, regardless of personal taste, thinks the Bear Grills line is good at all. The only people I've known that thought it was the knife of knives where people who didnt know anything about knives.

As for the LMF II, I think it's good but overpriced. Many (MANY) soldiers of all sorts use them and I personally know a paratrooper that is very happy with his. Again, most of them dont know any better, and so did this paratrooper, who just wasnt into knives. You can get better than the LMF II for the price but it is not terrible in itself, it does the job.
Click to expand...
 
That is exactly what I am saying is wrong with their product. If I can't flick their knife open and have them warranty a $400 knife. Why would I buy it? Sure Esee's are made of inexpensive steels but they work well and are meant to be used. Chris Reeve knives are made to a very high standard and I get that and its part of why they cost so much. That said I feel the design is outdated and for that much money I should have zero issues flicking it open all I want as I consider that normal use. Not suggesting you use it like you would a fixed blade, I don't think any folder should be.

Its my opinion that Seb's are overrated when compared to modern knives (and no I dont consider the Seb 21 a Modern folder, its a knife from the 80s). At least give us a better steel than S30v. It was cool 10 5 years ago but we can get $70 knives that have same or higher end steels.
 
Aren't all the high dollar knives over rated to a point? As I am pushing 61 now I remember growing up in rural WV and all you ever seen was Case, Buck, Boker and a few Gerber knives. We as kids wanted what the old timers carried and they seemed to do ok without the super steels and the flip open knives of today. I have a Benchmade 943 that i carried for a couple of years and the S30V steel is nice it really doesn't do anything that a Buck, Case...... won't. Sure you have to sharpen the older, softer knives more often, but we survived butchering hogs, cattle, chickens and such. But having said that, that 943 sure is fun to flip open!!!!
 
You're right; Benchmade is totally overrated. They started out cloning knives and somehow got a free pass on that and haven't done a thing since.
 
No knife or brand is "over priced" if people are still willing to buy them in numbers great enough to support the company.

If I had to name them it would be - Emerson, Busse, Strider, and Medford.

I have nothing against those brands and am actually a fan of most of them, but they're still overpriced compared to what you get.

Then again, when you compare basically ANY USA brand to Kizer, Reate, and other like minded Chinese production companies, they're all overpriced.
 
lemonslush said:
That is exactly what I am saying is wrong with their product. If I can't flick their knife open and have them warranty a $400 knife. Why would I buy it? Sure Esee's are made of inexpensive steels but they work well and are meant to be used. Chris Reeve knives are made to a very high standard and I get that and its part of why they cost so much. That said I feel the design is outdated and for that much money I should have zero issues flicking it open all I want as I consider that normal use. Not suggesting you use it like you would a fixed blade, I don't think any folder should be.

Its my opinion that Seb's are overrated when compared to modern knives (and no I dont consider the Seb 21 a Modern folder, its a knife from the 80s). At least give us a better steel than S30v. It was cool 10 5 years ago but we can get $70 knives that have same or higher end steels.
Click to expand...

It's fine if you don't like CRK's because they aren't designed to be flicked open and you like flicking open knives, but I think it's wrong to say they are overrated because you want them to be able to do something they are not designed to do. It would be overrated if CRK said "these are the best knives for flicking open hard, do it as much as you want" and then didn't warranty damage caused by that behavior. But, since they do exactly what they are advertised to do, even if you don't like it, I think they are rated just right.

If you want to say they are overrated because they haven't kept up with upgrading their steel and think they should have better steel for the price, that's fine with me.
 
Kwon Kwang said:
The absolute most? From all the data I've collected in the time I've been a part of this community and into this hobby, I'll have to say CRK. No, they don't all have perfect fit and finish. There are many knives priced at a tenth of the cost of any given CRK that are lighter, offer more efficient grinds for cutting, have stronger locks (if folder) and offer superior ergonomics. Not saying they're bad knives by any means, but even three years after joining BF I fail to see what makes them special. Perhaps it's the price tag itself that people find attractive.
Click to expand...

Everyone has the right to their opinions, and I'm NOT the type to say "Just get a _________ (insert brand name or knife model) and see." But in my observation, there seems to be plenty of people on the forums who criticize CRK in particular without ever having handled, much less owned or used one. Or saying it's the price tag itself that is CRK's attraction, or that it's 'not rugged enough', 'pocket jewelry', etc. Of course, CRK's aren't for everyone, and that's great, too. That's why there is so much variety in the knife world. But I would personally prefer to critique a certain brand (or, more appropriately, a specific knife) that I've actually had some experience with.

Jim
 
lemonslush said:
That is exactly what I am saying is wrong with their product. If I can't flick their knife open and have them warranty a $400 knife. Why would I buy it? Sure Esee's are made of inexpensive steels but they work well and are meant to be used. Chris Reeve knives are made to a very high standard and I get that and its part of why they cost so much. That said I feel the design is outdated and for that much money I should have zero issues flicking it open all I want as I consider that normal use. Not suggesting you use it like you would a fixed blade, I don't think any folder should be.

Its my opinion that Seb's are overrated when compared to modern knives (and no I dont consider the Seb 21 a Modern folder, its a knife from the 80s). At least give us a better steel than S30v. It was cool 10 5 years ago but we can get $70 knives that have same or higher end steels.
Click to expand...

This seems a little to me like complaining about not being able to flick open a traditional folder with a nail nick :D
 
James Y said:
Everyone has the right to their opinions, and I'm NOT the type to say "Just get a _________ (insert brand name or knife model) and see." But in my observation, there seems to be plenty of people on the forums who criticize CRK in particular without ever having handled, much less owned or used one. Or saying it's the price tag itself that is CRK's attraction, or that it's 'not rugged enough', 'pocket jewelry', etc. Of course, CRK's aren't for everyone, and that's great, too. That's why there is so much variety in the knife world. But I would personally prefer to critique a certain brand (or, more appropriately, a specific knife) that I've actually had some experience with.

Jim
Click to expand...

X2 for this ^

CRK's get bashed by more people who've never touched them than any other brand. If all the CRK bashers actually owned one, there wouldn't be any left to go around for those of us who actually like them :p
 
Hackenslash said:
X2 for this ^

CRK's get bashed by more people who've never touched them than any other brand. If all the CRK bashers actually owned one, there wouldn't be any left to go around for those of us who actually like them :p
Click to expand...

Used one extensively. Decent knife, absolutely nothing about it justifies the price for the end user.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top