My first cheap chinese knife experience...

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Dagon

Joined
Nov 12, 2007
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Most of the comments on this forum recommend to stay away from cheap&nasty chinese knives. That seemed reasonable but even so I succumbed to the temptation of ordering one because it is a pretty nifty looking thing, it has some kind of 440 steel and of course it basically costs as much as a CD if you shop around. It's the Boker Magnum Steel Companion:

boya105.jpg


It looks nice, doesn't it?

Well, it arrived yesterday and my first impressions were quite favourable: it opens and closes smoothly, the general fit is nice and, while not as luxurious as my mcustas, the quality seems very acceptable considering the price.

Today, after some more playing I begin to see the limits in quality: the liner lock barely locks the blade in place, as it's so eccentric. If I push on the blade, not even using that much force, it closes. Incredible that this passed QC!
Well, lesson learned I guess, and on a positive note, this is an opportunity for me to open it (something I prefer not to do with the mcustas, and it isn't needed either) and repair it.

cheers!
 
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I remember my first cheap chinese experience. It was in a hotel lounge in Peking. She was sitting at the bar next to me and..... Oh wait wrong story. Congrats on finding love man. Most people have at least one cheap knife and if it works for you awesome. Let us know your impressions a few months from now.
 
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I bought a NEW Schrade 127 Sheephorn that is beautiful and razor sharp. I just can't get over that CHINA thing though.
 
Well, everyone gets one at least once in their lives. I'd rather underpay for a knife like this than pay and get a knife that's distressingly overpriced. Like anything else, knives are a passion. If they weren't, most of us would have one or two knives and that would be it. Ummm...make that three or four.

As I get more experience, I get to where I dislike linerlocks. They're better than slipjoints, but I just don't trust them. Some people say you should treat all folding knives like slipjoints, but that would pretty much negate their benefits. Be careful, yes, but I've heard so many stories of people who had slipjoints close on them. It even happened to me when I was 16, and I haven't had any use for them since. A good friend of mine had one close on him while he was slicing up a wild pig. He now uses a Buck lockback.

Speaking of which, you might want to save your pennies and pick up a good Buck, like the Alaskan-series Cabela's. It's about seventy bucks and has a solid lock and an S30V blade. Some kind folks on this board kept recommending it, so I bought a couple. I don't think for the money that you can get such a fine knife. I packed one in my emergency "bugout" bag and think everyone should have one at least. With steel prices going up, it won't be long until they'll probably be more cost prohibitive. People pay a lot of money for S30V blades (sometimes as much as for a good handgun). Add to that Buck's legendary heat treat and strength and it's a bargain.

Before buying knives, it's always a good idea to check in here first. Lots of folks were going to buy Gerbers, CRKTs and Chinese linerlocks and were able to search for reviews.
 
+1 on the Alaskan Guide 110. It is a terrific knife and one of the best deals out there.
 
The scary truth for some folks is that Chinese knives are increasingly good value. I'd take a Rough Rider over the cheap Imperials of my youth any day.

Quality cutting tools are not tied to any particular piece of dirt.
 
Similar experiences with cheap Chinese linerlocks have soured me to all linerlocks.

Is this paranoid?
 
These days quality has little to do with country of origin. You can find poorly made knives originating in any country. I have several inexpensive Chinese knives that are very well made. But by the same token, there is a lot of crap out there. Some of it is made in China. Some of it other places.
 
THe Alaskan guide 110 indeed seems splendid. Unfortunately, they won't ship it outside the USA! I will check for other vendors.
 
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