Opinions : Most under-rated production knife brand?

jfk1110 said:
I'll add another yeah for Al Mar knives. Excellent knives all the way around. I'd also say that the Boker plus line has definitely raised their level of quality of fit n finish along with some excellent & interesting collaborative designs.
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I had a boker plus haddock and it was incredibly disappointing. Blade grinds were off, the pivot grinded, and the ti framelock stuck so bad I needed a screw driver to disengage the lock. No bokers for me ever again.
 
Southern Grind.

I have a Spider Monkey which competes with any other of my production and semi--production folders in every criteria.

Few available models = low market share and visibility, methinks.
 
I gotta say al mar and viper as well. Sold most my folders and kept 2 zts, 2 vipers, and getting 2 spydies. Going to have to check out Fantoni though, dont know alot about them yet.
 
JQuirl said:
I'll have to second the Ontario knives. Great knives. In fact, I bought an Ontaria RAT model II (pink) for my daughter's first knife. I like both Ontario's folding and fixed blades.

Along those same lines, I think Esee knives are great...Very good, reliable fixed blades.
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Yeah but I don't think anyone is going to call ESEE "underrated." It's a very hyped and well respected brand with a tremendous fan base. It lives up to the hype IME, but underrated is certainly one thing it is not.
 
19-3ben said:
Yeah but I don't think anyone is going to call ESEE "underrated." It's a very hyped and well respected brand with a tremendous fan base. It lives up to the hype IME, but underrated is certainly one thing it is not.
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...Probably true.
 
stonproject said:
I had a boker plus haddock and it was incredibly disappointing. Blade grinds were off, the pivot grinded, and the ti framelock stuck so bad I needed a screw driver to disengage the lock. No bokers for me ever again.
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I had this exact same experience with a Boker Epicenter.
 
I'm apparently in the minority here, but I was blown away by the quality of my decade edition Boker Plus Exskelibur. I find the finish of the carbon fiber on par or better than my limited edition ZTs.

0v9mfZh.jpg
 
Camillus... Some of them are really good. Try the "Hustle" for only $25.00 or so. Not cheap, just inexpensive!
 
Please enlighten me, where can I get a titanium framelock with g10 and vg10 steel for 80$?
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I went and looked at Blade HQ. Lowest priced frame lock from Kizer was $95. It's an old model with a single position pocket clip and it lacks the hardened steel lock bar face. The Gemini all Ti frame lock with ball bearing pivot and hardened steel lock bar face is $200. A ZT 0801 is made in the USA, has the same features and is $190. I need more than blue anodized hardware if you're going to charge me $10 more for a Chinese made knife than a comparable US made knife.
 
ugaarguy said:
I went and looked at Blade HQ. Lowest priced frame lock from Kizer was $95. It's an old model with a single position pocket clip and it lacks the hardened steel lock bar face. The Gemini all Ti frame lock with ball bearing pivot and hardened steel lock bar face is $200. A ZT 0801 is made in the USA, has the same features and is $190. I need more than blue anodized hardware if you're going to charge me $10 more for a Chinese made knife than a comparable US made knife.
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You must look at a different Blade HQ than I do :p

The Ti Kizer Gemini is $170, not $200 http://www.bladehq.com/item--Kizer-Laconico-Gemini-Frame-Lock--32460
The basic ZT 0801 is $200, not $190 http://www.bladehq.com/item--Zero-Tolerance-Rexford-0801-Flipper--15195
But that's not really a good comparison. The Gemini is a new knife that's spent most of it's existence sold out. That's a lot of upward pricing pressure. A better comparison would be a comparable new, hot ZT model.

The ZT 0095 is $220 http://www.bladehq.com/item--Zero-Tolerance-0095BW-Flipper-Knife--34409 That's a $50 delta in Kizer's favor, and the Kizer still gives you anno'd hardware and sculpted (rather than flat) handle slabs.
See the difference? Really though, the Kizer Blademaster knives aren't the best line to demonstrate value...

An even better example of Kizer value is the Vanguard Intrepid at $86 http://www.bladehq.com/item--Kizer-Laconico-Intrepid-Flipper--33916 versus
the ZT 0909 at $180 :eek:http://www.bladehq.com/item--Zero-Tolerance-0909-Flipper-Knife--34414
Sure, the ZT has a little better steel and a little more size, but that's a total value beat down. Now, I love me some ZT's but those Vanguard knives are kind of deal changers.

I'm still not sure that I'd consider Kizer under-rated though. I think those who are open minded to where they're made already have a high appreciation for them; a growing appreciation that unfortunately is growing many Kizer prices. It's only when you factor in knife users that are predisposed to dislike a knife due to point of origin, and who contrast those knives in an unfair light, that Kizer seems a little under-rated.

Ok, I've convinced myself. They're under-rated :)
 
No - they are not underrated. They are priced where they should be, definitely not more higher.
 
stonproject said:
I had a boker plus haddock and it was incredibly disappointing. Blade grinds were off, the pivot grinded, and the ti framelock stuck so bad I needed a screw driver to disengage the lock. No bokers for me ever again.
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The Boker Haddock isn't part of the Plus line. Mine had a sticky lock too, that's how I was able to get it for much less, the owner didn't want to work with it until the lock broke in. Aside from a slightly off grind, it is an exceptional knife IMO. I'd but another if I lost mine.
 
bpeezer said:
I'm apparently in the minority here, but I was blown away by the quality of my decade edition Boker Plus Exskelibur. I find the finish of the carbon fiber on par or better than my limited edition ZTs.

0v9mfZh.jpg
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I have the same knife and can too attest to the quality of the carbon fiber. I really like the knife, the only problem mine has is the liner slips, not disengages but slips pretty easily on the tang. I don't carry it much because of this but I fondle it often. That lip/front flipper is so fun!
 
crom said:
The Boker Haddock isn't part of the Plus line. Mine had a sticky lock too, that's how I was able to get it for much less, the owner didn't want to work with it until the lock broke in. Aside from a slightly off grind, it is an exceptional knife IMO. I'd but another if I lost mine.
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I worked my Epicenter over..re-aligned the blade, cleaned the inside, lubed the pivot, and re-profiled the blade (it was horrible). I carried my Epicenter every day for six months. There was never a break-in period. In fact the lock stick became progressively worse. It became so bad that I had to take my knife to the work truck and pry the lock bar over every time that I used it. It became a running joke on the crew that I worked on that I paid $130 for a POS. So in stonproject's defense, I'll reiterate what he said..."No bokers for me ever again."
 
The knives from Guardian Tactical are the most underrated IMO. I have a few. The Helix with CF scales is spectacular and gives the Microtech Socom a run for the money. I have some pics on my knife Instagram - craveworthyedc
 
Of classic knives?...definitely Imperial Knives USA Frontier/Double Eagle line.I like Schrade USA knives a lot but don't get why the secondary knife market hasn't grasped those quality knives by Imperial.Modern knives it would be REKAT-aside from making great heavy guage folders I still have my Pikuni knife and love it!
 
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