performance knives

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For me turning to customs is done when you have a knife built to your own specs. Not put on a list waiting for something trendy many people own and flip.
 
noob93 said:
Okay so I recently had a thread about custom vs production for performance and it seems that the production might have eaked out the win.
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kindly point me to this thread, I'm interested to read....
I'm also curious as to what knives you have and which handmade one you have experienced?

regards
 
All these questions under the auspices of educating yourself? There are a lot of sources that can introduce you as to what makes a custom superior. You see, if you've yet to come to appreciate the differences between production and custom, you might want to stick with production. With custom, you get a higher level of the knife making craft to a point that it is an art. That's art as in not putting pretty stuff on a knife, it's art as in the precision of the edge, the precise fit of the handle, the perfect balance in the hand and the overall symmetry of the knife.
Appreciation of all of that can't be taught, you either see the differences or you don't.
 
noob93 said:
I have not and all due respect I do try to "educate" myself this is why I ask these questions. It seems your strongly for customs but as you can find there are many who are not. Many people seem to be of the opinion a production is better based on the better resources and time spent making the design. Now I didn't say that but other people did and I do own both a production and a handmade and have had many productions that I find on par with the handmade knife.
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Broaden your horizon my friend

Most people do not know

I've been heavily involved with knives for over 3 decades

When I started out prouduction knives were junk

I was on a quest for high performance steel for field use

Back than there was no internet

We wrote letters to guys we read about in magazines and waited months for replies

I sourced out guys that new how to temper a blade so it wouldn't dull on one critter etc

Yes it is true we are light years ahead now

Just like with firearms there is so,e great stuff out there right now

I attend and work a lot of the biggest cutlery shows out there and yes prouduction stuff is awesome and you can truly get some incredible knives right now

Especially in the folding knife world where machine tolerances and CNc has made a perfect knife

Let's face it your best custom folder makers are also using the same type machines and probale not as good as say Kershaw etc

Custom folder makers just take the time to finely assemble and tune

For years I've been using folding prouduction knives and saying that they are that good

That's coming from a guy who has hundreds of custom knives

My normal carry folder is a DISKIN DA

Yes it's an 800 and up dollar DA Auto and the maker is a dear friend but nothing to the prouduction world can touch it ..... Yet



I jave carried custom Microtechs etc they are all good

I will agree to a degree with you and here is an example

John Gray is a friend and makes a wonderful folder

He was in our booth at Blade this year and I was blown away by the quality of the knife Kaiser was doing for him

Here was a 220 dollar knife that was practically as good as John custom version ......today's prouduction stuff is that good



So if your not into the total custom aspect of ordering a folder I can see your point imho performance wise prouduction folders have arrived

But for custom fixed blades the market sucks

Read the thread on the Battle Tanto I posted the link on

That will clue you in on what can be done by a true Artisian ..

There is no production Tanto in the world that can compare

Pick up a Jason Knight or Nick Wheeler or Bill Bagwell High Performance Bowie Knife ...... There is nothing in the prouduction knife world that can compare

Not even close

Go to swords and it is drastically even more unfair

I mentioned the cutting comps held at the Blade show every year

Ask Dan keffeler who I think is the 4 or 5 time world champion

No one even makes a prouduction knife that could compete

In life you have varying degrees of excellent

In prouduction fixed blades what is an excellent knife will still pale in comparison to what an excellent custom is

I am not being argumentative and in some ways I agree with you but please take a look at the thread I linked and see what a truly high end custom blade can be

In the world of sheaths , SAYA, etc prouduction stuff is after thought garbage

Experience a high quality custom leather sheath from a maker like Paul Long or in the Japanese genre a properly crafted SAYA from a maker like Mirabile .... You will see quickly

The only downside is the really good stuff is big bucks so there is nothing wrong with not being able to justify the difference in cost but you can't say it's cause they are not better ...... The really good stuff when it comes to fixed isn't even out there in the production world
 
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If the differences between your custom and factory knives are not glaringly apparent, you're buying the wrong custom knives.
 
JParanee said:
Have you ever been to a BladeSport Cutting event ?

There are no prouduction knives and no Striders :)
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I'd like to reiterate Joe's point. It is without question the best performance knives ARE custom fixed blades. If you look at what the Dan Keffeler's of the world compete with, or just look at the top knives from the extensive testing by Ankerson, or pay attention to what Nathan Carothers is doing with 3V, you will realize there's no argument.

To reference Ankerson's testing:
CPM 10V - 2400 - Phil Wilson Coyote Meadow - 64.5 RC - .004" behind the edge - Custom
CPM S125V - 2340 - Phil Wilson Bow River - 62.5 RC - .006" behind the edge - Custom
CPM S125V - 1960 - Big Chris Custom - 63.5 RC - .006 behind the edge - Custom
CPM 10V - 1180 - Darrin Sanders Custom - 63 RC - .012" behind the edge - Custom
S110V - 1120 - Manix 2 - 62 RC - Regrind to .005" behind the edge. - Modified production
 
Awesome post thank you for the time and all that info. You really did answer my question and I appreciate it very much. I can justify spending the money at some point and now that I know I will certainly enlighten myself with a high end custom. Very nice folder by the way I really like that one. beautiful and functional as a knife like that should be imho. I asked this question because I have a guy close to me that sells some beautiful high end stuff for a few bucks more then im used to. I have talked to him and find him very friendly and honest and think I will give him my business.
 
noob93 said:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1414118-custom-vs-production-performance . hopefully that works for you and I currently own an esse izula 2 and a custom knife I purchased from a maker I found on bladeforums. Two totally different knives realistically as the handmade knife has a 4.4 inch blade with almost a flat grind made of elmax with more of a belly and a longer handle.
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Yes that worked. Thank u

So that was your original thread discussion.

My assessment is that you've painted your statement with a very broad brush.

Discussion and observation is one thing. But I don't see how you've actually done any testing yourself? You mentioned you're in Canada and it's difficult to obtain knives

How about if I send you one of my knives and u do some testing? I'm relatively new and definitely not the best maker. But I'd be willing to risk a test.

Lmk. I'm serious

Harbeer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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noob93 said:
Awesome post thank you for the time and all that info. You really did answer my question and I appreciate it very much. I can justify spending the money at some point and now that I know I will certainly enlighten myself with a high end custom. Very nice folder by the way I really like that one. beautiful and functional as a knife like that should be imho. I asked this question because I have a guy close to me that sells some beautiful high end stuff for a few bucks more then im used to. I have talked to him and find him very friendly and honest and think I will give him my business.
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If you were speaking of my post thank you and come spend some time on the custom forum when it comes to bad ass fixed blades there is a lot of good content

Lotta great stuff out there and I like that you are interested in expanding your horizons good on you :)
 
Its not a question of "better", its a question of "better for what?".

example:
I recently make three hunting knives as gifts. They're 3/32 D2 steel hardened to 62rc and ground to 15 thousands behind a 30 degree (inclusive) secondary bevel. These knives slice very well BUT are also delicate. You would be hard pressed to find a production knife made this same way because folks would break them and the company making them would get a lot of bad PR.

I also recently made a few scandi blades with A2, 59rc, with a 21 degree bevel. For reference my spyderco bushcraft (great knife) has a 26 degree bevel and my LT Wright genesis has around a 25 degree bevel with a fairly large convex secondary bevel. Again its a fairly fragile combination. This allows me to sharpen the primary bevel with a course stone, then add and maintain a tiny secondary bevel until it becomes large enough to notice in use. I find that sharpening time is reduced this way, I don't think they would do well on the market and have no intention of selling them but they fit MY needs perfectly, and that's valuable to ME.

Production knives generally need to be tough knives. The most common way to make a knife tough is to make it thick, soft, and with an obtuse cutting edge. If your after something else your options become a lot more limited. The spydie southfork mentioned above is a good example of an exception to this rule. Its thin and keen but its also in the same price range as a custum.
 
HSC /// said:
Yes that worked. Thank u

So that was your original thread discussion.

My assessment is that you've painted your statement with a very broad brush.

Discussion and observation is one thing. But I don't see how you've actually done any testing yourself? You mentioned you're in Canada and it's difficult to obtain knives

How about if I send you one of my knives and u do some testing? I'm relatively new and definitely not the best maker. But I'd be willing to risk a test.

Lmk. I'm serious
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OP, you see what I'm talking about? Straight up dedication right there!

HSC, that's quite an offer. You deserve a thank you for such a generous offer to the OP:thumbup:
 
I did paint it rather broad yes as I wish to educate myself as broadly as possible. I have not done anything scientific really but have owned knives since I was about 4 when I got my first sak from my gypsy uncle. Since that time Iv collected and lost or sold quite a few knives from budget to budget friendly custom. It is a bit hard right now to obtain knives as my local guy is kind of crummy and the exchange sucks to mention a few. If you are serious about sending me a knife I would happily test it for you and do an honest review. Thank you for even offering that is very kind indeed.
 
Thank you for the kind words I believe we all owe it to ourselves to learn about the things we love. Not just in one aspect but in all areas or as many as we can.
 
What is a performance knife?
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A performance knife would be the top cutters here :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope

Notice there aren't too many production knives crowding the customs . . . like . . . NONE . . .

Looks like it makes a difference after all.

Buy and enjoy I say . . . Oh and have a few productions around that you like so you can make it through the years waiting to get your custom . . . I'm not saying it isn't worth it . . . I'm just saying . . .
 
Congrats on making the knives I hope to try my luck soon and yes i get what your saying. Basically a production is one size fits all and a custom is specialized. I also agree there are many production knives that do not cut well do to this reason.
 
I was speaking of your post indeed Mr paranee and appreciate that link. that knife or short sword even was just incredible. I have always had an interest in japanese knives its actually what kind of started my fascination with knives.
 
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