Price Does Not Equate To Quality

IMO, giving an example of a knife or knife company that charges relatively high prices for their knives but the copies owned or examined by a person failed to provide the quality expected at that price seems an almost predictable response to this thread title. I don't understand why an opinion based upon 5 bad experiences, each of which cost well over $100 isn't a sufficient basis for an opinion which agrees with the title of the thread. I thought this forum was primarily about opinions.

When I joined the forums, there were 2 knives I really wanted: the MT LCC and the EK Commander. As I explored around the different forums, the first one I looked at was the Emerson forum. I don't know how many threads/posts I read that day. Probably read 30-40 minutes. At the end of that time, I had decided that I wouldn't be buying any Emerson knives. For me, it was a bizarre experience reading forumite after forumite tell about the problems their Emersons came with from the factory. Many talked about the inability to keep the pivot screw adjusted without using locktite. What was so strange to me was that so many of the "usual suspects" had this incredibly benevolent sound to what they wrote, as if the problems that so many Emersons presented were the basic root of the charm/charisma the knives held for them. I just could not imagine buying a knife for $150 or so that I'd have to fix before I could dependably use it.

Struck me as being about the same as buying a new car, only you have to stop and add air, oil, tranny fluid, and some antifreeze to bring up to proper levels, then when you get home, break out the tools, throw up the hood and give the car a tuneup -- after making sure that all the hoses were properly connected, etc. Close to 100% of new car owners would scream bloody blue murder.

I own a # of CRKTs, Spydercos, and Outdoor Edge knives. These knives are all tight, with good fit and finish -- except for a couple uneven grinds. Some have ATS34, but the others mostly have AUS6 or AUS8. So, okay, I have to sharpen some more often than I would 154CM. I gotta say, just talking the quality I have, that if you gave me a choice between an free OE Magna or any Emerson folder, delivered sight unseen, and that knife had to be my survival knife for 2 weeks in the wilderness, I'd choose the Magna for sure. The Magna is a good, strong knife. Pure and simple. Who cares if it only costs about 1/3 of the cost of a Commander? It is how the knife will perform and hang together that is the measure of quality, not how much it cost.

One last thing -- I've seen a lot of rants about BM knives in my short time here also.
 
You guys are making me feel better about my Sebenza purchase (this thing is SOLID!). But yeah, I bought a Gerber AR 3.00 from Skylands and it had some play in the blade, so I exchanged it for a Sharpmaker. I suppose you get what you pay for (most of the time), although I hear a lot of good things about Spyderco -- specifically in comparison to Benchmade.

--Dan
 
I'll admit I've seen my fair share of bashing of EMI and C/S. I think alot comes from the fact of offending some because of advertising. But come on, that's the point. I mean how would it sound "Buy my knife, it's like all average knives". Oh boy that's great.

I will say one thing for the knife industry, most companies will go out of there way to make you happy.

I got a commander recently, I've always wanted an Emerson. I like it, I will say that I was a little disappointed with some small things but so what. I got it for duty use, and it fills that role just fine. Now I would also like to mention that I have some other knives that I did not pay much for CRK, and Timberline come to mind, true they don't have the high end steel in them but they are one heck of a value.
 
Cut the guy some slack. We all make mistakes. Then, after you've cut him some slack, and some more slack, and he still doesn't come through, cut him from your 'buy' list, and tell us so we don't make the same mistake.

BBB
 
Hey Bugs, do you think the price of your lg. Apache from SM equates to its' value? Thanks for talking me into getting one! I've bought several knives, sight unseen, from BM, Spyderco, Kershaw, CRKT, and Queen. Overall, I've been delighted with dollar/value equation, given the online discounts. Got a Darkstar that was dull OOTB, I sharpened it. Bought a Queen #96 that didn't snap the way I thought it should, sent it back for a replacement. OTOH, I bought a Pioneer II that had uneven grinds, was dull, had an extremely gritty action, and about 1/16" of the tip was missing...sent it back for a refund and will not buy another REKAT. Can't feel good about ordering one off the net, and the same goes for EK just from what I've read on these forums. I don't have a B&M store nearby to sort through my purchases, and probably wouldn't pay the high prices anyway - given the steep discounts available online. Ya usually get what ya pay for is generally true, but there are exceptions on both ends; buyer beware.
 
Emerson used to make good knives, but they have cheapened them up to the point of worthlessness. Have owned and used several Commanders, have really tried to like them as the wave is cool. The black finish on an Emerson is temporary, any use at all and its gone. The liner lock galls on the blade, dissemilar metal problem. Not only that, in short order it will work its way all the way across the blade. You will be tightening the pivot once a week or it will fall apart. The 2000 and newer Commanders liners are way too thin to be a hard use knife, in fact, it will bend with your hand and most of the time the blade scrapes the liners right out of the box. They feel cheap, real cheap. You have to go back to 98 version to get a Commander with decent heft to the liners, and even then it will have the other problems. I can put up with the other problems, but that wafer thin liner scraping the blade even when new reminds me of pakistani junk. I want a Commander, but not a junk one. Anyone who has a silver plain edge 98 version for sale for less than $200 let me know.
 
Products vary in quality...especially if the model you have was finished on a Friday at quitting time. ;)

Like wives you don't always get what you think you are getting. :)

If YOU like the knife and it meets your needs, great! If not, return it and/or buy something else. Duh!

I'm sure they are having similar theads in rec.guns, rec. soccer and rec.macramae. :)

The appreciation of Quality, artistry, design and execution; the aesthetic, in production knives is a great hobby of no little sophistication, but to blast an entire maufacturer is too general. ;)

But it is too bad that the varied quality and lemons prevent us from keeping unevenly ground blades like misprinted coins or stamps: as rare collector's items!

Hey, YMMV
191ahc
 
There was a knock on my front door today, it was the Mailman delivering a parcel containing my replacement knife. The workmanship on the replacement knife is a lot better than the original knife. The grind is a lot better. I can consider this a happy ending.
 
To all knife makers, factory and custom: CHECK YOUR KNIVES OUT BEFORE YOU SEND THEM OUT! DON'T MAKE THE CUSTOMER DO QUALITY CONTROL, ESPECIALLY ON OBVIOUS FLAWS, ESPECIALLY ON BAD LOCKUP! GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME! Thank you.
And don't give me this crap about how they'll fix it if you send it back. I figure that a lot of companies and makers do check out their knives, spot flaws, even serious ones such as bad lockup, and send out the flawed knives anyways, hoping that most buyers will put up with the flaws. How could so much junk get through otherwise? And I mean a lot of producers.
 
I've had a liner lock that could go from too loose to too tight without hitting a sweet spot. It's possible because pivot tension affects more than just one thing, such as lock up, blade play, closed detent tension and so on. What's the right tension for one issue is sometimes the wrong tension for another issue. So that knife has to go back.

In the case for me, it ended up not really being a pivot problem. Turned out a new locking side liner was required as the original was oversprung for the proper functioning of the knife.

Phil
 
Originally posted by Ken Cook
Click to expand...
...trashing and bashing Emerson Knives without offering detail one about his experience (if any) with EKI knives.
:) Oooh my god. Don't you remember what happens when people share their actual experience, that happens to be negative with EKI products? Either that is labeled as a lie, or the author's IQ is questioned for writing that, correct?

Out of all those whiners who bitch and moan about the crappy quality and the high price paid, 99 percent of those who <b>claim</b> to have gotten a bad EKI knife have NEVER sent it back. They just take that expensive knife and chuck it in the junk drawer to collect dust. :rolleyes:
First of all why <B>Bitch</B> and not something else? Because it's Emmerson? So, what are you doing, criticizing Benchmade or bitching about it?
Why is that your or ANYONE else's business what another person does with his own knife?
If it had a defect it did. That means it passed QC, since it has gotten out, thus there are probs with QC, correct? How the maker will handle the repair is a different question.

Oh. Well he comes in the next week and sings the praises of Emerson's excellent customer service and waxes eloquent (sorry Waxes Eloquent!) about the incredible quality and value of EKI knives.
And you haven't seen complaints ;) Ever? Is that so?

Fact 1. Many of the most knowledgeable knife people at BFC are devoted and loyal fans of Emerson Knives.
And those who are not, automatically become illiterate, uneducated, etc?

Fact 2. If you have an Emerson Knife and you're not happy with the quality, EKI will jump through flaming hoops to make you happy.
No comments, as I haven't tried to contact them. Very good if that's true, however does this mean there are no QC problems?

Fact 3. If you've got a bad EKI knife
That means QC probs... Nothing else, and not bashing your favorite maker.

(It happens to every maker from time to time.)
Everyone agrees on that, just particular fans are not taking this easy.

bashing with baseless accusations like:
<b>"Price Does Not Equate To Quality = Emerson Knives"</b>
;) Come on. You have no problems with the numbers, or you missed the word price in there? Have you tried comparing prices? Let alone the N1 advertisement stuff. If you do that, apparently you're rising certain expectations in the public? If you say UR the best, is it surprising to get higher demands? If it's ok to charge higher price for EKI presumably for being #1 hard use knives, why it is not ok for the customer to request more form their blades? Nobody is complaining about POS Chinese and Pakistani rip-offs after all.
 
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