Price you absolutely refuse to pay no matter how good the knife is

I find it hard to get excited about a knife now. It’s the same titanium frame lock just packaged a little differently. Things are getting boring…. So I’d say unless it’s mind blowing- I’ll have to pass.
 
Up until about 3-4 years ago, I had a hard $200 spend limit. Inflation, rising costs, blah blah blah, has increased this limit to a "relaxed" $250.. some mental gymnastics can get me up to ~ $300 pretty easily. Anything over that, I can usually talk myself out of. I also justify this spend increase to myself by rationalizing that because i have already accumulated so many of the knives I want at this point, I'm buying fewer knives overall each year, thus, even by increasing my spend threshhold, I'm still spending less money on knives than in years past! (hah see, mental gymnastics at their finest..)

Fortunately for my wallet, many knives above that range simply don't appeal to me anyways, because the things that add to the knife's cost (damascus, cf, inlays, milled pocket clips, fancy hardware, anodization, etc.) are "upgrades" that do nothing for me.. in almost every instance, I will prefer a more "basic," simple knife over the "upgraded" model. This has saved me a lot of money over the years haha..

There are a handful of brands with knives that apeal to me that I would be comfortable breaking my ceiling for.. I have a few CRKs for example, those are worth the $$ to me. I have also strongly been considering an AB iMamba, McNees Mac 2 3.5, and Les George VECP.. I feel like I would enjoy those enough they'd be worth the $ to me... here again, it's the base models of these knives that I like best. So I suppose, final answer, ~ $500 - $550. I can't ever see myself spending any more than that.
 
ricklikesknives said:
Up until about 3-4 years ago, I had a hard $200 spend limit. Inflation, rising costs, blah blah blah, has increased this limit to a "relaxed" $250.. some mental gymnastics can get me up to ~ $300 pretty easily. Anything over that, I can usually talk myself out of. I also justify this spend increase to myself by rationalizing that because i have already accumulated so many of the knives I want at this point, I'm buying fewer knives overall each year, thus, even by increasing my spend threshhold, I'm still spending less money on knives than in years past! (hah see, mental gymnastics at their finest..)

Fortunately for my wallet, many knives above that range simply don't appeal to me anyways, because the things that add to the knife's cost (damascus, cf, inlays, milled pocket clips, fancy hardware, anodization, etc.) are "upgrades" that do nothing for me.. in almost every instance, I will prefer a more "basic," simple knife over the "upgraded" model. This has saved me a lot of money over the years haha..

There are a handful of brands with knives that apeal to me that I would be comfortable breaking my ceiling for.. I have a few CRKs for example, those are worth the $$ to me. I have also strongly been considering an AB iMamba, McNees Mac 2 3.5, and Les George VECP.. I feel like I would enjoy those enough they'd be worth the $ to me... here again, it's the base models of these knives that I like best. So I suppose, final answer, ~ $500 - $550. I can't ever see myself spending any more than that.
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The VECP has been on my radar for so long, I just never have the cash when I see them, (don’t see them too often) or something else comes along that I want more….but definitely someday, as I’m a big fan of his ZT designs
 
tony281sc2 said:
The VECP has been on my radar for so long, I just never have the cash when I see them, (don’t see them too often) or something else comes along that I want more….but definitely someday, as I’m a big fan of his ZT designs
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Same!

I've also been trying to build my savings acct lately, so I'm trying pretty hard to actively buy fewer knives these days.. fortunately though, I've bought so many over the last decade that I'll never run out! I tend not to ever sell either, so I've been trying to find the joy in rotating through my accumulation and rediscovering models that I haven't carried in a while vs. having to buy the "latest and greatest".. It's been working for me, but the temptation of a new knife is always there haha..
 
By far the majority of my knives have been under $100, many of them under $20. The most I have ever spent on a folder is $150.00. There are a couple of folding knives that I might pay $200.00 for if the mood caught me right, but I have never been moved to go look for them.

I have spent more on fixed blades, on a couple of occasions punching through the $300.00 barrier. I might go over $400.00 if the right deal came along.
 
I’ll buy and do edc in 3-400 range. I want the MT combat troodon Warhound but $775 is just hard to justify
 
I used to only have inexpensive knives and never thought I would spend more than about $50 for a knife. Then I found a $100 I really wanted and eventually talked myself into buying it. I fell in love with it and soon bought a $200 knife, then a $300 knife. I have been happy for awhile, but lately I've been eyeing a Sebenza. I think at this point it would be foolish for me to say I will put a cap on it.
 
tew3006 said:
I used to only have inexpensive knives and never thought I would spend more than about $50 for a knife. Then I found a $100 I really wanted and eventually talked myself into buying it. I fell in love with it and soon bought a $200 knife, then a $300 knife. I have been happy for awhile, but lately I've been eyeing a Sebenza. I think at this point it would be foolish for me to say I will put a cap on it.
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Once that doors unlocked you will never go back……
 
$150.00 no more!! 😏
Can’t see what a $500.00 knife does any different than a $50.00 does!??! 🤔
They all cut!! 😂
John 😁
 
jmh33 said:
$150.00 no more!! 😏
Can’t see what a $500.00 knife does any different than a $50.00 does!??! 🤔
They all cut!! 😂
John 😁
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You’re not wrong, but then I look in the mammoth thread and realize that going > $150 has its perks.
 
Slice O Life said:
I think the real question is what % of your monthly income are you willing to dedicate to the purchase or funding of a knife.
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That really is an interesting way to think about it.
Annual income is probably more applicable to me.
I tend to go several months without a purchase, then buy something really nice or splurge on a few purpose-specific cheaper knives (like a Spyderco Salt for the kayak, or something).

Lately, I buy more knives for gifting than I do for myself, but the ones for me are a lot nicer. 😁
 
Slice O Life said:
I think the real question is what % of your monthly income are you willing to dedicate to the purchase or funding of a knife.
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Oh boy I don’t like that kind of math lol
Some months are better than others, depending on the overtime, etc…
If I Really want something, I can suffer through without about 25%, BUT that is when I worked 6 days. These 5 day work weeks suck, and are cutting into (pun intended) my Knife money, big time.
 
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