Production List : Fit and Finish

DarkReazon

DarkReazon

Joined
Jan 15, 2003
Messages
202
Times and occasionally opinions change... I know there are a lot of newbies (myself included) who are looking for the definitive EDC. I'm wondering what brands are recommended for those of us with less than $200USD to spend on a folder. There's a large Spyderco following here, as well as supporters of Benchmade, Cold Steel and Camillus. For price/performance LESS than $200USD how would you rank the production knife companies?

For production folders fit and finish, my personal collection goes...

1. Al Mar
2. Benchmade
3. CRKT
4. SOG

Anyone else care to comment?



Regards,

Shaun.
 
Unless you've handled most of these companies' current offerings, I'm not sure you'd be qualified to rank their relative fit and finish. I have never handled an Al Mar, but have owned knives by the other manufacturers (and Spyderco) and they all seem to offer fit and finish commensurate with their prices. In other words, you get what you pay for, and I have never felt surprised or cheated in terms of fit and finish by any of these companies.

I would suggest that you look for "the definitive EDC" based on the design features you need (blade length, blade shape, overall length, lock type, weight and bulk, clip design) rather than by "fit and finish". Once you decide on the features you really need (a process that can take years), it should be obvious to you which manufacturer or maker you should get it from.

miguel
 
Tough call, can't really make a list.
From my experience if you buy from one of the big guys- spyderco,benchmade, microtech, camillus, buck etc. (pretty much any company that has a following here on BFC) your going to get a well made knife.
What seperates the competition is design and materials. Figure out what your needs will be and then look through the offerings of said companies and pick what you think is best.
 
Most of the *major* knife companies make very good knives with near perfect fit and finish. Occasionally, they all let a few bad ones get through though. Most of my experience in this area is from buying Spyderco knives. Out of may 15 - 20 that I have owned, only 3 had problems. (Uneven grinding) Microtech, MOD and Benchmade seem to be very consistant in quality of fit and finish. CRKT knives look very nice but, I have had 4 of their liner locks fail.
 
Hi Shaun,

Those are some good companies for fit and finish. There are many production knives that have great fit and finish, but I have found even among the best of them it is a good idea to see a knife first hand if possible, since pics on the internet can be deceptive. I also like:

Microtech
Buck - Buck/Mayo
Outdoor Edge
Some CRKT
Spyderco
William Henry
Seki-Cut

As to the definitive EDC - I haven't found one because there are many different circumstances under which I carry a knife. But, I always carry one. You may end up with about a half dozen EDCs and be like a lot of us on the forums.
 
for that price range, definitely Microtech and William Henry. In my experience Spyderco fit and finish is only ok, same with Benchmade.
 
Just my personal faves:

1) Benchmade 710 (I like the Axis lock)
2) Al Mar SERE 2k (beautiful knife)
3) Microtechs in general (never got a bad one, I have 4)
4) Wlliam Henry (great gentleman's knives)
 
I hope your list isn't best to worst!

I fondle a lot of knives at various brick and morter stores and a couple yearly shows (although OBVIOUSLY not Blade!). I'll only coment on knives I've owned. The list is based on quality and is from best to worst decending. These comments are based on fit and finish, not strength or cutting ability. Lines where two or more are listed is where I feel the quality is about equal.

Chris Reeve/ William Henry
Al Mar/ Microtech
Benchmade
Old Puma
Buck/Schrade/Victorinox
Gerber/Kershaw/Camillus

jmx
 
As far as fit and finish on knives I own:

1. Microtech - flawless, but only have 1 so far.

2. Camillus/CUDA EDC - close to flawless.

3. Spyderco - close to flawless

4. Benchmade - usually very good, but can have bad blade grinds, blades off center sometimes.

5. CRKT - very good, blade grinds never quite right and blade finish a little rough, but otherwise nice.

6. Emerson - blades are very good and tough, satin hard chrome great, teflon finish wears quickly, the rest of the knife is always a little rough, especially liner edges, blades off center, blade stop and liner lock contact problems. An expensive kit knife.
 
Gabe, is that the Robo Dominator? What did you think of it?

Well, since we're talking about UNDER $200 USD, Chris Reeve is out, arguably the king of the hill WRT F&F. So, I'll add Kershaw to the list, the Boa is pretty nicely made and for only a little over $100. The chives/Leeks are very well made for the prices, plus you get the speed assist. Microtechs can indeed be found in several models for $200 and less, and as others have said, F&F is excellent, better than Benchmade, however, BM is definitely improving from what they were several years ago. The Buck/Mayo has surprisingly good F&F for a knife under $200. CRKT is good, but they need to work on fitting their locks better.

Well, off to the gun/knife show where my Microtech dealer is anxiously waiting for me, well, not for me as much as my wallet, im sure if my wallet showed up without me, he wouldn't be too upset...
 
I thought the Robo Dominator was very cool. The opening action was crisp and authoritative. The blade shape seemed like it would be serviceable for most EDC tasks. The handle fits my hands well.

I talked with Darrel Ralph about the other Camillus Robo knife, the Aftermath (obviously not a candidate for the under $200 category), and his take was that it was the highest quality production knife he had seen.

So I'm pretty enthusiastic about both knives.
 
jmx - hah!:) No particular order.

Atually MT has some of the nicest fit and finish I have experienced in a knife. The Seki-Cut surprised me as being better than I would have guessed at the price point.

I will say that the Robo Dominator I handled (probably the same one as Gabe) was well done and had fantastic ergonomics.

I would add one thing sort of on topic - some of the nicest fit and finish knives I have seen were not going to make my EDC or user list. There is so much more to a knife than fit and finish.
 
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