I'm kinda mad at myself over this.
I've always been into knives but never had the budget to get anything of quality (more than $15-20) until a few years back when I bought a CRKT M16-04. Since then I have used and abused it, knife, chisel, screwdriver, EMT reamer, prodding/poking tool, etc. Thru all of that it still functions perfectly and looks great (even after many 5' to 25' drops). The only problem was the dull edge that my Klein sharpening tool just doesn't help anymore.
For the record I am an electrician (Commercial/Industrial) and used my CRKT hard in ways that most people wouldn't use a knife. One of my main uses for it was to strip heavy gauge wire (350-750MCM) and later use the knife to cut the tape off the head. This process involved the knife sliding across metal while cutting thick -insert plastic/rubber compound here- and sometimes stopping dead in it's tracks as the blade slammed into said metal at the end of the wire/head. However, as I mentioned, it has held up excellently.
So now I have a little more money and want a new knife since the CRKT is dull and unsharpenable by me. I opt for a benchmade 943 since I hear such great things about Benchmade and this model was recommended. It came with a black aluminum handle and a black coated blade that is half serrated. I vowed to never use this knife for anything other than cutting acceptable materials. So 2 days later I can count 30 things that I had to go get the utility knife to cut instead of using my trusty pocket knife, and only one thing that I actually cut, a piece of rope just to see how well the Benchmade worked (it worked well). Furthermore I noticed that two days of moving my keys passed the knife (clipped to the top of the pocket that I keep my keys in) has worn down the black on the back of the knife to a nice shiny silver color. The coating on the aluminum handle of my CRKT is perfect in that area, and the CRKT is larger so it would have more contact with my keys (and 3+ years worth of contact versus 2 days).
So now I have a $100 knife that I can't use for what I need and looks like crap because the coating had worn off in a way that just doesn't happen to my cheaper knife.
So a week ago I buy the Spyderco Native for $40 at Walmart, I wear it to work for 5 days, I use it for what I need (including many of the "heavy" tasks I mentioned at the beginning). The plain edge cut everything I needed and still looks great, and the handle does not have any signs of wear as the Benchmade did.
So what does this mean? Well I know that some elitists would complain about my uses for the knife, but if a $50 CRKT can handle a couple years worth of it, why not do it?
Other than that, I guess it means that cheaper knives may be better in some situations (or all situations for me).
I figured I'd just vent my frustrations, I'm still kinda mad that I paid $100+ for this Benchmade and scratched it up. It would have been excellent as a "formal wear" type of knife, if my car keys didn't do so much damage.
Two things about the image: I recently took the clip off the CRKT when cleaning/CLPing it, I forgot to put it back on before taking the picture.
Second, you can see some of the worn area on the Benchmade, there is more to see when you look at it from the side. Also, I do not know how the clip got scratched.
I've always been into knives but never had the budget to get anything of quality (more than $15-20) until a few years back when I bought a CRKT M16-04. Since then I have used and abused it, knife, chisel, screwdriver, EMT reamer, prodding/poking tool, etc. Thru all of that it still functions perfectly and looks great (even after many 5' to 25' drops). The only problem was the dull edge that my Klein sharpening tool just doesn't help anymore.
For the record I am an electrician (Commercial/Industrial) and used my CRKT hard in ways that most people wouldn't use a knife. One of my main uses for it was to strip heavy gauge wire (350-750MCM) and later use the knife to cut the tape off the head. This process involved the knife sliding across metal while cutting thick -insert plastic/rubber compound here- and sometimes stopping dead in it's tracks as the blade slammed into said metal at the end of the wire/head. However, as I mentioned, it has held up excellently.
So now I have a little more money and want a new knife since the CRKT is dull and unsharpenable by me. I opt for a benchmade 943 since I hear such great things about Benchmade and this model was recommended. It came with a black aluminum handle and a black coated blade that is half serrated. I vowed to never use this knife for anything other than cutting acceptable materials. So 2 days later I can count 30 things that I had to go get the utility knife to cut instead of using my trusty pocket knife, and only one thing that I actually cut, a piece of rope just to see how well the Benchmade worked (it worked well). Furthermore I noticed that two days of moving my keys passed the knife (clipped to the top of the pocket that I keep my keys in) has worn down the black on the back of the knife to a nice shiny silver color. The coating on the aluminum handle of my CRKT is perfect in that area, and the CRKT is larger so it would have more contact with my keys (and 3+ years worth of contact versus 2 days).
So now I have a $100 knife that I can't use for what I need and looks like crap because the coating had worn off in a way that just doesn't happen to my cheaper knife.
So a week ago I buy the Spyderco Native for $40 at Walmart, I wear it to work for 5 days, I use it for what I need (including many of the "heavy" tasks I mentioned at the beginning). The plain edge cut everything I needed and still looks great, and the handle does not have any signs of wear as the Benchmade did.
So what does this mean? Well I know that some elitists would complain about my uses for the knife, but if a $50 CRKT can handle a couple years worth of it, why not do it?
Other than that, I guess it means that cheaper knives may be better in some situations (or all situations for me).
I figured I'd just vent my frustrations, I'm still kinda mad that I paid $100+ for this Benchmade and scratched it up. It would have been excellent as a "formal wear" type of knife, if my car keys didn't do so much damage.
Two things about the image: I recently took the clip off the CRKT when cleaning/CLPing it, I forgot to put it back on before taking the picture.
Second, you can see some of the worn area on the Benchmade, there is more to see when you look at it from the side. Also, I do not know how the clip got scratched.
