Quantity or Quality

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Aug 13, 2014
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I've noticed that some people have a variety in their collection that ranges from Customs and mid-techs to under $20 knives.. A friend says he would rather use a $50 knife that has more potential to break and would rather buy the same one again than spend $100 on one that is of better quality (money isn't an issue either). Does anybody else think like this?

If you were limited to a set amount of say $1000 dollars a year would you guys rather have a bunch of knives that were under $100 or a couple knives that were around the $500 price?

Since I've gotten around to better quality knives my collection has slimmed down a lot. Personally I would rather have a few knives that were more expensive and of better quality than a bunch that I would run through every time they break.
 
I'd rather have just these...



... than a dozen Seiko/Luminox/Tag watches.

Same goes for knives.
 
If I had that much to spend. I would buy two customs that I use most, ,my EDC folder and my machete. Then with the remaining money I would buy the best, yet cheap, smaller fixed blade, and at least one or more(as many as I can) cheaper quality production folders. It is nice to have a backup knife in your truck, fishing gear, etc. Oh, I would definitely want a multi-tool, if you consider that a knife and part of the $1000 limit.
 
I'd take quality any day, since you'd be using them anyways, and carrying the best would be better
 
I d rather have the Seiko. Oh yeah, that s what I have. Keeps perfect time. Solar powered . Water proof to 300 meters. dive watch.
Same with my knives. High quality for the price. Just not so pricey. More money in the bank. Strangely comforting.;)
 
I'm not saying this is hypothetical on the amount of money, just using it as a relative term.

Just curious why some people are okay with lesser quality knives and would continue to buy them after breaking versus doing it right the first time..

I can also say that I'm sure 90% if not more of the people on BF would agree with us about the quality point.
 
As they say let me say this about that.

I don't know much about $1000 knives. Maybe you are talking fixed.
I will say I was about to pull the trigger on a Chris Reeve, probably would have been an Umnumzaan. Then I decided I just had to have the better steel and got a BM 710 with M390 steel at a third to a fifth of the price. It wasn't the price though five hundred dollars plus would have been a huge hit to the pocket book. This was my main Christmas present from The Chef.

I decided blade material was key over how well it opened and closed. Call me crazy.
Turns out the action sucked so bad I was a bit disappointed though I can fix it when I get around to it.

Long story short (the long story is in another thread here :D :p :) I ordered a Gayle Bradley One (yes I can't stop blabbing about it).
All along what I really wanted was the M4 steel . . . there is a little voice deep down inside me that says "if it don't rust it aint sheet" . . .

Now I have the steel I want and the action I want.
I wouldn't trade the 710 OR the GB One for a bushel basket full of Opinels or Kershaws or ________(fill in the blank).

I don't think there is a knife (folder) out there at any price I would rather have. Other wise I would be saving my money for IT instead of those two.
I still really like using the 710. Flies open like a dream; just a bit less than stellar closing one handed (pinch the scales the blade won't drop).

hahaha truth be told, but you all know this, my favorite fixed is the $9 Cold Steel Kitchen Classic in the old KreyEx all black diamond pattern handle.

And yes I bought three of them. Does that make me a liar ?
 
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For me personally I started out buying "bang for your buck" category knives (RAT series, stuff like that). Then I went a little pricier and pricier and so on with my collection (if that's the right word since I use all of them but I digress haha). As of now though I've sold off most of my knives and really have only kept the left handed customs and mid-techs mostly (just bought my first GEC as well). So I guess I fall into the quality over quantity group.


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For me it's not that straightforward.
I personally think after a fairly low dollar amount, you get diminishing returns from spending more on knives. High cost does not always equate to high quality.

For example, the Mora, Victorinox SAK and Opinel are all excellent at what the do and outperform many more expensive knives.

If my choice was between more expensive knives using stabilised burl and M390 vs cheap in plastic and surgical steel where all else is the same, I'd take the more pricey one.
 
Quality over quantity.

But price isn't always an indication of quality or lack thereof.

A $15 Mora Companion is my go-to garden knife.

My most used EDC's are all in the $100 range.

I have fondled CRKs and Hinderers but, while very nice, don't see them as being X times better.
 
I'd take quality any day, since you'd be using them anyways, and carrying the best would be better

Total agreement.

A knife in the pocket is far more valuable than a stash sitting at home in a safe.

(My collection consists of mostly higher-priced sprint runs, with a couple special mid-tech customs thrown in - all get carried/used).
 
Hi. I think quality has different meanings for different people and, in fact, quality has several dimensions. For me, quality it’s mainly “fit for use”, so, a good quality item is, for me, an item which works well (fulfilling or exceeding my expectation as customer) for what it has been designed, possibly at an affordable price for my wallet :). Following this reasoning, for example, a Mora (12 EUR), from my perspective, it’s a much better quality product than a Woodlore (600 EUR), it delivers the same results at 1/50 of the cost :).

Quality, in my opinion, is connected to price mainly where we enter realm of "perceived quality" (not really measurable and subjective by nature) where the parameters we evaluate the item against are very different from individual to individual and basically impossible to measure, such as aesthetics (beautiful for me, ugly for you); the “prestige” coming from ownership (status symbol); feeling of "contentment/fulfillment"; trust in the brand, etc. Perceived quality can have nothing to do with measurable quality/performance parameters :p.

About quantity, I normally limit the purchase of items down to a number I am actually able to use, at least for some times, along the year. What doesn’t get used in one year time, generally, we give away :). This is valid for almost all our family items (old books, toys, clothes, etc. and even knives), they either go to charity or individuals. Most of my old knives, not anymore in use, have been gifted to friends or relatives.
 
A mix. One knife can't do it all and, while I want all my knives to be high quality, I also want enough of them to have the proper knife for the task.
 
I think there's a point where you can have both. I think if I had a certain price point and tons of models in front of me, I'd go for more knives. For instance, if we're talking around $500, I'd rather have a PM2, a g-10 mini grip and a custom 110 over a sebenza. And I'd still probably have money left over. Those models are just an example and I don't mean any disrespect to CRK, but you get my point. There can be quality and quantity at the same time....or you can go buy 50 Gerbers. The choice is yours...
 
I go for quality but for my purposes price doesn't always equal quality that I can make use of. I have carried low priced knives and they worked for me but I didn't respect them. I reached my happy point at between $100 and 200 and that is what I buy and use. I don't want to buy more expensive knives to use and I won't carry a cheaper knife. I can see both sides of the argument though- rather than my 8 or so EDC knives I could buy 1 or 2 that were more expensive. Or I could buy 2 real cheap knives and use that money for another hobby. I settled on what I like and that's what I do.

This is my group of knives that I carry and use:

DSC_4459b_zpszknfl7ao.jpg
 
Quality hands down. You never know where you will be when a replaceable knife breaks on you.

That being said, there are plenty of trustworthy knives out there of the less expensive variety. "High Value" is MUCH more important to me than anything.
 
I am about quality, over quantity. If I were limited to $1000, I would rather have 1 custom knife, then a bunch of less expensive ones.
 
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