Quantity or Quality

I went down the quantity route. What appealed to me at the time was the variety of styles, patterns, handle materials, colors. I don't have any really significant knife needs. From a pure practicality perspective, I would be fully served by somewhere between 3 and 10 pocket knives.

Hindsight being what it is, if I could start over again I would go for quality over quantity, and still end up spending less overall than I have. I would have also focused on sharpening skills and equipment earlier in the process.
 
I've been thinking about this more lately. I like variety in my collection but I think there's an ideal size. If the collection gets too big then knives won't be carried much. I think my limit is around 50. More than that and I'd be carrying each knife for less than a week on average.
So yes, quality over quantity. Diversity. Value. Size limit.
 
Quality over quantity but keeping in mind what I want to do with it. I give 0 on a watch that can stand 300m water pressure when I am living in the mountains or the lakes are 10m deep and I am not a professional diver.
 
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In general, quality. But as IM says, more important is that I have the right knife for the intended purpose, they should still be of high quality though. I'm not expecting my large 21 micarta to fulfil the same roll as my Pacific salt SE.

All that said, price can be an indicator of quality but is not a guarantee. My Ontario utilitac II is quality but only costs $25.
 
I look for quality, but that doesn't always mean expensive. I could easily spend $1000 on a folder, while I would only spend $100-$200 on a fixed. In both cases I would feel they are quality. My most used knife is my machete which I purchased from Army Navy Surplus in the 60's. I am sure it cost less then $10 and I have been beating on it since. Overall I would rather have a few good knives than a lot of so so knives
 
i buy and use only quality knives. 150+ mostly $250 range, some in the 300-400 range. dont ever want to buy cheap crappy knives again. never ever again. they are junk and worse than the quality knives. i mean if all i was doing was cutting paper and opening mail, sure, 50$ knife would be fine.

if you want a cheap knife go with a Rat with D2 tho. the praise for them is great. i dont have a need for one and im not a fan of D2, but its better than aus-8.

spyderco are really good working knives, not too expensive and offer many different types of blade steel, tho mostly in sprints. the sprints are not that costly tho. ive got a manix2 s110 and PM2 M4 and they are both great for what i use them for. what im trying to say is i highly recommend them if you dont want to spend too much, but a bit more for that person who wants to see quality and a heavy user knife.

i have like 9 different ZT's and i love them all. well worth the cost, some i bought used in the exchange or ebay for substantially less than msrp, but they were not cheap either. ZT is my Goto.
 
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I guess it depends on how much work you put on your knife, If I did heavy work, I would feel a lot more confident having 3*300 knives than 1*1000, after a certain amount of cash, quality is not an issue
 
I am on the quality side. I have never owned a custom and I haven't purchased many under a $100 but I would say there are a lot of excellent quality knives in the sub $200 range. I have knives ranging from say a Spydreco Para 2 to Striders, Hindrers & CRK's and I have a certain Benchmark of quality that I won't drop below. I also know what I like, which for me is generally knives in the sub 5 ounce range, under 8"s with good ergonomics for my hands, decent blade steel which they mostly have in this range. If I had to choose one knife that I now own and I could have no others, it would likely be my CRK small Insingo with carbon fibre inlays. I could use that knife for the rest of my days and likely be perfectly happy. That's my thoughts find what you like then don't compromise or make hasty decisions, it is more satisfying and will save you money over time.
 
I have a Buck I gave $30 for 35 years ago. It's been used and abused but still looks good, holds and edge and has done everything I've ask of it. It in the economy class and quality class I believe.
 
I'm going to say both. Yeah, i know it's kind of a cop out, but really that's how I feel.

From a work standpoint (chef), it's definitely quality. I have 1 Wusthoff chef knife and it's all I use in the kitchen.

Otherwise, I have a few decent knives $100-200 range. I carry my ZT0566BW almost daily and really like the other (what I consider to be) expensive knives I own.

But I have droves of inexpensive knives for specific purposes. Machetes, choppers, small knives, tall knives, skinny knives, and fat knives. Piles of Opinels, Bucks, Bokers, etc... But most of all it's being able to do a job with the proper tool. So many times I will pull out the Mora companion while I have 2-5 "higher end" knives on my person.

Then there are the "weapon" knives. Those are all inexpensive (that I own), and they never really get used at all. But you know, if/when I need them they are just glorified shanks anyway. And this is a big time quantity thing, as I have them stashed everywhere. Those little grivory cold steel "double edge" (but really no edge) shanks are like 7 bucks and are GREAT for stashing places. Buy them by the dozen.

So to answer the OP, a taste of quality, but quantity overall in the interest of versatility...
 
$300 + $300 + $200 + $200

I have found that these prices fit right into my main levels of desire. I could be happy with a nice $50 knife, and a few $100 traditionals, but my main desires are right around the $200-300 price range.

At any point, I may pick out a cheaper knife, but it will always be quality, no matter the price.
 
Definitely quality.......for me quality is usually found in the $125 - $225 range for EDC blades. Work knives usually ~ $75 - $100.
I learned my lesson with tools......namely a cheap socket set. One broken finger was enough to learn that lesson.
My main work knives are an s35vn Franken Native and a Pac Salt SE. I beat the snot out of them, but they don't fail. I like feeling confident with my tools, and working with a $10 gas station knife does not fill me with confidence.
Joe
 
I don't read into it too much and basically want the best that I can have for the job I am doing, budget not withstanding. To answer the OP's original question, I would rather have one thousand dollar tool or two 500 dollar ones instead of ten hundred dollar tools. You get what you pay for.
 
highestpoint said:
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.
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Rather have a few costly but high quality knives. I don't need a ton of knives. I use most of what I own so I have no need to buy a bunch just for them to end up sitting on my dresser all day. Why buy a cheap knife ten times because it breaks, when you can buy one good knife one time and keep it forever? Makes no sense to me personally. End up spending the same amount, if not more, with a cheap thing that constantly needs replacing.
 
I lean toward quality over quantity but that opens up your definition of quality. My personal *sweet spot* for a knife is $80-140 range. This will get me a good mix of quality features (good blade steel S30V, S110V, D2, fit n finish, handle materials, warranty) while not breaking MY budget. I wouldn't buy a Sebenza, Hinderer, or custom. But that is me. A few examples of knives that I own and fit my sweet spot criteria : ZT 350, Spyderco Manix 2, HK (BM) 14715, CS Code 4, LM Charge, ESEE 5.

There is nothing wrong with budget knives. The Rat 2 and Kabar Doziers are two knives I have recommended a lot over the years. I have found that I'm willing to spend more then $20-50 to get a better blade steel and materials.

For $1000, I'd probably get 4 folders, 2 fixed, SAK, and a LM/Vic MT.
 
Well, both. I am actually almost exactly in the shoes you describe, as I have roughly $1,000 in my budget per year that is just hobby money.

And the way my collection works out is that I have a few knives that I use often that are from $60-$300 in cost and the rest of my knives are largely in the sub-$600 range and carried infrequently.

I can't justify more expensive knives than that right now because I wouldn't carry them, and I don't have so much extra money that I can buy these things just to look at.
 
the largest argument that most people use for a cheaper knife is, that you can loose and just buy another. ive never lost a knife, even a cheap one. and i highly doubt people using that argument have ever lost one (tho im sure it happens with cheap knives that people dont care about). and if you are loosing knives all the time, you just dont care about them, no point in you buying an expensive knife. or maybe it is a good idea to invest, cause maybe you would change your mind about caring about it then. essentially its just a reason to say buy a cheap knife, particularly the one they are trying to sell, because selling them in quantity is the only way to make money on cheap knives.

the other argument is damage...
if you do anything stupid with a knife you can break it, but its not likely. ive seen people drop them from time to time, they wont automatically break if you drop them, but if you drop it on a hard surface at the right angle with the right steel they could break... my basic kershaw blur tip broke on from something dumb prying (low end steel), after getting better blade steel that never happened, but i also tend to not use a knife for prying anymore, thats what prybars are for (or medfords).


ZT does replace knife blades for a small cost which is great. not sure what other brands do that, so buying quality is in this case is also good.

anything made in china by boker or crkt or kershaw is not a good idea. even for 150$ imho they are just sold because of the gimic or image they have for that cost, i feel they are very low quality and poor heat treatments. tho good chinese manufactures like WE, Rike, Reate, id buy every day if i had the cash.

are there good cheap knives? sure some that are not too bad, nothing that i would rate with higher end knives tho, even tho someone on youtube may say.

sure you could get 20 cheap knives for the cost of 1 really nice knife... but honestly i have used cheap knives and hate them with a passion. constantly sharpening them, poor quality, often terrible qc, breaking sooner than later, bad action, no real warranty, no free sharpening, list goes on. none of that is worth it to me.
 
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Everything is relative and so it the quality vs quantity debate. I assume between 10 $10 unsafe and blades of unknown steel knives and a Spyderco Manix 2, most folks would choose the latter.

Now how about a Spyderco Nirvana vs an Delica, an Endura, a PM 2 and a Military (which together cost about the same as Nirvana)? The quantity is obviously different and I assume the quality could be a bit different (although all of them are great knives). Will everyone have the same pteference between these two groups of knives? I highly doubt.
 
I choose quality and quantity.
I appreciate a good value, so if I can get a great user that will never fail me for a stupid cheap price that's what I'm all about. Victorinox, old imperials, Mora ( getting one today ) Casio watches...ect that's where it's at for me.
Those expensive knives may be nicer or fancier, but all around the world people do more than just get by with so calls peasants knives.
 
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A lot of people have made some interesting comments and a lot that appeal to myself and I agree with the majority of everyone. Was just curious if anyone else had the same views as my friend on the subject.
sharp_edge said:
Everything is relative and so it the quality vs quantity debate. I assume between 10 $10 unsafe and blades of unknown steel knives and a Spyderco Manix 2, most folks would choose the latter.

Now how about a Spyderco Nirvana vs an Delica, an Endura, a PM 2 and a Military (which together cost about the same as Nirvana)? The quantity is obviously different and I assume the quality could be a bit different (although all of them are great knives). Will everyone have the same pteference between these two groups of knives? I highly doubt.
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I agree but then again the original idea what brought to me by a friend that has a 40 dollar Walmart knife that he would rather continue buying if he lost it or broke it. He actually did lose it for a couple months and decided to buy another but then he found it so now he has two of the same one. I think the idea of any of the spydercos you mentioned is still a little beyond the aspect of what we're talking about though only to some people.

I would think it's safe to assume there is a big gap of quality between the various prices. Such as $1-$40 versus $350-$600 and so on

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