Quantity or Quality

[sabre cat]

How many of us bought quality from the very beginning?

I know I did not. However many of those cheaper quantity knives really helped me decide what blade shapes and overall knife ergonomics were right for me. I still have a few of the cheaper knives around just because their ergos are are spot on for my needs. I can think of one or two that I would keep over my better quality gear just because they meet my needs so well. Better than the costly blades I own.

I guess cost is a relative thing. I don't have any knife that would cost me over two hundred clams to replace. Nope. Wait. That is not right, I own a M3 trench knife that is worth more than $200. Forgot about that.

I have to ask myself if I would have the appreciation for better quality blades if I had never owned less costly stuff to begin with.

 

[JupiterPaladin]

If you buy at auctions, you can consistently score Tac-Force knives for $5 shipped. You could get 200 of them. 165 would have to last 2 days each then 35 of them only have to last a day. They come in many shapes and colors. Also, I hear they cut like a dream. Have a good day buddies I gotta go buy one for my favorite cousin now...

Anyway, I think even with $1000 I would have quality stuff but I'd still grab some stuff like Moras and Beckers and SAKs to stash in the vehicles as they are a great value for not much cash.
As for that Nirvana vs PM2 + Manix 2 + Delica + Endura deal I'd take the latter. All are quality but I like the variety of styles.

 

[strategy9]

I like variety.

"Quality" itself is a philosophical ideal and is to an extent, subjective to what one deems most important to their values: one person might find more quality in value itself, while another one finds quality in raw rugged simplicity, while yet another finds quality in aesthetics. Who's right? Each one is right in their own rite.

One person sees more quality in an axis lock, while one finds more quality in a spydie hole.

Is a buck 110 less quality then an Olamic Wayfarer? It's subjective to who you ask and what their idea of quality is.

After dozens and dozens of $20- $150ish knives, I'm actually considering my first high(er) end purchase of a one off wayfarer compact this year, (just need to come across the right one), but I still find quality in my quantity of much lower priced knives, from a 8cr Kershaw Scrambler to a BM Contego in m390.

$1000 a year fixed budget for knives; I'd probably have 10 $100 knives, 8 $50 knives, 8 $30 knives, 2 $260 knives, 1 $300 knife, and 1 $600 knife over a 3 year period.....

 

[Amoo]

I'd personally probably buy 5/6 knives in the $150-200 price range. I like what I get out of that price range and am fully prepared to lose or break one. When you live in a farming area it's much much easier to lose a knife then one may think. As an example neighbor had a goat get his horns stuck in some round roll hay line the other day. SO he had to grab the goat, grab the knife, cut the line off, set the knife down so he could finish untangling it safely, pick up all the scraps, check the goat to make sure it was okay, make sure nobody else had gotten into it...etc. We went back the next day and his knife was sitting on the fence post where he left it. Just because some people don't think you can be a responsible knife owner and still lose a knife doesn't mean it's not possible or even easy to do. Every knife task you encounter on a daily basis around here isn't, "Okay I'll pull my knife out, deploy with two hands, make my cuts, fold the knife back up and stick it in my pocket then continue what I was doing. Just doesn't work like that.

 

[ChazzyP]

I like variety.

"Quality" itself is a philosophical ideal and is to an extent, subjective to what one deems most important to their values: one person might find more quality in value itself, while another one finds quality in raw rugged simplicity, while yet another finds quality in aesthetics. Who's right? Each one is right in their own rite.

One person sees more quality in an axis lock, while one finds more quality in a spydie hole.

Is a buck 110 less quality then an Olamic Wayfarer? It's subjective to who you ask and what their idea of quality is.

After dozens and dozens of $20- $150ish knives, I'm actually considering my first high(er) end purchase of a one off wayfarer compact this year, (just need to come across the right one), but I still find quality in my quantity of much lower priced knives, from a 8cr Kershaw Scrambler to a BM Contego in m390.

$1000 a year fixed budget for knives; I'd probably have 10 $100 knives, 8 $50 knives, 8 $30 knives, 2 $260 knives, 1 $300 knife, and 1 $600 knife over a 3 year period.....

Some very interesting and valid points there. However, quality is also relative and to some extent measurable. There is certainly, within any context, poor, good, and excellent workmanship. The same can be said for materials, be they wood, laminate, blade steel, or any of the various components that make up a knife. The idea that, at a personal level, relative value is perhaps more a important determinative than "overall quality" indeed has validity.

On the other hand, at some point that argument can be stretched to the point that it becomes specious. If you don't give a crap that your gas station Jarbenza will not take or hold a decent edge or continue to function properly or will rust or whatever because a ten dollar knife has more value to you than a four hundred dollar CRK, you cannot reasonably make the case that they are both "quality" products. Of course there's both poor quality and excellent quality.

There's cheap, as in cheaply made, which is poor quality and there many products of good quality that are less expensive than other products which some may consider to be of better quality. That's where value enters in and that is certainly a personal and subjective judgement. The difference between a Spydie hole and an AXIS lock is not qualitative, it's a matter of preference.

 

[PURPLEDC]

My very first knives came as gifts at a very young age. But from the moment i started collecting I tried to buy the best i could find. But this was before the internet (and im only 36) and it meant gowing to gun shows and reading magazines. Options were limited and but I would mostly buy buck, benchmade and kershaw in my first decade of collecting. Occasionally id buy a hunk of crap because i liked the look of fantasy knives as a kid but didnt want to spend a hundred bucks on gil hibben raptor when i could have a benchmade 45. So for me i always aimed formquality above all else which led me to various brands over the years. But i do for sure have a cap on what i will spend. But that is because i think after $500 is the maximum peak for quality related pricing and the rest is ornamentation.

 

[Jlux21]

http://seikousa.com/collections/grand seiko/ Best

 

[Lapedog]

Quantity has a certain quality all to its own.

I think most of us thought that the first 40$ knife we bought was the highest quality knife we would ever need. Then we thought that about the $100 one and so on. If I stopped buying knives at 500$ per knife then that is my point of diminishing returns. For those who continue to buy past that there was something in that 700$ that the 500$ one did not have. I certianly think there are 100$ knives that perform better than a 1000$ custom, hell there are probably 10$ knives that cut better than some 100$ customs. However if I need to buy a more expensive knife to get what I want then it must be a higher quality knife to me.

That quality can be materials, designer, grinds steels whatever.

 

[Charlie Mike]

http://seikousa.com/collections/grand seiko/ Best

GS is a whole 'nother animal. Probably the most accurate "mechanical" movement made.

:thumbup:

 

[Jackal87]

In my opinion, it's much better quality! I don't want to have 100 low-quality knives, I'd rather to have only 20 knives, but gape when I look at them.. Another motivation is the value that they maintain in time.. A high quality knife increases in value over time, and perhaps in 10 or 20 years, my collection will have a double value, or even more..
But the most important thing is the satisfaction.... When you take your custom knife (or semi-custom), and you watch the finish, the perfection of the opening, as it closes softly, the bevel finish... You definitely say, "yes, it's worth it"

 

[kaozer]

To me it really depends.

I would rather have a single paramilitary 2 over a bunch of cheap chinese knives. On the other hand i would rather get a zt 0450 a pm2 titanium scales for the pm2 and whatever else i felt like that day than a single 500-1000$ medford

 

[Luis G.]

Quality over quantity. However what $40 knife isn't quality enough already? I've had enough knives that my trusted knife is a buck, while a bodega sits in a safe because it's too large to carry.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

The way I see it, it's about maximizing utility. What range of tasks and contexts of use is your kit optimized for? If you have a knife geared towards a certain range of tasks or a particular setting, buying another knife that's made for the same purposes is redundant. And there's not a single knife that bests all other knives at all tasks in all circumstances. Do you buy just ONE screwdriver, or do you buy a bunch of different ones for different sizes and styles of screws? Just ONE shovel for digging trenches, post holes, and snow, or different ones each better suited to those respective tasks? The same is true of knives. For a given budget I want to be maximizing what I can do with the tools I buy, and want them to be of solid quality but cover different ranges of use by buying several well-built strong values.

Yup. I want quality, but I also want enough quantity to have the right tool for the job. I don't know about you folks, but I'd feel damn silly if my $1,000 folder was the only knife I had to fillet a salmon when I know damn well a $20 fillet knife would make the whole process about twenty times easier.

 

[herisson]

To be honest, I'd say quantity over quality, if quality means "high end stuff". I'd rather have a lot of affordable knives and cutting tools ideally suited for their intended use, solid and reliable, than a few very high end, splendid and amazing work of art knives (although I am sure they perform well in their intended scope of use). In my eyes, quality lies in smart design and efficiency. This can be had for a few dollars. Just two examples, from the top of my head (or from my current pocket dump) : Case Sodbuster Sr. (folder) and A.G. Russell WoodsWalker (fixed pocket blade). Extremely affordable, perfect design, 100 % useful for me and I even like to look at them. I think they are beautiful and I like them a lot. Of course, I am weak for faultless finish, super steel and high performance and I cave in once upon a time... but it's for pleasure. Quality equates with efficiency in my book and my heap of knives attests that the "one knife to master it all" I've been chasing for some time is an illusion. So, I need many to cover all those very special cutting needs I have (or think I have...).

 

[The cow]

Ultimately, I prefer to buy whatever floats my boat. I prefer to buy good knives. Quality can be a subjective thing. To some people a quality knife is a good looking knife with tight tolerances and a good F&F but can't cut worth a darn and feel terrible in the hand.
Personally, I try to keep my knife collection small. My tastes to change overtime and I sell most of the knives I no longer use. With some of these high end customs, they're art pieces instead of tools. While I would love to own a full-blown Winkler custom, I would never use it.

 

[ak4seven]

Better quality but up to a point. Buy the best quality you can afford. That way you won't regret buying it.