Quantity VS Quality

miso2 said:
Quality.
I am very picky and prefer to have a few knives I really like.
I would be happy to have just a Case Sod Buster Jr. and a custom frame lock knife.
But I cannot stop my cravings anyway.

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And please stop showing this Macwasil. I die a little inside every time I see it and realize I can’t have one.
 
I tend to go both ways but with a minimal number of what I consider "high end". I seek a middle range of prices overall and I don't mind if I don't use a knife. But I only buy knives now that I might use. No more collector pieces for me.
 
This thread makes us sound like a bunch of knife snobs. Strictly adhering to quality over quantity would soon have us all buying nothing but trendy "art knives". There is a wide world of interesting knives out there and, while most of us have learned to distinguish useful tools from junk, those good tools come in a wide variety of shapes and price points. Often, a $10 machete is more efficient and appropriate than a $2,000 custom camp knife. It is better to say that we are into good well performing tools, and while these may not be the cheapest alternative out there, our choices are practical rather than categorical.

n2s
 
Dan of Bazz Clazz said:
The problem with this is it promotes the myth that higher price means higher quality. This is not a correlated relationship.
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Yup; what he said. ^^

DocJD said:
I'm not going to load up on truckloads of ultracheapo crappy knives just because I can get a huge "quantity ". :p

But it doesn't have to be one extreme or the other . There are plenty of good quality and perfectly functional knives for less than $100 .
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And, for me, there are quality user/beater knives in the under $50 range - evidence the RAT-1, CS Voyager and some others.

In folders, especially EDC user type folders, the biggest threat is not lock failure, blade failure or anything of the sort ... it's loss. The simplest way to mitigate against that threat is cost control. I loose a $50 folder like a RAT-1 or CS Voyager, I buy another. If my Sebenza (an expensive knife for me) turns up missing, I'd be really steamed!

Then there's a category that almost all knife reviewers miss: the I don't care about it factor.
That's the characteristic of a knife that is a task presents itself, will I use the knife without pause, without worry and use the darned thing like a tool (appropriate for the job, however) or will I worship and coddle it like a piece of Man Jewelry? The I don't care about it factor is a medley of function, reliability and value - price is certainly in that matrix ... as is customer service. There's not much I would not do (in a suitable for folding knife context) with a Benchmade Adamas but I have trepidation about even so much as carrying some of my Micro-Techs for fear of having to send them back to M-T.

So, I said all of that to say this: I lean more towards the quantity in this poll, but the floor is reliable, dependable, safe performance. If I have to touch up my edge more often (AUS-8 versus S30V for example) so what. In fact, the softer steels are oftentimes less frustrating to sharpen. If I have to give up a little but of fit and finish for a tough knife that I can use without hesitation on tough and/or dirty chores - so what. I do lean more towards quantity but with sufficient quality (and value) to satisfy me. This allows me to have more different knives in more different sized and configurations to suit my fancy for a given day. It also allows me to have back-ups of my favorites and/or limited production/discontinued models.
 
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Quality over quantity does not dictate high cost. This RC Thiernois Butcher's knife cost $38 and has a permanent place next to a $700 folder and $300 customs.
 
For me, it's "usefulness" over quantity. I've sold off 12 to 14 knives recently just because they aren't ones that I'll use. I'll take a few that I actually use and enjoy over a larger number just to "have and to hold". But that doesn't mean expensive. As Dan of Bazz Clazz has already said, higher price doesn't always mean higher quality. And it doesn't mean "more useful" either. Most of the knives I carry and use nowadays are in the $140 - $200 range. Everything I've had in the $400 + range has gone away because they didn't work as well for me, or suit me as well, as the ones I kept.
 
Though I have more of a personal connection with the Tuko, mainly because of Ethan Becker, I receive satisfaction of ownership and use (value) with both for their respective price points.
 
I like traditional knives and if I strictly went for "high quality" over quantity, I would never have experienced Rough Rider slip joints or how well they are made overall. Knowing me, I'll probably pick up a couple RR's during my next visit to the Sevierville TN knife store. I visit that store a couple times a year. Try to stay away these days generally unless I have something I want in mind. I like to try things out periodically just because and that leads to knives that I have little use for lying around. But that's okay with me.

Quality over Quantity.... I can't generalize as I go both ways and that makes it fun.
 
Quality. Almost any knife can cut, but I like the look and feel or higher end knives. I'm not saying that every knife I own is a $400+ knife, I enjoy many Spyderco offerings as much as I enjoy my Hinderer and CRKs.
 
There is no reason you can't have both. With proper research, saving habits, and willingness to increase ability to gain income you can get just about anything in the knife world.
 
Both
Like all my high quality ($500.00+) knives
But always ready to add to my $10.00 an under beauties
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Both quality and quantity.

BUT, different people may have different standards of "quality" and even for the same person those standards may change over time. The quality standards may cover many aspects: safety, fit and finish, materials, centered blade and no blade play (for folders), and so on. And for each quality standard, different people may have different levels of expectation. For example, a slight bit of blade play could be viewed by some as a quality issue while none by others, or could be acceptable on a Griptilian but absolutely not on a Sebenza.

What I am saying is that there is no absolute quality. It only makes sense to talk about relative quality. One person's quality knives could be another person's gas station knives.

Quantity is absolutely important to me as well. There are some many different good knives out there that I want to try out. My current collection consists of 30+ knives ranging from $50 to $450 each. I won't trade them for 15 CRKs.
 
sharp_edge said:
Both quality and quantity.

BUT, different people may have different standards of "quality" and even for the same person those standards may change over time. The quality standards may cover many aspects: safety, fit and finish, materials, centered blade and no blade play (for folders), and so on. And for each quality standard, different people may have different levels of expectation. For example, a slight bit of blade play could be viewed by some as a quality issue while none by others, or could be acceptable on a Griptilian but absolutely not on a Sebenza.

What I am saying is that there is no absolute quality. It only makes sense to talk about relative quality. One person's quality knives could be another person's gas station knives.

Quantity is absolutely important to me as well. There are some many different good knives out there that I want to try out. My current collection consists of 30+ knives ranging from $50 to $450 each. I won't trade them for 15 CRKs.
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Yup. The terms quality& quantity are subjective.
Everyone has their own personal standard of quality. Thereare probably very few people who buy a jarbenza, think to themselves, “Gee, this is crap,” then pine for a collection of the same.

On the other hand, if someone was blown away by Ozark Trail, it would make sense (I guess) if they dropped another $5...again and again...sorta like I’ve done with knives in the $150-$200 range.

I’ve always been kinda envious of folks that limit their collection to a half dozen quality knives [user defined] and get the most out of each one. I just can’t do it at this point.

I guess that means, once a certain base level of quality has been reached, I fall into the quantity camp. Can I say that around here if I “only” have about 30 knives?
 
I like as many quality knives as I can afford :D. I could live with just my Sebbie, along with my S110V Military, PM2, Native 5, a handful of Benchmades, several Bucks (esp. my Custom Shop 112), and various Marbles, Cold Steel, Roselli and several others I can't think of at the moment.
 
That's an unanswerable question for me, beyond saying that quantity for its own sake makes no sense. I think there's unquestioned "quality" in lots of budgety type blades (some Spydercos, Kershaws, Bucks, etc.). Over time, my buying proclivities have trended toward more knives in the $150-$400 range than the budget knives, but I'm happy to have lots of the latter as well.
 
4mer_FMF said:
Yup. The terms quality& quantity are subjective.
Everyone has their own personal standard of quality. There are probably very few people who buy a jarbenza, think to themselves, “Gee, this is crap,” then pine for a collection of the same.

On the other hand, if someone was blown away by Ozark Trail, it would make sense (I guess) if they dropped another $5...again and again...sorta like I’ve done with knives in the $150-$200 range.

I’ve always been kinda envious of folks that limit their collection to a half dozen quality knives [user defined] and get the most out of each one. I just can’t do it at this point.

I guess that means, once a certain base level of quality has been reached, I fall into the quantity camp. Can I say that around here if I “only” have about 30 knives?
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I feel the same way about limiting the knife accumulation. Collecting is a little different. I really dislike the idea of selling just to get rid of them, but eventually I'll probably sell simply to avoid dumping them in the trash. But if I go to the effort of selling, it won't be some fire sale. I'd rather toss them in the trash than do that.... strange?

Some here forget that a $150 knife is EXPENSIVE to probably 90% of the world. We drop that and often think nothing of it. Bounce that up to $400-$500 and most of us "think about it", but eventually end up buying and fulfilling that want.
 
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