Reate horizon d any good?

J

jckirby23

Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
6
I was considering buying a horizon d and was curious if anyone has one and what your thoughts were. The only negative things I have ever heard about them is the price point and the fact that they are made in China. Personally i think it is ignorant to assume that with over a billion people in China that there is not one capable of producing knives as good or better than any American manufacturer and most of the negative comments were from people who don't own any Reate knives. All of the reviews i have seen or read were great but i was curious if anyone owns a Reate knife and what their impressions were? Thanks for your help.
 
I have a Hills, Horizon A and a Horizon B. All are incredible knives. The only reason I don't have a Horizon D is the jump in price for this generation. If I see one in good shape on the secondary market for a reasonable price, I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up. If you're ok with the price, then by all means you should get one.

I think a lot of Reate fans are waiting for them to release a smaller (~3 inch) blade.
 
Awesome. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on it this morning anyway. Can't wait to get it. Had it two day shipped so should be in on Thursday. Pretty excited about it.
 
Post up your thoughts on it when it arrives. I have a Hills and it is a fantastic knife in every respect. Design, fit and finish, action - all top notch. The Horizon C is on my short list as well.
 
I will post unboxing pics and first impressions one i have it in hand. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to my emersons.
 
My favorite knife is the CQC-10, but I can't imagine it will compare in fit or finish from what I've seen.
 
A lot of people here know that I'm into custom knives, and I'll be the first to say that Reate has great knives. The price for the D is high IMO; I got my C directly for $275 and couldn't imagine the D being worth $125 more, but that's for you to decide... It might be expensive, but I'm sure the quality is there to back it up.

FWIW, Reate is capable of producing outstanding knives, and IMO they're far better than ZT and many others in that category...
 
Blues Bender gives good post. While I don't have the high end customs BB has I have some decent knives and the Reate Horizon C I own is a very nice knife. As a matter of fact it's as good or better than any of my ZT's, but I also struggle with the price of the Horizon D.
David doesn't need to justify his pricing and I don't need to explain why I think it's priced to high because in the end the market will decide who's right. I wish Reate success.

Mike
 
I bought a D. It has major bling factor. My knife guy friends all knew exactly what it was when they saw it, and we all agreed it was one of the best made knives any of us had played with. Even my buddy who only buys knives made in the U.S. thought it was better then the ZT 0561 he had with him that day.
 
jckirby23 said:
I was considering buying a horizon d and was curious if anyone has one and what your thoughts were. The only negative things I have ever heard about them is the price point and the fact that they are made in China. Personally i think it is ignorant to assume that with over a billion people in China that there is not one capable of producing knives as good or better than any American manufacturer and most of the negative comments were from people who don't own any Reate knives. All of the reviews i have seen or read were great but i was curious if anyone owns a Reate knife and what their impressions were? Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I think most people have no problem that its made in china. And those with experience know reate makes good knives and wouldnt question the quality or capability of their manufacturing. Its not because they are made in china that people are scratching their heads. Its that the price was actually higher than USA produced models of like build quality and materials. I was pretty vocal about this and honestly I have kinda come around on the price because if you take the country of origin out of the equation it seems to be on par for what you are getting. But the fact remains there is a cost savings to having something produced in china. If that was not the case we would not have had a reason to manufacture everything there to begin with. I just dont have as much excitement for the brand simply because I got into them for not only the quality but the value. The quality is there but there are a lot of quality brands. And if they are going to charge more than domestic manufacturers I dont have nearly the same incentive to buy that I did just a few months ago. Add to that, that with domestic products I can get warranty service right here, with quick turn arounds and low shipping cost. You cant get that with Reate. Its gotta go back to china for any issue and even if its just a part they can send you, the cost is tremendous for a pivot or handle screw set.
 
I second everything that PurpleDC said, although I would like to add that Reates now ship out with a little hardware pack of spare parts, including roller washers...so perhaps that's a bit of preemption on Reate's part.

I do hope they return to their value advantage once we've gotten past this "High End" line release...and give us a Horizon Mini with a ~3" blade!!!
 
I had an interesting moment with Reaté knives - I was on BladeHQ, and saw this upcoming knife now available for pre-order. A Todd Begg Kwaiken!

boker-kwaiken-coming-soon-black-sw-cm.jpg


"Friggin' sweet!" I thought to myself, and "only $450 for a Begg? S35VN is kind of a letdown, but everything else is fantastic! Ceramic bearings! Lockbar insert! Crazy awesome texturing!"

Then I noticed that it was made by Reaté, and felt cheated somehow. I don't know why - I mean, mid-techs are made in large numbers with machinery by skilled machinists, sometimes outsourced (without necessarily informing the consumer) to machining shops. Why am I upset to find that this was being made by a company who, by all accounts, has demonstrated that they know what they are doing and can produce incredibly high-quality folders?

I had a long think about that one, and it came down to this: I know they can make it and sell it for a lot less. It's still the same materials the Horizon-B and Horizon-C used, just in a different shape. Given that, it seems that if they hadn't made those initial knives such a great value, they wouldn't be facing such criticism for their "high-end" series - they should have just been charging this much from the outset, because nobody likes raised prices. Even if you can come up with a perfect justification for a raised price, consumers will fall away en masse because of the perceived / actual loss of value.

Benchmade's MAP program, for example. They make no more money per knife by establishing the policy, but it allows brick-and-mortar stores to compete with online sales. The result? High volume of complaints and (I assume) reduced sales.

People don't like to pay more for the same thing.

Now, on to the actual topic of the thread:

I've heard great things about the Horizon-D, but I have heard literally those exact same things about the Horizon-C - which is available for $150 less. If money is no issue, and you like the Hoirzon-D, then I would say there's no need to hesitate - it's unanimous that they are exceptional knives. If you have any kind of limitations on your budget, I would get a Horizon-C. Hey, if nothing else, you can sell the C and pony up another $150 for the upgrade later on.
 
I got to try one the Reates, their is just too much good stuff written about them. I dont see a problem for the Begg at $450, I think it will sell.
 
Comeuppance said:
I had an interesting moment with Reaté knives - I was on BladeHQ, and saw this upcoming knife now available for pre-order. A Todd Begg Kwaiken!

boker-kwaiken-coming-soon-black-sw-cm.jpg


"Friggin' sweet!" I thought to myself, and "only $450 for a Begg? S35VN is kind of a letdown, but everything else is fantastic! Ceramic bearings! Lockbar insert! Crazy awesome texturing!"

Then I noticed that it was made by Reaté, and felt cheated somehow. I don't know why - I mean, mid-techs are made in large numbers with machinery by skilled machinists, sometimes outsourced (without necessarily informing the consumer) to machining shops. Why am I upset to find that this was being made by a company who, by all accounts, has demonstrated that they know what they are doing and can produce incredibly high-quality folders?

I had a long think about that one, and it came down to this: I know they can make it and sell it for a lot less. It's still the same materials the Horizon-B and Horizon-C used, just in a different shape. Given that, it seems that if they hadn't made those initial knives such a great value, they wouldn't be facing such criticism for their "high-end" series - they should have just been charging this much from the outset, because nobody likes raised prices. Even if you can come up with a perfect justification for a raised price, consumers will fall away en masse because of the perceived / actual loss of value.

Benchmade's MAP program, for example. They make no more money per knife by establishing the policy, but it allows brick-and-mortar stores to compete with online sales. The result? High volume of complaints and (I assume) reduced sales.

People don't like to pay more for the same thing.

Now, on to the actual topic of the thread:

I've heard great things about the Horizon-D, but I have heard literally those exact same things about the Horizon-C - which is available for $150 less. If money is no issue, and you like the Hoirzon-D, then I would say there's no need to hesitate - it's unanimous that they are exceptional knives. If you have any kind of limitations on your budget, I would get a Horizon-C. Hey, if nothing else, you can sell the C and pony up another $150 for the upgrade later on.
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I felt the same way. The only thing that makes me be able to swallow the price on it is knowing that its a better value than a field grade. They outsource stuff on those too and they are some of the most costly production knives (i dont call them custom or even mid tech) in existence. I guess if you compare it to a reate they are overpriced but compared to a begg a bargain.
 
I had a field grade a while back, nice knife. But very large for EDC pocket carry.
 
The first run of the Hoback Kwaiback was S35VN, and nobody seems to be let down with that knife. I think it's the fact that the work is being farmed out to China that gets people's all confused. Custom Knife Factory is doing same thing.
 
HurricaneDiesel said:
The first run of the Hoback Kwaiback was S35VN, and nobody seems to be let down with that knife. I think it's the fact that the work is being farmed out to China that gets people's all confused. Custom Knife Factory is doing same thing.
Click to expand...

And they come under scrutiny for it too. Again this isnt about it being chinese. If ferrari started making their cars in china should they command the same price even if the quality was the same but you knew they were saving considerable amounts of money producing them there?
 
Although Reate manufactures the following it has no control over the pricing:

  • Liong Mah Warrior One ($350)
  • Liong Mah Ace ($350)
  • Todd Begg Steelcraft Series Sun Tzu Kwaiken ($445)
  • Reate/Fort Henry Valkyrie ($305)
 
RamZar said:
Although Reate manufactures the following it has no control over the pricing:

  • Liong Mah Warrior One ($350)
  • Liong Mah Ace ($350)
  • Todd Begg Steelcraft Series Sun Tzu Kwaiken ($445)
  • Reate/Fort Henry Valkyrie ($305)
Click to expand...

Which is a great point to make. In many of the instances where reates prices come into question these actually have a better excuse for the high price. Lets say none of these had any connection to a maker and they were reate designs. They would probably be $200 a $300. But these were commissioned by the makers. Reate isnt going to cut their profits in order to give a piece to the maker. They have to make money but so does the maker who requested the pieces be made. I dont see either side doing these things for free so the end result we pay a bit more. I can see both sides to this. It still doesnt make it an easy choice. I am more inclined to simply wait for more reate originals. But even then these collabs (term used loosely) may pave the way for increased prices for those knives as well.
 
I don't know that that's completely true. I'm not sure how it works. The designer and the maker both have to make money. Are you saying the designer has complete control over the price? I would think both party's have to come to some kind of agreement. Meaning both party's have a say?

Mike

RamZar said:
Although Reate manufactures the following it has no control over the pricing:

  • Liong Mah Warrior One ($350)
  • Liong Mah Ace ($350)
  • Todd Begg Steelcraft Series Sun Tzu Kwaiken ($445)
  • Reate/Fort Henry Valkyrie ($305)
Click to expand...
 
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