Reate productions on par with high-end mid-techs?

SeppukuSamurai

SeppukuSamurai

Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
1,435
Nicer than most other productions as well.

Am I delusional or what? I've owned like, 6-8 Hinderers, always expecting the next one to be "the one that isn't crappy", alas, 'tis not the case. They have the absolute worst action. They weigh around 10lbs and they fit the hand like a brick. To be fair, I've had one XM24 that was pretty sweet. That's it though.

As for Strider, it's as if their motto is "We're going to ignore just about every advancement in technology and continue making the same knife for twenty years." No bearings, no lockbar insert, and 50/50 fit and finish. I've had freaking awesome Striders with early lock up, smooth opening, and overall pretty good quality, yet, I've had a considerable number of total duds.

These are 4-600 dollar knives, guys.

My District 9? A boss. Perfect fit and finish and lightning fast deployment. The three Kwaikens I've owned? Bosses. All of them perfect. Literally perfect. Wtf?

What's going on?
 
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That's a hot take if I've ever heard one.

Striders are so hit or miss it's now their brand defining characteristic so beating that isn't too hard.

Talk to me about why I should buy a Reate over a pm2.
 
155440 said:
That's a hot take if I've ever heard one.

Striders are so hit or miss it's now their brand defining characteristic so beating that isn't too hard.

Talk to me about why I should buy a Reate over a pm2.
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That's a hard one. The PM2 is a good to go EDC. I wouldn't use one "hard" but as far as what you'd actually require a knife for, you'd be hard pressed to be found wanting. I won't lie, I've owned a good 10ish Paramilitaries throughout the years and they're usually pretty decent in terms of fit and finish, despite a good number of them being uncentered with a bit of side to side play. In fact, A Manix 2 XL was my very first high end pocket knife many many moons ago and I still own it to this day. Adore it, in fact.

With that being said, I will state, with near certainty, if you can find a Reate in a similar style that I believe it would have better fit and finish as was the case with the 5-6 Reates I've owned and the numerous anecdotal experiences I've heard throughout the years. All titanium handles, S35VN blade, and in my opinion, a sexy ass design. ANNNNNND? A lock bar insert....AND.....wait for it...BEARINGS. :O

Frankly, I can't see a reason to buy many other "midtechs" as my District 9, which I think I paid around $175 aftermarket, out classes every Hinderer and Strider I've owned in around 8 years of seriously collecting. Not to mention it comes with an entire set of extra hardware.

I should've restricted my statement a bit as Spyderco offers a lot of sub $150 dollar knives that are actually GTG.

Reates out class almost every +200 production and midtech.

Prove me wrong. Which is entirely impossible as this is entirely subjective.
 
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ChrisKnife said:
Bigger doesn't mean better!!! It's the motion of the ocean, dude!
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But just think how much motion you can get with this knife! :D

37OQA4i.jpg
 
stabman said:
Ah, but the Cold Steel Espada XL is bigger than any of the folders made by any of the companies mentioned thus far.
It is WAY better at being bigger. :thumbsup:
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AND it's lock is way stronger AND you get their way stronger lock! AND it's way cheaper!!! Cold Steel XL Espada = the best knife of all ever. Outguns Reate, Strider, Hinderer, CRK, Benchmade, Spyderco, ZT, and even Gerber, though that's pretty close...
 
ChrisKnife said:
That's a hard one. The PM2 is a good to go EDC. I wouldn't use one "hard" but as far as what you'd actually require a knife for, you'd be hard pressed to be found wanting. I won't lie, I've owned a good 10ish Paramilitaries throughout the years and they're usually pretty decent in terms of fit and finish, despite a good number of them being uncentered with a bit of side to side play. In fact, A Manix 2 XL was my very first high end pocket knife many many moons ago and I still own it to this day. Adore it, in fact.

With that being said, I will state, with near certainty, if you can find a Reate in a similar style that I believe it would have better fit and finish as was the case with the 5-6 Reates I've owned and the numerous anecdotal experiences I've heard throughout the years. All titanium handles, S35VN blade, and in my opinion, a sexy ass design. ANNNNNND? A lock bar insert....AND.....wait for it...BEARINGS. :O

Frankly, I can't see a reason to buy many other "midtechs" as my District 9, which I think I paid around $175 aftermarket, out classes every Hinderer and Strider I've owned in around 8 years of seriously collecting. Not to mention it comes with an entire set of extra hardware.

I should've restricted my statement a bit as Spyderco offers a lot of sub $150 dollar knives that are actually GTG.

Reates out class almost every +200 production and midtech.

Prove me wrong. Which is entirely impossible as this is entirely subjective.
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You make some good points, especially your last one. 200+ I see nothing wrong with your arguments.
 
It doesn't surprise me that you think your Reate is better than Strider or Hinderer. As much as I hate to admit it High end Chinese knife companies are manufacturing some of the highest quality production knives on the market.

I've been truly blown away by the quality of my We Knives. My We 705 in particular beats my Hinderer XM-18 and CRK Sebenza 21 (never owned a Strider). BF members keep saying that the CRK is higher quality with better fit and finish. My Sebenza came with a small blade surface imperfection and the lock bar was defective right out of the box. The parts and pieces of my WE 705 fit so tightly that at first I didn't think they fit. Then they just slide home when lined up perfectly and fit with ZERO slop. The blade centers perfectly on every We I've ever touched. No blade play, centering or lock issues after reassembly. The blade is perfectly ground and even on both sides and the factory bevel was perfect heel to tip. No gaps and all surfaces were perfectly machined. I'm sorry, but the CRK precision is superb, but it's not better. Hinderer fit and finish is inferior to We. I've heard that Reate beats We, so...
 
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