Several inexpensive knives or one more expensive knife?

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Brutus013

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For the person starting a knife collection but short on funds, what would you suggest? Three less expensive knives, an Opinel, Marcator, and EKA for $53 shipped, or one more expensive knife for the same amount? Or an Opinel, a Mora, and a Swiss Army knife for even less compared to a single blade? Any combination of inexpensive items vs one more expensive knife.
 
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As a note, I already have two decent fixed blade puukkos, and a few decent quality folders.
 
I agree quality over quantity.

Take that $53 and get a Benchmade Griptilian/Mini Griptilian or a Spyderco Endura or Delica. Then save up and get a Victorinox Cadet or Tinker. That'll cover most needs.
 
If you are starting a showpiece collection, go for well built, quality "lookers". If you are building a functional collection, feel free to buy nice looking, great working knives. I love to look at picture perfect show knives as much as anyone, but if the question is a single $500 knife, or 10 $50 knives, I will go for the 10 every time.

Build a full set of rock solid users, maybe some saks, opinels, moras, byrds, etc., then save up for some semi-custom, or full custom working pieces, and then gather your bread for some bona fide edged treasures.

Just my tiny .02
 
beckerhead said:
Build a full set of rock solid users, maybe some saks, opinels, moras, byrds, etc., then save up for some semi-custom, or full custom working pieces, and then gather your bread for some bona fide edged treasures.

Just my tiny .02
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This is as good a strategy as I've seen. I started my modest collection by sampling the consensus users (small Benchmades, SAK's, Moras, sub-$100 Spydercos, KaBar Dozier, etc), then moving up to some nicer knives (BRKT, etc) and customs.

On the other hand, I feel like nowadays I fritter away my knife funds $20-$30 at a time on impulse cheapo users that I've been curious about, which detracts from my ability to scrape up even modest sums for my actual wishlist.

I feel like my last few $20 knives have been disappointing -- I wish I had just socked away the $60. At that price point, there are several knives that seem (to me) like a "nicer" knife.
 
I think that it depends upon how you use your knives....

If you're the type of guy who prys and scrapes and batons with your knives, then you probably want quantity over quality.
Even the highest quality knife is bound to break when abused sooner or later.

But if you the type of guy who only does "proper cutting" with your blades, then there's no reason to buy several lower quality knives instead of one higher quality knife.

And we must keep in mind that plenty of knife users all around the world, including folks who use their knives hard in their daily work or life, do just fine with cheap knives.
 
Hm, I guess I'll buy a SAK and a Kershaw Leek. Neither is very expensive, but they are certainly not cheapo knives and are very useful. Those sub 20$ will come later (the SAK is actually $19).
 
i am having the same issue...ive been a boyscout and i got my eagle...but not until this summer did i start appreciating knives more. i used to just carry a leatherman...and maybe a cheapo walmart folder...but now i want to get reputable quality knives. speaking for myself, i bought a bunch of say $30 knives first...just to tide me over (when you first start out. i think any knife will make you happy...lol) but...eventually youll get more money to spend on knives. so its just the different of a few months if you go with one or the other option. (or a few weeks....or days....) haha. yeah. just really do what you want.

peace.
thomasvsgodzilla.
 
tradja said:
This is as good a strategy as I've seen. I started my modest collection by sampling the consensus users (small Benchmades, SAK's, Moras, sub-$100 Spydercos, KaBar Dozier, etc), then moving up to some nicer knives (BRKT, etc) and customs.

On the other hand, I feel like nowadays I fritter away my knife funds $20-$30 at a time on impulse cheapo users that I've been curious about, which detracts from my ability to scrape up even modest sums for my actual wishlist.

I feel like my last few $20 knives have been disappointing -- I wish I had just socked away the $60. At that price point, there are several knives that seem (to me) like a "nicer" knife.
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This, and the post tradja quoted are the way my collecting has gone as well. Satisfy your curiousity as cheaply as possible (with inexpensive quality- the as mentioned Delica, and my favorite, the Mini Grip) and get your everyday users taken care of, then start saving while you look around as much as possible to see what you like.

If you're like most, your tastes will change considerably over time. Depending on how quickly you buy knives, this can be a very expensive learning period! I will be looking to sell many of the knives I have picked up during this time to fund the knives I now want. I'm tired of having so many "middlin" knives, and will now be trying to start over with much higher quality.

The main thing is to have fun. Try to get to a knife show and see what's out there.
 
Brutus013 said:
Hm, I guess I'll buy a SAK and a Kershaw Leek. Neither is very expensive, but they are certainly not cheapo knives and are very useful. Those sub 20$ will come later (the SAK is actually $19).
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thats a good choice. the leek is a good knife.
 
MVF said:
This, and the post tradja quoted are the way my collecting has gone as well. Satisfy your curiousity as cheaply as possible (with inexpensive quality- the as mentioned Delica, and my favorite, the Mini Grip) and get your everyday users taken care of, then start saving while you look around as much as possible to see what you like.

If you're like most, your tastes will change considerably over time. Depending on how quickly you buy knives, this can be a very expensive learning period! I will be looking to sell many of the knives I have picked up during this time to fund the knives I now want. I'm tired of having so many "middlin" knives, and will now be trying to start over with much higher quality.

The main thing is to have fun. Try to get to a knife show and see what's out there.
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Haha, my tastes have changed a bit as documented by my bookmarks folder. I have knives in there I'd completely forgotten about. Recently, I've been adding some fixed blades, mostly puukkos.
 
I have recently sold off a whole pile of cheaper knives in order to fund one custom knife!

Go for less better knives!
 
Quality over quantity. A Buck 110 (cheap at Wally-World) and a Vic Huntsman (cheap online), and a spare of each, would be a good start. Then build from there. I'd try to get a copy of Bernard Levine's Knife Guide #4 also. Whole lot of education in one book.

thx - cpr
 
Dekz said:
Just get Kershaws and then you can have Quality AND Quantity :D Some of the CLB Boker's are an AMAZING value also.

Personally, I like variety; I'd take two $50 knives over one $100 knife any day.

Check out this thread about my "budget" collection, it sounds like we have a lot in common:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=574379
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Yeah, I've already picked out about 5 or 6 knives to buy by the end of the year, all Kershaws and Spydercos.
 
Get what appeals to you, I have over 60 pieces mixed folders and fixed blades ranging from the most traditional designs to the most modern ones. A lot of regular production knives, some customs and semi customs.
I cherish my sebbie as much as my production buck 110 or my douk douks (all the different variations), greco falcon or spydies. For me it's not the price tag is the design and the form/function factor. I've purchased a spyderco superhawk and my next purchase is a mercator
Fausto
 
I disagree with most people here, I say get a variety of cheaper (but not "cheap" or just junky) knives and find what you like. If you splurge on a knife right now, in a week you'll see something else you want and won't want to spend more money.

Get a larger knife, a smaller one, a multitool, a traditional/classic one, a "tactical" folder, one plain edge, one half serrated, a hawkbill shaped blade, a liner lock, a lockback, one with a pocket clip, one with a sheath and so on until you find what you like, and more importantly what you don't like.

This way you'll never have to look at a $$$ purchase and wonder... or at least not as much! This isn't a hobby for most, it's an addiction. You'll likely spend a lot of cash anyway over a long period of time, why not have fun and try a lot of stuff out? Without the lower end stuff, you'll never appreciate the nicer knives quite as much.

Go for the good price/performance items for a while, then trade, give away, or sell them and move up. Start with Swiss Army knives, a Kershaw Leek, etc.

Sure, you could buy a Sebenza right now, but would you stop looking at other knives?
 
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