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Shouldn't Knifes Be Cheap?
- Thread starter yobbos1
- Start date
I like hamburger ! 
and IMO prime rib is very overrated , gimme the porterhouse anyday , anyways... 
We live in different times.
My grandpas did not buy knives till they were comin out their behinds , they bought what they needed and used it till it was wore down to a nub , then bought a new one. Bear in mind these guys made it thru one of the roughest periods in our history too.
We are spoiled in every way imaginable.
We consume till were are stuffed then consume some more... Not complaining , just making an observation.
I sold over half of my knives over the last year , near half of my guns too. When I look at all the stuff I have I seriously want to become a minimalist sometimes. I mean really , whats the point ? You cant take it with you , and if this 2012 stuff is true I'm certainly not going to lug around 75 lbs of knives to 'save them' as if anyone but me would care anyway.
All that said , I dont care what you guys do , or anyone else for that matter , to each their own.
If buying $1000 knives and eating in fancy places every night while sipping the finest cognac is your cup of tea then more power to ya ! Same goes to the guy who buys a knife every few years because he lost his or the one he had broke , thinks Denny's is the bomb and is happy with Coors light.
Whatever floateth our boateth , just keep the snobbery out of it because no matter what you have acquired in your life you will be judged same as I when you die
rock on.
Tostig
and IMO prime rib is very overrated , gimme the porterhouse anyday , anyways... We live in different times.
My grandpas did not buy knives till they were comin out their behinds , they bought what they needed and used it till it was wore down to a nub , then bought a new one. Bear in mind these guys made it thru one of the roughest periods in our history too.
We are spoiled in every way imaginable.
We consume till were are stuffed then consume some more... Not complaining , just making an observation.
I sold over half of my knives over the last year , near half of my guns too. When I look at all the stuff I have I seriously want to become a minimalist sometimes. I mean really , whats the point ? You cant take it with you , and if this 2012 stuff is true I'm certainly not going to lug around 75 lbs of knives to 'save them' as if anyone but me would care anyway.
All that said , I dont care what you guys do , or anyone else for that matter , to each their own.
If buying $1000 knives and eating in fancy places every night while sipping the finest cognac is your cup of tea then more power to ya ! Same goes to the guy who buys a knife every few years because he lost his or the one he had broke , thinks Denny's is the bomb and is happy with Coors light.
Whatever floateth our boateth , just keep the snobbery out of it because no matter what you have acquired in your life you will be judged same as I when you die
rock on.
Tostig
I think the perspective illustrated by the O/P is perfectly reasonable, but it's just one perspective. My guess is that most people on here have a range of quality in their collections. Certainly anyone who's serious about knives and owns highly refined knives, also owns "users".
I'm also not sure that cost is as powerful a metic as you imagine. There is, after all, such a thing as value.
Even a runway model doesn't want to be a runway model all the time.
To me, a $400 pocketknife is a lot more fun than a $200,000 car. I can put an addtional $20,000 into a $20,000 car and end up with something that's a lot more fun than the $200,000 car. Everyone doesn't feel that way, though.
I'm also not sure that cost is as powerful a metic as you imagine. There is, after all, such a thing as value.
Even a runway model doesn't want to be a runway model all the time.
To me, a $400 pocketknife is a lot more fun than a $200,000 car. I can put an addtional $20,000 into a $20,000 car and end up with something that's a lot more fun than the $200,000 car. Everyone doesn't feel that way, though.
- Joined
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I would get tired of Prime rib long before hamburger.
As a tool, I think your right. I will give you a example. I use my EDC pretty hard as I did years and years of building construction. I have cut wood, sheet rock, insulation, pounded it with a hammer to cut in hinges and striker plates, stripped wires scraped of gaskets and opened cans among many other jobs. The knife is a S&W extreme Ops which I paid 7.00 for at the local Farm store about 9-10 years ago. I put a really good convex edge on it and it is still in my pocket as I write this.
About the only other knife that I used for work through this same time period was a Vic Explorer. I doubt that any other knife would have served me any better.
Safe queens are another story, I don't look at high dollar knives as a investment as some do, to each his own, If economic times ever get really tough as they did in the depression, only necessities will have value. Like food, clothing and shelter. Probably 22 shells.
As a tool, I think your right. I will give you a example. I use my EDC pretty hard as I did years and years of building construction. I have cut wood, sheet rock, insulation, pounded it with a hammer to cut in hinges and striker plates, stripped wires scraped of gaskets and opened cans among many other jobs. The knife is a S&W extreme Ops which I paid 7.00 for at the local Farm store about 9-10 years ago. I put a really good convex edge on it and it is still in my pocket as I write this.
About the only other knife that I used for work through this same time period was a Vic Explorer. I doubt that any other knife would have served me any better.
Safe queens are another story, I don't look at high dollar knives as a investment as some do, to each his own, If economic times ever get really tough as they did in the depression, only necessities will have value. Like food, clothing and shelter. Probably 22 shells.
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Whatever floateth our boateth , just keep the snobbery out of it because no matter what you have acquired in your life you will be judged same as I when you die
rock on.
Tostig
Yes, but while I'm alive I will be judged by how much stuff I have. Especially guns and knives!
Yea for me!
Well , I judge a person on character as opposed to what they have acquired.
Sort of OT but that is what I was getting at.
Tostig
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- 26,197
Pricing for knives, as with many other products in the same vein, is exponential. At the lower end you're paying money for knives that don't function, and at the high end you're paying lots of extra money for only either a small increase in performance or an increase in aesthetics (or both). Therefore, the middle range provides the best balance between performance and cost.
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You might want to check this:
I'm in a fireplace and cocoa mood tonight , feel like pulling out an old Slippie and staring at the patina for a while.Maybe I need some coffee....
Tostig
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- 1,686
42 summed it up pretty good. There's a noticeable difference between $20-$30 knives to $50-$100 and then $100+. I think once a knife reaches the $100-$130 range it usually is a high quality knife and by paying more (i.e. Strider/Seb/Hinder/Customs) you're really paying a premium price for the design (some look like art pieces), premium materials, and the custom/semi-custom made tool. Don't get me wrong, there are some great sub-$50 knives, the BM Monochrome comes to mind among a few others.
It's inevitable that all material things will breakdown over time (cars, houses, tools, furniture, etc.) so I don't think it's a terrible thing to spend higher amounts of money on knives, especially when you look at the other expensive things that people buy (new HDtv that'll be half the price you paid for it within 5 months). Plus it's a hobby, if I wasn't a knife knut I'd never even think about spending close to $100 on a knife, but that's not the case.
It's inevitable that all material things will breakdown over time (cars, houses, tools, furniture, etc.) so I don't think it's a terrible thing to spend higher amounts of money on knives, especially when you look at the other expensive things that people buy (new HDtv that'll be half the price you paid for it within 5 months). Plus it's a hobby, if I wasn't a knife knut I'd never even think about spending close to $100 on a knife, but that's not the case.
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What is a Sdriter or a Bescenza?
Junk knives that can't hold a good edge won't last as long as knives with better steel. I buy what I like because I like it.You are not going to get it because you are challenging the choices some people made in their knife choice and saying they paid paid too much for any differences (between less expensive and more expensive knives) they think they may have gotten.
People will attack you assumptions, words you used and nit pick anything they can. But they will not answer your question directly. Those post are easy to identify.
However, the one below is a good one because it puts your question in another light. Go into any Sears and see what the number and quality of tools you can buy for less than $100.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...renches,+Ratchets+&+Sockets&sName=Socket+Sets
Now, take a look at what you can get for a low priced knife:
$15 - Gerber Profile
http://www.gotogazzos.com/catalog/product.asp?ret_id=1071359&pid=64393
$22 - Gerber Big Rock
http://www.fedtactical.com/rock-fixed-blade-fixed-blade-fine-edge-p-2960.html
You are right that you can buy several of the Gerber knives instead for the cost of the Rat 3,4,5.
Some will say about the Gerbers
- The sheath sucks - get another one
- Don't hold an edge - what quantifiable info do they provide - meaning - e.g. cut a y inch thick hemp rope x times with a Gerber before needing to sharpen versus a high priced knife. But the real issue is: is that difference important? Most likely not.
Your point is correct - less expensive knives will work as well and last as long as high priced knives. Just don't expect any love or reasonable discussion about it.
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I love knives. Hence I've owned cheap ones and expensive ones. I've had some really great cheap knives - SOG Flash II, for instance - but it will be the Sebenza, and similar pieces, that I give to my grandkids. Yes, I expect them to last that long, and that expectation is not unreasonable. As for the Flash II, it may or may not last, but in its case I couldn't care less because its financial and sentimental value is nowhere near comparable.
If you could afford to do either, would you drive an Aston Martin, or a Saturn? Either vehicle is arguably a good one, and either will get you from A to B, and one may only outlast the other by a miniscule amount of time, if anything at all - but the extra money you put into it enhances the experience for you and everyone around you. Therefore, assuming you play your cards right, there is merit to buying an expensive knife, including but also transcending pleasure of ownership.
Considering knives to be disposable is a sensible work philosophy, but the reality of it is that they often outlast us. My Sebenza is almost three years old now, and despite having been used and even overused in that time, it feels like it has decades of life left in it. My father's only folder, a long-discontinued, all-stainless Mundial lockback, is about as old as me and still going strong, despite only being sharpened twice (by me). I have a slipjoint canoe in my collection that dates back to the Great Depression. Also, though few people use them at this point, there are many still-usable knives in peoples' collections that go back to the 1800s, or further.
A well made tool, be it a knife or a hammer or whatever, is plenty capable of living longer than its user(s), but really it all comes down to the test of time. Let's face it; for us knuts, many of our knives, expensive or not, get to be something like friends and companions, with characteristics that come to evoke a sense of personality. They are tools to be used, and we use them under the (possibly idealistic) expecation that they will be there forever. The really good ones are. As for the ones that aren't, well, we've all lost friends. It sucks.
If you could afford to do either, would you drive an Aston Martin, or a Saturn? Either vehicle is arguably a good one, and either will get you from A to B, and one may only outlast the other by a miniscule amount of time, if anything at all - but the extra money you put into it enhances the experience for you and everyone around you. Therefore, assuming you play your cards right, there is merit to buying an expensive knife, including but also transcending pleasure of ownership.
Considering knives to be disposable is a sensible work philosophy, but the reality of it is that they often outlast us. My Sebenza is almost three years old now, and despite having been used and even overused in that time, it feels like it has decades of life left in it. My father's only folder, a long-discontinued, all-stainless Mundial lockback, is about as old as me and still going strong, despite only being sharpened twice (by me). I have a slipjoint canoe in my collection that dates back to the Great Depression. Also, though few people use them at this point, there are many still-usable knives in peoples' collections that go back to the 1800s, or further.
A well made tool, be it a knife or a hammer or whatever, is plenty capable of living longer than its user(s), but really it all comes down to the test of time. Let's face it; for us knuts, many of our knives, expensive or not, get to be something like friends and companions, with characteristics that come to evoke a sense of personality. They are tools to be used, and we use them under the (possibly idealistic) expecation that they will be there forever. The really good ones are. As for the ones that aren't, well, we've all lost friends. It sucks.
gazz98
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Define "cheap".
For me, there is a sweet spot of cost vs materials/quality. My "standards", for lack of a better term, are probably lower then most here at BF.
Cheap to me is a $2 Frost cutlery or $10 Mtech blade in 4xx something stainless steel.
Most of my folders are 400c, AUS 8, ats-34, VG10, or CPM154.
Fixed are all 1095 carbon.
I am content with a Boker Trance ($25), Spy Delica ($45ish), or BM MiniGrip ($50) as my edc blade.
I don't see myself ever owning a Sebenza or a $200 BM.
For me, there is a sweet spot of cost vs materials/quality. My "standards", for lack of a better term, are probably lower then most here at BF.
Cheap to me is a $2 Frost cutlery or $10 Mtech blade in 4xx something stainless steel.
Most of my folders are 400c, AUS 8, ats-34, VG10, or CPM154.
Fixed are all 1095 carbon.
I am content with a Boker Trance ($25), Spy Delica ($45ish), or BM MiniGrip ($50) as my edc blade.
I don't see myself ever owning a Sebenza or a $200 BM.
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- Dec 6, 2009
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I edc a trance and own a strider SnG. Im working real hard on adding a sebenza to ye olde collection. I dont see why you cant enjoy both. A knife is either good or it isnt. Frankly I dont understand why people get so worked up about the subject.
There are good knives in every price range, buy what you can afford and enjoy it instead of trying to justify that people who dont act in precisely the same way as you are somehow wrong. People who buy expensive knives (and I dont really consider myself to be in that category as I dont own any customs) arent throwing money away and people who only buy cheap knives arent stingy.
That's a general statement and not directed at you personally btw.
gazz98
Gold Member
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No offense taken.
I guess I should clarify. I personally feel that the $50 range is *my* optimal point of cost vs performance. A VG10 Delica or 154cm MiniGrip is good enough for me and what I use a blade for. The same won't be the same for everyone else.
I won't own a Sebenza or similar only because *I* won't pay that kind of money for one. I have no problem with other people doing that, what you do with your money is your business.
I was merely stating what I was content with, not posting rules that others should follow.
Volk
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- Sep 18, 2007
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Warranty is offered on those knifes that are expensive, so once you feel your knife is used just return it for a new one. Also try destroying an ASH-1 CG, its gonna take you a while. I paid crap load of money for a piece of mind. Am I gonna by another one, not sure, maybe I'd just trade up.
But I was thinking maybe just buying knifes from costco and then returning them after every trip. Might work.
But I was thinking maybe just buying knifes from costco and then returning them after every trip. Might work.