- Joined
- Apr 10, 2016
- Messages
- 2,672
From your list: Les George or a CRK Zaan, if you want to stay tacticool.
I'd add...
Hinderer XM or MP-1
Chaves 228 if you can find one
I'd add...
Hinderer XM or MP-1
Chaves 228 if you can find one
I've handled both, and they're nice, but I don't find the quality to be anywhere in the same league. I'm not sure what that award means.William Henry and LionSteel have both won quality awards at the Blade Show like CRK.
Are they making their own stuff?Grayman
These look amazing, but they're marketed as customs, not production. Also way outside the price range.Sharp By Design
You might be able to snag one for under $600 off the Exchange, but you're probably right there.These look amazing, but they're marketed as customs, not production. Also way outside the price range.
I understand and won't argue.....but we do have some amazing makers on BFA lot of the stuff in this forum looks amazing, of course. But the number of custom makers out there seems endless, many customs are terrible, the reputation system on bladeforums is pretty weak, the effort needed to navigate this field is substantial, and even people who try to navigate it seem to be frequently burned. I think it's not for me, unless I'm going to spend $1k+ on the work of someone well-known, which I'm not. Hence why I'm asking about makers who are unabashedly "production".
Mmm...just fixed blades now that I think of it. Not sure who makes their folders.Are they making their own stuff?
"Custom Designed & Hand Built by David M. Rydbom" doesn't sound like production to me.Kingdom Armory
Anything they make in the $400-600 bracket is manufactured by Reate.Todd Begg Design
Aren't their prices in the stratosphere now?Grimsmo Knives
Are their midtechs actually made in-house?Brian Tighe
Good callShirogorov
Most of the knives in my collection are in the $100-250 range, but I own a nice large Sebenza 21 with inlays, which in some ways kicks the ass of every other knife in my collection. So I'm thinking about picking up another class act in this price range (~$400-600) this year, and examining my options. I think there's a growing number of smaller shops doing "high end production" work in that price range these days, so I'm making a list of them:
Out of my price range:
- CRK
- Millit (including G&G Hawk midtechs)
- Koenig
- Ferrum Forge
- Les George
- Gerry McGinnis
- Nick Chuprin (NCC)
- David Brown
- Brad Southard
- Three Sisters Forge [whp]
- Olamic [spysmasher]
- Spartan [spysmasher]
- Medford [scooterg]
- Hoback [scooterg]
- Andre de Villiers (w/ customer service caveat) [fishiker]
Who can add to this list? I will update this post with [thanks] as people reply.
- Demko [scooterg]
- Curtiss [scooterg]
- Chaves [fullmetaljackass]
- Sharp by Design (Brian Nadeau) [archvv]
Note that I'm not talking about "brands" or mostly outsourced "mid-techs" where we have no idea who the maker is. I'm talking about small makers.
Update: I'm not going to list "Instagram makers" unless they have dealers, or serious independent critical reviews out there, or at least someone with a reputation vouching for them being actually high-end and not just high-priced. Instagram is a hodgepodge of professional gems and amateur trash, so I don't want to look like I'm endorsing anything unless there's a reason to.
Thanks all.
Definitely not $400-600, but I'll add it to the list under "when I win the lottery". They're impressive.Well, since we're in Japan have you considered Rockstead? Small batch, high quality production.
Thanks, I didn't know they had any offerings around $500. Looks like they do have midtechs at this price, but they're made by Millit, which is already on the list. I'll annotate that with Gavko.Check out Gavko custom knives.
Hes got some sweet designs. Lots of great flippers. In that price range for the most part.