Something different to think about.

T

Tom Carey

Joined
Oct 10, 1998
Messages
811
I have been thinking lately that it might be interesting to consider the strength's and weakness or shall we say short comings of the various knife brands. You pick the brand. I feel this may end up being a very helpful thread to the companys. I will pick on Benchmade here to get this rolling. Please keep in mind we may not always agree with each other here.

Strengths:

Inovative product
unique designs


Weaknesses:

Fit and finnish not always up to par
Edges that have had chipping problems
Lack of support to internet dealers

Regards,

Tom Carey
 
One that comes to mind is CRKT:

Pros-
Great designs
Collabarations with Great makers
Prices

Cons-
Exclusive use of lower cost materials

I would love to see some of their knives made with better steel, and micarta handels instead of zytel.


Erik
 
Erik,

I am sure with you there. I really would buy a lot of CRKT's if only they had better blade steel. If they used something more like VG10 and upped the price it would be well worth it.

Regards,

Tom Carey
 
Cold Steel

Pros:

WIDE product line-up, something for everyone.
Great grinds and super out of box sharpness
Great bang for buck that can outperform higher priced blades

Cons:

Little interaction with customers online
Innovations as of late are a mix of some good, lots crap
Please make something new without kraton, just for a change!



:) This is kinda fun
 
Randall

Pros:

Great time proven designs
Superb workmanship and materials
First rate sheaths
Excellent reputation for quality

Cons:

Extra costs for SS and handle options
Extremely long wait list from shop
Very high prices on secondary market
 
Bladerigger, PROS inovation, high quality materials,craftmenship, custom design,when it comes to carry systems & sheaths covert weaponry one of the best,James is one of the most polite, healpful,designers in the feild. CONS just to expensive for the average joe. Needs a web site up date desperately.
 
REKAT

Pro:
Good designs (the Sifu kicks-ass!)
Good materials used
Fair prices

Con:
No web-site
No internet forums presence
No paper catalog
Very few knives offered for sale.
 
I agree with everything said above, i'd like to throw Spyderco into the mix.

Pros:
Innovative as they come
Great customer service
Top notch fit and finish
Fantastic reputation for quality
Custom collaborations
Wide product range
They know how to sharpen a knife
They don't BS customers through marketing

Cons:
I don't have more
Seriously though, it seems i'm biased, i just can't think of any cons, can anyone? ;)
 
Hey Guys....

Whatever you do..

Don't Mention sheaths!!!!

Lets just keep that Our little Secret..:)

:):)


ttyle

Eric...
 
Originally posted by m@thew
I agree with everything said above, i'd like to throw Spyderco into the mix.
(snip)

Cons:
I don't have more
Seriously though, it seems i'm biased, i just can't think of any cons, can anyone? ;)
Click to expand...

It would be nice if they offered all of their knives in either lefty or ambi models. Benchmade's axis lock make this an easy option for them. Unfortunately Spyderco's liner lock models are for right handers only.

Scott
 
I'm gonna try to hit a few of them here.

Benchmade
Pros: Good designs, materials, fit and finish is pretty good. Good customer service(at least for me)

Cons: Steel used tends to be just a little too brittle. Blades arent ground quite thin enough for my tastes.


Spyderco
Pros: great designs, willing to use high tech steels like VG10 and soon S30V. Extremely high quality fit and finish. Like someone mentioned, they know how to sharpen a blade.

Cons: They discontinued the Calypso! Other than that, little negative comes to mind. Oh yeah, they fired Danelle.


Randall
Pros: Great designs that have stood the test of time. Good steel(as long as you get the O1 blades). Resale value; you will NEVER get stuck with a Randall. I have never lost any money on a Randall; somebody always wants one.

Cons: sloppy grinding compared to a lot of the custom makers. Every Randall I have ever seen has wavy grind surfaces(hold it up to the light), and sometimes the shoulder/plunge cut area is pretty uneven on some Randalls. Lots of solder used on the guards. Loooonng waiting list.
 
Emerson Knives Inc.

Strengths:
+Cool Designs
+The Wave

Weaknesses:
-Weak ball-detents
-only titanium liners (sorry but I don't have alot of faith in them)
-they screwed up the Commander!
-only single-beveled non-tantos, what's the point of a double-ground if it's only single-beveled!?
-tantos all bevel on left side (righties get screwed)
-really iffy quality control

Don't get me wrong I like Emerson designs, but they have alot of shortcomings that I think need to be overcome before they can become SERIOUS contenders, if they fixed even 3 of the weaknesses i've stated, i'd probably buy one of their products... but as it stands - no.
 
Originally posted by YoungCutter
only titanium liners (sorry but I don't have alot of faith in them)
Click to expand...

I prefer titanium over any other liner material. It tends to have a sticking effect that keeps it from slipping.

That said, I will do one of my favorite companies, Microtech.

Pro's: The best designs, superb almost custom-quality craftmanship.

Con's: They only use 154-CM (come on, try something else!), take too long to come out with designs.
 
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