Spendy knives are all well and good, but my favorites are inexpensive!

gazz98,
Nice Maserin Sodbuster, how does it slice? That is, can you slice an apple without breaking it, wedge....
I've had some that were pretty wedgie.
Very nice looking.:)
 
Chronovore said:
I get it. You like these knives. They are certainly attractive. You got ones with good fit and finish. I'm happy for you.

Somebody asked about the steel.

That's the steel CRKT used here. You didn't buy it for the steel. You bought it for the design. I actually think it's a cool design.
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Indeed, I bought the knives for the designs, and the grade of steel is not something of significant importance to me given the light-duty I use the knives for. For that reason, I'm perfectly content with the knives as they are.

I get that you wish the S.P.E.W. had a different grade of steel. But you should probably move on from wishing so hard that it did. It may never, and if it doesn't, that's not going to rock the knife world. If it does, that's fine too.

As a regular user of a few knives with the grade of steel that you are so adamant about slamming, I can attest that for my cutting purposes, those knives serve me quite well. I have no complaints about them. In fact, I enjoy them, especially their form factor. The grade of steel used in them isn't a bothersome thing to me. Could they, would they, should they, might they be made with a different grade of steel? One that you might approve of? Perhaps so, perhaps not. The point is that they are what they are, and for this user - they're good.

ANYWAY, back on topic, I think that our resident "jackknife" offers a well-seasoned and well-reasoned perspective, which I think sums the topic at hand up quite nicely, in general.

jackknife said:
Rulingout bragging rights and snob factor, I found a point of diminishing return about 25 or 30 dollars.

As knife nuts, we like to feel that we're getting something 'special' if we spent more money on highly hyped knives that are as over-priced as over-hyped. The truth is, we're the blind obsessed fan boys of the cult worship object. It has very little to do with reality. The whole rest of the world gets by doing work like construction, meat processing, stock clerking, warehouse working and a hundred other trades that the office cubicle suburban dwelling knife nut will never do, with replaceable blade utility knives, low cost stamped out kitchen knives, Douk-Douls and Opinels. Theres been more ranchers, farmers, and construction workers getting it done with an old beat up Old Timer stockman than any other three wonder knives of the month that were on the cover of the knife magazines.
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I quite agree, and this applies not only to relatively inexpensive knives, but to relatively inexpensive LED flashlights, reasonably priced firearms, and vehicles. The fancy, very expensive options can be fun and interesting, but the modestly priced options often serve quite enjoyably well, and don't require blowing lots of money.
 
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ZDHart said:
I quite agree, and this applies not only to relatively inexpensive knives, but to relatively inexpensive LED flashlights, reasonably priced firearms, and vehicles. The fancy, very expensive options can be fun and interesting, but the modestly priced options often serve quite enjoyably well, and don't require blowing lots of money.
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Modestly priced knives are like the 14.95 Casio watches, Bic pens, Toyota Corolla's, and Ruger firearms. They may not have the panache and nose in the stratosphere ability of the over priced watches, pens, and trendy car of the month of the car magazines, but they get the job done with no complaint.
 
ZDHart said:
I quite agree, and this applies not only to relatively inexpensive knives, but to relatively inexpensive LED flashlights, reasonably priced firearms, and vehicles. The fancy, very expensive options can be fun and interesting, but the modestly priced options often serve quite enjoyably well, and don't require blowing lots of money.
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We all blow money away on something why not knives, we all have choices and to each his own, I must admit I prefer my better knives, in my kitchen and in my pocket
 
Landshark99 said:
We all blow money away on something why not knives, we all have choices and to each his own, I must admit I prefer my better knives, in my kitchen and in my pocket
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No one is telling you what's right or wrong; nor how to spend your money. You can blow away all of your money on knives, if you wish to! Won't bother any of us.

My point in this thread is that I'm very much enjoying lower cost knives and, for myself, I'm not drawn to spend big bucks on knives. That's it! These days, most of my spending is into my guitars - I get a LOT more daily use out of my guitars than I do my knives.
 
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ZDHart said:
No one is telling you what's right or wrong; nor how to spend your money. You can blow away all of your money on knives, if you wish to! Won't bother any of us.

My point in this thread is that I'm very much enjoying lower cost knives and, for myself, I'm not drawn to spend big bucks on knives. That's it! These days, most of my spending is into my guitars - I get a LOT more daily use out of my guitars than I do my knives.
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Copy that on knives and guitars. But for me it's bass guitars. And I feel the same way about my lower cost basses as I do my lower cost knives. They rock. I feel the budget priced instruments coming out of the Asian countries theses days is pretty amazing. I've got a number of American classic instruments, but I'll probably never get that spendy again on another bass. Have you experienced this too, or are you still putting your money into high dollar guitars?
 
I have spent way to much on guitars that I do not play often enough or well enough to own, just one of those things that one spends money on
 
Scott Hemleben said:
Copy that on knives and guitars. But for me it's bass guitars. And I feel the same way about my lower cost basses as I do my lower cost knives. They rock. I feel the budget priced instruments coming out of the Asian countries theses days is pretty amazing. I've got a number of American classic instruments, but I'll probably never get that spendy again on another bass. Have you experienced this too, or are you still putting your money into high dollar guitars?
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Scott, I do have some high dollar guitars. And, yes, I play my low to moderate priced guitars pretty much all the time. I mix and match Fender MIA and MIM bodies and necks with abandon! Wouldn't dream of buying a new guitar off the racks anymore. Much prefer putting my own together.

I do have 31 guitars (includes a 4-string bass and a 6-string bass crossover, and three acoustics). I do a LOT of modding (Fenders, Fenders, Fenders!) and by the time I've modded a guitar to perfection, it's like a child of mine that I don't ever want to let go. During the last few years, I find a Fender body that I like, then I shop for just the Fender neck I want, and follow with specing and ordering the electronics, pickups, tuning machines - then I go to town and create the custom Fenders of my dreams.

I am a skilled player and writer, and retired, so I do give my guitars plenty of loving playing. I like my knives, but just don't have a LOT of cutting needs other than minor, light-duty cutting. Same goes with my firearms and my flashlights - though I love them all. :rolleyes:
 
This is a fascinating discussion. I've spent too much money on knives that never get used, while I carry a Case that I bought used for $25. Sometimes, I think to when I had just one pocket knife and one kitchen knife. Now I have more cutlery than that sitting unused in the drawer and in the garage and in the truck... Madness? I think so. My life should be more about doing things than having things.
 
Bastler said:
This is a fascinating discussion. I've spent too much money on knives that never get used, while I carry a Case that I bought used for $25. Sometimes, I think to when I had just one pocket knife and one kitchen knife. Now I have more cutlery than that sitting unused in the drawer and in the garage and in the truck... Madness? I think so. My life should be more about doing things than having things.
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YES!!:thumbsup:

When I got over the knife nut accumulation, and got my "collection" down to where I could hold all my knives in one hand, I discovered that I was happier. Now I go fishing more than ever, woods walking with my wife of near 50 years, go on road trips to visit the grandkids, and live life fully. No worrying about the what the next wonder knife of the month is going to be. I don't care anymore. As long as Ihave some sort of small SAK in my pocket and my trusty Buck 102, I'm good to go.

Living life is way more important that wha knife you have on you.
 
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Bastler said:
This is a fascinating discussion. I've spent too much money on knives that never get used, while I carry a Case that I bought used for $25. Sometimes, I think to when I had just one pocket knife and one kitchen knife. Now I have more cutlery than that sitting unused in the drawer and in the garage and in the truck... Madness? I think so. My life should be more about doing things than having things.
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Indeed. I've got a storage bin with about 25 unused knives in it. Recently, I've been carrying a Cold Steel Tuff Wharncliffe. Serves me more than adequately. And the CRKT Minimalist & S.P.E.W. open packages on the kitchen counter with ease.

And another storage bin with a similar number of unused flashlights. I've been carrying an EagleTac D25A for years. Serves me more than adequately. I do have nice LED flashlights scattered throughout the house - in the event of a prolonged power failure, I'll have light for days and days.

I won't speak about the gun safe. I've been carrying an M&P40 Compact for years. Serves me more than adequately.

And I have a crazy number of guitars, but at least I do play most of them - YEA!!! - even if just for a short spell, at a time. And only a couple of the guitars are fancy/high-dollar.

Fortunately, most of those knives and flashlights are not fancy/high-dollar, either.

I'm well-over buying fancy/high-dollar man-goodies. And don't need any more, at any price.
 
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Some of the knives I really loved were very inexpensive. I liked my small cold steel
voyager (made in japan) and my Bucklite. The bucklite is still in great shape
but the nylon belt sheath fell apart...after years of use! The Voyager is soft behind the
edge and just won't hold an edge very well anymore. I have since moved up to
pricier stuff but nothing insane to me. I like my ZT knives a LOT.

I think compared to the 80's when I started buying pocket knives now there is
a giant variety of excellent budget stuff available...in steels that are amazing.
There has never been a better time for budget blades IMHO.
 
ZDHart said:
Scott, I do have some high dollar guitars. And, yes, I play my low to moderate priced guitars pretty much all the time. I mix and match Fender MIA and MIM bodies and necks with abandon! Wouldn't dream of buying a new guitar off the racks anymore. Much prefer putting my own together.

I do have 31 guitars (includes a 4-string bass and a 6-string bass crossover, and three acoustics). I do a LOT of modding (Fenders, Fenders, Fenders!) and by the time I've modded a guitar to perfection, it's like a child of mine that I don't ever want to let go. During the last few years, I find a Fender body that I like, then I shop for just the Fender neck I want, and follow with specing and ordering the electronics, pickups, tuning machines - then I go to town and create the custom Fenders of my dreams.

I am a skilled player and writer, and retired, so I do give my guitars plenty of loving playing. I like my knives, but just don't have a LOT of cutting needs other than minor, light-duty cutting. Same goes with my firearms and my flashlights - though I love them all. :rolleyes:
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Wow, 31 guitars! Did you have to add another room to your house for them to bunk in? ;) I've tried modding a few times. But I ended up with dumpster fires. I messed up a few nice basses beyond all repair and threw them out in frustration. Me and schematics and soldering irons definitely do not get along :D. It's all good though. Stock sounds on a bass are usually pretty decent. And then there's always effects :).
 
My favorite inexpensive knife to date is the Cold Steel Rajah 3 in BD1 steel. Rock solid construction, smooth deployment, impressive edge out-of-the-box. It’s a fantastic EDC/utility/last ditch tactical knife. Easily holds its own against my “higher end” knives.
 
ZDHart said:
No, no, no. You keep them nice for her next husband to enjoy!

Hahaha!
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The poor guy is going to need some joy in life, and if it help relieve the ex-husband of his alimony obligation, it’s a bargain.

n2s
 
Speaking of the OPs love of wharnies. I'm a huge wharnie and modified wharnie fan myself. Like most forum members I often rotate my edc. These two are some of my favorite modified wharnie edcs. I've been carrying around the Kershaw so much the past few months that I haven't bothered to switch it out to the Inkosi. Mainly because as you can see from the pic, the blades are nearly identical in shape and size.

n3VkU7E.jpg
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I noticed this was the last post before the Covid thing really took off in the nation. So I was wondering two things, how have the people been using their inexpensive knives during the pandemic, and if anyone have used theirs as their primary knives during the same time period? Sort of like the use of one knife for 30 days kind of thing. Just curious.

I have been thinking of my Opinels again and finally breaking out my Svord Mini Peasant. I need to figure how to get a better edge in the Svord.
 
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EEB68355-4DED-41B2-B0A7-E1B40341E5C6.jpeg I have a lot of more expensive knives but the 2 MAM knives get used every day the big one in the kitchen and the little one is my break and lunch knife.

The Opinel is on the shelf by our front door for utility duty.
 
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