Survival Situation: 3-$100 or 1-$300 knife

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allenC said:
So, by that logic, you would think that a large Sebenza (MSRP $385.00) would perform better, for survival, than a Spyderco Manix or Chinook II (MSRP $184.95) or a Benchmade Presidio (MSRP $180.00), right?

How so?

What can the Sebenza do, in a survival situation, that the Manix, Chinook II, or Presidio could not?

For that matter, what can a Sebenza do, in a survival situation, that a Buck 110 (MSRP $59.00) cannot do?


Allen.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, here, but the last time I checked, Sebenzas were more expensive largely due to the tolerances they are machined to. Benchmade knives, for example, are machined with tolerances of 1 10,000th of an inch. Sebenzas are machined with tolerances of 1 30,000 of an inch. Sebenzas are highly functional, but no-one ever claimed they could pry logs apart - they're made for cutting things, and they do that very well. I'm not saying there's no place for a knife that can do that, but I don't remember Chris Reeve making that particular claim, or any similar.
 
I'll take the category, "Naive, ignorant, and low standards" for $200, Bob.


Someone on another thread posted (apx), "Better trumps good enough."

Now if we could just get along. Woops! I mean if we could just agree on what's "better."
 
skammer said:
They used what they did because thats all there was.
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Yeah, at some point they were using stone knives, why not then argue that there is no need for metal survivial knives at all, or mag blocks or anything else. People did survive without all of this obviously. So also don't take water purification tablets, anti-biotics, flares, signal mirror, compass etc. . After all you never need any of this if you have enough skill / experience.

-Cliff
 
Someone on another thread posted (apx), "Better trumps good enough."
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Actually, the saying is "Better is the Enemy of Good Enough". Better: The Enemy of Good Enough? Meaning that while you may be able to attain something that's good enough to do the required task, finding something even better may take too long or cost too much money. I saw the quote on a wall at the Naval Research Lab. What it said to me was that at some point you come up with a design that works and you can afford it. In trying to improve it and make it better, you may just screw it up and spend a lot of money for no performance improvement. You don't always get what you pay for.
 
ras said:
Actually, the saying is "Better is the Enemy of Good Enough". Better: The Enemy of Good Enough? Meaning that while you may be able to attain something that's good enough to do the required task, finding something even better may take too long or cost too much money. I saw the quote on a wall at the Naval Research Lab. What it said to me was that at some point you come up with a design that works and you can afford it. In trying to improve it and make it better, you may just screw it up and spend a lot of money for no performance improvement. You don't always get what you pay for.
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1. "Better trumps good enough" is the opposite concept. Continuous improvement of the product drives industrial progress.

2. Funny organization to be making such statements in view of the personnel they have lost with "good enough." Reminds me of the RAF head in Singapore as Dec. 7th approached. Asked if he would like some more modern fighters (Hawkers), he replied, "Brewster Buffaloes are good enough for Singapore." As many know here, the Japanese swept these obsolete craft from the sky in jig time. We enterred WWII with "good enough" equipment and the grunts paid the price, not the bosses.
 
Program requirements should define what good enough means. The guy who thought that Brewster Buffaloes were good enough for Singapore obviously hadn't been keeping up with current events in Japan. NRL can always dream up something better. The problem is paying for it when so many other programs also need money.

Finding something better but too expensive can kill a program. Likewise, if something is needed, at some point in the cycle you need to say, "this is good enough", finalize the design and start producing, otherwise you'll always be designing & redesigning and you'll never get into production.

If you can get a good definition of what your actual requirements are, a knife good enough to meet that standard should work fine; if it doesn't, your requirements need to be revisited. By upgrading to a higher standard, you may not be able to afford it.
 
Skammer...you win!!!! I just voted for you...biggest ******* on this forum!!!! You are #1 in that department.

Hows about some info on your supposed expertise...you are a joke!!!! I think Cliffy might even be more in tact than you...SCAREY!!!!!!!!
 
This thead did get out of hand and I had a part in it, to all I apologize. Point taken for the future.

He is a troll I realized from his post history. Life goes on though ;) .

BTW, there is no way Cliff is more intact than me, just no way ROFLMAO :D :p :p

Skam
 
What I posted:

Thomas Linton said:
. . .
Among adults, even very strong disagreement should not break down into flame war, but it often does ---- because of the style in which arguments are presented and a tendency in some to attack the opposing person rather than his/their arguments. Hell, some people are disagreeable even when agreeing with you, much less when they think you are wrong.


"I think Busse is a better brand than TOPS because . . . . ."

vs.

[typically after they don't "buy" your initial arguments] "Anyone who would buy TOPS over Busse is naive, bizarre, clueless, immature, inexperienced, absurd, and has low standards." [So there!]
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Ravailac, what you posted is there for all to see.

What was that definition of a troll? Oh yah; someone who makes a post in an obvious attmept to stir up trouble. That would be you, Ravailac.

(It is neither here nor there that I own BOTH brands and think the examples I have are good knives and good values.)
 
After reading through this thread I was trying to remember a survival story in which the victim actually died becuase of knife failure. I can't seem to recall any and I usually have pretty good memory.

I can recall all sorts of other equipment failures from tents, clothing, GPS, etc but no one who died because his knife broke.

I've been at this thing for 25 years now to the from Chile to Alaska and many intresting points in between. My knives have been a Ka-bar and recently a BK-7. I'm not a high end knife buyer/user due to economics. I can't afford a $100 knife let alone a $300 knife. My setup now consists of a Livesay NRGS neck knife and the BK-7 set up as a self-contained kit. They haven't let me down yet and the total cost was $90 for the knives. I guess I'm just flirting with my very life. Mac
 
I hope everyone can glean the good info and debate on this thread -- if they can sift through the low signal-to-noise ratio. Time to close it, though.

~B.
 
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