Tactical Knives Getting Out of Control?

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I don't have my first reloader anymore but from usuing it that crazy blade shape looks ridiculous but in actually use the shape works out terrific. im just wondering all you guys bashing the cheap knife guys with high prices which I totally understand. is jasons work in that mix?
 
davek14 said:
Kvetch... I love your posts dood.

Well, snake oil sold rather well and the inferior VHS won over Betamax. People are herd animals and marketing can be deceptive and carefully planned. People buying things is partially (sometimes largely) due to the marketing itself and not a function of superior merchandise or even what people want.


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Thanks, and the Beta/VHS argument is certainly a good one. There was going to be only one winner, and we were all told which one we wanted.

I wonder if the knife thing isn't a bit different. Even though it seems like the only thing being made are three eighths inch thick nightmare grind folding slabs , there still are plenty of options out there that are supported by their manufacturers.
 
marcinek said:
But they are the ones who buy things. And businesses exist by masking things people buy.
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Don't start nitpicking the literal meaning of someone's words and then defend your own comments with paragraphs starting with "in effect" and "but". lol

You're the one who said only customers have taste and the industry only makes what they buy. You say the industry doesn't have taste, so I'm trying to figure out how you classify the designers who are actually coming up with these designs. They're certainly not customers, and I'd say they're probably part of the industry. But you say they can't have taste. lol

It's been fun and I totally get it now (not what you intended, but I do understand the situation) . Thanks for educating all of us on how business works. :o
 
J85909266 said:
Until recently, there were a few high end production companies commanding prices of around 500 USD for their knives. Those companies had long-standing reputations for quality and performance.

Nowadays, I pull up the new knives list at, say, Knifecenter, and I see a veritable barrage of atrocious, tiger striped, over built insanity from 10 different brands that I've never heard of asking five or six hundred dollars a pop for these monstrosities.
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Thats from the OP. If that ain't Brous Blade, I don't know what is. Remember the Kut Throat Kutlery days? What 3, 4 years ago?
 
marcinek said:
Thanks, and the Beta/VHS argument is certainly a good one. There was going to be only one winner, and we were all told which one we wanted.

I wonder if the knife thing isn't a bit different. Even though it seems like the only thing being made are three eighths inch thick nightmare grind folding slabs , there still are plenty of options out there that are supported by their manufacturers.
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You got that edit, not bad. This is heating up an I may simply stop.

I just wish there were more options being given the industry's energies than the narrow focus now, not that the current focus go away. Money could be made doing other things as well. (and doing other things well)
 
davek14 said:
You got that edit, not bad. This is heating up an I may simply stop.

I just wish there were more options being given the industry's energies than the narrow focus now, not that the current focus go away. Money could be made doing other things as well. (and doing other things well)
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Look at the Shirogorov 95. Simple, clean, effective design coupled with quality construction. Judging by the secondary prices they bring, I think the knife buying public is saying it wants more of that.

Different strokes for different folks, though - there will always be mall ninja knives, and people to buy them. I do have a Brous Mini-Division and it's about as wild as my taste gets, and having had it for a while now, I do not think they're a good value for the $$. I think they justify their prices with their "unique" designs, whereas other companies justify it with better materials.

I'm more of a Sebenza or Shirogorov guy...clean and simple. No need to scare women and children when I need to cut a package open. :D
 
knifehoarder said:
They're decent made knives, priced way higher than they should be for the materials they use, and the designs are typically seen as gimmicky, serving no real use. Not poorly made, but poorly designed, I guess you could say.
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Yes, to get back on topic, I don't think the OP intended for this to be tactical bashing. He said things pretty clear in his original post with the topic. Topic being "Custom" tactical knives with $500+ price tags that don't seem to have much hand custom work at all. Full CNC machined knives with crazy shapes and high price tags. Knives that seem to lack in character and follow pretty basic patterns.
 
The last few years I really believe we are seeing a major paradigm shift in the market from knives being tools to fashion accessories/status symbols in the over $100 range.

Knife companies are just responding to the market, you can't blame them, nor argue with the success of those doing it. The customer should buy what they want, for any or NO reason, no mater how silly, and companies should respond to that demand, we're lucky to have that freedom.

The only bright spots for knife enthusiasts interested in function over form are that high end blade steels have come into some pretty affordable knives in the last couple years, and more production companies are using them. I also think in the "cheap" knives say under $100 quality has improved. I don't think QC has gotten better in the over $100 knives, perhaps worse in some cases, I think we've seen more corners being cut to save costs at higher price points.

That's where the positive ends for us, the marketing that people fall for these days is ridiculous. Super thick folders that are worthless for everyday cutting use. Companies refusing to introduce new lock technology to keep profits higher. Production knives costing $300-500 and the insanity created by the limited edition/sprint knife craze yielding even more insane secondary market prices. $500+ "custom" knives that are really production knives with someone's name stamped on them without significantly higher quality, many using average steels. Companies cutting corners in places they think most customers won't notice.

The high end production and "mid-tech" market is dominated by smooth handled Ti or Carbon fiber knives with no tactile grip, with inferior liner locks, jimping that's usually worthless, blade thickness and angles that are horrible for everyday folder use. Sharp handle/liner edges that are not properly finished, and in many cases average blade steels and QC and fit/finish that's not much better than than $100-$150 production knives.

There are some exceptions that are still keeping QC at top levels, using top materials, higher attention to details, and with function over form, but they are few and far between these days and getting more scarce.
 
Balls Deep said:
Yes, to get back on topic, I don't think the OP intended for this to be tactical bashing. He said things pretty clear in his original post with the topic. Topic being "Custom" tactical knives with $500+ price tags that don't seem to have much hand custom work at all. Full CNC machined knives with crazy shapes and high price tags. Knives that seem to lack in character and follow pretty basic patterns.
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I'm not quite sure what you mean? The title says "tactical", not "custom".

But are you saying Brous doesn't fit the description? Have you looked at the Strife and compared it to the ZT0620? Have you noticed one uses better materials and costs half as much? :D
 
Tactical Knives Getting Out of Control? I don't know.
Thread Getting Out Of Control? Yes. Closed.
 
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