That one bad experience that totally ruined the brand for you.

I had a small Sebenza 31 and sold it. Could not get it to stay sharp to save my life. Well i just bought a small Inkosi so lets hope i ha e better luck. Im looking to have 1 knife.
 
Microtech socom delta. I had always liked the look of microtechs and wanted to get one. Perhaps I got a lemon, but I effing hate that knife and will never even look at microtechs again. The detent was atrocious. The blade would literally fall out if you turned the knife upside down. Could never carry it because it would open up in my pocket. That alone made me hate it because I considered it a hazard. The lock up was never quite right either. The blade was also way off-center. I tried contacting Mircotech by email and phone multiple times and never got an answer or response so I gave up. All that being said I beat the absolute hell out of the knife to try and break it and be done with it but I never could so maybe they do make good knives haha. It's still around somewhere. I could never sell it because I would feel bad about passing a POS knife like that onto someone else. Never considered a Microtech ever again.
 
LSUisSEC said:
I had a small Sebenza 31 and sold it. Could not get it to stay sharp to save my life. Well i just bought a small Inkosi so lets hope i ha e better luck. Im looking to have 1 knife.
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My first foray into CR knives was a small regular sebenza in 2007, with an S30V blade. Its performance was nowhere near other S30V blades I had from Spyderco, Benchmade, and Buck. I sent it back to CR and they said it met their Rc target range (58-59), and that I had sharpened at too low an angle (probably about 15 degrees per side). I think the blade was actually about Rc 57, since Rc testers are often only good to plus or minus 1 of the observed hardness. I then sent the blade to Paul Bos, who worked his magic on it (he told me that he targets 59.5-60 for S30V, and I trust him on that).

That being said, my brother has experience with several different CR knives, in S30V and S35VN, and reports good performance from all of them. I must have gotten one from a poor HT batch, or it was at the edge of the stack of blades in the HT oven and didn't get quite the correct HT.
 
I had a CRKT M16 many years ago. I had just gotten a new desk chair and when I pulled it from the box it was wrapped in cling wrap to prevent it from swiveling inside the box. Grabbed the knife, started cutting away the plastic, and the blade just snapped off about a 1/2 inch above the handle. Snapped is actually not accurate. It basically fell off, like I passed it through a laser cutter. I'm guessing it had some severe stress fracture I couldn't see. Regardless, that was the last CRKT I ever owned.
 
CSG said:
Never had that experience but I don't buy knives from custom makers or any brand's high zoot knives. I've never had an issue of note with Buck, Mora, Fallkniven, Benchmade, Victorinox/Wenger, Wusthoff, which is pretty much the breadth of what I own. I'm not a hard use guy and treat the knives I own with respect.
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If you havent had an issue with a benchmade you havent owned many. Probably the worst qc of any major knife company i know of. Ive owned 15ish, 6 had problems. Most minor, but over 100 dollar knives without top notch steel or tech have no excuse for such issues
 
Back in 97 ish. I bought a SOG Government in the blued finish. I don’t remember how much I paid at the time, was definitely msrp at least ( brick and mortar store ). The knife was extremely hyped up back then.. Cold Steel, SOG, Benchmade ( Busse was way too expensive and tops was for military “only” ). I carried the knife one day, used it for light yard work and managed to break the blade from the handle. I dropped the knife tip first into the soil and it broke. The Store I got from said I abused it, SOG never returned my calls ( pre email - I wasn’t using it anyway ). I have not and will not ever buy another SOG.
 
lambertiana said:
My first foray into CR knives was a small regular sebenza in 2007, with an S30V blade. Its performance was nowhere near other S30V blades I had from Spyderco, Benchmade, and Buck. I sent it back to CR and they said it met their Rc target range (58-59), and that I had sharpened at too low an angle (probably about 15 degrees per side). I think the blade was actually about Rc 57, since Rc testers are often only good to plus or minus 1 of the observed hardness. I then sent the blade to Paul Bos, who worked his magic on it (he told me that he targets 59.5-60 for S30V, and I trust him on that).

That being said, my brother has experience with several different CR knives, in S30V and S35VN, and reports good performance from all of them. I must have gotten one from a poor HT batch, or it was at the edge of the stack of blades in the HT oven and didn't get quite the correct HT.
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This is exactly how my benchmade grizzly creek is. I didn't have it hrc tested or send it out or anything. Just got different knives. I may someday try s30v again from a different brand. I don't dislike the steel, just the steel in that knife.
 
crk1984 said:
If you havent had an issue with a benchmade you havent owned many. Probably the worst qc of any major knife company i know of. Ive owned 15ish, 6 had problems. Most minor, but over 100 dollar knives without top notch steel or tech have no excuse for such issues
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Of the three fullsize Adamas folders I've had, two of them (cruwear) had some significant lock rock. For other reasons that have no place in this arena, I won't buy another Benchmade. I have gifted a couple of propers, and they were decent blades.
 
crk1984 said:
If you havent had an issue with a benchmade you havent owned many. Probably the worst qc of any major knife company i know of. Ive owned 15ish, 6 had problems. Most minor, but over 100 dollar knives without top notch steel or tech have no excuse for such issues
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Sorry dude, I've bought six over a couple years and all six are spot on. Whine away, I'm quite happy with mine. I was gifted one some years ago a 942 (IIRC) and sold it because I didn't like the fit in my hand.
 
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There are a number of manufacturers I won't buy from because of their shocking business practice, however the only one which I have personally had a bad experience with.........

Fallkniven........ pretending to be made in Sweden.
I bought a lockback from them, the lock failed after 6 months and when I contacted them for a warranty claim they basically told me to eff off.
 
I'm a slow learner; it took TWO bad experiences for me to swear off Buck.

The first one was a 112 Paperstone. Some chucklehead had ground the backspring too thin, so that when everything was riveted together, it bound up. Disgusted, I put it in the bottom of my knife tote and forgot about it for years. One day, I was showing it to my daughter, who had been taking an interest in knives, and she fell in love with it. Everything about it, but especially the deep green scales. I gave it to her, but it bugged me. When she'd forgotten about it, I sent it off to Buck and asked them to fix it. They weren't sure if they could at first, as it was a discontinued model. The knifesmith decided he could fix it up properly, and he did. He even polished up the whole back of the knife. It's now the way it should've been when it left the factory.

Just at the end of 2023, I saw a nice-looking Buck locking folder with thumb stud at Menards. Daughter liked it. I told her no, then bought it for her later for a stocking-stuffer. I unpackaged it, intending to sharpen it and maybe break in the action a bit. The action was so tight I couldn't open with with one hand with the thumb stud. Can you imagine that? I took off the pocket clip to look for the pivot screw to loosen up; no luck, it's riveted. I tried a bit of oil; didn't make a difference. I put the clip back on, packed it back up and returned the POS to Menards. I'm not about to send another one off to Buck. They've made it clear they don't give a damn about QC and now I'm done with them. At the price I paid, I understand the decision to use 420HC and polymer, but I still expected basic attention to function. To ignore that is something the Chinese will do when left unsupervised. I expect better from Buck, even a Chinese-made one.

This is the same thing Schwinn went through 50 years ago. The cost to manufacture in the USA was going up in the 70s. They closed the Chicago factory and moved to Alabama or something, where they could pay less, but didn't keep on top of QC. Sales declined and they went out of business. Then, Giant (who used to be a Schwinn supplier) bought the brand name and now they're made in Taiwan.

Moral of the story is that Americans will pay more for American-made, but only if the quality is there. (and after-sale customer service!)

It seems like Spyderco and Benchmade understand this but the Buck family has forgotten.
 
Smaug said:
I'm a slow learner; it took TWO bad experiences for me to swear off Buck.

The first one was a 112 Paperstone. Some chucklehead had ground the backspring too thin, so that when everything was riveted together, it bound up. Disgusted, I put it in the bottom of my knife tote and forgot about it for years. One day, I was showing it to my daughter, who had been taking an interest in knives, and she fell in love with it. Everything about it, but especially the deep green scales. I gave it to her, but it bugged me. When she'd forgotten about it, I sent it off to Buck and asked them to fix it. They weren't sure if they could at first, as it was a discontinued model. The knifesmith decided he could fix it up properly, and he did. He even polished up the whole back of the knife. It's now the way it should've been when it left the factory.

Just at the end of 2023, I saw a nice-looking Buck locking folder with thumb stud at Menards. Daughter liked it. I told her no, then bought it for her later for a stocking-stuffer. I unpackaged it, intending to sharpen it and maybe break in the action a bit. The action was so tight I couldn't open with with one hand with the thumb stud. Can you imagine that? I took off the pocket clip to look for the pivot screw to loosen up; no luck, it's riveted. I tried a bit of oil; didn't make a difference. I put the clip back on, packed it back up and returned the POS to Menards. I'm not about to send another one off to Buck. They've made it clear they don't give a damn about QC and now I'm done with them. At the price I paid, I understand the decision to use 420HC and polymer, but I still expected basic attention to function. To ignore that is something the Chinese will do when left unsupervised. I expect better from Buck, even a Chinese-made one.

This is the same thing Schwinn went through 50 years ago. The cost to manufacture in the USA was going up in the 70s. They closed the Chicago factory and moved to Alabama or something, where they could pay less, but didn't keep on top of QC. Sales declined and they went out of business. Then, Giant (who used to be a Schwinn supplier) bought the brand name and now they're made in Taiwan.

Moral of the story is that Americans will pay more for American-made, but only if the quality is there. (and after-sale customer service!)

It seems like Spyderco and Benchmade understand this but the Buck family has forgotten.
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I'm glad you're not giving them a pass. I feel like too many people let things slide with Buck because of nostalgia, and see them as some blameless piece of Americana. I get it in a way, but if any other US company put out the amount of off center blades as Buck, people would be tearing them apart on the boards. They remind me of Colt in a lot of ways. They've been outpaced by so many companies in so many ways it ridiculous, but the name still carries enough weight to hold a rabid fan base willing to defend everything they do.
 
Steven65 said:
There are a number of manufacturers I won't buy from because of their shocking business practice, however the only one which I have personally had a bad experience with.........

Fallkniven........ pretending to be made in Sweden.
I bought a lockback from them, the lock failed after 6 months and when I contacted them for a warranty claim they basically told me to eff off.
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Sure they did...
 
Airing of the grievances! 👀🧙🏼‍♂️

IN The outdoor fly fishing industry, Simms failed me miserably. Obviously, YMMV.

Call them out.
 
CSG said:
Well, since you ask, I do not believe Fallkniven told him to "eff off".
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He didn't say they did. He said they "basically told him"...in other words, gave him short shrift. If you don't know the man, you shouldn't call b.s.

noun

  1. rapid and unsympathetic dismissal; curt treatment.
    "the judge gave short shrift to an argument based on the right to free speech"
    • ARCHAIC
      little time between condemnation and execution or punishment.
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