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Liveitloud

Liveitloud

Joined
Jul 1, 2006
Messages
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We've all done it. At least I hope we have or I'm hanging my ass in the wind here. As more of a beginner to the knife collecting thing I have gone through several brands that I have picked up on ebay that were less than stellar in the quality department. Two knives in particular that stand out as so so would be a Frost and Owl head brand knife. Whats yours?
 
Ruko

After the demise of Schrade, my local feed & seed store replaced their Schrades with Ruko brand imports.

I try to be fair to imports and judge them on their merits, but dang these were just horrible junk.
 
It was still a performer, but I did get a Buck 303 off of eBay that was sold as new, but was obviously quite well used and quite old. Not much walk and talk, but I traded it later on. As for junk, no traditional junk, except for a few Frosts many moons ago. Surprisingly, they weren't that bad. Saw some of the new Taylor Schrades yesterday, and while the 34OT had some good walk and talk, and was razor sharp, I just can't buy it, the handles are crap, a little loose etc. Made me want to get an old 34OT again.
 
I am EDC a Frost one arm razor with Bone handle. It is one of the older Frost that were made in Japan. I bought it from a member on this forum, and after getting it I put a nice edge on it. This past Sat. I was opening a package ( USPS priority box ) cutting along the folding part where is is glued. After opening the glued area, I saw the edge had rolled. The steel seems to be pretty soft, but takes a nice edge and is good for light chores.



John
 
Some of the real junk I have was given to me, not purchased: A no-name Chinese SAK type thing with pinched-on aluminum scales. A keychain-sized SAK promo piece with a knife shop's name on it (would you put your business name on a cheap knife?).

Two I did purchase: A Chinese "tactical" linerlock that will flop open in your pocket. It was one of those "$3 at the register" things, and I should have known better, but I wanted a wicked-cool Tanto blade. At the time I didn't understand about things like mechanical integrity. The other was a "Barlow" knife off eBay that turned out to be Pakistani junk. I keep it as a reminder to research things before jumping in with both feet. Again, only a couple of bucks, but it's worth even less.

-- Sam
 
When I was a teenager Frost Cutlery was sold at an upscale mall store that I used to frequent. They carried a few Frost traditional knives with custom scrimshaw and turquoise scales. I used to drool over them , but they were way too expensive for a kid back in the mid 70's.
A few years later when I was finally making some money I bought a few Frost traditional patterns that were Japanese made. For someone starting out they weren't too bad. I have a pair of Trappers that I still admire.

When Frost switched to Taiwan, Pakistan and Chinese production I stopped buying them. But it was my first knife buying experience as an adult , so I have a warm spot for Frost...

As far as recent disappointments, I'd say a Puma Medici I got last year was a real disappointment as far as fit and finish. But the design is great...
 
Frost here too. I bought a few before I really got into knife collecting and found out what constituted a good knife. Of course, in a way I'm glad I did, I was young at the time, and probably a lot rougher on knives than I should have been, so I'm glad I didn't have anything too good.
 
ParaGlock said:
Some of the real junk I have was given to me, not purchased: A no-name Chinese SAK type thing with pinched-on aluminum scales. A keychain-sized SAK promo piece with a knife shop's name on it (would you put your business name on a cheap knife?).
-- Sam
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Some years ago we ran into the same thing. The real estate law firm my better half was working for bought a bunch of those cheap chinese imitation Victorinox classic's. To say they were crude is being very polite. But they had their company logo on the red handles and were giving them out to everyone. I was embarrased when Karen came home with one to show me what they were doing.

I went to Walmart and bought a real Victorinox classic and went to the law partner that was doing their marketing, and showed it to him in a side by side comparison. With both of them in hand, even the lawyer saw the big difference, and told his company people to stop handing out the junk imediatly.

The really funny upshot was when he called the company to bitch about the low quality, he found out that for a little bit extra money they could have the real classic's. They switched over.

Sometimes they just don't know the difference.
 
Couple of German lockbacks and liners made by Herbetz have not been too good at all! In fact, the Chinese Rough Rider brand is a lot better and surprisingly good as a matter of fact.(see my thread Cheap Thrills)
 
I bought a Remington trapper with wood scales at the last minute on eBay for not too much. I realized before it even got here that it would be their low end, Chinese. Yep, it was the stuff you see clam packed on the shelf with the Winchester stuff. It has weak springs. For the price it's okay, but for the same price I could have gotten another Mora or an Opinel.

Speaking of weak springs. I picked up my first Canal Street trapper on eBay a while back. I thought it was great that this one had D2 blades. I found out later on the CSC site that it was part of a fixed and folding duo. I was eagerly anticipating it. When it arrived, the blades were quite sharp, but the springs are very weak. So weak it barely closes. The fit along the back was not really impressive to me either. I know that CSC makes better knives, at least to hear it on here from people whose opinion of a knife I really respect. But if I were to judge all Canal Streets on this one I would have to say, never again. All is not lost though. Someday I'll send it to Oupa for a spring tweek and his handle art. Then it should be a good carry knife. The blades are great.

There've been others in my past I'm sure. I have a few I paid to much for given what they were. Fortunately, I think I've gotten more than enough great deals that make up for it.

One of those I paid to much for turned out to be a great catch from a user standpoint. I was gathering in a few folding hunters and picked up a Queen .30-30, folding hunter. When I got it the blades and one bolster were scratched up from a less that careful reprofiling to a convex edge. Looks wise I paid to much, somewhere in the $30s. A quick lick on the stones though and I found out what all the yazz about convex edges is about. Very sharp, very quick to resharpen. From a good working knife view this was money well spent and the heck with the looks. I'll probably match this one up with Winchester 94 in .30-30 Win sometime.

I think we've all had our less than stellar deals we don't mention when we're talking about our acquisitions. Goes with the turf and with learning.
 
I'd send the Canal Street back, Amos!!
How's it going in the lone star, my friend??
 
waynorth said:
I'd send the Canal Street back, Amos!!
How's it going in the lone star, my friend??
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Balanced I suppose. ;) I finally ordered my first handmade knife, a mini-IX from Shadowknives with a smooth bone handle. Naturally, to keep balance, the earlier mentioned electrical circuit to my computer room died completely. I moved the DSL bridge and router to the living room and behind a chair. The flip side is that my wife's wireless connection (which I'm on now) is better than it's ever been. I also guess <groan> I'll finally get around to clearing out that room completely and redoing it after I find the problem. I suspect old aluminum wiring has turned brittle with age and broken at a key spot, as the breakers didn't trip.

I thought about sending it to Canal Street and making them do it right. However, given it has such good blades and potential, it might make a great Oupa canvas if he could also put a little spring back into it.

Now if all my less than stellar buys had such potential. :D

Keep em straight up North and in that Harness Jack thread!
 
Cold steel traditionals were my biggest dissappointment. I bought a Cold Steel muskrat once that made a gas station $3 mankiller look like a Tony Bose custom.
 
hwp said:
Cold steel traditionals were my biggest dissappointment. I bought a Cold Steel muskrat once that made a gas station $3 mankiller look like a Tony Bose custom.
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I just never "got" a traditional styled knife with FRN handles...

-- Sam
 
I was not real impressed with a Sheffield I had bought like 6 months ago. The blade is very lose in the handle. All the the hex nuts were stripped when I bought it. They could be torx too it's hard to tell. For $12 I was not a big loss. It's replacment was a $5 knife I bought at wal-mart, that was but togheter much better.
 
I picked up a cigar whittler on ebay one day. It was a marbles. I couldn't wait for it to come in. When it arrived....MADE IN CHINA. :jerkit:
 
Knife Geek said:
I was not real impressed with a Sheffield I had bought like 6 months ago. The blade is very lose in the handle. All the the hex nuts were stripped when I bought it. They could be torx too it's hard to tell. For $12 I was not a big loss. It's replacment was a $5 knife I bought at wal-mart, that was but togheter much better.
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What type of Sheffield is that exactly? Like to know. would like one of the Royal Navy jack-knives with a marlin spike though...:thumbup:
 
I have been collecting Schrade knives for a few years and started getting bored. Lately I've been trying some other manufacturers. In the last month I've added five Schatt & Morgan, a Queen, a Case and one Henckles. I'm happy with the first three makers - the Henckels was a train wreck! I won an eBay auction for a Henckles mini-copperhead with red bone (autumn leaf) scales for less than $20 + ship. Arrived a little less than two weeks ago - with no snap in the blades and redish/pinkish scales. I was going to chuck it or give it away and then it crossed my mind to contact the seller and ask if I could exchange for a "snappy-er" version of the same knife. The guy was cool. He told me to send it back and he would try to send me one with a stronger backspring. Solid guy.

Any of you guys experience this problem with Henckles small 2-blade copperheads?
 
I have some of the fossil ivory bone series and they are OK. I do have the same autumn leaf bone copperhead mentioned in the previous post and the snap is weak, especially on opening.
 
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