What are your thoughts on limited or no warranty?

I don't think I've sent anything in for any warranty service, so it doesn't matter much at all to me. I tend to be the type to try and fix it myself, take the loss, or if needed pay a bit for a part. The only knife related thing I can remember having any sort of need was when the spring broke in my Kershaw Leek years ago, and if i remember they just sent me another.
 
Doesn’t matter much to me. If I’m worried I’ll just buy new / direct / or deal with the issues that may arise.
 
A company that offers a lifetime warranty is a company that has confidence in their product. That means something to me even if I never use the warranty.
 
Truesome said:
I’ve seen a few folks mention this. Is this a “thing?” I mean, so many people buy knives and just keep them locked up? Why?
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What’s worth more, a collectible item that’s still new in all the original packaging or one that’s clearly been used?
 
brownshoe said:
Yes. No more Cold Steel since they changed their warranty. Never Fallkniven due to their many restrictions and refusal to even honor their dealers opinion. Rockstead…no way.

I’ve used warranty repair for Spyderco, CRK, Benchmade, William Henry, Buck, Microtech, Sog, Cold Steel (original warranty) and two custom makes for a total of ~15 repairs. I’ve had several knives over 5 years old that were repaired. Warranties are important if you use your knives.
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With that many knives needing to be repaired, I think the word you're looking for is "abuse".
 
Truesome said:
Ahh. I’d never heard of knives as investments before. I’ve only used them. Learn something new every day, I guess.
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There are many folks here (like me) who have collections large enough that we could use a different knife every day of the week for the entire year. With that many knives, how much use do you think any given knife gets, you know? On top of that, not everyone has excessive cutting needs in their daily life. It is what it is. Me personally? I have many knives I've never used, and don't ever plan to. I just like owning 'em. 🤷
 
Truesome said:
Ahh. I’d never heard of knives as investments before. I’ve only used them. Learn something new every day, I guess.
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You’ve never seen knives in great condition from collections sell for more than original cost? You are definitely not a knife nut!
 
Truesome said:
Ahh. I’d never heard of knives as investments before. I’ve only used them. Learn something new every day, I guess.
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There are many folks who have $10K-$20K in knives, some upwards of $100k if not more.

I’m not like that, my collection of knives numbers around a dozen in total, and all see extensive use. However if you spend enough time here or get to know people at meetups, you’ll quickly realize how many people have serious money in the form of knife collections.
 
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Doesn’t matter to me.
I really haven’t had any issues with a knife.
Even if I did I more than likely would take care of it myself or would not purchase that knife again.

Well I did have one issue but I just exchanged the knife for another one. No need for a warranty.
I expect a decent knife when I buy it.
 
I appreciate a good warranty. I have some knives that don’t have a great warranty or I would have to mail it overseas though as well. I sent out a copperlock to Case last week and I’m mailing Buck 3 110s that all have blade play tomorrow. I appreciate they have great warranties and hopefully fix them.

Kershaw/KAI have a great warranty. I’ve used them many times for clips, screws, etc that are free and they rock for that, much more so than Spyderco or Benchmade.
 
irsh said:
The company's reputation means more to me than their warranty. But a 'no questions asked' replacement certainly doesn't hurt my feelings.
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A company that doesn't warranty their stuff is unlikely have much a reputation IMHO.
 
I chipped the edge on a Chris Reeve Project one stabbing hogs and he just asked what I was doing with it, had me ship it to him and I got it back in less than a week. I was wildly chopping some alders and hit a large rock which chipped the edge on a Mike Deibert chopper. He said to send it to him and had it back to me quickly. A Bob Dozier horizontal kydex sheath clip snapped after 20 years of use (plus it was below zero when it broke). They had me send the knife/sheath and sent a new sheath only costing shipping. These were no faults of the makers and they were great. I have never needed warranty or repair work due to defective or faulty product. The people I am most interested in continuing to buy knives from presently (Adam Kornalsky, CPE, CPK, David Mary) make fantastic knives, and I know would address any concerns.
 
F1fan said:
This is why I have switched from mostly Milwaukee and a few Dewalt to mostly Matikita and some Rigid.
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Makita is a good choice, but they aren't necessarily going to cover your tools if you are a professional. Makita is really popular on the job site.

If you use your tools no matter what the trade, including chefs wearing out their knives and pans, you will wear them out or use them up. Some take a relatively short amount of time, and some take a really long time. With so much stuff being of poor quality these days, it is important to find a brand you can count on. (At least for now...) I have switched just about all hand tools to Ridgid (several saws, several recip saws, 4 routers, 5 sanders, nail guns, hammer drills, impact drivers and on and on) for their warranty.

They actually stand by their products! They ask "is this something you feel you could install?" if I need parts, and have sent me batteries if they are old enough to have cycled out. No static, talk to real people in Ohio somewhere, and they ship out quickly.

The only other tools I know that stand behind commercial use are Metabo.

The ran into the tool rep at Home Depot one day when he was doing some kind of demo. He was the rep for several brands (not going to stir up the fans) and he assured me that many of the same brands were made on the same manufacturing lines. Different frames, different motors, different switches, bearings, etc. made the tools different. And then sometimes not.

He got a HELLUVA laugh out of people shopping warranties as part of their purchase. I mean he was really amused. Imagine of all the brands sold in Home Depot and Ace Hardware and a few in Lowes that he would represent. He told me that NONE of the manufacturers worry that much about warranty because as few as 30% of people actually register their tools. That's all. The warranty service is built into the price of the tool, but you don't get it if you don't register. God bless the bean counters.

How smart is this? You have a 90 day registration window with a lot of tools. You confidently tell yourself as you put the receipt in a safe place that you will have plenty of time to get to the receipt/registration in 3 months, no problem. Then you find the receipt 5 months later, or you locate it when the tool breaks. I would be better off if they had a 10 day registration so I would go back to the office or my house to register immediately. Pretty smart strategy, I say.

Personally, I don't understand why knife manufacturers don't offer really generous warranties on their product, just exclude abuse. If I can get a life time warranty on a tool that has to be assembled from dozens of parts like a motor, overmolded structural frame/case, brushes, variable speed switches, a carbide tooth chuck/bit holder, a ratcheting mechanism, 2 batteries and a charger (and a case!) for $199, why is it a problem to get a great warranty on a pile of screwed together pieces at the same price (or much more) that don't see anything remotely close to the service life of a hammer drill on a commercial construction site that serves multiple users? Beats me.
 
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As several have already stated, reputation matters more to me than warranty, since even if there is a warranty the two go hand in hand. Unlike a lot of purchases, I don't think that there was a single knife purchase that was decided by the warranty (even my ESEE 4). If I spent a lot of money on a knife and it was a lemon, I'd probably try to get that sorted out and if I ran into a brick wall that would be the last knife from that brand I ever bought or recommended.
 
Warranty is only as good as the company behind it . 🤔

I've wasted more time and money trying to get stuff fixed or replaced than it was ever worth .

I've paid for shipping , waited a long time , only to receive the POS product returned as bad or worse than I sent it . 🤯

I try to buy with ironclad free returns , shipping paid , for a reasonable time period . Knife defects usually show up pretty fast, if put to much use .

I've only rarely ever needed to send a knife back for replacement or refund .

I do value being able to obtain parts from any manufacturer . Very annoying to not be able to do simple repairs / replacements .
 
Limited warranty = no warranty
No warranty = will still buy, just not expensive models.

Only kind of warranty that I see as a plus is "No questions asked" warranty that ESEE has for example. That's what got me to get an ESEE myself.
 
For me it depends on the knife. I know for example, getting warranty support on my 2 Russian knives would be difficult, but I also know they are extremely well made, of high end materials, and are rather simple construction liner and frame locks.

Production knives should have a lifetime warranty in my opinion, especially folding knives with complicated mechanisms, like automatics, assisted opening, and axis type locks. The moving parts are more prone to breakage, and are not easily replaceable outside of factory support. I've had Benchmade omega springs break and a Kershaw torsion bar wear out. Those weren't in a one year period. Neither was the lock slip on my Matt Bailey custom.

While I prefer a good warranty, I will take superior construction and quality control over a good warranty any day.

If the company wants to "save money" they would be better off having a more restrictive and/or graduated warranty. They could also offer repairs at a cost after a certain period of time.
 
Is there a knife manufacturer with great reputation but poor or no warranty? I can't think of one. This is in response to those who say nah I don't care about warranty i only care about reputation.

To the OP question, if I am paying some good $$ for a knife I surely expect reasonable warranty even if I may never need to use it. Otherwise, I simply don't buy it.
 
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