What do you pay for in a knife?

hardheart

hardheart

Joined
Sep 19, 2001
Messages
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Name, appearance, materials, features, workmanship, something else?

Here's where I sit, roughly,

Personally, steel is the biggest draw. I will skip a production design if there's a chance of a sprint in a different steel, or a custom version easy enough to order. I will buy knives with stuff I don't like (liner locks, aluminum, etc) if it is the only thing with an alloy I want.

Next are features, like proprietary/patented locks, mechanisms, or patterns. The steel doesn't have to be the next big thing if something else is new & interests me.

Looks - Just being attractive or unique without some specific function behind it doesn't do it for me. Also, not polishing a surface, removing scratches, lining up parts, and avoiding other F&F steps is not a way to bump up value in my eyes by trying to look tactical or rugged. I won't pay a premium for a knife that looks used or put together in the dark.

Workmanship - Symbols of precision are fine, but not for me if they use fairly common materials and features. I do avoid brands with lesser reputations for F&F, especially if they are premium priced. So yeah, too much F&F and I feel like there's a cost not associated with performance, and too little gives a cost for looks at the sacrifice of performance. I think the popular production brands are popular because they are already at appropriate levels of workmanship, for the most part.

Name - The name needs an association to quality, but I don't care about the name if it is on a knife that doesn't ring my bell. Actions by owners, makers, and company reps can sour me on a brand in a heartbeat.

Simplicity - it doesn't cost more to do less with knives. We started with sharp rocks, so reducing parts and steps isn't an engineering leap when a solid working knife is made of one or two pieces anyway.

Also, I don't pay loads more for thicker blade stock or bigger pins and bolts, since the price difference is generally pennies.

What are your priorities in selecting a new piece for your collection/pile?
 
For me it depends on why I want the knife.
  • Sometimes I buy a knife in order to try a new steel. If so, then it's all about the steel.
  • Sometimes I want a new user. If so, then I'm looking for ergos, size, blade shape, maybe fit and finish, and steel is reasonably unimportant. For a user, there are so many alloys which are adequate.
  • Sometimes I'm curious about a manufacturer whose products I've never tried. If so, then the priorities are about like those of a user.
  • Sometimes I'm curious about a design feature, so I buy a knife with that feature, and the rest of the features are not very important.
  • And sometimes I buy a knife just because the total design speaks to me.
 
It really depends. I have a few knives (probably not a lot by the standards of most here) and many of them were purchased for different reasons.

Currently my priority is to only buy knives that I will carry and use regularly...because I am pretty happy with the ones I am carrying now, I might not be buying for a while;)

Although, there is one I am looking for at the moment that will be purchased for a very different and personal reason. It will be a gift for my mother who begins her battle with cancer today.
 
I'd pay for design over anything else. If the knife isn't intelligently designed, but made out of premium steels and materials, I won't buy it for any price.
 
unit, your PM inbox is full.
 
I'll pay extra to make sure a marketing department has included the most "sexy" word in the name of the knife.

:D
 
Affordability, durability, materials, build quality. I'll overlook "lesser" steels (well, AUS8A and 420HC is the lowest I'll go) if this criteria is met. It's more important to me to have an overall package than one feature above all the rest. I'm not a collector and by no means a steel junky so I'm just looking for a quality build at a reasonable price.
 
Steel and ergonomics I suppose, along with the name. I already have 3 Para2 sprint runs, yet I'm getting an M390 Para2 anyways. But I'm also drawn to a well-presented knife like the ZT 0777. Steel isn't quite as hardcore as M390 in terms of edge retention, though I like the space-age look of the knife in general.
 
knarfeng said:
For me it depends on why I want the knife.
  • Sometimes I buy a knife in order to try a new steel. If so, then it's all about the steel.
  • Sometimes I want a new user. If so, then I'm looking for ergos, size, blade shape, maybe fit and finish, and steel is reasonably unimportant. For a user, there are so many alloys which are adequate.
  • Sometimes I'm curious about a manufacturer whose products I've never tried. If so, then the priorities are about like those of a user.
  • Sometimes I'm curious about a design feature, so I buy a knife with that feature, and the rest of the features are not very important.
  • And sometimes I buy a knife just because the total design speaks to me.
Click to expand...

Excellent summation ;)
 
Im a pretty cheap bastard, so when I go to buy a new knife I'm always overly critical over features vs price. I also always have that inner battle "Why should I buy a fixed blade, when I can make it for next to nothing," so I almost exlcusively buy user folders. I never buy for a name even if I can fully appreciate the workmanship, just can't justify it in my head I am not going to thrash an expensive anything so why would I buy it.

Priorities:
1. Ergos - traction, handle to blade angle, deployment, carry-ability, weight(negotiable), shape. Won't even hold a knife that is uncomfortable
2.Lock - strong, reliable, not a liner lock(have had to many fail), Been spoiled by CS triad-lock
3. Blade - shape/geometry, no hollow-grinds or chisel, steel. Full Flat or 3/4+ saber are the best IMO
4. Price - 100.00 is aout the highest I am willing to spend on any folder As Previously mentioned I am a cheap bastard
 
To me...it's more a matter of what I won't pay for. If it doesn't look like the designer's primary motivation was designing a functional cutting instrument...then I wont buy it.

That's all that's really important to me. All the rest is just "what catches my eye."
 
Steel is a big deal. I have overcome my dislike of Case's SS steel, but have a hard time justifying the Meyerco Lighfoot and Lambert collaborations, when they are using 8Cr13MoV.
 
Ergos. I have small hands. If the ergos work for me I'll often overlook many other things such as mediocre steel (to a degree, of course).
 
hardheart said:
Name, appearance, materials, features, workmanship, something else?
Click to expand...



If by Name you mean Knife Maker, that's what I pay for.


No matter the other choices, trust in a quality knife maker is the key to getting a good knife.






Big Mike
 
If I had just one knife, or just a few knives, factors like steel, lock, ergos, etc. would enter into my calculus. But I've got so many now that I just buy what I like. And in every instance, its something that I think I will EDC. Last knife was a $15 Kershaw Asset. Looks cool, feels good in my hand, is an assisted opener, and was very inexpensive. A guy could carry nothing else and get by just fine. Before that was an Emerson CQC-8. I got it because I've been around here for a few years now and never had my hands on an Emerson. I wanted to know what the deal was. That one cost 12x what that Kershaw did.

I don't really care about steel, locks, etc. I just buy what I think will be fun to carry, and will provide me good utility.
 
I look at the whole package.

For example Busse's have a stellar reputation but I'll never own one because:

- They're way too overpriced.
- Most of their designs are ugly looking things which dont appeal to me at all.
- When I went to their URL to look for the only two Busse's I liked, they werent listed. They probably wanted a couple house payments for one anyway. Oh well.

Another factor, I'm a traditionalist. I do not like the modern tacticool stuff the least little bit. Traditional fixed blades are becoming ever more scarce too

I also generally dont like stainless steel. Saw too many of them break. Carbon has never let me down. My preference is 1095 or 5160.

Shoddy construction will also turn me off. Every time.
 
Ability to do the task i need it to do. Im not a collector really, my knives are used. I dont really care what its made of, who made it, or any of the mystique involved in it, i just need it to work.
 
Probably the biggest factor for me when picking a new knife is to try something different. I like variety. Different sizes, blade shape, handle style, opening mechanism, locking mechanism, blade steel, handle material, manufacturer, etc. I tend not to buy the same knife with minor variations (eg. Delica w/ FRN vs. steel handles, same model knife with plain and serrated blade, handle/blade coating color variations, etc.). I don't think there is any specific factor that dominates over others. It's just whatever catches my attention (and fits my budget).
 
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