What makes a $400 folder worth it?

If anybody sees a genuine Loveless for $200 or less, please pm me. :)

Professor.
 
I think for us enthusiasts it's an evolution in the hobby.

If you're at it for any length of time, you evolve up into the $400 "semi-custom" range of knives out of curiosity. You read and research until you push yourself to hold the knife in your own hands and do your own testing.

I like the fit and finish of my $400 knives. I am very frustrated when I get a Buck that has an off-centered blade, or a liner lock that is inconsistent with the lock up. How about a blade that is sharpened off-center, or the edge is burnt, or the grind is inconsistent as you run the length of the blade? How do you feel when there is blade play even as you are pulling it out for the first time. How many times did you take a new knife apart to clean it, only to have the screws stripped that hold the g10 scales together? How about carbon fiber handles that are cracked as they sit new in the box or display case? What about jimping that is not consistent.

These things bother me, and no matter how hard I try I dwell on these things every time I carry that respective knife.

Do I think $400 is too much for a knife? For certain makes and models I do. For others I don't. I've had a lot of fun buying / trading / seeking out the various models and doing my own homework.

Let's face it - I would be fine with my Victorinox Climber for 95% of what I need a knife for from day to day. All of the knives I have owned / traded / sold were strictly to satisfy my appetite for the hobby.
 
I use to think 400 or more was too much to spend on a knife. But, I looked around and saw a lot of money adding up in cheaper knives. So, I started getting a few higher priced knives. I can't say I like this nearly 400 dollar LionSteel loads more than my Spydercos' costing well less than half that such as my Chinook, but it is a change from lesser priced knives.
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I don't see any knife worth $400 let alone $2000. If I have an extra $400 laying around I will pick up another pistol or shotgun....... Way better return on investiment down the road... JMO
 
The only prerequisite needed in order to buy a $400 knife is the desire and the ability. Whether it's worth it or not afterwards is directly proportional to the amount of buyer's remorse you feel afterwards. Having spent $660 on a brand new XM-18 I can say I felt I overpaid by $160. Having spent $385 on a new Lionsteel SR-1 I can say it was worth every penny. Having spent $190 on a Para2 in S90V and carbon fiber, I can say that it was a real steal(no pun intended) and I felt like I got a $250 knife.

What makes a $400 knife worth it? You bub.

Technically speaking, you can get a "useful" knife at about $10 with a Mora. And there's really no task whatsoever my SR-1 can do that my ZT 0301 can't, except perhaps to render me broke.

In any case, this is really in the realm of "why must your car have a turbocharger, an intercooler, and shake the entire block with the stereo?"

Because I want to.
 
The womenz, man. The womenz. Oh, and the swag.



Nice Jill. I just pre-ordered one of the DPx H.E.S.T. folders.
Made by Lion Steel with that same Roto thingamabob on the frame lock.
 
I think it has everything to do with what your expectations of a knife are going to be. If you are simply looking for a cutting tool then a knife over $100 is likely to be too high a price to pay, much less a $200 knife buy.

Knives do "speak" and when one does it can cause you to consider it even at a $400 or higher price. I think we all have a cutoff point on what we are willing/able to spend on a knife. I recently got a couple of customs, a fixed blade for around $250, and a folder for $450. Neither one will do anything my less expensive knives will do, but yet both of these knives spoke to me with their one of a kind styling and lines. I'll likely not be able to get a factory knife with the same lines. Even though the maker will probably make more of the same style knife they are just not going to pop up everywhere you look.

I'm now considering a couple more custom folders, both of which will cost over $500. Are they going to do anymore than my less expensive production knives? Probably not. But I like the uniquness of them, have the ability to pay the price, and they are hollering instead of speaking!

If all I wanted my knife to do is cut I could spend $50 and get one that would probably last me a lifetime and never think about another one, but if I want something that stirs my soul? well then I have to pay the price. As was said earlier; "If you going to play, you have to pay."

So no, a $400 knife is not worth the price to everyone, but to those that it is what does it really matter to anyone else? A lot of definate statements are here declaring that any knife over the $200 limit is not worth the price, yet what about those who think you are nuts to pay $200 for a knife when you could get one for $100, and then those who think a $100 knife is outrageous when you can get one for $50, you see where this is going?

We would all be better off if we didn't worry what so and so was willing to pay for a knife. And I think we are being a bit harsh when we set a price for what WE would not pay over for a knife, and then claiming any knife over that limit is in no way better.

Just a few observations, and opinions for what they are worth.:)
 
Knowing it cost that much. There is a line you cross where you go from actually paying for quality materials to overrated brandnames and collection value.
 
molinee said:
I don't see any knife worth $400 let alone $2000. If I have an extra $400 laying around I will pick up another pistol or shotgun....... Way better return on investiment down the road... JMO
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Used guns tend to go down in value (with some exceptions).
High end knives often go up in value unless excessively used.
For return on investment though, look into gold or something rather than knives or guns.:cool:

Personally I'm happier spending that kind of coin on a knife then a gun.
If I could shoot my steak into smaller pieces without issues or open my mail and boxes with a rifle, maybe I'd view it differently.:)

I've traded guns for knives, but I've never traded a knife for a gun.
 
I have some custom knives because you cant find that style of knife in a production model,like a jeff hall bounty hunter,or a brian tighe tighe breaker(the crkt version is a toy).i like some of the custom knives,they are just plain cool.i have lately tried to keep it under the 400 mark,some of them do get pricey.i only have 3 or 4 customs i paid more than 400 for,but im getting to a point where they dont seem worth it to me,as others have said,afraid to get it scratched,damaged.that is one advantage of a cheaper user knife, you do get more for your money without as much worry...
 
goldie said:
,as others have said,afraid to get it scratched,damaged.that is one advantage of a cheaper user knife, you do get more for your money without as much worry...
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Just use em and get on with life.:)
Scratches add character.:thumbup:
Once you get it scratched a bit and resharpen it, you'll be good to go.
If I didn't use my expensive knives, then they wouldn't be worth it.
 
A cheap home depot knife does about 95% of what my CRK Umnumzaan does at a fraction of the cost. If cost were the only consideration, I would not be on bladeforums looking at knife porn daily ;)
For me, I think that I look for perfection more often than not. Certain things about pride of craftmanship, can all be told within each knife..What was going on when it was made...If the maker/designer truly cared about aesthetics, ergonomics and function..If the person that made the individual pieces cared about the quality of their craft. The person that assembled it cared about the quality of construction. When all of these come together, you have a tool that is as close to perfect as we are capable of.
I have been a machinist for many years...I have ran manual machines as well as programmed and run CNC's of many types...I can tell you that there are good days and bad days. So I respect the amount of work that goes into making these fine tools, from the engineering- to the manufacturing/construction..There is alot of work involved..Not to mention, people like myself do not make McMinimum wage..The tooling to construct these tools are not cheap. The machines are not cheap,- There is nothing cheap about machining whatsoever.
 
Do any of you understand the concept of value? If you add up design time, material and equipment costs and a modest $30-$50/ hour for what is a rare skilled trade, most custom knife makers are giving away their knives. $400 ends up being nothing in comparison to what went into making the knife. It’s like comparing a custom built hot rod to Chevy Cobalt you can buy off the lot. Both are cars that get from point a/b but there is a lot more to consider. Sometimes there is also a creative art value element to buying a custom knife that you can’t put a tangible value on. It’s like criticizing someone that paid 50 million for a Jackson Pollock painting because he can’t eat it if the end of the world comes. It’s ridiculous.
 
There generally isn't a whole lot of art or performance differences at the $400 range. Mostly the same materials are used, and the knives generally are not one-off pieces.

What makes it worth it is the fact that you paid that much for it. I would wager that this general area of pricing is probably one of the hardest to justify. Not priced high enough for real investment art pieces, not priced low enough for 'merely' a quality tool purchased only to get the job done reliably.
 
The level you get with these higher end knives is mostly an unquantifiable level. Meaning you can't REALLY put down on paper what exactly it does better. It's more a feel, a look, and the knowledge of what it is.

When I first joined and got my first "quality" knife, a $50 Spyderco Native, I thought that was quite expensive for a pocket knife. I certainly wasn't let down with it, and it's one of my favorites to this day. But it's not quite comparable to a Sebenza or other knife in that ballpark.

I have a coworker who really likes knives, but isn't internet savvy and mostly owns Big5 S&W knives, and they work just fine for him. If I was to hand him a Sebenza and a much cheaper framelock from Kershaw or Spyderco, he probably would not be able to say which is more expensive. or if so, wouldn't bet that there's a 2-300 dollar difference between them.

I scoffed at $100+ knives as little as a year ago, and recently purchased a $200+ CPM M4 Military... I didn't expect much of a better "feeling" about it, but I got it. Compared to my Tenacious which I thought felt very solid, the framelock locks up like a vault. And the same goes for a sebenza compared to my Millie, just that sliver of FEELING of being nicer, which is hard to define.

But my millie will cut circles around the Sebenza :p
 
Well, most of the differences are very subtle. It takes a hell of a LOT of knives before you can say without any uncertainty that one knife has better fit and finish than another, and even more before you can appreciate it.

Still, this is pretty similar to my $400 custom 1000 lumen Surefire 6P flashlight. It did its job about 950 lumens ago:rolleyes:.

Justification for the spending doesn't exist, though there IS an explanation. This is no different than guys shelling money out for cars, expensive cameras, guns, lights, lasers, and home entertainment systems. No different than women with expensive makeup, fancy clothes, shoes, and purses.

You can fulfill the basic purpose of those items with what you make in a day, but people inevitably spend more than that.

This isn't a need, it is a want. Of course, that's entirely debatable in the same sense that people don't "need" to smoke, they just want to:rolleyes:. Addiction is an ugly thing.
 
from Baltasar Gracian's _The Art of Worldly Wisdom_, the 62nd aphorism [Use Good Instruments]:

"Some would have the subtlety of their wits proven by the meanness [cheapness etc.] of their instruments. ’Tis a dangerous satisfaction, and deserves a fatal punishment. The excellence of a minister never diminished the greatness of his lord. All the glory of exploits reverts to the principal actor; also all the blame. Fame only does business with principals. She does not say, "This had good, that had bad servants," but, "This was a good artist, that a bad one." Let your assistants be selected and tested therefore, for you have to trust to them for an immortality of fame."
 
Personally I probably wouldn't pay 400$ for a folder under any circumstance but I'm new to collecting so...
 
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