What was the worst most over hyped knife you ever bought?

I am starting to see a pattern here. That pattern being most of the worst or overrated knives owned were not like a cheap wall mart knife or what I had but pretty expensive semi custom and custom knives that range in value from $300 to $1000. I would have expected more replies to say Cold Steel, SOG, Kershaw, or a cheaper knife.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Microtech DE Executive Scarab. Bought it back when I was young and had disposable income and wanted it for the novelty factor. Was not worth the money. It's not a bad knife, but was SO not a good use of the money I spent on it. Could have bought multiple knives for the price that would have gotten a lot more use. It's still really cool and all, but every time I look at it the Maine spendthrift in me cries a single tear.



I actually like that one quite a bit more than their other kukri models. Polypropylene doesn't transmit any more shock to the hand than wood (less, even) and it sound like you were landing your blows forward of the sweet spot. It's actually a PVC hard rubber handle on those, though, if I'm remembering right. It's not polypropylene, at the very least. My main issue with the handle is just that the checkered grip texturing is over-aggressive and hot-spot-producing unless you buff the points off it with some fine sandpaper.
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I know you know a ton more about knives than myself. But, I have to disagree with your view on Polypropylene. I also found it to be too heavy, awkward, and tiring for field use and limited self defense knife due to the unbalanced heavy weight and over bent blade. I own a 14 Inch Imacasa that has Poly handles and not once have I ever had hand shock, fatigue from long use, or balance issues. And I would feel more confident in it's ability to be a good self defense blade due to balance and speed in hand. I gave the CS Royal Kukri away to a friend. I made an impulse buy that I ended up not liking.
 
Joshua1973 said:
I am starting to see a pattern here. That pattern being most of the worst or overrated knives owned were not like a cheap wall mart knife or what I had but pretty expensive semi custom and custom knives that range in value from $300 to $1000. I would have expected more replies to say Cold Steel, SOG, Kershaw, or a cheaper knife.
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I think most experienced consumers take advertising hype for what it is . Sales and marketing . We don't necessarily expect the product to be all that great . Especially if the price is not very high . ;)

But when we pay big $$$$ , the expectation is to receive a much better product in proportion . When something expensive turns out to be crap , we get more PO'd .:mad:

I've actually had very good performance from all my Cold Steel , Kershaw and Spyderco at modest cost . And in the 80's , maybe early 90's even SOG and Gerber were still good . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Joshua1973 said:
I am starting to see a pattern here. That pattern being most of the worst or overrated knives owned were not like a cheap wall mart knife or what I had but pretty expensive semi custom and custom knives that range in value from $300 to $1000. I would have expected more replies to say Cold Steel, SOG, Kershaw, or a cheaper knife.
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Well, then here's one for you. In the 60s when I was a kid, then in the 70s when I was at work in construction, I carried all carbon knives. That was just about all that was available at that time. CASE and Boker were the kings of affordable folders here, and I carried them religiously. I was always oiling the blades to keep off rust; when I used oil at work, when I checked the oil in my old heap of a truck, when I used the chain saw (bar oil), and when I sharpened. Carbon in a sweaty blue collar guy's pocket required maintenance. So imagine the anticipation when CASE announced they were going to make some of their folders in stainless steel. I had dreams of near daily maintenance going away.

I had to order the knife from a local sporting goods company that was a CASE dealer. The knife, a stockman, was about 50% more than the carbon model I always carried, but I reasoned it out that I was buying a quality tool, so it would be worth it. It took about a month to get here (included with their regular order) and I couldn't have been more excited. Instead of a smooth, mirror like polish you had on the carbon blades they had uniform, very fine grind lines on the blades that gave it a cool looking satin finish. I sharpened it up and dropped it on my pocket, and off to work it went. I was in awe; I was carrying "Tru Sharp, Surgical Stainless" in my pocket!

It was beyond awful. An absolutely beautiful piece of genuine crap. The steel was so soft it wouldn't make a day of work, unlike its Copperhead and Stockman in carbon that could go a week or more. The blades were almost as if they were made of lead. I bought a couple more over the next few years, but went back to all carbon. None of those knives (purchased mid to late 70s) would hold an edge and rusted well in my pockets. I was so broke in those days and felt like I got screwed so hard (no returns) that it took another 25 years before I bought another new CASE knife.

Robert
 
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To me, the Emerson wave feature did not work. Some folks love it and it really seems to work for them. I bought a Kershaw Emerson and carried it for a while but it just didn’t inspire me to go out and buy an actual Emerson.
 
I was extremely underwhelmed by my first olamic cutlery folder. Sent it back the same day I got it.
 
miso2 said:
Can you elaborate on what parts of the knife disappointed you?
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The finish was great, grinds were perfect, action was really gritty though. It was the first non-balisong knife I broke the $500 threshfold on (never spent more than $250 on a regular folder) and when I pulled it out of the box and flipped it open the smile just fell off my face and I thought "this is a $500 knife?".

Don't think anything was wrong with the knife except the gritty pivot but it was the only time I can think I didn't feel like the knife was worth what I paid.

Sent it back and got something I enjoy much more.
 
Emerson Super CQC-8. Ridiculous lock stick, gritty pivot, poor finish and a pivot screw that had to be loctited, as it would back out over the course of a week or two of regular carry. $200+ folder. I had a Kershaw/Emerson CQC-4KXL that was a better knife in pretty much every regard.
 
Emerson CQC-8. Bought one last year, blade rubbed the liner and had very gritty action. Sold it as used.

Bought two more in hopes of getting a good one. Both had very gritty actions, would squeak and moan when pivoting. Sold one of those as used, kept the one that had an almost centered blade but had a double etching on the blade.

Sent the "good one" of all 3 into Emerson because they publicly said they accepted warranty work on double etched blades (ghost stamp). The one I got back seemed good except for the squeaky gritty, hard to operate action. I must have cycled that knife a thousand times hoping for it to get better. It never did so I sold it as well. All of them also had terrible lock stick.
 
Joshua1973 said:
I know you know a ton more about knives than myself. But, I have to disagree with your view on Polypropylene. I also found it to be too heavy, awkward, and tiring for field use and limited self defense knife due to the unbalanced heavy weight and over bent blade. I own a 14 Inch Imacasa that has Poly handles and not once have I ever had hand shock, fatigue from long use, or balance issues. And I would feel more confident in it's ability to be a good self defense blade due to balance and speed in hand. I gave the CS Royal Kukri away to a friend. I made an impulse buy that I ended up not liking.
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I actually overwhelmingly prefer polypropylene handles. Sounds like overall it was more of a poor stylistic match for your preferences and mode of intended use, though.
 
CRK sebenza.The blade steel is way too soft.I do love the design but the blade dulling after a few cuts is a big turn off for me.
 
Jhansenak47 said:
Sebenza 21. The design and execution are spot on with the exception of the hardness of the S35VN blade, which I think is too soft. I am much happier with disposable Benchmade beaters even if they don't lock up like a bank vault.
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Large Sebenza 21 for me too. Mine developed horrible lock stick (two hands to unlock) after four days of ownership. Sent it back to CRK and they took two months to fix it.

Carried it for a few more weeks and was unimpressed by the soft S35VN. The edge would roll if I looked at it much less actually use it. The open construction with the cutting edge so close to the top of the handle when closed exposed the soft steel to anything else going in and out of my pocket.

Sold it on for a $100 loss after only carrying the knife for a couple of very annoying weeks. CRK had my knife in their possession longer than I did.
 
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