What's in a name.

J

JDBraddy

Joined
Sep 20, 2002
Messages
217
Materialism is an insideous disease, it sneeks up on you when you least expect it. I realize custom knives are like fine art, and prices they command are not nessisarily consistant with the function they perform, but.... I love the Ken Onion speed safe, but am not impressed with the quality of the Kershaw collaberation pieces. So I've been watching for a custom Onion to come up. One set up the way I wanted did come up on eBay this week and I watched it with interest as it hovered between $300-$350, determined that I would swoop in at the last minute with a winning bid, even if it cost me $450. There was nothing particularly special about the knife, other than it's maker, it had G-10 scales, ATS-34 blade, no decorative engravings or filework. I'm sure the fit and finish where exceptional, but doubt it was any more so than a Smith, Carson, or similar fine maker. I'm sure any of a dozen or more makers would make you a similar knife for less than half the price. Yet, I was amazed in the final minutes as the sale price soared endlessly upward, well beyond what I thought was a "Ridiculously high" limit of $450 to almost $700. This caused me to think about why was I willing to spend so much, on a relatively plain pocket knife, and obviously others willing to spend even more? It had to be the prestege that goes with the name. If I had seen such a knife in a store or at a knife show with no identifiable markings indicating the maker on it, I would never have considered paying such an exorbitant fee. It's given me a lot of food for thought, and caused me to stop and rethink where I'm going with my collecting. Just thought I'd share the thought.
 
As humourist Dave Barry said, "Hobby is just another term for mental illness."

Ultimately you have a point that you need not have super expensive knives, or a gazillion of them, to be a knife nut.
 
do you own a $700 dollar knife or does the $700 knife own you? Something I find curious is every time a Sebenza thread comes up there will always be one guy who owns one but wont ever use it to do any real work. What's the point of a framelock and s30v if all you cut with it thread and the mail. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking CRK, I'm just trying to understand the mindset. It's like spending over 50 grand on a Cadillac TRUCK that will never ever see a dirt road. I honestly don't get it. YMMV

Frank
 
$700 dollars for a souped-up kershaw, what a jip. I think that those bidders in that aution had some icthy clicker fingers. The guy that bid $650 was probably thinking "Nobody's crazy enough to bid $700". Was this some kinda competion to see who could blow the most cash? If you don't have enough speedsafe knives get a SOG Flash or a speedster, you can get them both for $75. An automatic Al Mar would be worth the dough too.
 
Yeah, but there is also nothing wrong with owning expensive knives, or having a gazillion knives either.

The reason that Ken's knives get the prices that they do has a lot to do with availability and popularity of the maker and his knives. His knives don't come up on the market that often and when they do there are a lot of people that want them. That drives the price up. It is the same with Emerson custom knives. Personally, I don't see the attraction (with Emerson, not Onion), but they garner huge prices because of their popularity.

Ken's knives are excellent, so are Ernie's, but you can definitely get as good or possibly even better knives for lower prices, and in some cases much lower. If all you want is a user and you couldn't care less about the resale value of the knife you buy, then you might want to look at other top makers who's knives don't command such high prices. There are a lot of them out there.
 
I won the Onion in question on ebay today and thought what a great deal I got. My plan is to re-photograph the knife when it comes and sell it for $200 more than what I paid for it. I guess it's all in how ya look at it.:)


Phillip
 
Originally posted by SilverFoxKnows
do you own a $700 dollar knife or does the $700 knife own you? Something I find curious is every time a Sebenza thread comes up there will always be one guy who owns one but wont ever use it to do any real work. What's the point of a framelock and s30v if all you cut with it thread and the mail. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking CRK, I'm just trying to understand the mindset. It's like spending over 50 grand on a Cadillac TRUCK that will never ever see a dirt road. I honestly don't get it. YMMV

Frank
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I hear ya. But consumer behavior is a funny thing. It defies logic since most of our knife purchases are driven by a compulsion of WANTS, rather than NEEDS. I mean, I could probably get along fine with a $20 knife in 420J steel rather than the latest and greatest steel blade and fancy lock. But do I really want to?

And I further admit that there are certain knives I own -- mere production knives, not customs -- which I like to keep impeccable and don't want a scratch on them.

Honestly, I can't justify NEEDING half the knives I own (and they're not that many compared to others here)...but still, I want them. I'm neurotic that way.

And I'm not the only one who exhibits strange behavior at these forums. C'mon, what about some of these guys who rotate a half dozen folders during the week, or carry five at a time? That's being more pretentious, than utilitarian, but still all the power to them.

We're a strange, contradictory, illogical bunch!...not that there's anything wrong with that! ;)
 
Originally posted by HotSwat
$700 dollars for a souped-up kershaw, what a jip. I think that those bidders in that aution had some icthy clicker fingers. The guy that bid $650 was probably thinking "Nobody's crazy enough to bid $700". Was this some kinda competion to see who could blow the most cash?
Click to expand...

Actually, some of Ken's knives go for much higher prices than $700.00 and some for much more than that. They are also much more than souped up Kershaws. They are in a different league all together. As much as I like Ken's knives I would never pay the price that they are commanding right now, but I certainly know that they are worth far more than any Kershaw.

Frank, you are correct. As much as I hate to admit it, I do tend to baby the knives that I have spent large amounts of money on. My Fowler has done a lot more than cut thread or open mail, but it has definitely not been used to it's full potential. If I owned a Moran, Lake, Walker, Scagel, etc., I would not use them at all. That being said, I would still like to own knives from all these makers. I guess it is all in how you look at knives. Are they just tools, or are they something more? To me, they are without a doubt something more.
 
The last time I took at my knife collection was over six months ago. The same thought came across my head. I had everything from the most expensive of my knives, which was an Busse American Kensei, to the cheapest out of the collection, which was a I & I sports Bushmaster. This doesn't include all the junk knives that have come my way which I wouldn't even use to cut fruit because they are so dull. True, my collection is modest compared to some of the insane acquisitions members have here. Most of my knives have not seen many cutting chores. I get more use out my Spydercos for EDC than anything else. The fact that some of the knives I have aren't even made anymore makes them all the more valuable. Do I want more? You bet! However, cost benefit ratio aside, I have limited my collecting because I just don't have room for them with all the other "stuff" I own. The newest one I am eyeing now is a TOPS Tom Brown Tracker although the bug has made me eye some others online, too. *ACK* Collecting, like any hobby, is like a virus. Once you get it, you never really get rid of it. :D

Originally posted by JDBraddy
Materialism is an insideous disease, it sneeks up on you when you least expect it. I realize custom knives are like fine art, and prices they command are not nessisarily consistant with the function they perform, but.... I love the Ken Onion speed safe, but am not impressed with the quality of the Kershaw collaberation pieces. So I've been watching for a custom Onion to come up. One set up the way I wanted did come up on eBay this week and I watched it with interest as it hovered between $300-$350, determined that I would swoop in at the last minute with a winning bid, even if it cost me $450. There was nothing particularly special about the knife, other than it's maker, it had G-10 scales, ATS-34 blade, no decorative engravings or filework. I'm sure the fit and finish where exceptional, but doubt it was any more so than a Smith, Carson, or similar fine maker. I'm sure any of a dozen or more makers would make you a similar knife for less than half the price. Yet, I was amazed in the final minutes as the sale price soared endlessly upward, well beyond what I thought was a "Ridiculously high" limit of $450 to almost $700. This caused me to think about why was I willing to spend so much, on a relatively plain pocket knife, and obviously others willing to spend even more? It had to be the prestege that goes with the name. If I had seen such a knife in a store or at a knife show with no identifiable markings indicating the maker on it, I would never have considered paying such an exorbitant fee. It's given me a lot of food for thought, and caused me to stop and rethink where I'm going with my collecting. Just thought I'd share the thought.
Click to expand...
 
to the effects of desire. But I try very hard not to let my THINGS get the better of me. I wouldn't mind getting a Griptilian or an Ayoob, but there's nothing wrong with my CRKT so I keep looking. I guess I'm waiting for The One. The blade that looks traditional, acts tactical and is lefty friendly. Maybe one of these days I'll save up and get a custom. Not as a status symbol, I couldn't care less if it's a "name", but as a tool that really fits. I appreciate a fine machine as much as the next guy, I just try to keep things in perspective.

Frank
 
I'm not saying that an Onion is worth as much as they're currently commanding, but...I just got my first Onion, a MidTech Boa and paid more than the one that just went off on E-Bay and I can categorically state that there is absolutely no comparison between the Kershaw Onions and one that was hand assembled (yes the MidTech isn't even a pure custom) by Ken himself. I have a Kershaw Boa and its a great knife, but since I got the MidTech I've been spending a lot of time handling both of them. The closest comparison I can come up with is the sound of opening them. The sound of the Kershaw opening is a good satisfying thunk...but the sound of the Onion is the click of fine percision machinery. It would compare to the sound of a Chevy door thudding close to the sound of a Ferrari door clicking into place. There's just no comparison in the engineering and the time spent in making sure everything works and fits as perfectly as possible. Is it worth it? In the long run I really don't know, but do I regret spending 10 times more for the Onion than I spent on the Kershaw...no way, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
 
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