What's the deal with BLEMS? Why buy one?

You guys make it sound like anyone who doesn't buy a BLEM is a big dummy. There has to be more to it or the only knives worth buying would be BLEMS.
 
I have blems from ZT that other name brand companies would put out as perfectly fine.

For me it depends on price, and, as silly as it may seem, how the blem is marked as one.
Some companies grind a little notch to denote a factory second...I don't like that.
The XXXX marking to designate it as a blem, that I like. :)

If XXX is good in some circles, just think how good XXXX is. :D
 
Blems are just fine. Often, it is a "blem" due to a lighter laser marking on the blade. I've had several blems; never could see a difference. Sometimes, a Spyderco blem just has an off-centered blade or an imperfect edge grind. Spyderco and Kershaw (in my experience) are very particular about fit/finish. If it isn't perfect, it's marked as a blem. I'd take a blem anytime...warranty or not.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
You guys make it sound like anyone who doesn't buy a BLEM is a big dummy. There has to be more to it or the only knives worth buying would be BLEMS.
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Why aren't you satisfied with the answers you've been given? It seems like a pretty straightforward topic.
 
brancron said:
Why aren't you satisfied with the answers you've been given? It seems like a pretty straightforward topic.
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Guess he expected more people to have the exact same opinion as him.

Buy what you like...it's as simple as that. :)
 
Having Blems to me is a good thing, it shows high quality control. I own many Kershaw Leek blems, I figured why not. I bought non blems for my collection and blems for my users. When it came to my collection of Random Leeks, the blem was a good $40 cheaper. Totally worth it to me for a user, and the only differences are slight laser marking errors on 3 of them and an off color on the DLC coating on another.
These are my Blem Leeks:
Untitled by Danny Nystrom, on Flickr
 
Any knife I buy will have blems from my use. Might as will start with blems if it'll save $$$. I have very few knives for which I'm the original owner as I rarely ever buy a knife new anyway.
 
Nothing wrong with blems, especially when you might save a lot. I'd buy a blem in a heartbeat if it was a knife I wanted at substantial savings.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
You guys make it sound like anyone who doesn't buy a BLEM is a big dummy.
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That's one way to put it I suppose.

To each his own. If you don't want a blem, more power to ya. If you'd rather save and buy a blem, more power to ya then too.
 
I bought a blur blem for work so I don't bugger up my nicer ones at the filthy job...

I bought a leek blem for a gift for my sister, she don't know the difference and it's still the best knife she ever owned.
 
I would consider a blem if the price was appropriately discounted. I don't know of any company that sells knives with mechanical or functional problems and calls them "blems." It's usually a scuff on the blade, imperfection in the handle, or something similar.

Re: warranties on blems,
I am interested in who.
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AG Russell comes to mind. Our seconds are cosmetically imperfect knives that are fully functional and carry our Customer Satisfaction Guarantee.
 
Ive never shopped for blems myself but not totally against it if the price was right. I just hate how most companies say their blems are purely cosmetic and dont impede the function of the blade at all yet there is no warranty at all because its a blems? Thats kind of crappy...then if it did break people would claim its because you got a blem yet we've all seen pics of non blem knives with broken blades that should not have broke...if those knives were blems would the company still fix it? Im curious as to which companies still warranty blem knives. If anyone could list a few that'd be cool and I may buy one. But yeah...tell me its purely a cosmetic thing and doesnt affect function, yet you wont warrenty it if it is faulty. That kinda sucks.
 
Well fr my Kershaw blem experience, they have been purely cosmetic issues. Considering most Kershaw can be typically found online for around 40-50% less then msrp, and the ln the blems are typically another 30-50% off that price, I can sorta see why they won't warranty it...

A) do the fix or replace the blemished product with brand new unblemished ones? People would buy blems cheap just to break 'em and get new unblemmed products...

B) Do they keep extra blemished products on hand just to warranty the blemished products? Seems counter productive since "non-blems" is the ultimate manufacturing goal... The blems that do occur are the anomaly.

C) for the price you pay for a blem, if one were to break or malfunction under normal use, (and wasn't due to pure abuse), which is rare for a quality brand in general, you can buy another one and still typically be right around the price of an unblemished product, and still well below msrp...

They're there, they're not for everybody... Take 'em or leave 'em for what they're worth...
 
I personally think that companies that have a lot of blems for sale are those companies with stricter QC. I've gotten a number of knives from Northwoods that I would not have guessed were blems had it not been noted that way in the advertisement.

Some companies, not all of course, want only knives that are as perfect as can be to carry their name and be recognized as such, those companies that have no blems are most likely to let a lot more through their manufacturing process that might not be as good as it should be.

I honestly think that's the reason so many people can have such varying degrees of satisfaction with the same knife.
 
I've never purchased a Blem but it's not like I wouldn't. Generally the manufacturer lists the actual blem in a "general" description of them and almost always, they are cosmetic issues.

Munchy said:
Normally blems are just a cosmetic issue and not a functional issue. On some models the price is about half of what a normal production piece costs so that allows people who intend on using the knife to check it out first hand if they couldn't afford the regular asking price. For instance, I bought a ZT0200 blem for about $80 in pretty much perfect condition. The 0200 didn't appeal to me at the $130 range, but I didn't mind spending $80. The companies with more blems may indicate manufacturing problems, or, most likely they have better QC practices so less "blems" get out into the wild
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Well if that were the case, and based upon the latest list of complaints, Cold Steel should have more "#2's" [seconds] than "good knives" :D
 
brancron said:
Why aren't you satisfied with the answers you've been given? It seems like a pretty straightforward topic.
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As another member posted, If they only have cosmetic BLEMs why won't they warranty their mechanical function? I could live with cosmetic imperfections but if the blade's steel was imperfectly tempered I'd pass on it.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
As another member posted, If they only have cosmetic BLEMs why won't they warranty their mechanical function? I could live with cosmetic imperfections but if the blade's steel was imperfectly tempered I'd pass on it.
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The blems cost just as much to produce as the up-to-snuff knives. Part of the reason they're cheap is because they don't come with a warranty.
 
#1 - I won't buy a blem from any company other than a reputatable one because, regardless of the warranty, their name is still on it and you can suit the living daylights out of them if it breaks and you get hurt (through normal use. You can't realistically hold a company liable for your own stupidity).

Other than that, I buy blems as gifts for youngun's because they loose em or break em on a regular basis. When they graduate or begin doing things worth recognizing, I'll buy them the good stuff. Until then, they can drool over my toys :nevreness:.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
As another member posted, If they only have cosmetic BLEMs why won't they warranty their mechanical function? I could live with cosmetic imperfections but if the blade's steel was imperfectly tempered I'd pass on it.
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As another member posted this :
strategy9 said:
Well fr my Kershaw blem experience, they have been purely cosmetic issues. Considering most Kershaw can be typically found online for around 40-50% less then msrp, and the ln the blems are typically another 30-50% off that price, I can sorta see why they won't warranty it...

A) do the fix or replace the blemished product with brand new unblemished ones? People would buy blems cheap just to break 'em and get new unblemmed products...

B) Do they keep extra blemished products on hand just to warranty the blemished products? Seems counter productive since "non-blems" is the ultimate manufacturing goal... The blems that do occur are the anomaly.

C) for the price you pay for a blem, if one were to break or malfunction under normal use, (and wasn't due to pure abuse), which is rare for a quality brand in general, you can buy another one and still typically be right around the price of an unblemished product, and still well below msrp...

They're there, they're not for everybody... Take 'em or leave 'em for what they're worth...
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I know a couple of companies will only sell cosmetically blemished knives. If the heat treat or anything else that would make the knife unsafe is present it gets scrapped end of story. As for why not service them please see A. above^
 
I only have experience with Kershaw blems, and have to say that as users or gifts for non-knife folks, they're perfect. I got my wife one of the rainbow colored Leeks, and despite it being a blem, it's flawless. There are four black X's on the blade and that's it. Razor sharp, deploys perfectly every time, and the coating is mint. I don't know why it's a blem, but I know that she loves it, so I'm happy with it.
 
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