What's the difference? budget knives, high end production, midtech, custom

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clearkevin

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For those of you into higher end stuff especially midtechs and customs what is the appeal? What do you get from these knives that you don't get with say a paramilitary 2 or even Rat 1 or other nice production blades?
Recently made a video about this but want to hear other perspectives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yyeN2mEUs4
Pretend your explaining to someone why you want a $500 knife when their $50 works just fine. You could sub in any number of price points here maybe $100 and $1000 would be better.
 
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Maybe you can summarize the content of your video for us, because you are posing an incredibly broad, ill-posed question.

I mean "What's the difference between budget knives, high end production, midtech, custom?" A lot.

That may be the most appropriate answer to a question like that.
 
A few differences off the top of my head...quality of materials, tolerances, price (obviously), availability, method of manufacture/production, country of origin
 
I generally think of the difference between custom and mid tech being the amount of work that is done by hand and in house. Today, I consider a lot of the stuff called mid tech to be "small volume production" because they are totally done outside the makers shop and any hand work/fitting/finishing is done by the vendor. To me, those are just more expensive versions of the "speciality" cutlery that we saw pop up from say the late 70's until the early 90's with companies like Al Mar, Spyderco, Benchmade, SOG, Blackjack/Bark River, etc. The line between high end production and mid tech today seems to be as much an issue of price/prestige/name as improved fit and finish, better materials, etc. Think about how we classify a knife from a high end American, Italian or Chinese manufacturer Like Halpern, Millitt, Larkin, Reate, Lion Steel, etc. that is done as an "OEM" product for a famous knifemaker compared to an almost identical knife with the Chinese or American manufacturers named it.
 
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marcinek said:
Maybe you can summarize the content of your video for us, because you are posing an incredibly broad, ill-posed question.

I mean "What's the difference between budget knives, high end production, midtech, custom?" A lot.

That may be the most appropriate answer to a question like that.
Click to expand...
I'll edit the question thanks
 
Quality and type of materials, high vs. low end steels, machine vs. hand work, fit an finish, attention to detail, price point, warrantee, availability, mass production line vs. customer input with design, contact to maker. I think design also. There are a lot of interesting things that can be done from a crafting design standpoint that can't be done on a production line.
 
jdm61 said:
I generally think of the difference between custom and mid tech being the amount of work that is done by hand and in house. Today, I consider a lot of the stuff called mid tech to be "small volume production" because they are totally done outside the makers shop and any hand work/fitting/finishing is done by the vendor. To me, those are just more expensive versions of the "speciality" cutlery that we saw pop up from say the late 70's until the early 90's with companies like Al Mar, Spyderco, Benchmade, SOG, Blackjack/Bark River, etc. The line between high end production and mid tech today seems to be as much an issue of price/prestige/name as improved fit and finish, better materials, etc. Think about how we classify a knife from a high end American, Italian or Chinese manufacturer that is done as an "OEM" product for a famous knifemaker compared to an almost identical knife with the Chinese or American manufacturers named it.
Click to expand...
Good points I don't really make a distinction between high end production, limited production, and midtechs. Full customs sure that's a different thing
 
clearkevin said:
Pretend your explaining to someone why you want a $500 knife when their $50 works just fine.
Click to expand...

I guess I would say something like "Because I really like and appreciate it and its worth that kinda money to me, but if you like and appreciate your $50 knife and it works for you, then great! Enjoy!"
 
A few people have mentioned materials but consider ZT they often have materials and steel comparable to customs and certainly midtechs especially the ones that are just a really plain version of a custom.
 
And last time that I checked they use some of the same outside vendors that do a lot of the "mid tech" products.
clearkevin said:
A few people have mentioned materials but consider ZT they often have materials and steel comparable to customs and certainly midtechs especially the ones that are just a really plain version of a custom.
Click to expand...
 
Biggest difference is money. Once you hit 150 the differences are very subtle up to 300, but a 300 dollar knife is not going to be a 150 dollar knife but it's only gone be a little better tolerance wise material wise. Between 300 and 500 not much difference at all. Between 500 and 5000 no difference just paying for the collection quality and the maker.


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clearkevin said:
For those of you into higher end stuff especially midtechs and customs what is the appeal? What do you get from these knives that you don't get with say a paramilitary 2 or even Rat 1 or other nice production blades?
Recently made a video about this but want to hear other perspectives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yyeN2mEUs4
Pretend your explaining to someone why you want a $500 knife when their $50 works just fine. You could sub in any number of price points here maybe $100 and $1000 would be better.
Click to expand...

Seems like you enjoy starting threads that will tickle some feathers and then stop contributing once you've got a few clicks on your YouTube channel. Sorry just my impression of your recent started threads.
 
Seneca18 said:
Seems like you enjoy starting threads that will tickle some feathers and then stop contributing once you've got a few clicks on your YouTube channel. Sorry just my impression of your recent started threads.
Click to expand...

There are always a few of these guys surfing around. They're not interested in being a part of this community, they just want to funnel clicks (and thus income) to their channel.
 
Generically? The main difference between a $500 knife and a $50 knife is $450. Beyond that you need to get much more specific to really discuss pros and cons. High end, midtech and even custom are fairly vague terms that have been argued endlessly on this forum and many others.
 
I don't buy expensive high end knives, so I'd have to be explaining why that 50$ folder is it.
If you really know what you need for edc and don't worry about fancy features or handle materials, anything from 20-100$ can be as good as you'd ever need.
If all you need is a lightweight knife with no blade play and a solid lock ( walk and talk for the traditional guys who don't require a lock ) that easily takes and holds a decent edge , there are countless options in that price range.
 
Quality of handwork and precision of machining operations.
An experienced knifemaker can make a knife that clicks all of the boxes. You may use the knife for yrs and NEVER have a moment's problem with it. For example...my Brad Southard AVO. Similar pride in ownership will be found in CRK owners.
IMO, I have found no folder to equal the precision, fit and finish and smoothness of a Chris Reeves Regular Sebenza...
 
Thanks guys some good points, I think as has been said it comes down to what your into or can appreciate. Maybe I could add one further thought which is I think you can appreciate something even if you don't want to buy it or own it. I love some really high end cars I would never want one or start saving to buy one but they sure are cool.
 
Seneca18 said:
Seems like you enjoy starting threads that will tickle some feathers and then stop contributing once you've got a few clicks on your YouTube channel. Sorry just my impression of your recent started threads.
Click to expand...

I enjoy starting threads about subjects that I'm interested in I imagine you do to. I could care less about tickling feathers but I know I've been asked about cost of knives before and if I have maybe other knife guys have as well. In terms of videos if you check how many video's I have compared to how many I've posted on here you'll see that I don't post much here unless I think the video would be good for conversation. Anyway thanks for your comment as it really contributed.
 
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