What's your limit on price versus performance and design?

RemyKaze

RemyKaze

Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
2,177
For a while there, I was steadily approaching the $200 mark as a normal price to pay for a knife. Then I realized that I was skipping over so many awesome designs in doing so. I also realized that barring particularly interesting aesthetics and steels, I wasn't getting much more for the extra price.

Has anyone here started to raise their price point, only to lower or cap it? Any epiphanies about diminishing returns? I suppose these are more questions for users than collectors. If you have a limit on your price point, what is it?
 
So far I am steadily going up limit wise, but I still buy knives under the limit. I like a wide variety and try to diversify my collection. Limit seems to always be going up and so far the knives that are more expensive that I have purchased I have really enjoyed.
 
I tend to buy knives from reliable makers who have established a reputation for excellence and top notch customer service...and then pick something that appeals to me at the moment. I know if I do my homework, I'm certain to get a great knife no matter what the price point. So I guess what I'm saying is I pick the manufacturer first rather than setting a the price point as my guiding principle.
 
It depends on the size of the blade to me. More steel, more money in my case. I'm not gonna pay big bucks for a folder. I'm just not but I understand those who will. 9" blade custom camp/chopper, 200 bucks is my limit. Nice pre-owned slip joint 50 bucks. Got a couple of tactical folders, that's enough. Spyderco bob lum tanto was a find, so that was nice. Other is a Kershaw and that was 30 bucks and I'm done. I think I've almost scratched my knife itch. Gonna get a handmade kitchen knife for my next purchase. 150-200 limit on that. Then I'm done. Maybe.......OTOH. I'm thinking maybe I'll get into some smaller traditional folders. So, that ought to lower my price point. I hope.

I'M NOT GONNA SPEND 500 BUCKS ON A KNIFE!!! IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!:mad:

Well it might....but only if it's something I just have to have.....:o

I'm so weak.....:rolleyes:
 
It's all about the reasons of why one would buy a knife. Would a person spend $200 on an EDC? Probably not, but for intrinsic value sure. One has to consider what it means to you for why you would spend the money. What is one getting out of it in the end. Have I personally spent $200 or more on a knife? Not yet or even close. I think the most that I spent on a knife was $50 on a Cold Steel san Mai Tanto blade, which was used but in brand new condition that I picked up at a pawn shop. I am sure if I found the right blade I would spend that much but that hasn't happened as of yet. Personally I buy everything 2nd hand. A perfect example is the Benchmade Barrage that I purchased for $10 which was in almost brand new condition, or the Spyderco Endura 4 I got for $35. Point being is that if you have to buy new, yeah you can spend $200. But why would you want to if there are so many other ways to get knives other than new? My 2 cents that is heh.
 
Whatever's in my knife budget is fair game if the right one comes along at the right time.
 
Performance is a tricky thing to measure with knives, even more so with folding knives. From a pure cutting performance perspective I have yet to own a modern folder that stacks up against my Spyderco Stretch. It will slice circles around my Hogue all day long, but I often carry the Hogue instead. Why? Because it opens more smoothly, the handle fills my hand better, the lock is easier and safer to operate and the pocket clip functions significantly better than the one on the Stretch. So which knife really offers me better performance?

As for budget, I will cheerfully buy a $15 knife if it's well made and interests me and I will also buy a $200 knife if it fills those criteria. I'm still not comfortable spending more than $200 on a blade but I refuse to consciously limit what I will spend on a knife. I will have to save and weigh purchases carefully for much longer if I want a $400 knife, but if it's exactly what I want I'll take the time and get it.
 
I won't go above $1500.

Knife designs are the only reason I will spend 600-1200 dollars on a knife. I don't want a knife that costs 800 dollars because it has a super steel or the knife can cut rope a hundred times without sharpening. I want that knife because I can't pay 100 dollars to get a knife that looks that way. It just so happens that when you pay more money you "usually" get better steels, materials and quality control to a higher degree. In most cases.

To the oppisite of what I just said I will not pay for a knife that is junk just because it is something that looks cool to me. Design is my overall justification for paying higher prices.

Example: I paid more for this knife because it has a custom scale and lock bar insert. I don't like the brown scale this knife comes with but I do like the knife.



 
I'll always pay premium for performance and design.
I really don't have a limit though, since I've been surprised by cheap and expensive knives. Usually I'm not buying many knives, so I'm picky. Hard for me to buy a knife without using it (especially kitchen knives).
I used to think 200 or 300 was about the limit for kitchen knives, because they are already very damn sharp. Headchef had a honyaki (more homogenous steel) yanagi by masamoto and it was extremely smooth and sharp. Thing was easily over $1200. Wasn't even the flashy model with custom handle and lacquered saya (sheath).
 
I have carried handmade knives for many years now and right now I have a Todd Begg Bodega that was over $1000 and since its my only knife it gets carried and used everyday.
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I had a limit of ~$1000 at one time. Though I only went that high on a couple occasions, thank goodness! Otherwise I have purchased other customs, J.W. Smith, for $600, so I guess that was my limit at the time.

Since becoming permanently disabled midway through 2012, and now living on Social Security Disability payments, along with payments from another disability plan, my limit has gone down by necessity. I now set myself a ~$200 limit, and a little higher for a special knife once or twice a year.

There are some great knives to be had in this category, knives I may have overlooked otherwise. You can also find great value in the $50-$125 range. I do not want to sound like a snob, but I am usually not going to buy knives under the $50 range, just not enough interest on my part. of course there are the Victorinox ,some Case, and Leatherman knives and tools in that range, so I guess I would buy knives in the $50 and under range.

So, for now, I am going to stick to the $200 price limit as my top mark. But as many of us know; if you are a true knife nut it is almost laughable to try and set a firm limit!:D:thumbup::)
 
I buy/pay solely on level of interest. I find interesting knives at all price points. So far I've been lucky in as much as I've seldom been disappointed with my cost to enjoyment ratio. I would say that to spend in excess of $300.00 a knife would have to be really interesting. One can never say never, but from where I now stand I can't see me interested in anything above that figure.
 
No price limit for me. I judge price to value on a case by case basis.

I always felt that fixed blades were more expensive than folding knives and was ready for that migration upward in price. One of the more signficant price to value jumps for me was when I bought my first Great Eastern Cutlery slip joint. I judged everything relative to the Case brand and everything else was just wants and not needs. Still feel that way a great deal.

Now I look at the more expensive Spyderco's, ZT, Sebenza, and custom folders..... I just noticed that there is not one active thread on Sebenzas in the first two pages of the General Discussion forum right now. Interesting...
 
It's all over the place. For what I'll carry and use, I want the most mechanical precision and best materials and warranty for the money. Spyderco and Kershaw/ZT often have that covered, but I have been carrying my Kizers a lot lately. It's a fine balance between materials, practicality, value, and aesthetics. It has to look good, function well, not be so expensive that I hesitate to use it, and have materials and construction I have absolute confidence in. If Cold Steel used better blade materials, I would likely own a large number of them. A Lawman in M390 or 3V, a Code 4 in Elmax, a Talwar in M4, a Tuff a Lite in 110V - assuming I would pay no more than $225 for any of those, I would probably own and almost exclusively carry a pair of those.

I will often buy things just to handle them - the knife laws here restrict blade lengths to 3.5" on anything concealed (in pocket with a clip counts as such) and autos are verboten. Regardless, I have a Bodega FG, and have bought TiLTs and 7505s in the past, enjoyed handling a 0600, Will Moon Mk7, and many other knives that never saw pockets due to their features.

I just enjoy the mechanical precision of high-end knives, just as I do in general. That's the engineer blood that runs in me.
 
With so many good designs there's a lot of great choices under $150 that it's hard to go wrong, when you can get S30V steel in proven designs well under that price point (and even under $100) there's not much functional reason to spend any more. I will pay more for higher end steels but typically not much more than $200 because usually fit/finish are no better you just get better steel.

That said I do appreciate great design and quality/tolerances and if all of those things come together I might spend up to $500. So I don't mind paying more for a knife if it fits those criteria, however I accept that in terms of functionally it's mostly diminishing returns. A $450 for a Strider/Reeve/Spartan with S30V/S35VN steel doesn't cut better than a $200 production knife with S90/M390/M4/etc. in fact it cuts worse, but I can appreciate the higher fit/finish/tolerances and there is something to be said for a steel that's easy to maintain in the field. For me to keep a knife in that price range it has to be significantly better in the fit/finish/tolerances department than knives costing half as much, many I've sampled simply aren't.

I've also started avoiding the for sale boards unless it's something rare/discontinued. For a long time I thought it was a good way to get a deal, but what I've found in my experience is that many of the knives are sub-par examples that appear to be sold from disappointed owner to unsuspecting buyer. You can see the same knives come up for sale repeatedly right after the new owner gets them. Sure some are buying to try them out knowing they can get most of their money back, and some are up front about the knives deficiencies. When I started shifting to buying most of my knives new from authorized dealers I'd bet my "defects" ratio dropped in half at least compared to the forums. It was more expensive but it was well worth the reduced frustration/disappointment. So in some cases it's better to pay a bit more for new than to save money and get a poor sample.
 
$400 was my limit. Now, about $150. I'm getting rid of a lot my knives as I have too many in the 3.5" and over size. I'm going more towards smaller knives.
 
Interesting question...I have been gathering/collecting for a few years. Still own a few Hinderer, a custom Alan Davis that I specced out, and a number of fixed blades including Busse, CRK, and a few customs. The most I have payed at any one time was $650 for a Gold Class Benchmade that I no longer have. Aside from the Hinderer XM's that are in my display case 99.9% of the time, I've recently sold most of my other folders including my CRK's as well as my ZT's. Why? I've come to realize that the knife I carry just has to have good steel and fit my hand comfortably. I don't generally find myself needing a "hard use" folder (ZT), and while I admire CRK's amazing fit and finish in general (not needed BY ME in a user blade), I have found that for an EDC, I prefer a 3-3.5" blade, and it must be able to be carried lefty, tip up. Currently my brand of choice is Spyderco, and I think their Domino is just about ideal for me. So for a current production folder, unless it is a sprint run with some amazing steel $200-$250 would be my current limit, but there are some knives out there that would fit the bill at lower price points also. At least that's my humble opinion today! :)
 
My general rule is to stay under $110. I have a healthy savings account for emergencies. That is my first priority. If I buy expensive knives, my safety net vaporizes. I have cheated a little and purchased a Military, Paramilitary, Al Mar and maybe 2 or 3 others that I can't think of right now. Why would anyone need nicer knives than a Sage, Military and a Paramilitary. Now that my knife collection has almost reached#100, I am trying to stick to smaller knives that take up less space, or supersales. Wish me luck.
 
There is a long thread on the knifemakers forum titled "Why the low prices on knifemakers "for sale" area". I think this thread, although not very long yet, provides some insight.

It seems that the max price seems to be $200 bucks for users. Exceptions being collector grade, special purchases or investment. For the normal guy who just wants a quality, unique user $200 is a lot of money to pay for a knife. Especially if you consider you can get a perfectly good user off the shelf for 50 bucks or so.

So, for you knifemakers out there, to get out of the $200 rut it looks like, to me, that quality and your name are gonna be the only way to break out. Your reputation being at least as important as the quality. One follows the other. Work hard, sell a lot of knives. Word of mouth and marketing will build your reputation. And when ya'll start getting $500 and up for a hunter I'll have to find another up and comer!

Good Luck!!
 
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