Which Knife Brands have you seen fall out of favour?

Seneca18 said:
I wish that were the case here, my local Cabelas, Bass Pro, Dicks heck even Menards and Lowes are over flowing with them. I think my Walmart might have less of a selection than they used to.
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Precisely. They may very well be the most widely stocked knife brand on the planet.
 
I'm torn on CRKT. I like my minimalist neck knives. I really like the S.P.E.W., and while they are gimmicky in their looks, the Fossils have proven useful on the job for me and held up to hard use (and are quite comfortable in my hand as well). They seem to be one of the very few companies that are more strict with quality control on their products coming out of PRC. I also do like my little M16 drop point knife. I bought those folding CRKT's mainly to have some folders to legally carry as EDC knives when I am in places that are now banning assisted opening knives like Baltimore when I am sent into these areas to work. Other than that, most of their stuff like the Obake is just a letter opener for me. It looks neat, and that's about it which can be said about a lot of the rest of their lineup now. That being said... I'm not buying anything else Chinese made.

After completing what I wanted of my Buck collection (124 Frontiersman) this week, I'm actually done with Buck knives (I was really happy to get this knife, but man the grind angles on the blade will have to be corrected to look symmetrical). What bothers me most is their number of newer offerings like the US made Spitfire is not offsetting the amount of Chinese junk they now sell and if they want to make one of their mainstream, flagship knives (Selkirk) in China... it was nice knowing you. I also did a little research into the ratings on their website after all the dislikes that the Selkirk was made in China disappearing and putting the overall rating for this knife up around 4.3 - I looked into 'power reviews' which is handling their ratings and low and behold there is an article on powerreviews.com for vendors stating that the sweet spot for reviews to get customers to buy their goods is 4.2 - 4.5. (https://www.powerreviews.com/blog/how-to-handle-negative-reviews-the-complete-guide/) Funny how they managed to get their rating on that Chinese knife to pop up into that magic range by what seems to be removing many negative reviews (mine having been one of them) and now only showing 2 negative ratings for their Chinese manufacturing. I'm done with US companies that are riding on their name and heritage but at the same time crapping on that very same tradition that made them a 'must have' (especially for those who love MADE IN USA). They also seem to be stuck in the past on many aspects. Can you imagine how well BUCK could do if it simply caught up with the times and started offering knives like the 119 in actual full tang instead of rat tail and offering more micarta or G10 handle scales? They would do well to start employing at least 154CM or higher in many of these classic knives (and not as a custom order). Heck, they could still make the 119's the way they always have at the price point they sell for and they won't lose revenue on it. I've called and made suggestions to the same and it falls on deaf ears, despite their polite staff. When their name can no longer carry them, it's going to be a painful lesson for some American jobs there which I don't want to see happen.

I'm pretty much done with Kershaw for the same reason as Buck. It's a shame. I love my collection of Ken Onion Kershaw knives and own duplicates in many of them, and I have absolutely beat the hell out of my Blur at work and that knife has proven itself over and over again. But again - if they love China so much - I'm done with them. I'll stop ranting now. Hopefully the tariffs will have some impact on improved quality by bringing more of this back home. Time will tell. In the meantime - My US made collection of all the other brands will grow as I sell many of the Chinese knives that have underwhelmed me.
 
vanadium said:
It's possible that knives fall into a few categories, two of those being:
  • Knives made by companies dedicated to consistent quality and customer service
  • Knives made (or branded) by companies with lifestyle stories
I don't have any data to back up a claim that certain brands are "falling out of favor", but my prediction is that knives strictly in the latter category will be forgotten sooner. The demand will evaporate once their "lifestyle stories" either become irrelevant or are uncovered by the winds of time as shallow ploys. From my perspective, those would include Emerson, Hinderer, Strider, Triple Aught Design, Prometheus Design Werx, Giant Mouse, and many other currently pricey brands.
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I don't think TAD or PDW present themselves as anything but an adventure lifestyle brand. I don't think they design their own knives (maybe the Badger and Invictus for PDW, but they also sell PDW branded knives from other makers) and they generally work with well known knife makers, some well liked and some not so well liked. Just saying they ARE branding companies, and are not presenting themselves as knife makers.

Murdamook said:
Strider has fallen out of favor with this forum specifically. It’s not a general issue.
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Agreed. I know lots of people hate MS, but I have 4 Striders, and they all are well made. I don't care what goofy story he tells.
 
I have to agree with much of what vanadium and mountain man were saying...

Then it got me thinking of the recent one I heard about, and I'm almost excited about it
buck 347 in 20cv, with brown micarta handles...
that just almost doesn't seem like it could be possible to be a buck with those mats, was it some kind of april fools joke?
 
Mountain Man 75 said:
I'm torn on CRKT. I like my minimalist neck knives. I really like the S.P.E.W., and while they are gimmicky in their looks, the Fossils have proven useful on the job for me and held up to hard use (and are quite comfortable in my hand as well). They seem to be one of the very few companies that are more strict with quality control on their products coming out of PRC. I also do like my little M16 drop point knife. I bought those folding CRKT's mainly to have some folders to legally carry as EDC knives when I am in places that are now banning assisted opening knives like Baltimore when I am sent into these areas to work. Other than that, most of their stuff like the Obake is just a letter opener for me. It looks neat, and that's about it which can be said about a lot of the rest of their lineup now. That being said... I'm not buying anything else Chinese made.

After completing what I wanted of my Buck collection (124 Frontiersman) this week, I'm actually done with Buck knives (I was really happy to get this knife, but man the grind angles on the blade will have to be corrected to look symmetrical). What bothers me most is their number of newer offerings like the US made Spitfire is not offsetting the amount of Chinese junk they now sell and if they want to make one of their mainstream, flagship knives (Selkirk) in China... it was nice knowing you. I also did a little research into the ratings on their website after all the dislikes that the Selkirk was made in China disappearing and putting the overall rating for this knife up around 4.3 - I looked into 'power reviews' which is handling their ratings and low and behold there is an article on powerreviews.com for vendors stating that the sweet spot for reviews to get customers to buy their goods is 4.2 - 4.5. (https://www.powerreviews.com/blog/how-to-handle-negative-reviews-the-complete-guide/) Funny how they managed to get their rating on that Chinese knife to pop up into that magic range by what seems to be removing many negative reviews (mine having been one of them) and now only showing 2 negative ratings for their Chinese manufacturing. I'm done with US companies that are riding on their name and heritage but at the same time crapping on that very same tradition that made them a 'must have' (especially for those who love MADE IN USA). They also seem to be stuck in the past on many aspects. Can you imagine how well BUCK could do if it simply caught up with the times and started offering knives like the 119 in actual full tang instead of rat tail and offering more micarta or G10 handle scales? They would do well to start employing at least 154CM or higher in many of these classic knives (and not as a custom order). Heck, they could still make the 119's the way they always have at the price point they sell for and they won't lose revenue on it. I've called and made suggestions to the same and it falls on deaf ears, despite their polite staff. When their name can no longer carry them, it's going to be a painful lesson for some American jobs there which I don't want to see happen.

I'm pretty much done with Kershaw for the same reason as Buck. It's a shame. I love my collection of Ken Onion Kershaw knives and own duplicates in many of them, and I have absolutely beat the hell out of my Blur at work and that knife has proven itself over and over again. But again - if they love China so much - I'm done with them. I'll stop ranting now. Hopefully the tariffs will have some impact on improved quality by bringing more of this back home. Time will tell. In the meantime - My US made collection of all the other brands will grow as I sell many of the Chinese knives that have underwhelmed me.
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The one thing I could always count on from Buck was finding a cheap carry folder after having to fly commercial inside the us without checked bags. (Thanks, bin laden)Not great folders, but in the $16-25 range with the made in USA logo. If I’m not wrong, Buck has sent a lot of production overseas in the past but usually brought most of it back. Maybe it’s time we folded in the towel and just made one Chinese businessmen even richer by buying Reate knives. “Wow, it’s titanium, and it’s all CNC, and it’s only $500!.?It’s not political, “it’s the economy, st#$id!” Most of the Bucks I buy now are from the 60’s to early seventies, would love to find a 124 from that era. I did buy almost every one of their s30v open season knives, though, and was happy with those. Kershaw introduces people to the world of knives with their cheap 8cr13 knives, then hopefully hook them on better American made models, like the dividend or link , especially with m390 steel. But their 3cr16 $15 knives are neither useful, safe, or addictive.
 
AKnife said:
Kershaw for me. Once they started the "budget" China line I lost interest in almost all the new stuff they have to offer. Some of the designs are good, but I prefer USA made and better steels.

I think Hinderer knives took the biggest hit in recent years. Their supply caught up w/ demand and now lots of people lost interest. I feel like a bunch of people were banking on them staying at a high secondary price and got burned. I was able to get one direct ($395) when they were still at ~$850 on the forums.
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I get the same feeling from Kershaw. Not only the 'outdated' budget steel (since other budget companies use D2 and Sandvik steel now) but also the there are a few incidents of bad fit & finish (Fraxxion models are frequently problematic, both from personal experience and from others' comments)
 
Weird thread to begin with, as any brand one does not like would make the list, but we don't have access to internal sales data from any of these companies to back it up.

Microtech has been named for example, for a few reasons that I would not agree with, but factually they are busier than ever, and with autos becoming legal in more states they have even streamlined their process to meet demand. They are busier than ever. Not trying to single out MT, but again I think the thread prompts answers based on feelings vs. facts.
 
I have to say that Gerber, Schrade, Camillus and Chicago Cutlery top my list of companies that used to have a decent reputation but which no longer interest me. I wouldn't want one of their current production knives even as a gift. I had one of the old Gerber multitools with the pliers jaws that would fly out with the flick of a wrist. Nicely made and very handy. When I lost that one on my way back from Iraq, my wife bought me the newer model with spring loaded pliers jaws and rubber handle inserts. The rubber inserts peeled off in short order and the whole contraption felt (and looked) cheap. Whenever I used it, I worried that it would fall apart with little effort. I relegated the thing to the desk drawer until I gave it away. I have an old Schrade Old Timer heritage barlow from 1983. It has good fit and a nice hard snap when opening and closing but the "everlastingly sharp" blade was any but. In light use I even managed to slightly bend the main blade. It is mostly used now for general utility work such as gardening etc. The recent stuff from Schrade that I have seen in the stores doesn't impress me at all. My old Camillus made "K-Bar" was a decent but not particularly well made fixed blade knife which served me faithfully for over twenty years. It too suffered from a slightly bent blade during use. I ended up retiring it, giving it to my father-law before deploying to Iraq with a new K-bar made by K-bar. The difference in quality of the K-bar blade over the Camillus blade was very evident. The K-bar was much more refined in every respect but it was also quite a bit more expensive. The recent stuff that I have seen from Camillus doesn't appeal to me at all. The Chicago Cutlery kitchen knife set which I bought for the wife when we were first married was a decent no frills set. It served us well for a number of years and definitely looked the worse for wear by the time that I cleaned it up and had the blades professionally re-sharpened before passing them on to our oldest daughter. I would never consider buying a set of new "made in China" Chicago Cutlery kitchen sets. We opted to purchase a small set of Wusthof "made in Solingen" kitchen blades on sale for close to the price of what they were asking for the new versions of Chinese Chicago cutlery. After five years of daily use, we couldn't be happier.
 
Being made in China does not exclude a knife that attracts me in terms of buying. But I to pay attention to the manufacturer and general specs.

The "cheap" kitchen knives are what they are and I use them more than any other in the kitchen. I find it hard to push myself toward the $100 > $150 level with kitchen knives.
 
I, unfortunately have had enough bad experiences with chinese sourced tools to include knives, that I shy away from tools that are marked as "Made in China". In general, I have not been satisfied with the quality control nor the durability of such tools. The designs of these products are often similar if not direct copies of what I might buy so that isn't the issue for me but rather their comparative lack of quality and durability. I won't turn this into a session for bashing. I am sure that China is capable of producing high quality items as they have proven with products such as the i-phone etc but my experience with their hand tools and knives is not good. With regards to tools, I regularly choose products sourced elsewhere at a slightly greater cost in order to avoid unexpected failures and dissatisfaction later on. The old saying that "you get what you pay for" is more often than not true in the case of tools.
As far as kitchen knives, it is interesting that they are ones used most in many families but often they represent the least expensive knives we have. At least that is the way it has been in our family. Over the past few years I have been slowly replacing my wife's kitchen knives with higher quality (often European and Japanese) items that I have purchased on sale. They hold an edge far longer and are certainly more ergonomic and made of more durable materials than the items they replaced. I also have stayed in the 100-150 dollar range by taking advantage of sales.
 
BellaBlades said:
The big two for me would be Crkt and Strider knives everything else seems to have a decent reputation still regarding production companies.
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CRKT is (in my mind) a good knife for what they are. They aren't Benchmade or Spyderco but they have their niche. But I don't know what they used to be though.

scotchleaf said:
Kershaw used to be great, but then they re-branded some of their better knives as "ZT" and added $100 to the price. Also, they had a great subforum here, but the head honcho got his panties in a wad over complaints and shut it down.
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I actually had a Kershaw that somehow the tip got bent about 45 degrees from straight. I have no idea how that is even possible on a knife. I think it may have gone through the dryer (I've machine washed and dried more than a few knives by accident). It's kind of like a drill bit bending more than a few degrees. It shouldn't happen - it should snap. I had the knife repaired and still have it. Nice little knife.

I also sent back a Blur that the tip snapped off of. Instead of replacing the blade (which I was willing to pay for) they re-ground it. I'm not thrilled with the results. I'd post a picture of it to Twitter and @Kershaw if I could find the damn thing (and after I double check that I didn't screw something up on the repair sheet, honestly).
 
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For me it has been Kershaw in general and its Zero Tolerance line specifically. I used to love the Ken Onion designs but I haven't seen anything from Onion in years that I would buy. I understand he now designs for CRKT, a brand whose popularity I don't understand. The Zero Tolerance Hinderer designs were a big deal a few years back but that trend has apparently faded for others as well as for myself. And if you want to expand the "fall out of favor" question to bring up features, the frame lock and the flipper are two that I cringe when I see on an otherwise well made knife--that knocks out a lot of otherwise nice knives for me.

I had not bought a new knife in a few years until recently. I didn't see anything interesting and I saw a lot that was boring. After being gone for a while, I'm happy to find Benchmade and Spyderco both continue to build excellent knives despite reports of them having had rough patches in the past. I finally got around to buying a Microtech and it's pretty impressive. I've been a fan of Allen Elishewitz's Stryker series of knives at Benchmade for several years and I'm equalling impressed with his work at Hogue and Hogue's build quality in general. And I'm sure it will not endear me to anyone on these forums but a couple of the frequently derided Asian brands appear to me to make surprisingly good knives these days. There should be knives for people who simply need a cutting instrument and aren't into the minutiae of cutlery's finer points. These Chinese brands fill those needs very well and I'm glad they're around since no Made in the USA brand is able to build decent knives in that price range (or, at least, none are selling them in that price range).
 
Camillus, Outdoor Edge, Cold Steel, Kershaw but they are on the upswing again, Bradley, Al Mar...
 
foxdoublegunner said:
... As far as kitchen knives, it is interesting that they are ones used most in many families but often they represent the least expensive knives we have. At least that is the way it has been in our family.
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Here I am a knife knut and I use cheap kitchen knives mostly and many of my more expensive knives see little use. Oh well....

Have to admit that I look at them when I visit the big knife store in East TN. Just can't bring myself to buy the higher end stuff. Probably has something to do with my wife using knives to pry cans open....
 
22 -rimfire: it has been a slow process of education for wife on the quality differences of various knives and why one knife is actually worth $100 or more compared to a $20 knife. As she became more interested in cooking classes I brought her to several kitchen stores where she had the opportunity to handle knives from various manufactures and price points. From one store I was able to get her a nice traditional japanese knife with a hamon line which happened to be on sale. From another store a while later we spotted a good quality German made bread knife. So it went until she nows has a decent set of knives which she knows how to take care of.
 
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