Why So Much Criticism Of Inexpensive Knives Like Rough Rider And Why Is Perfect Blade Centering So Important?

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Blues said:
There are certain perks offered with paid membership...such as the ability to trade knives, and PMs and such.

More importantly, there are costs involved with running the site incurred by the owner. Paid memberships help defray the costs of operation.

The owner has never required registered members to pay for the privilege of visiting and posting on this site, so the question I suppose you should ask yourself is why should he allow you to do that, and what do you actually contribute to the community?
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Frankly none of those perks appeal to me. I like this place but if paid membership was required I would just not come back (or just lurk/read). That’s the owner’s prerogative obviously and if he decided to charge I wouldn’t be upset.
 
mak1277 said:
Frankly none of those perks appeal to me. I like this place but if paid membership was required I would just not come back (or just lurk/read). That’s the owner’s prerogative obviously and if he decided to charge I wouldn’t be upset.
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You asked a question, I provided some answers. Whether it's of use to you or not is your business and anything further on that subject is off-topic for this thread about "inexpensive knives"...so let's just move along.
 
ferider said:
You do have a nag for poking people, don't you ?

I spend 40 bucks at Jack in the Box for a meal for two, and more than $100 to fill up my gas tank (CA here as well). I don't understand why I should bother with a 10-20$ Chinese POC.
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I literally spend enough on fuel to buy at least one sebenza every week, occasionally 2. It's unreal...

I have a deep appreciation for lower cost working knives but, I'm still more likely to carry and use the more expensive ones for the most part so I can get my money out of them. I have expensive and pretty gold and silver coins in my safe if I want something shiny to oggle over,

Been giving the small sebenza a break while I carried a couple of other (far less spendy) knives a run in the pocket for a couple of weeks. Dropping the sebbie in the pocket today though, it's amazing how after a short while one loses track of how nice they really are. Not that there's anything wrong with the others, but I definitely don't have that childlike joy when I open anything else anymore.
 
Gene said:
I can understand that if you spend $150.00-$200.00 or much more for a knife, you would want it to be perfect even considering blade centering. But come on and be honest, if you spend that much on a knife, it’s not going to be used much if at all and just taken out once in awhile and be admired. Like A.G. Russell said a long time ago, “we’re not really knife users but knife accumulator’s” and that’s fine.
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^^^^

I was carrying my "Tuff" yesterday. Great knife. (Thank you, Roland.)
 
I do research my knife purchases, but mostly because it's fun to do so. There are some great knives at friendly budgets. When I have to choose between several knives I make a little sort of "business case" in my head, weighing my personal pros and cons. Inexpensive can count on a lot more forgiveness for minor flaws. A lot of it is quite subjective, though. I will note that there are some knives that are genuinely quite good or quite bad in all price ranges.

I also have some expensive knives. Those are held up to much stricter standards. I paid more, so I expect more. Good knives don't have to be expensive, but expensive knives better be good!

A valid argument for staying away from poorly centered blades might be disassembly and maintenance. I like folding knives that can be disassembled and reassembled for the best possible maintenance. An off-center blade is usually a sign that you'll have a bad time. Machining may have some issues, and the lack of centering may get worse on reassembly.

(On a side note, this is also why I will never buy a QSP knife again. I loved that little blade, until it became time to give it a good cleaning and I found out they used the world's strongest loctite on the screws. Really no reason to do that at all. Now this once cheap knife was actually quite expensive as it no longer ran smooth and there was no easy fix. Sometimes when something appears inexpensive it is actually the opposite).

If I want a certain level of fit-and-finish or certain features, I'm willing to pay for it, within reason. You can be very happy in the "middle tier" when it comes to price. That said, my tastes have become alarmingly more expensive lately, and if I look critically on what I got in return for that, it's not that much. There is certainly a law of diminishing returns here.
 
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Gene said:

Why So Much Criticism Of Inexpensive Knives Like Rough Rider And Why Is Perfect Blade Centering So Important?​

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I think, without getting political, in large part with most knife enthusiasts, it have something to do with the origin of manufacturing.
I actually like Rough Riders and few other, a level above the gas-station trash, brands.
IMO, centering becomes important when you pay more $$ for something that supposed to look good.
For working, everyday knives, its just a matter of optics, not much else.
 
I generally try to buy US made products when I can. But we all know that many if not most of the major knife makers today now out source a portion of their lines to China. It's just the realily of today's market economy. I think some of the products manufactured in China are generally well made, others are not.......often its crap shoot or trial and error process to find out which it is for a specific product. I say do your research and then just buy what you want to buy and don't worry about others opinions which are based on their preferences and/or biases.
 
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They will never be as good with QC/QA as Bear and Sons



:)
 
Gene said:
Whatever you do with your money and your knives is perfectly okay and hand made knives deserve to be expensive as it takes hours to produce one and the ones who can do it are real craftspeople but I still suspect that CNC is still in the background and that’s also fine.
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This is just a side note, but sometimes I wish using a CNC mill was as easy as some people tend to make it sound.

Just press a few buttons, and away you go!

Gene said:
I too wish all knives could be made in America like in the old days where they were made all by hand and there were no CNC machines
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Gene said:
I too wish all knives could be made in America like in the old days where they were made all by hand and there were no CNC machines and they sold at a fair price and most of the time were flawless.
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"Mary gave him a bran-new “Barlow” knife worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations. True, the knife would not cut anything, but it was a “sure-enough” Barlow, and there was inconceivable grandeur in that..." - Mark Twain, The adventures of Tom Sawyer
 
I don’t think I ever bought knives more expensive than $250+, and I’ve been plenty satisfied by the mid-tier Spydercos, old Cold Steel, and a few fixed blades here and there. It’s possible to get near perfect centering with $100 knives, so if anything, you should expect more from more expensive knives.

Then there’s Seiko with their $300+ divers and misaligned chapter rings. 😅
 
DangerZone98 said:
I don’t think I ever bought knives more expensive than $250+, and I’ve been plenty satisfied by the mid-tier Spydercos, old Cold Steel, and a few fixed blades here and there. It’s possible to get near perfect centering with $100 knives, so if anything, you should expect more from more expensive knives.

Then there’s Seiko with their $300+ divers and misaligned chapter rings. 😅
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Them and Luminox's lower tier stuff, or at least with a particular model being problematic for them leaking around the bezel.
I didn't think this thread would go four pages but here it is. Someone made the great point of doing research on a knife or maker before making a purchase. That my friend, is what I enjoy doing! It may sound weird but I like to know about the people behind the knife and even their philosophy. Same thing with a gun or vehicle, I want to make sure these things function and function well. Blade centering is one particular of many I think a lot of us expect from our knives. Which means if there's an unfavorable reputation in regards to their QC, the company doesn't exist in my world.
 
Well, this thread has run its course and moved on to unrelated matters...back to General Knife Discussion.
 
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