Will you buy a knife brand you are not really into if it's cheap?

You might as well turn it around. Would you not buy a knife brand you are really into because it’s expensive? I could easily be “into” Sebenzas or Shiros, but I don’t go there, purely because of the price. I am definitely innto Ferraris. The only thing that keeps me from buying one is, erm, price.

There are a lot of cheap knives I buy because they are good, cheap knives. With those knives, the cheapness is sometimes part of their charm, but they are good knives in their own right. There are so many good twelve-dollar Moras that the idea of a hundred-dollar Garberg can be a little hard to swallow.

Once, I was charmed by the idea of buying a Frost trapper from a display card in a country hardware store. It wasn’t much of a knife, but it satisfied my curiosity, and didn’t hurt too bad at ten bucks. I would never have bought the knife on line even at half the price. It was more about the experience than the thing itself.

OTOH, a knife I am not into at $190 might become very appealing at $110, or $80. I have done that a couple of times lately. It is impossible to consider whether I am into a knife independent of price.
 
I bought many cheap Kershaws and CRKTs in the $20-50 range when I 1st started collecting; most that I would NOT buy today. I also bought 5 Artisan Cutlery knives along the way when I 1st learned about them because they were cheap but also because I thought they were unique and well made.

However, after amassing a collection of over 300 knives in just a year, my standards have changed significantly and I would not longer buy into another brand just because it's cheap.

Apart from the price, it needs to be "unique" in some way from the other knives that I already have in my collection. This is the reason I haven't bought any Real Steel blades, which are relatively cheap and well made but do not offer anything unique to my collection.

Most of the knives that I buy now are in the $150-250 range but there are exceptions on both the low and high end.

My red line is $400 but I made an exception to buy a Nirvana; just got tired of waiting to find one at "my price." The only other knife I'd make the exception for is a Hom Basilisk balisong but those seem to be rarer than Baslisk teeth; haven't seen one for sale at any price yet.
 
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Before I buy some cheap stuff, I would have to at least know that there is decent steel and good construction to be good users. A better word would be inexpensive, cheap has too many negatives to it, more like junk. Opinel is inexpensive but I would not call them junk. Just my two cents.
 
afishhunter said:
Well ... I won't knowingly buy a Frost or Gerber, regardless of the price.
Other than that ...?
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I agree for yhe most part to leave gerbers on the shelves ar walmart next to the ozark trail & bear grils knives where they belong. That being said, gerber strongarm on sale for $50 is a well thought out versatile blade for great value. It's well documented testing on youtube "the gauntlet." My cousin in the Army prefers that over many other options as well.
 
Depends on the brand/knife.
If I see a CRK Sebenza for 150 bucks, then I'd probably pick it up. But if it is that 400 dollar abomination from CRKT for half the price, then probably no.
 
Yes. I buy knives more because of what they are, and less because of who made them.

Obviously, I would check around to make sure I'm not buying a counterfeit. And, some manufacturers have a better overall reputation than others. But, I'm a self-identified Columbia River fanboy, so that should tell you everything you need to know.
 
Rykjeklut said:
Depends on the brand/knife.
If I see a CRK Sebenza for 150 bucks, then I'd probably pick it up. But if it is that 400 dollar abomination from CRKT for half the price, then probably no.
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What if the $400 crkt was $30 or $50??
 
cbrstar said:
What if the $400 crkt was $30 or $50??
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If we had some ham we could make a ham sandwich if we has some bread.

I would rather fold up that $50 and keep it tucked away for when a knife I do want is available. That way I'm not going to miss something I'd use and carry vs. something that was just discounted that I wasn't any kind of fan of.

And if I know anything it's that if one knife I've been waiting on comes up and I order it it's that within weeks or days another one that I've been waiting on longer will suddenly release.
 
Impulse buys are a lot of fun. I have seldom been let down when I buy this way. You sort of get a feel for what you like in a knife and when an inexpensive knife fits your general preference specs, I might buy it. But the truth is I don't need any more knives at any price range. The only knife that I want to buy right now is a spare Vic Small Tinker to have if I per chance loose or misplace the one I carry every day. Cost is about $20. Most of my $200+ knives are customs/handmade or fixed blades.
 
I have. Sometimes I’m not into a brand because of the price. In those cases, if I find one at what I (admittedly arbitrarily) decide is a reasonable price, I will buy it.

However, if I’m not into a brand because of quality issues, unsavory business practices, etc then it can never be cheap enough to be worth my time.
 
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