Would you be OK with paying $300 for a folder that looks like this?

Looking at the photos, I would be appalled if I paid $300 for that. My worst F&F knife cost $50 and looks better than that. I'm not sure what's going on in the shop of Mr. Brous, but the quality of some of those products are pretty bad. My Bionic came with a sharp everything, and my Silent Soldier had the sharpest jimping I have ever seen that was also pretty badly off center.
 
As other posters have mentioned, many folks aren't too satisfied with this brand as too, from I've heard, the bulk of the work is done in a machine shop who aren't really knife guys, but do mostly work on other type products where as high of a standard isn't expected, ir may not even be seen if the manufactured parts fit into something else. Dunno.

But all that is hearsay and forum rumblings as I have no actual proof myself. And no, I wouldn't accept that either. The ine Brous I had went down the road.
 
flash900 said:
BUYER BEWARE -- Jason Brous says he doesn't give refunds.
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Interesting. Good thing the OP didn't buy directly, but purchased from a dealer.

To the comments about using knives and not worrying about imperfections: It's one thing when a knife gets beat up looking when the owner does something to it but another thing entirely when it rolls off the factory floor looking like that. I've never heard anyone talk about their new cars that way. I've never heard a customer contemplating a new car say, "I'm not bothered by that big dent in the hood: I drive my cars hard!"

A mass produced knife made from similar materials can be had for probably $150 from a whole bunch of makers. Why does one pay $300 for a knife as opposed to $150? Isn't quality of fitting one of the things you are paying extra for?
 
elkins45 said:
Interesting. Good thing the OP didn't buy directly, but purchased from a dealer.

To the comments about using knives and not worrying about imperfections: It's one thing when a knife gets beat up looking when the owner does something to it but another thing entirely when it rolls off the factory floor looking like that. I've never heard anyone talk about their new cars that way. I've never heard a customer contemplating a new car say, "I'm not bothered by that big dent in the hood: I drive my cars hard!"

A mass produced knife made from similar materials can be had for probably $150 from a whole bunch of makers. Why does one pay $300 for a knife as opposed to $150? Isn't quality of fitting one of the things you are paying extra for?
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You nailed it. Most expect quality (i.e. materials, workmanship, fit & finish, etc.) that's commensurate with the price they are paying (regardless of the item being purchased). I use my knives and believe that some dings, scratches, etc. add character but I don't expect them to come that way from the manufacturer. After reading this / other threads regarding the questionable quality of Brous knives, I'm glad that I bought a ZT801 instead of the T4 Flipper that I was considering...much less expensive, excellent fit / finish / function / CS / warranty, and arrived in flawless condition...now I need to add some character.
 
Letting that slip through QC to an end user is embarrassing. I can almost understand sending that to one of the well known reviewers for performance testing or something, but no way should that have gone to somebody who payed their hard earned $300(yikes!) for it.

-Sean
 
The ole cowboys were always looking for a safe place to store a twenty-dollar bill. That gap would fit it in nicely.
Return that sucker. Buy quality next time. Write it off as a learning experience. IMO.
 
Another good old fashioned BladeForums dog pile. A few bad knives, and numerous posters saying that they havent had issues that are totally ignored. I have owned five brous blades folders and the fit and finish and function has been the equal of knives costing twice as much. Do a few bad knives get sent out that shouldn't? Sure. And it sucks if you get one of those. Doesn't matter if you spent $100 or $1000. You will still feel cheated. But to say that all are junk and the brand is to be avoided is shortsighted and uninformed.
 
SurpriseGoat said:
Another good old fashioned BladeForums dog pile. A few bad knives, and numerous posters saying that they havent had issues that are totally ignored. I have owned five brous blades folders and the fit and finish and function has been the equal of knives costing twice as much. Do a few bad knives get sent out that shouldn't? Sure. And it sucks if you get one of those. Doesn't matter if you spent $100 or $1000. You will still feel cheated. But to say that all are junk and the brand is to be avoided is shortsighted and uninformed.
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The issue is that a whole lot of people have issues with Brous knives, from poor QC, to terrible CS, to tons of sharp edges aside from the one made to cut. That isn't ignoring the people without problems, that is suggesting that those people may be less picky, or there are a whole lot of lemons.
 
I had a division flipper which i had no problem with except a gritty flipping action due to poorly finished surfaces that the bearings ride on. (Poor QC) However I have a buddy who recieved a division and 2 bionics at one time. All three were total junk. I felt bad for laughing when I looked them over, because he was so upset. Kershaw's china knives blew these things out of the water for fit and finish. They were roughly assembled and finished, and were DULL. Like 3 season old lawn mower blade dull. I told him to return them but he decided to keep them, to show to other people. I know he has dissuaded several other people from purchasing brous blades just by letting them handle them. I doubt that guys business will stand the test of time, escpecially with all the other compainies who put out such wonderful products for a fraction of the price.
 
Exiledviking said:
I was thinking the same thing at one point. I had to clean black (G10?) debris out of couple of the screw heads. FWIW the action and function seemed to be perfect.

Here's what the dealer told me today:
"We received your return in today for the Brous knife. In comparing these to the other models in stock for that knife it looks like the knicks in the titanium liners is common on all of them. They are hand made by custom knives for the most part so they are all going to have these minor imperfections. I would just hate for you to get another knife you are unsatisfied with so just wanted to be clear about the condition of these knives. We can send you the best looking model we have in stock but can't really guarantee perfect fit and finish when we don't make the knives ourselves. Just let us know what you would prefer to do, we can replace it, exchange for a different model or give you a full refund for the knife."

Again, the dealer has been great in dealing with this. I asked to get a full refund. Anyone have a recommendation for a quality 3.75-4" flipper with great fit & finish?
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What dealer was this?! That knife IS NOT in any way shape or form a hand made custom. At best it has a hand ground blade. Everything else was pretty much 3rd party water jet and CNC AFAIK.

I have a knife from Tobin Smith that was made completely by him (no outsourcing at all) and with the use of manual machines (no cnc) that cost just as much as this Brous and the Fit & Finish is far above and beyond what was showed.
 
Just FYI i just recently had an issue with brous. I left an e mail Jason e mailed me right away. We contacted by phone the next week and he solved the issue immediately. He does take a lot of pride in his work. They just switched locations and maybe some quality control slipped through the cracks. But contact him and he will fix it. He is the ONLY knife maker who has ever contacted me back personally. I have the same knife and I assure you it does not have the same issue. As far as the bionic goes I have 2 as well...like the knife a lot. Jason is making improvements to the next gen. And nope I don't work for him...I am a fat insurance sales guy ha ah.
 
SurpriseGoat said:
Another good old fashioned BladeForums dog pile. A few bad knives, and numerous posters saying that they havent had issues that are totally ignored. I have owned five brous blades folders and the fit and finish and function has been the equal of knives costing twice as much. Do a few bad knives get sent out that shouldn't? Sure. And it sucks if you get one of those. Doesn't matter if you spent $100 or $1000. You will still feel cheated. But to say that all are junk and the brand is to be avoided is shortsighted and uninformed.
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Keep in mind that the dealer (paid dealer here) said this: "In comparing these to the other models in stock for that knife it looks like the knicks in the titanium liners is common on all of them. They are hand made by custom knives for the most part so they are all going to have these minor imperfections. I would just hate for you to get another knife you are unsatisfied with so just wanted to be clear about the condition of these knives. We can send you the best looking model we have in stock but can't really guarantee perfect fit and finish when we don't make the knives ourselves."
That says a lot to me (reading between the lines) about the other Brous Blades they looked at after seeing the one I returned. They were obviously not comfortable sending me another Brous Blades knife.
 
Scurvy092 said:
What dealer was this?! That knife IS NOT in any way shape or form a hand made custom. At best it has a hand ground blade. Everything else was pretty much 3rd party water jet and CNC AFAIK.

I have a knife from Tobin Smith that was made completely by him (no outsourcing at all) and with the use of manual machines (no cnc) that cost just as much as this Brous and the Fit & Finish is far above and beyond what was showed.
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BladeHQ. Again, they have been great to me. See post above in regards to reading between the lines about what I believe they found.
FWIW, I am looking at possibly buying a Brous T4 BUT I will only do so if I get the opportunity to inspect it before buying.
 
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o4tg said:
It looks a little rough, but if you guys can find something better for $10 in a truck stop, please tell me what truck stop it is so I can purchase their entire inventory. Do some of you even bother thinking before you post? Geesh.
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I Don't do truck stops very often, but every Sanrenmu I bought for less than $10 delivered exhibits far better fit and finish.

I'd be ashamed to put my name on that and stick a $300 price tag on it.
 
I have 2 Brous T 4 flippers, One was from the first batch of 500 and the next from his second batch. After reading this thread I took a real hard look at them, both have beautifully finished satin blades and the fit and finish show no signs of any tooling marks whatsoever. I wonder if he is out sourcing different models to different shops. And for those who enjoy flipping a knife repeatedly the action is amazing. I agree with the OP about QC and I would get a refund or give the T4 a try.
 
To each his own on the Brous. I wouldn't pay $100 for that knife. I just don't like most of his designs. The gap between the liner and the handle would bother me tremendously on any knife and especially in that price range. I wouldn't be happy if it was a $10 Frost either if you get my drift.
 
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