Wow, haven't looked at knives for a couple years. Prices seem insanely high now.

Z

zippin44

Joined
Aug 13, 2007
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Sure wish my salary had increased even half as much as knives have. Seems nuts to me. Maybe it's really time to start rollin my own.
 
If you like traditionals, check out the Rough Riders.
Very high quality, fit and finish for a budget price. There 's a thread on them over in the traditionals sub-forum.
 
the world isn't getting cheaper to live in, and if you want quality, there is a cost to get it. I'd like the people who make my knives to be able to make a reasonable living doing it, and if they do good work, they should be rewarded. Its not like magic knife fairies just deliver them each night.
 
Prices have gone ridiculously high, especially when they get imorted here. But then again, I remember that knives didn't feel exactly cheap five or ten years ago either and my salary has rised in the meanwhile.
 
I agree that knife prices have been accelerating like college tuition. I thought I was the only one who noticed. Consider the Spyderco Stretch with brown G10 and ZDP 189. The MSRP? $349.95. Street price is $216.95.

I don't think so.

Maybe I'm living in the 1970's, but that looks like a $90 knife to me.

Benchmade's high prices and MAPP pricing strategery have ended my Benchmade days too. A Griptilian with a plastic handle costs $100.

This is a big part of the reason that I have really gotten into $20 Kershaws. They cut stuff just like the $349.95 Stretch.

Prices keep going up because knife guys keep slobbering all over themselves with each new release, no matter the MSRP. Cold Steel literally doubled their prices, and everyone but me applauded. So there is no downward pressure on pricing. Or at least it seems that way to guys like me who are stuck in the 1970's.
 
Prices rising is also another good reason to support small businesses or custom makers.
 
powernoodle said:
I agree that knife prices have been accelerating like college tuition. I thought I was the only one who noticed. Consider the Spyderco Stretch with brown G10 and ZDP 189. The MSRP? $349.95. Street price is $216.95.

I don't think so.

Maybe I'm living in the 1970's, but that looks like a $90 knife to me.

Benchmade's high prices and MAPP pricing strategery have ended my Benchmade days too. A Griptilian with a plastic handle costs $100.

This is a big part of the reason that I have really gotten into $20 Kershaws. They cut stuff just like the $349.95 Stretch.

Prices keep going up because knife guys keep slobbering all over themselves with each new release, no matter the MSRP. Cold Steel literally doubled their prices, and everyone but me applauded. So there is no downward pressure on pricing. Or at least it seems that way to guys like me who are stuck in the 1970's.
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I don't think so is right. I'm not buying anything knives these days. Lucky for me I bought when I did and I probably have enough hoarded to bequeath to my wife's next husband...well, over my dead body, that is. :D
 
You don't have to have new knives. It's mostly not a need you're feeding, but a want. Knives keep changing, what was hot yesterday is cooled off today. The enthusiasts buy into it, the latest steels, designs and part readily with the cash. So, it's going to continue as long as the demand is there that we create with wanting more and more. Back a few decades ago, you couldn't buy anything much besides the same basic models, from a handful of well established companies. Things have changed and there's many quality companies, competing for our dollars. Nothing is simple anymore and I prefer it this way myself, even if knives do cost more.
 
Imagine having not payed attention to the knife world for 20+ years! I did that... wow, prices are impressive for sure but the overall quality level has risen significantly and there's a ton of cool new stuff available. I got a couple Benchmade knives now and really like them. Yeah, they're pretty expensive for plastic handled production knives but they're well made, look great and I expect them to hide normal wear and tear very well. Took me a minute or two to get over the prices but considering how everything else has gone up knives don't seem out of line.
 
Yeah, when an huge order of breakfast fare 20 years ago was, 2 or 3 dollars out the door and now it's more than doubled for less food, knives don't seem so bad either.
 
Bottled water goes for from $1-$5 a bottle depending on where you're at so figure $2 on average and if you're like a friend of mine all he drinks is bottled water. He drinks easily 4 bottles a day so that's $8 a day, times 365.

That's nearly $3K, think of the knife he could get if he just didn't buy water. :)
 
Thank the FED. Real inflation is > 10%, real wages are 1988 level. Things are gonna' get a lot worse before they get better. Hedge accordingly. :)
 
gadgetgeek said:
the world isn't getting cheaper to live in, and if you want quality, there is a cost to get it. I'd like the people who make my knives to be able to make a reasonable living doing it, and if they do good work, they should be rewarded. Its not like magic knife fairies just deliver them each night.
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Buy used/vintage. Get the most bang for your buck. I paid very few dollars for the ~45-50 year old Ulster/Craftsman in my pocket. Very few bucks. There's a ton of such knives on the market and most can be had very inexpensively.
 
leghog said:
Buy used/vintage. Get the most bang for your buck. I paid very few dollars for the ~45-50 year old Ulster/Craftsman in my pocket. Very few bucks. There's a ton of such knives on the market and most can be had very inexpensively.
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My thoughts exactly, the older knives are well made and reasonably priced usually.
 
I have noticed significant price increases over the last couple of years for knives that I might be interested in (relatively speaking). Prices have risen, even for non-super steel blades. Even Rough Riders have gone up in price if you buy retail. They seem inexpensive, but it is a relative kind of thing.

Powernoodle mentioned the 70's. I didn't buy $90 knives then. I thought Schrades were expensive then. Uncle Henry knives with their "if you loose it, we'll replace it guarantee" were scary expensive to me. I didn't own a Schrade until I ran into a knife "salesman" at a restaurant in Laredo TX and he sold me my first 250T for $20-$25. I always saw $50 price tags at stores. Carried that particular knife in the field for about 20 years for everything I did that required a larger blade. Things were different then. I didn't need 100 knives. I had two or three and that was at least one more than I really needed. Owned no fixed blades. Didn't see a need for one. And yes, I HAD to need it to buy it. Same applied to firearms and ammunition. I thought centerfire handgun ammo scary expensive for a few moments of fun.

I'd look at AG Russell's catalog and wonder who on earth bought knives for those prices regardless of the quality??

Run the clock forward and I still feel knives are expensive.... almost any knife except for the cheapest junk.

I make more money now.... but do I really...??? Honestly, I had more buying power then than I do now. Inflation. I could buy a Jag if I felt like it... now... not even possible. So, yes, I think knives are much more expensive now and are probably not worth the price regardless of whether the retail price is $250 and the street price $125-$140. But I do buy them.
 
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