"You could buy a gun for that much money!"

MaxFactor said:
A great example is from when I used to play tournament paintball. After playing with some brand new guys, they asked me how much my setup cost. I told them. My marker, tank and hopper cost around $1200. Their response was... "You could buy a real gun with that much money."
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For some reason I started laughing after reading this because it made me think of those same guys strapping on some bullet proof vests and running around shooting their real guns at each other. :D
 
stabman said:
The funny thing is I'll spend more money on a knife than a gun. :D
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Likewise. I mean it's really not that difficult once you get into customs.

Although, it was kind of bizarre setting my friends 1911 next to my (now sold) Crusader Forge FIFP and realizing we both spent about the same amount. Granted, I think the Crusader Forge was the much more attractive object (although, there are some insanely beautiful custom 1911s out there).
 
MaxFactor said:
Likewise. I mean it's really not that difficult once you get into customs.

Although, it was kind of bizarre setting my friends 1911 next to my (now sold) Crusader Forge FIFP and realizing we both spent about the same amount. Granted, I think the Crusader Forge was the much more attractive object (although, there are some insanely beautiful custom 1911s out there).
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And it damages the contents less when you use a knife to open a package as opposed to shooting it open. ;)
 
stabman said:
And it damages the contents less when you use a knife to open a package as opposed to shooting it open. ;)
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Hmmm... Well, what if you line up your shot well enough so the bullet travels parallel to the tape, right down the seam of the box flaps....
 
I have had that said to me more times than I can count and have yet to come up with a clever/witty response. I usually ask them what they have spent on their favorite firearm and I try to turn the tables and say..."I can buy a nice blade for that', but usually I get a strange look back. What kind of response do you give someone who says that?
 
Haha I had this conversation the other week.

my buddy owns lots of firearms, and asked why I spend so much on knives. I told him I actually use my knives.

Few days ago he texts me asking for knife advice and has a budget of 100ish and I bumped it up to 250 since he wants craftsmanship and decent steels.

now he wont leave me alone...
 
This debate goes through my mind quite often actually. When i see a custom knife i think, huh, i could get a pretty good firearm for that price. However, something you HAVE to take into account for firearms is ammo. Without ammo, your $1500 AR is a really nice, precision made bludgeon. I have a hard time shooting my guns(especially with ammo prices nowadays) because youre literally blasting away your money. I dont have the time, expertise, or equipment to reload my own ammo, so thats not much of an option. Simply put, i feel like im getting more joy for my money if i have a knife that i can fondle and use on a daily basis, as opposed to a firearm i take to the range once every few months. If i had the budget too, id gladly hammer away at the range while having my newest custom pocketed... O well... Time to go play the lottery :)
 
the "you could buy a gun for that much money!" statement is why I don't have more knives. I've had people ask how much I paid for my sebenza and I will respond with I could have bought a gun instead. I usually get some pretty funny looks after that. I find that I like knives, but like guns a small amount more.
 
K.O.D. said:
I disagree that a pistol has a single purpose/use. It can be used as a backup while hunting, used for personal protection, target shooting/competition, etc. Both knives and guns are multi-purpose tools.
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Yeah,but you can't whip out your 1911 in the office to open a package or mail or at a restaurant to cut your steak or on the street when your girl finds a thread hanging off her clothes that she wants cut off,etc,etc.
Or,if you can,let me know where you live,I want to move there!
I put knives pretty much in the same class as watches and pens,they are more publicly acceptable. They may draw they occasional stare or comment,but never the screams and stampeding that drawing a gun does.
 
Also, the world of firearms is much more expensive than the world of knives. Quality optics ALONE will cost you as much as the higher end customs. The knife with the tightest tolerances costs a FRACTION of what the 1911 with the tightest tolerances costs. Theyre simply too far out of my price range.
 
Homer Simpson found more than one way to use his pistol. Opening beers, turning off lights and the tv, and using it kill flys.
 
When people say that a knife costs as much as a gun and don't understand why, I don't think they are comparing apples to apples. Say you have $600 dollars to spend on a new product. That $600 would buy what most people would consider a high end production or even pretty nice custom/semi-custom knife. Take that same $600 dollars and go to buy a new firearm, odds are you are looking at the lower end of the product line of the major manufacturers. You're not going to come close to buying a new custom made firearm for $600 as you could with a knife. That money might cover the deposit...
 
Comparing a custom knife to a mass-produced gun isn't really fair. In the same vein I typically buy 10-12 year old cars for what folks spend on a custom knife. That too is a lousy comparison. You start looking at truly custom rifles and shotguns and $10K is a starter piece. Considerably more work, more materials, more expertise, more equipment req'd, and lots of intricate parts.
 
I personally don't mind spending more on a knife then a gun because I can use it everyday. I live in NY so unfortunately I can't get a CCW permit and only get to shoot when I can get to the range a few times a month. I also agree with the poster above who said you likely couldn't purchase a custom firearm for the price of a custom knife.
 
MaxFactor said:
After some thought, I've realized that there are two aspects to the question I originally posed.

On one hand you have the comparison of value and price between firearms and knives. This one is entirely subjective since the value of something is not determined by any inherent property of it, nor by the amount of labor required to produce it, but instead value is determined by the importance an acting individual places on something for the achievement of their desired ends (Wikipedia). I think Scurvy and A Justice hit the nail on the head as far as comparing knife/gun values.

On the other you have the perceived vs intended use of firearms and knives, which is what I was really thinking about when I made this post. In that case it has more to do with people perceiving the knives I carry as intended primarily for self defense.

I won't say that I don't carry knives for self defense purposes. But it's more of an afterthought. The reality is, that if I found myself needing to use one of my knives for self defense it probably wouldn't turn out well. Not that I don't have confidence in myself, it's more the fact that criminals these days tend to carry a weapon anyway so it's either me with a knife vs a badguy with a knife (in which case, both of us are going to get cut) or me with a knife vs a badguy with a gun (and you know how the old saying goes). I guess what I'm trying to say is that, to the folks who tell me I could buy a gun with the money I spent on a knife, it's really apples and oranges.

A great example is from when I used to play tournament paintball. After playing with some brand new guys, they asked me how much my setup cost. I told them. My marker, tank and hopper cost around $1200. Their response was... "You could buy a real gun with that much money."

Well, it's clearly another case of apples and oranges in that case, their perception of why I played paintball was completely inaccurate. Much like how some people's perception of why I carry a knife is inaccurate.
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These days you're lucky to find an electronic marker that's suitable for tournaments for under $1200. Not including tanks and hoppers etc. I could buy multiple firearms for the cost of my tournament paintball gear. But real guns can't be fired at someone else all day long. Perceived value indeed. Great post
 
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