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Your Mora experience...
- Thread starter Resqlife
- Start date
Mora usage; Metro vs Rural - a Step By Step Guide
Metro:
1) Buy a Mora for $15.
2) Complain about the fit n finish.
3) Pimp it out with a custom kydex sheath and some "cool" camo details. Attach a Light My Fire firesteel and light some cotton balls with it.
4) Make a youtube vid of yourself carving curls. And lighting cotton balls.
5) Store in safe.
6) Stuff your face with $15 worth of McDonalds in front of the tv, gently stroking your pimped out Mora in your free hand.
Rural:
1) Buy a Mora for $15.
2) Feel content about the excellent bang for buck steel quality.
3) Pimp it out with some fish/game guts, concrete dust and scratches.
4) Use it as a prybar. Use it as screwdriver. Use it to stir paint with. Use it for whatever. And also, occasionaly use it as a knife.
5) Throw it in your toolbox with all the other scruffed up Moras.
6) Buy a new one. Rinse and repeat.
Metro:
1) Buy a Mora for $15.
2) Complain about the fit n finish.
3) Pimp it out with a custom kydex sheath and some "cool" camo details. Attach a Light My Fire firesteel and light some cotton balls with it.
4) Make a youtube vid of yourself carving curls. And lighting cotton balls.
5) Store in safe.
6) Stuff your face with $15 worth of McDonalds in front of the tv, gently stroking your pimped out Mora in your free hand.
Rural:
1) Buy a Mora for $15.
2) Feel content about the excellent bang for buck steel quality.
3) Pimp it out with some fish/game guts, concrete dust and scratches.
4) Use it as a prybar. Use it as screwdriver. Use it to stir paint with. Use it for whatever. And also, occasionaly use it as a knife.
5) Throw it in your toolbox with all the other scruffed up Moras.
6) Buy a new one. Rinse and repeat.
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
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No it's to save on production costs. They may have become extremely popular as bushcraft knives but they were designed with general utility in mind. They're work knives in Sweden. Most carpenters and construction workers and commercial fisherman could care less about how well the spine strikes a firesteel. Half of them probably don't even know what one is. 
Would I pay an extra buck for better F&F? On Mora - do not think so. Why should I care about F&F on 15 dollar knife. It does not matter if it is a working knife or a safe quinn (for 15 dollars - hahaha). It is a cheap knife, so there is no point. The only thing it is good for - to do some cutting. Which is good enough for me.
If Chinese manufacturers of these cheap Walmart knives cared less about looks and more about function... Like putting some decent carbon steel on their blades instead of their disgusting stainless! That would be interesting!
If Chinese manufacturers of these cheap Walmart knives cared less about looks and more about function... Like putting some decent carbon steel on their blades instead of their disgusting stainless! That would be interesting!
Either way, he paid for a knife to get a finished product. When a person searches the store online for a Mora that fits them, they aren't sitting there hoping that that knife comes rough so that they can perfect there blade honing/machining skills. What is funny to me though, is that the OP is a dear friend of mine, and we ordered the same knives a couple of days apart from different stores. Mine came literally flawless.
To tell someone to get real, is ridiculous and rude. Whereas this was a cheap knife to tryout for him, doesn't mean that is the case for others. This may be their first knife, or what they could afford, or something that was highly recommended as a quality finished knife as mine was.
As mentioned, he's not upset over it. He was asking about others experience. Not for piss poor opinions on how they should feel, or what they should do.
On a side note, again, my Mora experience was awesome, the spine is very slightly rough, but I like it. No nicks as the OP had on his. I saw them. They were pretty bad, but now looks to be a beauty.
Ankerson
Knife and Computer Geek
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Well Mora could always make them right and jack the price to $70 bucks or so.
But then they wouldn't really be cheap would they........
You get what you PAY FOR.....
I "fixed it" for you. That is what the Mora is all about. Cheap, sharp, handy. I think you should, IMO, re-evaluate your impression. Now had I gotten a Randall or something like that with the issues you saw...well sure. But this is a $15 knife. If you are used to really high-end knives Moras will not make a strong first impression. It is after a longer experience that one finds the beauty in the simplicity. If you don't, you don't.
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The comment was directed at everyone who thinks a $15 knife should look like a $400 sebenza. And yes they need to get real. A $15, mass produced, knife is not going to be flawless and lemons should be expected. If it's really all a person can afford and they're incapable of fixing the issue then send it back for a replacement or refund like you would for any other product.
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On one hand, expectations run a bit high for some, on the other hand, that's because most of these knives are literally one step from garbage. When they get dull, throw it away and grab another one. They are sold by the box/bag. Don't expect too much, and also don't be too proud of them. It's like talking about a Bic lighter or pen with some weird level of pride.
edit: $15 generally buys finished spines as well. It buys finished spines on multi-blade folding knives that also have liners, scales, backsprings, pivot pins all hand-assembled. It buys finished spines on kitchen cutlery. Victorinox is a good example for both.
edit: $15 generally buys finished spines as well. It buys finished spines on multi-blade folding knives that also have liners, scales, backsprings, pivot pins all hand-assembled. It buys finished spines on kitchen cutlery. Victorinox is a good example for both.
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my stainless mora companion MG has a finished spine.
$400 expectations on a $15 knife. No. As was said, there are tons of knife makers that don't have such an iconsistent quality. SAK's as mentioned, come beautiful out of the box. No matter what company, there should be a consistency in the their "quality". I don't buy a knife just to throw it away. It doesn't matter if it is $15 or $400, it is something I plan on keeping, and using. Just saying that I don't expect, nor should any of us expect to open your new knife only to find that it has to be sharpened. Who gives a crap about the spine, but the cutting edge shouldn't have knicks out of it. And if one's expectations are that low for for something they spent their hard eaned money on, then that must say a lot for the rest of their dealings. I'm a straight forward person. When I do something, it is done to the best of my abilities, because if not, it says something about who I am.
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Hmmmm
Oh sorry I was feeling hungry, but you meant the knives
They are awesome. Especially for the money.
My first Mora was a Frosts 780 Triflex. When I got it I noticed the spine was very rough and thought what the... Then started thinking again and realized I paid only 11$ for it. Rest of the knife was perfect and shaving sharp off course. Took some time to file it down, but ordered many more Mora's since then. I think I use them more often than my more expensive fixed blades.
Some Mora's have unfinished/rough spines (I've only seen it with some of the carbon ones) others have a more or less smooth spine. I don't care anymore, I just file them down when I feel the need.
Hope they're gonna make one day a Bushcraft Triflex alike with a 3mm (or even 3.5mm) thick blade and the tang extended at the back.
Oh sorry I was feeling hungry, but you meant the knives
They are awesome. Especially for the money.
My first Mora was a Frosts 780 Triflex. When I got it I noticed the spine was very rough and thought what the... Then started thinking again and realized I paid only 11$ for it. Rest of the knife was perfect and shaving sharp off course. Took some time to file it down, but ordered many more Mora's since then. I think I use them more often than my more expensive fixed blades.
Some Mora's have unfinished/rough spines (I've only seen it with some of the carbon ones) others have a more or less smooth spine. I don't care anymore, I just file them down when I feel the need.
Hope they're gonna make one day a Bushcraft Triflex alike with a 3mm (or even 3.5mm) thick blade and the tang extended at the back.
shunsui
Gold Member
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So you go through 10 Moras and now you're up to $150 ? What a deal. 
What would be nice is if the airlines handed them out as boarding passes and collected them when you got off the plane. Any "terrorists" get frisky on the flight, stab them in the back. End of problem.
What would be nice is if the airlines handed them out as boarding passes and collected them when you got off the plane. Any "terrorists" get frisky on the flight, stab them in the back. End of problem.
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Honestly, if they did all the bells and whistles to make it nice and purty, they'd either have to increase the price due to labour cost or make it with cheaper materials (creating a less reliable, albeit nicer looking, knife). What makes the Mora superior to other knives in the same price range is exactly that: function over form.
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What cheaper materials? Inexpensive ingot cast stainless strip steel with few alloying elements that is fine blankable and is only ground once on each side instead of in two operations; with an injection molded plastic handle and sheath (or a plain wood handle that costs 50% less than $15 on Ragnar's page)? You can't get a whole lot cheaper and still have something functional.
Moras work well, but the idea that they are a diamond in the rough is exaggerated. And dressing the spine would add very little labor expense. These are not $50 knives missing a single finishing step. These are $15 knives missing a finishing step. They are imported in relatively small numbers from somewhere other than China and we have to deal with exchange rates and sales volumes that the Wal-mart kitchen cutlery overwhelms.
Moras work well, but the idea that they are a diamond in the rough is exaggerated. And dressing the spine would add very little labor expense. These are not $50 knives missing a single finishing step. These are $15 knives missing a finishing step. They are imported in relatively small numbers from somewhere other than China and we have to deal with exchange rates and sales volumes that the Wal-mart kitchen cutlery overwhelms.
I'll put in my two cents for my first post on bladeforums.com. I love my Mora knives. I've read every post in this tread and I can see I'm not alone. I wish I had crazy money to spend on knives, but I don't. Mora knives give me the "Jonesing for a new knife" fix I need at a good price. These knives are fun.
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[video=youtube;0zt2K9lb8Hg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zt2K9lb8Hg&feature=channel_video_title[/video]
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It's crazy what these knives can accomplish and just how efficient they are. There's no way around it, they are tride and true users. If you aren't using them in the kitchen daily, opening your mail with them, beating them up at work and at play, then all they will be is a piece of molded plastic and a little sliver of metalurgic magic in the bottom of your junk drawer. Perceived issues or not, if you use this knife you will fast recognize just how much use you are going to get out of it. Even if you did have to touch up the edge and polish the spine, consider all of the modifying people do with 3-400 dollar knives upon arrival. I know I wind up re-profiling 50% of the knives I purchase, including most of the more expensive ones. How many guys on here wave their titanium linerlocks? I think if you're going to be an enthusiast about something and have your own developed tastes, it will take some modification and maintenance in any hobby. To sit down for 15 minutes with some wet and dry and a hardstone to turn a 10 dollar knife into an invaluable tool just seems like a drop in the bucket to me, I really don't see what all the argument is about.