Your most disappointing knife purchase

I'll also say Emerson. A CQC 7 in spear point. It was used and at the time (7-8 years ago) it was the most expensive knife I had ever bought. Horrible fit and finish. Despite cleaning and lube, the blade deployment wasn't good either. I unloaded it and took a $ loss.
 
CKF. Horrible horrible lockrock. Never bought another CKF...don’t even look at them anymore to be honest.
 
An Emerson Gentleman Jim. The liners were pathetic, flashing everywhere and they were scratched all to hell. I called the dealer and they were fine with me having disassembled it, so back it went. That was the last Emerson I bought, and I sold the rest. It wasn’t my first issue with EKI, but that was too much to overlook.
Yeah, I always thought Emersons were the coolest thing ever until I bought a Super CQC-8. Then the Kershaw/Emersons came out and I realized that KAI could build a better Emerson than Emerson could and do it for $190 less, so that pretty neatly eliminated Emerson from consideration for approximately ever.
 
Adv mini Butcher I bought a few years ago. Brand new, and out out of the box the lock would fail with a bit of pressure from the thumb. Unacceptable for any knife, but much more so for one that cost nearly $500.
 
Adv mini Butcher I bought a few years ago. Brand new, and out out of the box the lock would fail with a bit of pressure from the thumb. Unacceptable for any knife, but much more so for one that cost nearly $500.

I find there is a direct relationship to the level of irritation about an issue with a knife and the price. A little off center on a low end EDC is one thing... that same issue on a knife that set me back several bills will drive me bonkers. My most disappointing knives usually cost the most because I just can't get over it.
 
I bought a Strider knife before I knew the truth about him.

That will always be my most disappointing knife purchase.

Good answer D Danke42

When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought of the (relatively few) knives I have purchased over the years from individuals I would come to find out did not possess the strength of character I would expect from someone I respected.

Those knives were either returned, sold or given away depending upon the time frame in which the discovery was made relative to the order or purchase.

Life is too short to support and carry the work of those whom have proven themselves to have less than desirable character.
 
Good answer D Danke42

When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought of the (relatively few) knives I have purchased over the years from individuals I would come to find out did not possess the strength of character I would expect from someone I respected.

Those knives were either returned, sold or given away depending upon the time frame in which the discovery was made relative to the order or purchase.

Life is too short to support and carry the work of those whom have proven themselves to have less than desirable character.
Had a Buck/Strider tanto that I loved, but it was lost in an unfortunate accident. Then I got more information about Mick Burger and realized the loss may have been a form of serendipity.
 
The Ontario Bagwell Helle's Belle collaboration. It just didn't feel as well done as the stuff Cold Steel, etc.... were putting out at a cheaper price. I wanted to like it, but it just left me cold, a missed opportunity. The Bagwellian "Frontiersman" they made under the Spec Plus line was a heck of a knife at a very modest price though.
 
GiantMouse GMP7 and ACE Grand. Both are beautifully made, the fit and finish is stellar in terms of everything being perfectly chamfered and curved, and they are very attractive knives. The GMP7 has a wonderful action. The ACE Grand had very inconsistent lockup, significant lock stick when the lock did engage fully, and it was very thick behind the edge and a poor cutter. The GMP7 had noticeable missing spots of PVD coating on the blade. Like, not just a pinhole, there was a whole part at the tip of the blade on the spine for about 1/16" of an inch that wasn't coated and multiple pinhole specks where the blade had not been evenly coated. I bought that knife in January, sent it back immediately. GM sent it back to Reate in China, and ran into Chinese New Year, and now sometime this week the knife is finally going to make it back to GiantMouse in the U.S. and then get sent back to me. The regular GM7s look amazing. I will probably let the GMP7 go even though it's hopefully fixed.
 
I agree with the above posts that the biggest disappointment can come from a knife you expect to have a lot of quality.
Oddly, my biggest disappointment was my last purchase of a Hinderer. I found a Skinny 3.5 xm slicer grind with 20cv for sale. I ordered immediately. When I received the knife, I was surprised that the blade couldn t be opened with the thumb studs. The flipper worked great with the bearings. But only with extraordinary effort could I use the stud/stops to open the blade. Completely opposite my 10 year old 3.5 xm and my 6 year old 3.5 xm, both of which flipped weakly but opened easily with the studs.
As a non flipper, I hated the new version. I returned it the the retailer for a small restocking fee. Knives that can only be opened with flippers are not in my future.
 
I agree with the above posts that the biggest disappointment can come from a knife you expect to have a lot of quality.
Oddly, my biggest disappointment was my last purchase of a Hinderer. I found a Skinny 3.5 xm slicer grind with 20cv for sale. I ordered immediately. When I received the knife, I was surprised that the blade couldn t be opened with the thumb studs. The flipper worked great with the bearings. But only with extraordinary effort could I use the stud/stops to open the blade. Completely opposite my 10 year old 3.5 xm and my 6 year old 3.5 xm, both of which flipped weakly but opened easily with the studs.
As a non flipper, I hated the new version. I returned it the the retailer for a small restocking fee. Knives that can only be opened with flippers are not in my future.

I think this must be a function of folder mechanical design. I have a flipper Eklipse that is also basically impossible to open with the thumb studs. I had a Lionsteel TRE whose big thing was the ability to open it three different ways. Opening it by the thumb stud was a challenge, and the flipper didn't function that great, either, so I suspect that there are mechanical tradeoffs and that making it mainly a thumb stud opener would make the flipper action worse and vice versa. I'd be interested in how the thumb stud opening works on the non-flipper Hinderers.
 
I think this must be a function of folder mechanical design. I have a flipper Eklipse that is also basically impossible to open with the thumb studs. I had a Lionsteel TRE whose big thing was the ability to open it three different ways. Opening it by the thumb stud was a challenge, and the flipper didn't function that great, either, so I suspect that there are mechanical tradeoffs and that making it mainly a thumb stud opener would make the flipper action worse and vice versa. I'd be interested in how the thumb stud opening works on the non-flipper Hinderers.

I love my recently purchased XM-24 and I'm no wuss, but the geometry of my hand makes it virtually impossible to open it with the thumb studs. (It has a pretty serious detent.) It rockets out with the flipper, though.

I don't really care about opening with the studs, I'd rather it never open accidentally in my pocket.
 
Good answer D Danke42

When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought of the (relatively few) knives I have purchased over the years from individuals I would come to find out did not possess the strength of character I would expect from someone I respected.

Those knives were either returned, sold or given away depending upon the time frame in which the discovery was made relative to the order or purchase.

Life is too short to support and carry the work of those whom have proven themselves to have less than desirable character.
Mine is just set aside, never carried but there with the others as a reminder to look before I leap especially at a gun show.
 
Mine is just set aside, never carried but there with the others as a reminder to look before I leap especially at a gun show.

Okay, I take back my compliment.


:p
 
Most disappointing, I have more than one-

Gerber Applegate/Fairbairn Combat Folder. One of my first "modern" folders. Bought before I learned Gerber had gone downhill. The lock would disengage with slight pressure on the back of the blade. I paid something like $150.

Lone Wolf T3. The liner lock would move across the tang towards disengagement with slight pressure on the back of the blade. At $300, my biggest disappointment. Too bad about the lock, because aside from that it was a high-quality knife.

Two different genuine Spanish-made Navaja folders. One cost $140, the other around $85, they were both junk. Basically nothing more than tourist trinkets.

I've had other "junk" knives, but the ones I mentioned were the most expensive, and so the biggest disappointments.
 
Far from a knive junkie, I don't have many, but I was always a little lukewarm on spyderco after a warranty return. I like them and have had four. If not for that I'd think they were the greatest as everything else about them is really good....except for the thin tips I keep snapping off, I'm 3 for 4 at this point.
 
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