Your most disappointing knife purchase

Spyderco Ikuchi
Marserin AM-4
 
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Pardon me, I've got a few as I've been buying for quite a while.

Ontario RAT Folder Model 1, I paid around $80 (in 2006 dollars!) for what was basically a $30 knife, still grinds my gears.

Benchmade 111H2O, only knife I've ever returned to the retailer.

Spyderco LC200N Pacific Salt.
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Laser Edge Knife Reader, turns out it didn't work any better than my $5 DIY Goniometer and was essentially useless when used outside of extremely polished edges because the laser is not the right kind for the sort of refraction that's happening.
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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.
You've snapped the tips on three out of four knives? I don't think you are kniving correctly.
 
Mine was a Case Kickstart Trapper. I didn't know Case made anything other than a standard traditional when I saw it online and curiosity made me buy it. The blade play was 100x worse than anything I've ever had. You could move the tip of the knife at least 1/4" side to side if not more. I'd expect better quality out of a $5 knife, and it was $110.

Second was a Civivi Praxis. First and only Civivi I've had and just felt cheap. It is a cheap knife and felt cheap.
 
I bought Fallknivens GP directly from their website. After unboxing it I immediately noticed that the blade wasn't straight, or rather, it was swaying almost half a centimetre to one side when open yet it was dead centered when closed - no blade play though.
their customer service was not only hard to deal with but condescending too in a passive-aggressive way.
I did return the knife and got my money back. However, I would have liked that i didn't have had this experience with Fallkniven because i believe I just was unlucky with my order and I really like their blades.
 
I bought a Strider knife before I knew the truth about him.

That will always be my most disappointing knife purchase.

Striders are good knives....I've owned many...in four models.
The man himself has a nasty rep. However, the Customer Service beats any I've ever worked with.
I've have owned other knives...such as the wonderful SurviveKnives GSO series...
from makers or from companies... that did not distinguish
themselves by good actions....but the knives were usually okay. Some were not.

In general, very few of us can try, or even care to try, to separate the maker from the product.
I use the product; that doesn't mean I justify the man or his actions.
We all have to dance to our own tune. You do yours...
 
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My first and last couple of Emerson’s - CQC-13 and Gentleman Jim. I am a southpaw so I ordered them from workshop directly with fool price and 50$ for six additional holes in handles :D
I don’t care about quite ugly f&f of the handles, but both of them don’t have the detent at all, that’s just unsafe and dangerous.
 
Last week’s Spartan Talos. When I opened the (rather flimsy) box and extracted the knife I found that the liner lock was defective: did not engage at all. Returned to online retailer and awaiting their decision as to disposition. Not the first I’ve heard of issues with this knife.....should of heeded warnings of issues from other buyers. :thumbsdown:

(On the other hand, my Spartan Astor seems to be a gem!)
 
Crkt spew. Softest steel I've ever experienced in a knife. A $1 gas station knife holds a better edge.

A shame because crkt is fantastic when it comes to innovative design. Crap on execution.
 
Striders are good knives....I've owned many...in four models.
The man himself has a nasty rep. However, the Customer Service beats any I've ever worked with.
I've have owned other knives...such as the wonderful SurviveKnives GSO series...
from makers or from companies... that did not distinguish
themselves by good actions....but the knives were usually okay. Some were not.

In general, very few of us can try, or even care to try, to separate the maker from the product.
I use the product; that doesn't mean I justify the man or his actions.
We all have to dance to our own tune. You do yours...

"In general, very few of us can try, or even care to try, to separate the maker from the product."

I disagree with This a 100%
Especially Here, and in the smaller custom knife world.

It's not like buying a pair of blue jeans at the mall.
Our knife purchases are Very personal.

Heck....Ive stopped buying from knife makers who I thought were "jerks".......
I Certainly WON'T buy from a thief!
 
Striders are good knives....I've owned many...in four models.
The man himself has a nasty rep. However, the Customer Service beats any I've ever worked with.
I've have owned other knives...such as the wonderful SurviveKnives GSO series...
from makers or from companies... that did not distinguish
themselves by good actions....but the knives were usually okay. Some were not.

In general, very few of us can try, or even care to try, to separate the maker from the product.
I use the product; that doesn't mean I justify the man or his actions.
We all have to dance to our own tune. You do yours...
Wow Strider and Surv!e. You seem fun.
 
There are so many candidates! I've had multiple bad experiences with Schrade and CRKT. Echoing B Basp2005 , both my Minimalist and my SPEW had soft steel, poor sheath fit, and poor scale fit that made them very uncomfortable in hand. I had a couple of Ganzo knives that weren't very good. I've had a few really bad knives from both Kubey and QSP. I had a Nextool multi-tool that literally fell apart upon first use. I got a couple of rusty knives from Stedemon, which I'm guessing was an issue in overseas shipping. I also had that happen with a TwoSun pen that was obviously exposed to water. The shipping box was dry but there was mold inside the product box and murky liquid inside the pen body. :eek:

I had not one but three issues with Artisan/CJRB. I got two CJRB knives in a row, ordered a month or two apart from Massdrop, that came out of the box dry as a bone. One was actually stuck shut. They were both full of a white powder-like residue. Luckily, they ended up being pretty good knives after disassembly, thorough cleaning, and quality lubrication. The third issue was a more recent Arroyo with a wet noodle of a detent. I exchanged it and the new one is okay.

The worst might be my last Opinel. It had been a decade since I'd even handled one. So I tried one of the Walnut versions. The edge was already rolled right out of the box. That would have been an easy fix. I had forgotten how soft they run their modified 12C27. (It makes the 5Cr15 on the Minimalist seem hard!) Sadly, the terrible fit and finish was enough to have me return it instead. Besides issues with the wood, their new locking mechanism was hard to turn and left a lot of blade play.
 
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