What’s the big deal about $100 knives?

[Horsesense]

What’s the big deal about $100 knives?


I have worked in a slaughter house (for six years), cut tobacco, carried a knife every sense grade school and am a good hand at sharpening a knife, just so you don’t think I’m a liberal or something.

I have a Buck that was $45 and that is by far the most expensive knife I have ever owned. The Buck dose fine but the Mora that I paid $8 for seems to do just as well. I know that there are some cheep (cheep meaning wont take an edge or wont hold an edge) knives out there but is there something I’m missing?

I’ll admit that I have never held some of the knives youall talk about and I only started looking around because I had a long talk with a “Mars Man” who got me to wanting a Kurka, so I ordered one from Atlanta Cutlery…..$26 I wish it was just a little herder and thinner but, over all, DADGON! That’s the cuttinnest knife I ever saw! I have trimmed trees and trimmed bushes around the house and am having a blast.

Is the Himalayan Imports kurk $74 more fun?

PS: Lately Iv been having a recurring dream involving a milk-jug filled with water and a Bowie Knife!…. What have you people done to me!!!

PPS: Mars Man = a member of the Mars Taskforce in Burma during WW2

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

the HI imports kukri is better steel.

 

[RyanM]

Check this guy's reviews, and you'll see what the difference is.

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/reviews.html

Most of us never use knives that hard, though.

 

[Valkman]

Type of steel, type of heat treat, ability to hold an edge.

Guess you're not in the market for a Fowler or Loveless knife? They run $3000 and there's no shortage of buyers.

 

[Soap]

The difference in a $10 knife and a $100 is about the same as a HiPoint vs. a custom 1911.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=131870

 

[redneck]

Different strokes for different folks
Buck turns out a very good knife at a good price point. So does Mora. You have to be good at sharpening though. They're made with a decent steel, but far from the best. Other materials are the same, good enough....but not the best.
You're also limited on style and construction methods. Cheaper knives are mainly lockbacks, or linerlocks. They're easier to make and manufacturers don't have to mess with patents, copyrights,licensing etc. Lots of injection molded handles, if there are liners....they're thin. Hardware is generally lower quality, or offers less options. The knife is pinned or riveted together, no adjustments can be made. A more expensive knife will have an adjustable pivot, some are screwed together so they can be dissassembled and cleaned also.

The more expensive knives just kind of improve each aspect a little bit. $100 can get you a hell of a knife IMHO And I feel that this is a good price point to buy in as the price difference is mainly going towards materials and manufacturing costs from what I can tell (don't have actual figures from the companies making them). Tighter quality control and all that stuff.

As an example, I make knives and in the stock size I use for folders, I can buy 440C for about $12 a foot. A peice of CPM440V (which is now called S90V) the same size will cost me $28. I can heat treat the 440C myself, the 440V would have to be sent out to someone with a digitally controlled oven costing me at least $9 per blade+ shipping.The 440V will probably take at least 30% more time and belts to grind, and it will wear out cutting tools a lot faster also.
So figuring 3 blades from a bar....right off the bat the 440V costs me an extra $15 or so a blade, and thats not taking my time into account, or saw blades, or grinding belts which are friggin expensive

The difference, is the 440V might hold an edge twice as long. Seriously. No hype, there's that much difference.
Now there are tradeoffs as well. The 440V will also chip easier, and doesn't generally take as nice of a finish. But for the guy that wants a knife that will keep on cutting for a long time...the 440V is where its at.

As far as the khukuri for $26 vs. the HI Khukuri. The same stuff goes, corners have been cut on the $26 one. I can't even buy materials to make a blade that size for $26, not even close.

If the permormance suits you, then by all means buy it. There is better performance out there though. Try to get your hands on a higher qualtiy blade and see what its like. Sometimes you are just paying for a name, but there are some really good knives for the money out there too.

 

[zahc]

The $100 knives, in general, really are better than the cheaper ones.

The question you have to ask (and it's a legitimate one) is how far out on the exponentiol price vs. performance curve you want to go.

I like spyderco knives because they put the money where it counts. They are very ugly knives that cut like no other.

 

[only1asterisk]

I'd 10000 time rather spend my $100 on a knife than a flashlight!

David

 

[hso]

Horsesense,

I've got more knives than a reasonable person has any reason to have (and probably more than almost anyone on this forum ) and I'm currently carrying a Victorinox Soldier that anyone can find for less than $20 and a $300 Randall Gilbreath Ti Framelock. There's not a thing "better" about the Gilbreath than your Buck when you get down to the fundamentals of what a knife is supposed to do. The expensive knife should open a bit easier, it should hold an edge a bit longer in use, be less subject to chipping and breaking, it should be lighter and more comfortable, more durable. It should be more of the good things you expect out of a knife. It won't be somehow hugely better than a good $30 knife, but like anything else the last 20% improvement represents 80% of the cost. That's why the $100 knife seems to be so much less of a value to someone that grew up using knives and maintaining them properly.

 

[Horsesense]

Thanks guys.

You make a good case for higher end knives

 

[Valkman]

I really have a thing against cheap folders - I had one fold on me while using it and just don't trust 'em anymore.

But good materials cost - I bought a piece of Mike Norris stainless damascus big enough for one knife and it cost me $122. By the time I turn it into a knife, send it out for heat treat, put nice handles on it (which cost me $50) and finish it it'll be at least $350 if not $400. And it'll be worth every penny!

 

[1911JMB]

"I'd 10000 time rather spend my $100 on a knife than a flashlight!"

I guess you never tried surefire.

 

[JShirley]

What does being a liberal have to do with anything? By some people's lights, I would qualify. I don't care what people pray or don't pray to, I don't care who they have sex with as long as they're of age and it's consensual, and I think people, on the whole, should mind their own damn business instead of trying to control their neighbors, absent any injurious action from said neighbors. If that makes me a liberal, I'll gladly accept the title.

I'm not sure exactly how many HI products have passed through my hands, but I know I've bought over 10. I've used a couple of them hard. I've seen cheaper kukuris, and I've seen similarly priced kuks made by other manufacturers who tout their "high speed" extremely tactical products.

HI are worth the money. Many other "kuks" I've seen have not been worth anything except hanging on a wall, and even the Cold Steel kuk I owned wasn't nearly as useable as the HIs.

John

 

[GunGoBoom]

What are the HIs you speak of? and would you or would you not approve of relations with animals, assuming they *seemed* to consent? JK man.

 

[RyanM]

http://www.himalayan-imports.com/

Khukuris made by people that use them every single day for anything that needs cutting.

 

[hso]

GGB,

Not only not logical, but not funny.

 

[only1asterisk]

I guess you never tried surefire.

I have, but I found that I ended up blinding myself. I don't need that much light.

David

 

[Valkman]

That's the idea - but you point it at the other guy.

 

[JShirley]

Thread drift- but one fine alternative is to use a smaller task light and a more powerful ubertactical one. The little Pelican L1 is a great light, and as much light as most people will probably ever need. Team that up with a sturdy SureFire or similar (miniMaglite) sized light that can be used for longer-ranged beam or as impact weapon, and you're set.

John

 

[Horsesense]

John, from your description, you might be a libertarian but definitely NOT liberal. Liberal, in today’s context, are people who want government to control every aspect of their neighbors life, including teaching you children morality, taking your guns away etc. another example would be IF you thought the recent Supreme Court Ruling that, in short, gives the government the right to take your land and sell it to another privet citizen, was a good ruling, and that the constitution is a “living document” you might be a liberal.

The way I used the word Liberal was more of a localized definition, I guess. Around these parts: you may overhear one guy say to his buddy “what are you, a liberal or something?” after his buddy did something boneheaded like trying to re-blue a 1911 with Coca-Cola.

The Kurk I have was built according to the bid sheet of the government of India dated 2-2-43 and it calls the knife a “kookrie” calling for “STEEL BS 970 EN 43” @ 24-. 01 thick at the thickest part, that makes it heavy. My buddy calls them a “Gurka knife” but says mine is thicker than the one he had. Is there a difference?

My hand wants the same shape blade and handle but lighter because my mind thinks that light and fast cuts better in the real world, just like how you can dig more post-holes with a light set of diggers in the long run.

 

[hso]

You might want to read this. http://www.army.mod.uk/brigade_of_gurkhas/history/kukri_history.htm

In short the kukri is an all around heavy use knife with an emphasis on chopping. It just happens to be the knife used by Ghurka troops (therefore your buddy's phrase "Ghurka Knife"). The Ghurka's are basically a powerful mercenary unit made up generally of Nepalese soldiers who are trained and fully equipped for jungle warfare. In Nepal the kukri is the heavy knife that everyone carries for work on the farm/forrest (just like you'd expect to see a machette in South America).


BTW - While discussions of the definiton of "liberal" are best left to the political or general forum, the word got coopted by "leftests/fasciest = communists" the middle of the 20th century trying to confuse the public about their agenda and eventually pushed the progressive liberals out of their descriptive title. These days most folks don't know what the definition of a Liberal is (including the leftest/fasciests).

Thankyou for your time. You will now be returned to your regular knife programming.

 

[JShirley]

IIRC, many of the Atlanta Cutlery kuks are decent old knives, instead of modern junk aimed at tourists. Inquire at the Blade Forums Himalayan Imports Forum for more info. Usually, though, made in India is not nearly as auspicious a sign as made in Nepal.

John

 

[middy]

Not all inexpensive knives are junk. There are lot of decent ones for under $30; Mora, Victorinox, Opinel, Okapi, and Old Hickory come to mind. Many of them are carbon steel that takes a great edge, and are made from thinner stock, resulting in a knife that actually, you know, CUTS better than a lot of your more expensive knives.

That said, a good $100 knife from Spyderco/Cold Steel/Benchmade is usually well worth the money as they will hold an edge longer and their parts will stay "tight" longer.

I don't feel the need for a $500 Sebenza, but I don't think it's dumb to own one if you think it's worth it.

 

[Gary G23]

I carry a $100 knife and a $100 flashlight. I think Craftsman tools are better than the ones you get at Harbor Freight also. So there.

 

[JShirley]

But, for some tasks, a Sig 210 may not be better than a Glock.

For those it is, it may be worth the price.

Like someone else said, you start paying a lot more for those last little performance improvements, and especially in the knife world, some of those "improvements" are debatable...

John