Why $200 for a folding knife?

[Ash]

In hindsight, my longer post seemed a bit harsh, given the posts. The general message is the same, that one need not spend that kind of dough for a knife and have a decent knife. Yet, spending that kind of money on one, assuming good cash flow, is just fine. Just don't bash the lower-cost but otherwise good knives out there.

Ash

 

[White Horseradish]

I gotta wonder...

You guys talk of knives that cost a lot (and anything over $50 is a lot for a knife for me. I have a wife, 2 kids and a mortgage) doing "everything you need them to do". Then you talk of cutting nails and slicing car fenders.

What is it that you do every day that having a knife that can do that is a necessity?

BTW, the knife that does everything I need a folding knife to do is a Greber Bolt-Action I got as a present about 10 years ago. I think they were $30 at the time. It's with me every day wherever I go. The blade has been scratched up by the first and last "professional" I had sharpen it and the contour has changed a bit from resharpening.

 

[OF]

And if your Sebenza shouldn't be used for cutting boxes, then what should it be used for? If you can't take it out and get it dirty, then it is a waste of money and does become just one more bobble.

Who said they're not for using? My Sebenza gets used everyday for cutting anything and everything that needs cutting, short of metal. I use it, it gets sharpened as it needs it, then used some more. There's a place for 'bobbles', but that's not this knife's role. And I don't know that you can really call a handmade piece of art/tool a 'bobble' like it's something you'd pick up at the county fair and stick on a shelf...

And don't think I'm disparaging less expensive knives, not by a long shot. The tone of the thread is what prompted the defense of the "higher end" knife in the first place.

I don't understand why anyone would pay several hundred dollars for a folding knife.

That was the question.

I still love my $40 Spydero Calypso Jr. And my SAK's. See above post for the difference, though.

- Gabe

 

[Sir Aardvark]

I used to go the way of the "Cheap" knife, but got tired of it when I started to run into issues, such as:

- Snapping the handles into pieces while trying to get the knife to "work" for me, making for a dangerous situation (this has happened twice).

- The blade being always dull, and not holding an edge, again making for a dangerous situation.

I prefer Benchmade knives, and I am a big fan of the AFCK in D2 steel. It is an INCREDIBLY tough knife and holds an edge remarkably well!.

Of course, since I get my knives at half the cost of retail, the sticker shock is not felt as deeply as it otherwise might be.

I use my knife daily and felt that it was worth it to buy a QUALITY product that could hold up to the rigors of use that I throw at it, and I have yet to be let down by my purchases. I felt it was better to buy an expensive knife once every couple of years, than to keep buying "El Cheapo" products all the time that aggravated the hell out of me.

 

[Plinkerton]

For me, I need a knife that can be opened and closed fast and with ease one-handed. The Benchmade axis folders are perfect for this. Holding an edge is important, and being "grippy" in a variety of environmental conditions is important also.

I liked my Kershaw Blackout, with the assisted blade and all, but eventually, the assistance broke. The handle was plastic, and would be quite slippery when wet. The blade was definitely not as good as my Benchmade also. I don't think spending a decent amount for a knife is a bad thing, as long as you realize that knives are meant to be USED. I've done some things with mine I probably shouldn't, but I didn't have a choice at the time, and the knife has held up fine thru all this.

A good knife can definitely last you for a LONG time.

 

[Cosmoline]

Finding 60 or 70 year old Schrades is easy

You said it. I found an ancient Schrade skinning knife with a deep patina and lots of grease on it for $10 in a pawn shop bargain bin. But half a day of careful cleaning on my part and some work at the honing stone and it was razor sharp and ready to slice and dice. Indeed when I had to chop up some leather-like dog salmon for, well, the dogs, it was the only knife I had able to make repeated cuts through their stinky hides. Those are truly working blades.

 

[Jeff]

Any knife can last 60 or 70 yrs-- or even 100-- if it was never used.

The age of a knife has no bearing on its history of use.

And I would imagine Schrade knives were made better 70 yrs ago than they are now.

 

[Ash]

But you forgot the rest of the statement, the blades can be half-worn down from use.

Ash

 

[albanian]

I have an AL Mar Skrike that I bought on E-bay for about $120. Show me a knife that compares to it for less or the same price and I will buy 10 of them right now.

1. VG-10 steel, the best SS for knives.

2. Matte black linen Micarta grip scales, tough, good looking and care free.

3. Flat ground blade, nothing cuts like like a thin flat ground blade.

4. SS liner, adds strength.

5. SS pocket clip

6. Duel thumb studs.

7. SS pins, screws and other hardware.

8. Smooooooth operation!

9. SHARP!

10. FIts your hand like it was a custom knife.

This is the most I have paid for a folding knife but I know I got my money's worth out of it. I have had it for a few months and it still looks like new and is as sharp as when I got it. I have only had to strop it a few times and not put it to the stones.

It is not the cost of the knife that determines the quality but if you want quality, you are going to have to pay for it. A $7 knife is probably not going to do everything as well as a $100-200 knife but it may well do ONE thing as well or even better. If that ONE thing is the most important thing you need a knife for, it may be a good deal for you. For example, if all you need a knife for is to open boxes, a $7 box cutter with replaceable blade is probably going to out preform ANY other knife at at any other price.

Find out what you need a knife for and pick a good match based on your needs, it is like anything else that way. There are so many knives that if you don't what you want, you can get something that is not suited to your needs.

Do I NEED an AL Mar Shrike? Probably not. It is the only knife I have ever owned that brings a smile to my face when I hold it or operate it. That counts for something. It is a wonderful piece of steel and I have no doubt it is better than some knives costing several times more. Be a smart shopper and you will get your money's worth. Don't buy based on name alone.

 

[Jeff]

I have an AL Mar Skrike that I bought on E-bay for about $120. Show me a knife that compares to it for less or the same price and I will buy 10 of them right now.

I have an Al Mar SERE 2000 and it is a gem of a knife-- especially for the $120 price tag. I know what you mean.

However, from what I've seen and what I've heard, the new Spyderco Manix is supposedly a simply awesome knife, and you can probably find a new one for $110.

S30V steel
flat ground blade
G-10 scales
dual steel liners
lockback (!)
Spyderhole
4 position clip placement
excellent ergonomics
sturdy .14" thick blade
beefy 6.1 oz
made in USA!

Many knife knuts are saying it is the finest folding knife ever for the money. I believe it.

 

[Plinkerton]

I personally think Spyderco's can be very overpriced knives. So many of the expensive ones have plastic handles, and they just feel cheap. They don't open that smoothly, and they're almost all lockbacks, which makes them so unpractical for daily use

I understand that they can be quality knives, but even just the fact that most of them are lockbacks, besides all the other faults I think they have, is enough of a reason for me to never buy one.

The Manix looks nice though.

 

[albanian]

I like Spydercos as well. I just don't like lockbacks. One of my favorite Spyderco knives is the Centofante, it is a liner lock and has a thin flat ground blade that tapers to an extreme point. You can't get this one anymore but Spyderco should offer more linerlocks or some type of Axis lock like the Benchmades have. Liner is my first choice but the Axis is not bad either. Lockbacks are really strong but I am not looking for a brute of a knife, I want a cutter and a slicer, I don't pry with it or chop, I don't dig in the yard or trim shingles with my knife and I think people that do are nuts!

If I need to pry something, I look for a claw hammer, pry bar or something like that, I don't think of my knife as a pry bar. That is why my knives are all thin bladed, flat ground and VERY sharp!

I will check out the Manix in person at the next gunshow but the lockback thing really turns me off. I got rid of two of the nicest Spydercos (Calypso and Calypso Jr.) because the lock back is not as fast for me as the liner. I flick open my liners with my thumb and I close them almost as fast now that I am used to them. I don't have to move my hand around and I don't have to think about it. With the mid back locks like Spyderco uses, you MUST shift your grip to close the darn thing, I can't go back to that after the speed and ease of the liner. I get used to things and I get fast with it. I am faster with a pump shotgun than a double bbl or an auto. I pull the gun out of recoil and start pumping right after I shoot. I don't have to think about it and it seems so natural.

 

[Plinkerton]

Albanian, those are my thoughts on lockbacks also. I used to use liner locks exclusively, and I liked them a lot. Now that I use the Axis, I prefer that to liner locks also, but I still like liner locks.

I just don't get the point of using lockbacks, when there are other options out there that are faster and just as strong.

When I use my axis, I can pull it from my pocket, have it open by the time it's out, make my small cut in whatever I'm doing, and have it closed and back in my pocket in one fluid motion. Saves me a lot of time, and I don't have to use two hands, or shift my grip, or anything like that.

 

[Jeff]

A lot of knife knuts don't like liner locks. You simply can't trust them-- at least on production knives. Read the forums where people have been cut using their liner lock knives, or nearly cut.

That type of mechanism engagement does not inspire the greatest confidence, even on something like a SERE 2000.

I'll take a sturdy lockback anyday. The nanosecond of extra time it takes to close one is well worth the safety of the lock.

The Axis locks are nice, too.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

Just a follow-up on the AXIS lock -

When I use my my AXIS lock equipped AFCK, people think that I have a switchblade knife because it's so fast and easy to deploy the blade.
Those of you out there who have never tried one don't know what you're missing!.

 

[Greymoor]

I have several AXIS lock Benchmades. Once you get use to pulling the lock to open they can be deployed very fast. The trick is learning when to let go of the lock to the blade does not bounce back. This method does beat on the stop pin a bit.

550
555
710
735
770
940
942

I'm sure I am missing one or two . . . The AXIS is a nice one handed lock system.

 

[Litlman]

I just picked up my first Benchmade. The skirmish by " blackwood". Nice!

 

[olyAR73]

Register for the Badlands forum and the Usual Suspects Network forum and have a look around. You will find a plethora of reasons why folks spend what they do on knives.

Knife geeks are worse than gun geeks about their toys.
I'm both!!!

 

[GunGoBoom]

Because there aren't anymore guns I want.

Sure wish I could say that.

Count me in the "don't get it" camp. A $50 Case XX is as good as I will ever need.

+1
And I wear a Timex Ironman too. It has a compass which I use. Don't think I've ever seen a Rolex with a compass.

Sure seems like the AXIS mechanism could be easily accidentally unlocked while using, being right on the side there where your hand could rub against it, no? (I like my liner lock CRKT that has a locking slide mechanism on the back which prevents the liner lock from moving out of place - sort of a redundant safety).

 

[PBIR]

Just get what works for you, whether it cost $10 or $500. There is no wrong or right answer. 99.5% of the knives owned by people reading this thread will never face a more perilious task than opening a tough bag of snacks or cutting through some packaging tape.

 

[c_yeager]

99.5% of the knives owned by people reading this thread will never face a more perilious task than opening a tough bag of snacks or cutting through some packaging tape.

Just this very day I just through a stubborn shoe-lace that COULD have cost me my foot (after a few weeks).

This heroic act was commited with a Sebenza