How much better are expensive knives?

genxsis said:

I don't know where exactly it says in WI that we can only carry a knife with a 3" blade. I believe I've been told by the cops several times in person. Once I called on the phone to get this statement verified, and I was told by the dispatcher "We don't give legal advice."

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Alas, when you garner legal advice from the police it is oftentimes only as accurate as what you paid for it.

Well, a lot of the cost is in the steel and materials used to make them. I do think a lot are overpriced. The high quality steels, zdp-189, s30v, infi are functionally far superior than the generic stainless you get for $10, which are usually cheap 420 or 440 stainless. If you look at the pics above, that $700 busse could use it to cut that robert frost next to it in half, then cut down several small trees and make your dinner. Look up the specific names of the steels, not just country of origin. 440a is the same whether it comes from the japanese, chinese, swiss, german, etc.

point of order...

If this is really important to you then do some homework and get educated. I own knives that range in price from $10.00 to about $600.00 at the last appraisal but the one thing they all have in common is that they excel at the jobs I bought them to perform. Yes, my expensive custom blades get as much or more of a workout as my most inexpensive ones. They excel because they were purpose built to do so in certain circumstances. Just like your gun. Blade geometry, handle design, steel or non-ferrous construction all are dictated according to what the knife was designed for. It is up to you decide the best combination of these for your individual requirements. If you are not a knife user - become one because that is the only way to determine what actually works for you.

WI law does not restrict you from owning/carrying knives with blades longer than 3" in length.

What you will discover is that with guns,gun parts,knives,tools,and everything else you get what you pay for. Until about a year and a half ago I felt the same way,that a cheap blade and an expensive blade were the same thing...the most expensive knife I owned was a $30 Gerber. I have since moved on up and seen the light of Benchmade. Yes I use my Gerber and Benchmade for the same things. The Benchmade is a far better knife (the Axis lock rocks).

For a good quality knife at a good price I'd recommend the CRKT M-16 or M-14,depending on which size you want. Excellent knives that compare to more expensive knives I've seen.

Besides all the factors which others have posted regarding material, fit, finish and overall quality it really comes down to personal preference.

It's akin to the Rolex vs. Timex topic. Sure a Timex does everything a Rolex does for less than 1% of the cost but there is something special about wearing a equisite and quality watch like a Rolex. Or how about the $2k+ Custom 1911 vs. the Lorcin. Both get the job done but wouldn't you feel better carrying a custom whatever vs. a Lorcin?

Same holds true for knives. I own mostly customer knives and carry and use them whenever I need a knife. I carry my customs a majority of the time but if I know that I will be using my knife hard and often then I carry a semi-custom like my Strider GB or a production piece like my SAK.

It's all relative to what you want in a knife. Sure a $1 box cutter will get the job done but it is not as nice as a $500+ custom made knife.

Mac

I'm more of a gun person, but am somewhat interested in knives and may consider getting one,...

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Muahahahahahaha! Sure. One. That's what I thought too, back when I was a naive and young Baba Louie. I can handle "A" knife. I only NEED one!

Uh huh.

genxsis, BTDT. A couple thousand dollars later... well I presently only have three folders on me (my old BSA knife, SAK on keychain and a little Spyderco Cricket holding my folding money in it's little clip).

But I've got MY knife buying under control... now. I can quit anytime I want to. I'm sure. Pretty sure. Yeah, I could. I think. I mean, they're just knives, right? Just sharpened pieces of steel.

Steel. Hmmm. Bill Moran, Devon Thomas or Darryl Meier... pretty steel. You like Carbon or stainless?

I mean, what's an edged blade anyway? Flat grind, convex or hollow? Forged, stock removal?

Hey, I've even got a flintknapped blade or two made from... rock! (But that was when I was, you know, out of control... not like... now)

Yeah sure genxsis. One knife. That's what they all say. Buy your inexpensive little piece of steel today. See where THAT journey takes you.

Whatever you do... DO NOT go over to www.bladeforums.com Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES... DO NOT GO THERE!!!

Muahahahahahaha!

One knife.

Sheesh. Some people's kids.

If you're still thinking of bladed self defense weapon, let me say two or three things.

1st. Buy some good sneakers and practice running away.
2nd. How much (or What) is your life worth?
3rd. Buy a Knife, buy some training. A Good Knife. Some Good Training.

Carry on.

i saw a sign in a tattoo shop years aago; i think it applies to knives as well:

"good work is not cheap. and cheap work is not good."

this is actually a very good question when you think about it , but it also depends on what your idea of expensive is.
My my knives that see daily use :
Strider PT $300
Case/Bose ( 2000 model ) $300
Rinaldi Matrix $300
I also rotate in / out a Hossom Dogtag ( not sure but about $400 ) , Strider AR ( $400 but this was a gifted BRO knife ) and a few others...

I think nothing of using a $300 - $400 knife , I bought them to use and know they hold up , could most of my stuff be done with a $100 Benchmade , no doubt , but it doesnt give me the pride in use or knowing the person that made it , the PERSON , not the company ( ok with the exception of the case/bose but this will do till i score a real TOny Bose .) I used my Strider AR to cut the last 6 rows of shingles for my roof when I broke my razor knife and didnt want to stop to go buy a new one. It got a bit scuffed up , but it's a tool , I dont chop bricks but I aint afraid to cut with it.

Some of the high end productions are pretty darn good in fit & finish , blade steel , etc , but you will never meet the person who made them.

I carry knives made ( or designed ) by people I have met , became friends with and trust. Some may say it's a sense of loyalty or pride , I can except that.
To me when I hear expensive I think of a Loveless at $3K , an Onion Custom at $3K or other hard to get awesome knife.

The best I can say is catch a decent knife show and see what some of these makers are putting out , visit some knife forums and see what is out there.

About 7 years ago I would not have thought a custom knife world exists , I couldnt tell you what the difference was between a Buck Crosslock ( what I was carrying then ) and a Sebenza , Strider or Carson , but I went to the Vegas Classic Show and once I handled some customs , I could sure feel the difference. ( and I been broke since )

For a knife buyer there are so many choices in knives , from low end production ( aimed at the entry level buyer , like Spyderco Byrd series ) , to factory collabs with custom makers , Case/Bose , BM/Blackwood , Buck/Mayo , Zero Tolerance ( Onion , Strider , Kershaw ) to the mid techs and then onto full customs , it's a buyers market , there is something for everyone.

With firearms you pretty much know you have to spend at least $XXXX amount of money to get something you want/like/need , with people who are into knives the same applies , you reach a point where you become afraid to use it though , then it is a collector and not a user , I would bet there arent a whole lot of Loveless knives in use compared to those tucked away in safes.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. All in what YOU feel you want.

in short :
You dont NEED to spend $300-$500 to have a nice knife , but when you get into it , you may find you WANT to.... and then there is no turning back.

Yea but what do you know?

And then there's a huge range in the cost of customs - the knives that JTW and myself make don't cost that much. Great users that'll last for a couple hundred bucks. It's easy to spend $600 to $1k on a knife but you can buy them much cheaper also.


This is not an ad, I do not want orders!

cant wait to see em !!

There are price ranges for every one ..

Like Don , I try to keep mine affordable , so they will be used and so I can get feedback from the users.

benchmade makes some good knives as well spyderco for folders i like the doug ritter gripper for the 100.00 range or if thats a little high look at spidy native at wally world around 39.95 both wit s30 v for sheath knives id look at busse or swamp rat or the newer scrapyard which is busse owned and operated as well great knives at a great price still there between 89.0 and 150.00 if that's high look around but like the man said earlier if your life depends on it id get something good and dependable

i saw that you said something along the lines of knives arent complex. that they dont have many pieces. have you ever taken apart a knife that flips out with a lock? they are more than they just appear. that whole knife is built from the ground up to fit perfectly in ur hand, and make sure that it works perfectly aligned. you have to look at the knife as more than "a sharpened piece of metal with a handle". They become a part of your personality. Reflect who you are, what you care about, and what you want.

I have a beautiful hunting/combat knife that i had made in mexico. It was fitted to my hand exactly. It is balanced perfectly and is a work of art. The handle is a shaped to fit my fingers and hand and the end of it is an eagle's head. It has never dulled out over many years of use and is razor sharp

I dunno, a frame lock has, what, seven or eight parts, three of which move? Not that complex when you think of all the CD payers and iPods and cars and electric drills we have.

Custom knives versus cheaper ones..........

Friends,

Knives are merely tools. Like a parachute, would you want one that was poorly made........I think not.

I buy the upper grade [and priced] knives. There's nothing like having your equipment fail when you need it most. Its an insurance policy. Do you buy cheap car insurance [minimum coverage?].

How about the best of both worlds? Check out the Columbia River Knife and Tool M-16 series knives. Taiwanese steel holds an edge you can shave with, several models with the Carson Flipper [oh yes] for as little as $28.00

BTW, you don't pay a craftsman for what he makes...........you pay him for what he knows.

Just food for thought.

JK in SC
aka HiVelocity

the knife is the user, or rather it becomes part. however they are simple, but tolerances are the trickey bit. guns are simple, but only after you see the scematics.
knives, unlike a chute, are for utility, not to save you from the power of gravity, and therefore are not as pertanant, but as always quality is important. I'd rather spend $100 once then $5 every week. and in case the ''poo hits the propeler'' you can trust the moran far beyond the point where the frost fails,.....you get what you pay for.

considerations

I stumbled upon this forum by accident, but on seeing a number of threads here decided I had to register and post.

Generally speaking when you buy a premium knife, you are purchasing a steel of a formula that the maker thought would best fill the anticipated role of the knife and the heat treatment to bring that steel to its highest potential. Lesser knives might use good steel (nothing wrong with a 440 stainless) but without an exacting and precise match of the heat treatment to the particular qualities of that steel. Thus you end up with a knife that is brittle, or too hard to resharpen or too soft to keep an edge for a useful amount of time. Premium knives avoid these issues by looking at the whole knife as a system. Blade geometry, steel formulation, heat treatment, handle material and shape, sheath or other storage system, all come together in a tool that works for what it was designed for and what it was not.

I carry a knife not because I know I will need it, but rather because I don't know.

I don't know what I may be called upon to do in a given day; whether it be opening the mail, a box, a plastic package, cutting a steak, preparing onions for the fry pan, gutting a fish, starting a fire, cutting wires, digging up sod, whittling, defending my life, or making a tent peg, I know the knives I choose will not only be up to the task once, but over and over again with little maintenance. Having owned and used knives of low, middling and high quality, I can say it is the quality that makes a knife you are confident to use.

Inexpensive knives usually keep their costs low by skimping on the expertise in manufacturing and not investing in time consuming, labor intensive practices, but it is these very things that make a premium knife so much better a tool. If all you need from a knife is what you know you will do with it, then by all means, buy only as much as fills the bill and no more.

For myself, the unexpected demands that I invest in quality tools and understand the nature of what goes into them to make them so.

Just as hso said, welcome, wulfbyte!

Great first post.