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Posted: 11/3/2005 7:26:47 PM EDT
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I tried to get on the knife faq's but they all came up not available. Anyway, what I'm trying to comprehend is how a knife can cost so much, & what causes that price to be so high on some of them. I have a basic understanding of knives, I have been buying good knives for many years. I have had many Buck knives, a few Cold steel knives etc,etc. What I don't understand is why does a Strider, Benchmade,Emerson, etc,etc etc, cost so much more? I would also like to know what type of knife would be best for combat/camping fpr regular use. Is having a crap load of knives the same as having a crap load of guns? I always feel with knives like I'm wasting money because I'll never get the use out of all the knives in my dresser that the money was spent to get. I always want knives but I can't make myself spend so much money for one. I currently carry a Cold Steel Voyager for everyday use. I would like to buy a more expensive knife but my mind won't let me spend on a knife what I could buy a good pistol or rifle for. My Voyager cost me $80.00 I like the Cold Steel knives that are curently being offered, but at $345+ I can't make myself buy one. I also like the benchmades, & many, many others in the $150 to $250 range. Please help ,e understand why I should get one. I carry a Kimber CDP II so I'm not a cheap skate when it comes to gear, I just have this thing about expensive knives, & not wanting to get gipped.  |
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You can hold a $40 spyderco and be content with its value and effectivness. You can hold a $100 benchmade and see that it is made a little better and see more time was taken into its manufacture. You can hold a microtech and you can tell the design and parts took some planning and money to produce and you will know it is levels above the spyderco and benchmade in terms of craftsmanship. I didnt know I wanted a $400 knife until I held one  
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Great line, Johnny. Search, since I am a knife maker, I am probably somewhat jaded. But, when I held my first custom knife I knew then that I wanted to make them and to own them. I have been using knives for over 40 years from just about every manufacturer you can think of. Many of those were and are superb knives. It all comes down to the perceived value of the knife to the user. Many of the commercial knives perform well and can be had for excellent prices. Many people feel just as you do; they cannot see the same value in a knife that they would see in an AR or a Kimber and would rather have several knifes that they can throw away if broken or that they are not in fear of losing. My belief is: I have never lost a gun, how would I lose an expensive knife? To me, it is all about how you think of your equipment. But, to answer your question directly, a lot of times the higher cost has to do with the steel and heat treatment. In fixed blades for example, a Fehrman uses CPM3V, which is very expensive in the raw and requires a very precise heat treatment. That takes a lot of time, but that knife is also extremely tough. The same holds true with Chris Reeve One-Piece blades or a Simonich Raven series. Quality handle materials and sheaths can also add significatly to the cost and most makers supply both. I supply Sandy Morrissey leather sheaths or Spec Ops Survival sheaths with all of my knives. Those are quality sheaths and add cost, but they will serve you well when you need them most. Folders are a different animal entirely. If you hold a precision folder in your hand and play with it for awhile, you will understand what Johnny means. Go to a knife show and handle a Chris Reeve Sebenza, an A.T. Barr custom or a knife from Kit Carson and you will be amazed. The precision of these knives and the materials used make for an expensive tool. Titanium bolsters and liners for strength, high-end stainless blades, custom pivots and studs; it all adds up. Finally, is the issue of toughness and dependability. You can buy a Ka-Bar made from 1095 or a Cold Steel from their steel of the week and it will perform well. However, it will never, ever be as tough or dependable as a custom L-6 blade from someone like Kevin Cashen or a 52100 blade from Ed Fowler or a blade from W2 made by Nick Wheeler. The commercial maker just cannot afford to use the best performing steels and give them the quality heat treatments that make for toughness and edge retention. The bottom line is that both belief systems have their place and you need to decide what is best for you. |
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I thank you both for your answers. I have never been to a knife show, but I really want to go to one & hold a few expensive well made knives. It's hard to pick a knife off of the internet or out of a catalog without actually having held & examined it 1st. I love high quality products & the handmade versus machine made products. |
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the last time i counted i own about 6 or 7 benchmade knives. also own spyderco, SOG, colt, smith and wesson knives also!!! Al benchmades at least $140 dollars, the others vary. I bought them all before i got into the pistol and rifle collecting. I just like collecting, and someday i will hand them down to my son. |
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I own many custom knives that were hundreds of dollars some thosands. I feel that many are over priced for what you get and how much time was put into making them. I also own many "cheeper" custom hand made knives that are every bit as good as the much more expensive knives. Some makers get thousands of dollars for their work. Are they worth it? They are worth what someone will pay. A $6,000 forged knife from X maker might not be any better then a $300 knife from maker Y......supply and demand, same goes for factory knives. I'll tell ya a lot more work and engeneering goes into making a $800 SIG firearm then any $6,000 knife. |
And that is what makes it so hard for me to spend big bucks on a knife as opposed to a firearm.
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but still for most ppl $400 might be just too much .... i held & used my friends strider ... WOW, since than i am constantly looking to get something that will be as close possible. i have few ideas that might be closer to budget minded. Buck-Strider  about $115 Blade Steel: 420HC Black Oxide coated not the toughest steel but should be ok Length Overall: 11 7/8" Blade Length: 6 1/2" Weight: 12 oz. Handle Material: G10 thickness = can not find that info please post if you know COLT Pathfinder  about $34 Blade Steel: 420J2 not the toughest steel but should be ok Length Overall: 12 7/8" Blade Length: 8" Weight: 12 oz. Handle Material: aluminum handle with rubber inserts Half-tong construction thickness = 1/4" thick S&W Homeland Security Tanto  about $55 Blade Steel: 440C Length Overall: 13.75" Blade Length: 8.09" Weight: 17.5 oz. Handle Material: Removable G-10 thickness = 1/4" thick BENCHMADE 10530 SNODY JUJU  about $60 Blade Steel: 440C Length Overall: 9.4" Blade Length: 4.75" Weight: 8.62 oz Handle Material: Red Ray Skin with Leather Wrapping nice :) thickness = almost 1/4" thick TOPS 107D STEEL EAGLE SERIES TANTO  about $165 Blade Steel: 1095 High Carbon Alloy RC 58 Length Overall: 13" Blade Length: 7" Weight: 12 oz. Handle Material: Black Linen Micarta thickness = 1/4" Gerber LMF II ASEK  about $95 Blade Steel: 12C27 Stainless RC 58 Length Overall: 10.59" Blade Length: 4.84" Weight: 11.4 oz Handle Material: Glass-filled nylon with TPV overmold sheet is Molle vest compatible thickness = 3/16" More info here [EDIT] Steel info here |
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I'll tell ya a lot more work and engeneering goes into making a $800 SIG firearm then any $6,000 knife. Unfortunately SFT, that's not true. While a Sig takes many times the man hours to design and tool up for, it is then mass produced. Expensive custom knives are handmade works of art. Cold Steel and Buck products are not custom knives, but another mass production tool. A $6k knife is something special. Truely, man jewelery, like a Ferarri or a handmade watch. Custom knives may not be in our price range to collect, but they are incredible values. If one considers the hundreds of hours the master smith, engraver, and leather crafter puts into a $6k custom piece, one realizes they are not doing it to become rich. It's a labor of love. Even $300-500 handmade tactical folders are amazing values. They might take 50 to 100 hours to complete, meaning the maker averages $3-6 an hour. Now, don't pity them, they work on several knives at a time in rotation, so they make it worthwhile, but still we get a value greater than a mass produced gun. They use the finest materials and master techniques to create tools to drool over. The folks posting above are right. Attend a custom knife show like the Blade Show, and you will never look at edged weapons the same way again. If you have a fine hunting rifle, and plan to leave it to your kids, a great custom hunting knife is a gift you both will enjoy handing down. Beware, they are an addiction even more powerful than firearms!  $475  $495  $1495  Imagine what you'll see for $6000!  |
I can't help myself I really like this knife, & it's only $45.00 www.knifeworks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=743 |
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Search, that Buck is a good knife and I have heard good things about it. It is also the perfect illustration of why commercial knives cost less than customs and rarely perform in the same ball park. The 420HC steel was chosen specifically because of its low cost and ease of heat treatment. At its very best, optimum heat treatment, it can only attain an Rc value of 58. The more likely case is Rc 56 - Rc 57, since commercial makers cannot afford to optimize. Most good working knives with the top steels are in the Rc 59 - Rc 61 range, depending upon the steel. Believe it or not, that one, two or three points on the Rockwell "C" scale makes a tremendous difference in performance. Once again, though, this comes down to perception of value. As you said yourself, since you struggle with high cost of really good knives, it may be that they are not for you. Many people view a knife as a "throw away" item that can be easily replaced, hence, it is never given the same focus or attention as other primary tools. There is nothing wrong with that way of thinking, it is just a different way of looking at performance and value. |
For 6g's it better go papapapapapapapapap 
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I’m one of those guys that can’t see paying huge dollars for a knife. I admit to being ignorant of steel quality, but I can tell you the cheap (~$25) Buck knife I’ve used to skin deer the last 10 years has served its purpose. It has kept a decent edge and it fairly easy to sharpen. It cuts well without tearing the meat. I’ve got a friend who likes Randall (IIRC?) custom knives. He has shown me several knives that cost $400 or more (again, IIRC) and when I look at them I can’t tell the difference between those knives and my Cold Steel SRK knife that I got for ~$45. Well, maybe that sentence isn’t entirely true. I can tell one big difference – I actually use my Cold Steel for cutting; his Randall knives go into a display case. My knives are tools while his are art. Not that there is anything wrong with that! To my buddy the knives he buys are no different than the books I collect. I’m sure many of my friends wonder why anyone would pay several hundred dollars for a book that is placed on a shelf and is NOT to be read for fear of damaging the spine. So, I’ll leave the high dollar knives for the collectors. Much as I’ll let the old guys at the skeet range have all the $10K (or more!) custom shotguns. I can break (and have broken!) just as many clays with my $200 Mossberg. And I don’t even cry when it gets a little scratch on it.  |
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