Brands to stay away from

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More on topic, I have had both good and bad experiences with both SOG and CRKT which seem to be two brands people like to beat up on. The mini pentagon is flimsy and cannot be used for much other than stabbing people(daggers should be strong and firm imho). Whereas the Seal Pup and Field Pup offer great performance and versatility. My CRKT M16-01z gave up the ghost after a year or two, but my Sting 1A is one of the toughest little knives I own. Some designs are just bad, sometimes you just have bad luck and get a lemon. Just my 2 cents.
 
...is this the right thread to post pictures of a knife that makes you have Buyer's Remorse...???...

...the maker/vendor wants pictures and I said I would post them......here...

...it just occured to me I have a new macro lens I have not tried out yet...

...as far as a brand I avoid...post Fiskar GERBER... .!. :D .!.
 
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UDIVER said:
Rockefeller......right

You missed my point, I see a lot of people posting photos of 5 or 6 $30 "budget" knives in one photo...

Why not just save buying all that trash and purchase one or two good knives?

Would you rather have three $30 knives with 8cr or 420? or one $90 knife with S30v or 154?

Sorry, it doesn't make much sense to me.....
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I catch your drift. I guess it comes down to what's "budget" versus what's "trash". Some people put the line at $50 but I often see sub-$100 knives called "budget". "Trash" is relative but in 2021, I'd say the line is 8Cr13Mov. A big part of that has to do with brands like Civivi putting out nicer knives in better steels at competitive prices. For instance, you could get one of the new 2021 CRKT knives in 8Cr13Mov or a Civivi in 9Cr18Mov that'll cut circles around it for about the same price.

On the other side of that coin, what's a knife in S35VN or M390 if it doesn't have a good heat treatment? Sure, it'd probably still smoke 8Cr13 on edge retention. How about 14C28N or 9Cr18Mov with a good heat treatment?

For me, it's not so much the dollar as it is performance for the dollar. Within the last month, I've carried and used the following knives: a Mora in 12C27, a Civivi in 9Cr18Mov, a Kizer in N690, and a Tangram in Acuto 440. Only the Kizer was over $50 but not by a whole lot. The Tangram Santa Fe was like $25 and it continues to be one of my favorite beaters.
 
8Cr13Mov and AUS8 don't bother me if the price point, heat treat and rest of the knife make sense; I have a bunch that check all those boxes. I enjoy owning and using them. To me, loss is the greatest threat to a folder, not lock failure, blade failure and the like; one way to mitigate the that risk is cost - hence my preference for so-called budget folders for many outings, travels and what not.

To the OP's point, I avoid:

Strider, Hinderer, Medford, Benchmade and Bark River for reasons that I will keep to myself out of respect for the solemnity of the forum but suffice it to say that the actual knives of these companies do interest me. I still own an Adamas and a 710 in M2 but others are gone.

I also, for reasons having more to do with the knives I avoid most Chinese knives, most Gerber knives as well as CRK&T anymore.

Conversely, and at the risk of thread drift, there are knives that I own where I am not enthralled with the company or owner(s) yet really like the knives and there are others where the knives are somewhere between meh and OK but I own the knives because I like the company or owner(s).

There are likely other brands that I would avoid if I were familiar with them, but rather than speak about that which I know not - I kept the list short, so the above list is not comprehensive, but merely limited by my personal knowledge and sentiments.
 
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flbandit said:
Do just what you're doing OP. Read, ask questions and (the fun part) handle as many knives as you can! We have a shop here in Central FL that has hundreds of knives on display, I can hang out there for hours. My faves are Case, Queen, Marbles (USA), and various others. I also have a Blackjack Tac-Ops 6 user that like really well. (My Cold Steel Recon 1 is a tank as well). Not so faves include, CRKT and Sabre for workmanship, and various imported brands for the same reason. Most important is buy what you like and enjoy.
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What shop in Central Florida? Looking for someplace close with that kind of selection.
 
...once Gerber knives were legendary blades...
OIP.yUAvydpN-BJte0LNSrSdSwHaHa
 
...I did not really read this thread...did anybody hate on Cold Steel...???...

...current EDC and favorite killing knives posted...is that like off topic here...???...

...they just happened to be Cold Steel and I thought I might see more mention on this thread than none...

...some of their stuff is a bit......cheap....

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UDIVER said:
Nothing at all, budget is more of a quality issue than it is price, there's plenty of knives that cost more than a Mora that are complete trash.

I have no issues with Mora's or SAK's...etc etc
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Oh okay I think I get what you mean, you class budget as poor quality not lower in price. I agree, I'd rather have 1 good knife over 4 crappy knives. When I say budget I usually mean good quality at a low price. I class my Real Steel E775 Griffin as a budget knife because it's only around £60 but you get a lot of features for that 60. I tend to shop in the 150-200 range as I feel I get the most for my money at that price, high end steel choices, good handle material, good fit and finish, good warranty etc.
But I also love well made lower price stuff, Mora are one of my fav brands and I can have a bunch of them without caring if they get lost, abused or even hand a bunch out as gifts.
 
SALTY said:
8Cr13Mov and AUS8 don't bother me if the price point, heat treat and rest of the knife make sense; I have a bunch that check all those boxes. I enjoy owning and using them. To me, loss is the greatest threat to a folder, not lock failure, blade failure and the like; one way to mitigate the that risk is cost - hence my preference for so-called budget folders for many outings, travels and what not.

To the OP's point, I avoid:

Strider, Hinderer, Medford, Benchmade and Bark River for reasons that I will keep to myself out of respect for the solemnity of the forum but suffice it to say that the actual knives of these companies do interest me. I still own an Adamas and a 710 in M2 but others are gone.

I also, for reasons having more to do with the knives I avoid most Chinese knives, most Gerber knives as well as CRK&T anymore.

Conversely, and at the risk of thread drift, there are knives that I own where I am not enthralled with the company or owner(s) yet really like the knives and there are others where the knives are somewhere between meh and OK but I own the knives because I like the company or owner(s).

There are likely other brands that I would avoid if I were familiar with them, but rather than speak about that which I know not - I kept the list short, so the above list is not comprehensive, but merely limited by my personal knowledge and sentiments.
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You hate your Benchmade Adamas in M2 and you are about to send it to me as a Christmas gift? that's very thoughtful of you, thanks a lot.
 
Londinium Armoury said:
You hate your Benchmade Adamas in M2 and you are about to send it to me as a Christmas gift? that's very thoughtful of you, thanks a lot.
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My BM Adamas is in D2, not M2. My BM 710 is in M2. They are my only two remaining BM knives.
I don't hate either of them; I just avoid Benchmade.
You're sending me a 1.75L bottle of Woodford Reserve for clearing this up for you?

Kinda reminds me of the three old graybeard bikers at a red light.
One says, "It's windy today."
The second biker responds, "No, it's Thursday."
The third says, "Me too; let's get a beer!"

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 
Londinium Armoury said:
Oh okay I think I get what you mean, you class budget as poor quality not lower in price. I agree, I'd rather have 1 good knife over 4 crappy knives. When I say budget I usually mean good quality at a low price. I class my Real Steel E775 Griffin as a budget knife because it's only around £60 but you get a lot of features for that 60. I tend to shop in the 150-200 range as I feel I get the most for my money at that price, high end steel choices, good handle material, good fit and finish, good warranty etc.
But I also love well made lower price stuff, Mora are one of my fav brands and I can have a bunch of them without caring if they get lost, abused or even hand a bunch out as gifts.
Click to expand...

Yeah man, I suggest Mora's to people all the time.

And I love Solo Alox SAK's and find myself buying too many of them, haha
 
SALTY said:
My BM Adamas is in D2, not M2. My BM 710 is in M2. They are my only two remaining BM knives.
I don't hate either of them; I just avoid Benchmade.
You're sending me a 1.75L bottle of Woodford Reserve for clearing this up for you?

Kinda reminds me of the three old graybeard bikers at a red light.
One says, "It's windy today."
The second biker responds, "No, it's Thursday."
The third says, "Me too; let's get a beer!"

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Click to expand...

I thought you had some rare sprint run of the Adamas in M2 haha, I can't even get a regular D2 Adamas in tan handles here, I'm waiting for them to come back in stock at my regular stor,e can't seem to find a non coated version either they always have black coating which I don't really like.
That's some strong whisky you drink, I've never tried any looks good.
 
UDIVER said:
Yeah man, I suggest Mora's to people all the time.

And I love Solo Alox SAK's and find myself buying too many of them, haha
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They released some nice collectors edition Alox models in blue handle scales last year, they got snapped up pretty fast, I didn't get a chance to buy one, they came in really nice little presentation boxes as well.
 
Londinium Armoury said:
They released some nice collectors edition Alox models in blue handle scales last year, they got snapped up pretty fast, I didn't get a chance to buy one, they came in really nice little presentation boxes as well.
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Yeah I have a few limited Alox models but I really wanted that Apollo 11 Tinker but they go for like $350-$400 now, its crazy.
 
UDIVER said:
Yeah I have a few limited Alox models but I really wanted that Apollo 11 Tinker but they go for like $350-$400 now, its crazy.
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If I knew they increased in value that much on the secondary market I would have put myself down on the pre order waiting lists, seem like a good investment, I'm not going to miss the next batch of collectors edition models. Do you happen to know if the Opinel collectors edition models appreciate in value as well? Because I can probably still get a few of those ones.
 
Budget need not always mean inferior. In every hobby I've been involved in, there is always a few brands at a lesser price point, that do nice work. Of course, which ones are in the knife world could be a whole other thread.
 
UDIVER said:
Rockefeller......right

You missed my point, I see a lot of people posting photos of 5 or 6 $30 "budget" knives in one photo...

Why not just save buying all that trash and purchase one or two good knives?

Would you rather have three $30 knives with 8cr or 420? or one $90 knife with S30v or 154?

Sorry, it doesn't make much sense to me.....
Click to expand...

Knife nuts like knives...Steel snobs like "better" steels. Having 3 knives, slipjoint, lockback and liner lock brings a lot more pleasure than one liner lock in 154CM. There are many budget knives with >0.8 % C and a hardness of >57RC that are good cutters and fun.

I stay away from SMKW and their associated brands because I have a personal dislike for the company and owners, plus what they did to the National Knife Museum was despicable.
 
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