Does expensive = better?

[acastell]

Very obvious that we have many different types of knife owners with many different budgets. I view my knives as a companion. I purchase a knife that will do the job I ask it to do as well as sit on my desk when I am at work.

I simply would not be happy carrying a cheap knife with synthetic handles with me everyday. $300 for a knife is peanuts. I went to lunch in San Francisco yesterday, Friday, and spent 135 for three of us. We all know where that money ultimately ends up. I plan to have my knives for the rest of my life. My cell phone (Blackberry) cost $400 that will be obsolete if 2 years! $300 for a William Henry mother of pearl scale knife, a bargain!

Now, if you want to talk about crazy prices, go look at Pateks and Langes...AND, these are cheap when compared to FP Journes.

Finally, my 'expensive' knives will probably cost me less to own than a cheap knife as I can ultimately sell them. Not sure there is a big secondary market for one of those $30 bucks...that knife will cost you $30 to own, period. A $300 knife, if bought right, may cost you nothing to own, as it is very likely you can sell it for $300...

Each to his own...make my own 'nice'!

AC

 

[AntDog]

Nope. Like dullone said, diminishing returns hits hard at $100-150. I do get more satisfaction from my $450 folder (which I have never regretted buying) than one of my ~$100 ones, but as far as overall function goes, I don't think I've gained much.
While very crude in comparison, and not much fun to play with, my $8 Opinel outcuts any, and all, of my other folders.
Nothing wrong with wanting something nicer, and "better", though

I totally agree. You can pay more, and you DO get more to an extent, but it is usually just a cosmetic difference. For $100-$150, you should be able to get one HELL of a knife. One that should last you for quite a long while. (if not, forever). Three knives that can get the job done are the Al Mar Sere 2000, Spyderco Military, and Benchmade 710. They are all around $100, and they will all give many, many years of service. They do have differences, but those three knives will do whatever you need a folding knife to do.

So, you CAN get a nicer knife for more money, but will it outperform a 710, a S2K, or a Millie? I don't think so. I think that up above that price level, the rest is just gravy.

 

[Sticky]

Expensive doesn't = better, but Ergonomics and overall design and execution does for me anyways. Materials used are secondary and incidental to those 2 things in my book. You could have the tightest tolerances, best materials etc but if its an awkward to use or uncomfortable knife, its a piece of sh!t to me.

 

[GRMike]

Very obvious that we have many different types of knife owners with many different budgets.

Acastell is right as rain up to the word "with." It's not a matter of different budgets (though we certainly have them), but it's certainly a matter of different types of knife owners--or consumers, as marketers would say.

A knife is a bundle of features, like any other product. It has a blade, or blades, of a certain length, width, steel, grind, shape, etc. It has a handle of a certain material, shape, locking mechanism (or not), etc. It has a certain manufacturer and model name. It has a certain price. These are all features, and there are more. You and I pick knives that have the combination--the bundle--of features we want, or as close as we can get out of what we're aware of out there and what we can get access to.

It's important to realize--and lots of my clients don't know this--that "quality" is not a feature. Quality is a construct that depends on the individual. Generally, as your knowledge of knives grows, your idea of quality changes in one of two ways. You may look for better fit and finish, for example, higher-end steel, rarer handle materials, more sought-after brands. You may conclude that it is necessary to spend more and more to get suitable degrees of quality--that is very common with consumer products, and it has nothing to do with getting higher and higher levels of product performance. A $20 Timex will keep better time than a $2,000 Rollei, for example. On the other hand, as your knowledge grows, you may conclude that the peak of the performance curve is available to discerning consumers at quite a bit less than the peak of the price curve.

The beginning of all wisdom, as far as marketers are concerned, is market segmentation. There is always a segment, a group of consumers, that wants a low-cost product period. There is often a segment that wants a high-tech, or high-concept, product--something hot, new, innovative. There is often a segment that wants a high-style, high-fashion product--something that conveys the owner's taste, style, discrimination. There is often a segment that wants value--something that performs extremely well in proportion to its cost. There are often other segments. You have to study the market to know what the segments are, but I suggest if you read enough posts on this site you'll find evidence of these segments and maybe some others.

 

[ExamonLyf]

Simply sounds like "Different Strokes for Different Folks" to me...

I think it's important for all of us to realize that we come from a variety of backgrounds and goals related to this hobby..., and those variables are what many are discussing here. Budgets/spendable $$$$ were also mentioned, which I do think comes into play as well.

Hell, the average person can probably go all the way through life with one or two knives of decent quality and be fine. A Buck 112, a relatively inexpensive Dozier fixed blade, and maybe a camp axe would have certainly got me through my post Marine Corps life without need for anything else, and I suspect that's true for most of us (not all certainly).

As mentioned, there have been so many discussions on this, that I rarely comment and just read what everyone has to say, but some important dynamics across the broad spectrum are lost when we don't identify our goals, reasons.., etc., for paying a significant amount for a piece of cutlery. Sometimes guys/gals just pop for something on the spur of the moment that strikes them, and they don't even know what they payed for.

I suppose what I rarely see addressed in the barrage of answers that come out of these threads labelled "Does Expensive = Better".., or words to that effect ~~> are some qualifiers....(i.e., what are we calling "expensive".., and how do we define "better").

Example: I've been at the knife collecting thing a long time, but like most, never thought of myself as a "collector" 30 years ago. Every knife I bought (whether I needed it or not...lol)....was to "use". These days.., I will probably cut something almost never with 95% of what I buy, because I have what I need to cut.

As acastell touched on.., there is component that somehow gets missed (or fuzzy) with more pricey stuff. ~~> If we are defining "better".., as a $500 custom knife that will cut five times better, and last 5 times longer than the best knife we can get for $100.., I'd have to say that would be a tough search. Also.., the examples you have all given are excellent.., but very difficult to qualify as The Answer ~~> which I suspect we will never all agree one.....(silly me)....lol.

Here's my $.02.., and of course I am now speaking from an investment/collector prospective. If I buy Knife X for $700.., and sell if for $1100 in the future.., then yes..., more expensive means ~~~> "Better"....

Over-and-Out....

 

[stich]

GRMike hit it for me. Value. Something that performs very well for the money. I have yet to see a $450 pocketknife perform very well for the money, and I haven't bought a companion since I was an 18 year old buck private in Juarez. Even my pets are freebies, not counting the Vet I suppose if I was wealthy, lonely, and incapable of conversation things would be different.

I have to admit that a Sebenza is a fine piece of craftsmanship, much like a Lexus. But a Lexus performs better than my Tahoe, and a Sebenza does not perform better than my Military. A Camp Tramp presumably performs slightly better than my Becker CU7, but does not justify a 300% cost increase in my book. It is a matter of value. Certainly others see things differently. I often make fun of folks who buy a brand new car, then live in the box it came in. It's all a matter of priorities and values and the need for companionship