wondering if you feel more joy in having a knife you spent a lot on meet or exceed your expectations than one that was more reasonable in price? The same goes for level of disappointment.
Yep, I was like a child on Christmas when my Warcraft Tanto arrived. And it even exceeded my exprectations which gave me even more satisfaction.Greater likelihood of increased "joy" - not necessarily.
Depends on how much the $ means to you. Someone who has scrimped and saved to buy that "special" knife at a price higher than s/he can usually afford to spend is likely to be extremely delighted by the purchase, as long as it meets expectations. See below. However, for someone who has lots of $, it's "just" another knife and it has no significant value, except to the extent the knife is "unique or special" in some way -- in which case, the purchase could still provide a great deal of enjoyment, even to a rick f*ck who has $ to burn. LOL!
Greater likelihood of increased "disappointment" - yes, definitely, if the knife does not live up to expectations based on the price. The higher the price, the greater the expectations.
Disappointment? Yes. Joy? I don’t think so. IMO it’s more about what a person values in a knife. I have been more thrilled with a cheap Rat 1 than the much more expensive Benchmade 761.
As of late, increased cost has resulted in increased disappointment for me. I guess I'm a detail/ fit and finish kinda guy and it seems like my favorite companies (ZT and Spyderco) are increasing costs without increasing attention to detail in my experience. My recent purchases from both had sub-par edges and even a pre-scratched DLC finish on the blade. Recently stepped up to Hinderer, and while I love it, it still has little issues like the wood scales not matching up with liner right and an off-center blade (which I can probably fix when I take it apart for cleaning).
Maybe its time for me to try some different companies, like Reate perhaps. But I do find with satisfaction with budget companies like Civivi and some Artisan Cutlery models. If they have little issues, it doesn't hurt as much because of the lower costs.
no, in fact im often disappointment in more expensive purchases because i can enjoy cheaper knives just as much, as long as the knife has solid lockup and is made well for the price.
in fact let me show you my most two recent purchases, i cant stop playing with them, and each of them were only around $11 shipped. both have solid lockup
I'm more thrilled with a reasonably priced knife which performs well.
I'm always looking for the least expensive item which will give satisfactory results.
The concept of needing "the best" is not in my mindset.
And I'm a LOT more disappointed in an expensive knife which doesn't quite provide what I wanted.
Maybe you ll get new favorite companies.