Hibben Knives

[Orion]

I don't know how to say it any clearer so I'll just repeat myself for the reading comprehension impaired:

Any United knife will perfrom any tasks sufficiently for 95% of the knife buying public.

NOWHERE, NOT IN ANY PLACE, did I ever say that United knives are of comparable quality to customs.

I think the car analogy still holds.
If I wanted a user knife I would definitely buy the spyderco. If I wanted it to sit on the TV, I would buy the Hibben UC. I am one of those fortunate enough to be able to have both. If I was an average Joe, I would spend $25 on a Colt folder before I would plop down $60 for a Spyderco.

There really is no argument. The fact that the Hibben fantasy line is the most highly anticipated knife release every year speaks for itself.

I've said it before....
I have a couple hundred pieces in my collection and when friends come over and look at them, I can say, "Hey, look at this brand new Benchmade or Spyderco" and the response I get is, "yeah, yeah... whatever" as they run to the mantle to gawk over the Hibben Odyssey. Now, I do get some pretty good reactions when I show them my Nemesis!
Now, that I think about it, the last time I got in this argument was on sword forum. The same attitude seems to be prevalent there concerning swords. I own a lot of wall hanger swords, too.
I can go out and buy a Picasso for $1000000 and hang it on the wall next to my Hibbens and Marto swords. Sure, a Benchmade or $50 Spyderco will out-cut it and is more versatile and durable. But then again, the Picasso was not designed to cut anything. Think about it in this way when you think of art knives. Even I would be of the opinion that people who buy $1000000 paintings are morons. I happen to like knives therefore when I see art presented in knife form it appeals to me. I have used one of my Ravens on occasion ( I have 4, BTW) and the only problem I have had was the poor edge holding. I have never snapped the blade in half nor broken the handle (and it has been dropped several times). And the good side of the sharpening is that it resharpens rather quickly and easily.

Peace-
Orion

 

[Kkimo]

Hmmmm... Yanno, I noticed something here. The folks who are saying that you can buy whatever you want and as long as your happy with it great, are much less inclined to get all worked up than those who espouse the "That knife's a POS, why would anyone buy it?" line.
Why is that?
Why does it bother you what other people do with their money?

Dave

P.S. The "cheapest" knife I own is a Delica. The closet thing to a custom I have is a William Henry. I'm more or less middle of the road. I'd probably never buy a Hibben, cause I collect folders.

P.P.S. hmmm upon further review, this looks kinda like a troll.... kewl

P.P.P.S. It's a good natured troll.

P.P.P.P.S. just trying to see how many post post posts I can get in here.

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Snicker-snee

[This message has been edited by Kkimo (edited 04-01-2000).]

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Orion :

NOWHERE, NOT IN ANY PLACE, did I ever say that United knives are of comparable quality to customs.

What does this mean then (referring to one of your UC blades) :

as for utility, it can't be beaten.

What does the "Raven" look like. I did a search for it but all I found was this hand sketch of a "modified Raven" :

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 04-01-2000).]

 

[Orion]

Cliff-
What I meant by that was that for what most people (again, 95% of the knife using community) cinsider utility, such as peeling apples, etc... that it was just as good to them because they do not need a $500 knife. I realize that better knives can withstand more abuse and hold their edge longer, etc., but many people just want a decent knife for decent money that they can cut with. These people probably only use their knives once a month to open mail and stuff like that.
As for the Raven, if the modified one you saw was the Star Trek version, it is still pretty close to the original. It is a pretty plain sub hilt fighter bit it has a very nice belly that skins very well. The Star Trek version has been fancied up a bit.
Anyway, Cliff, while I've got you here I have a question...
Are you going to be doing any tests (read:destroying) on any of the BK&T knives from Camillus? I would be very interested in any tests that you do because I am very attracted to these knives. They look like good heavy duty users.

Thanks-
Orion

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Orion :

many people just want a decent knife for decent money that they can cut with.

Sure, performance to cost ratios are evaluated very differently depending on your needs and income. I have a custom fillet blade which is about 20 times the cost of a production one you can buy at Canadian tire. My father who is a fisherman would chose the custom blade. My uncle who does a lot of recreation fishing would do the same. My friends who only fish every now and again would not buy the custom as a few hundred dollars for a blade that will fillet about a dozen small trout the entire summer is not overly practical.

The point remains though that the abilities of the custom are far ahead of the production. Are they worth the money? They are to me and many others, not to some. And you are probably correct in saying for the vast majority, the chosen blade would be the $10 production. But of course the members of Bladeforums are a bit skewed in their purchases, this is a Blade discussion forum after all, odds are they will pick the high end blade every time.

Are you going to be doing any tests (read:destroying) on any of the BK&T knives from Camillus?

If they want, right now the only folder I am seriously interested in the the new one coming out by Busse Combat.

-Cliff

 

[Jim March]

Moron was too strong a term. Sorry. I have a personal dislike of owning a piece that "looks cool" and cannot actually perform, and that describes most of the fantasy series.

I'm not saying they don't perform because of the steel, I'm saying the basic designs are usually unwieldy, weigh too much, and the guards inhibit wrist flexibility. They're "fighters that can't actually fight", which to me translates as "laughable".

Here's a car analogy for ya: you know those fiberglass kit cars based on a VW Bug engine and running gear, that look like a Ferrari or whatever? If I had such a critter with a stock VW bug motor and suspention in it, I'd be embarassed to be seen with it in public. But that doesn't mean it's a bad concept, it means you need a good pro-built performance bug motor in that bad boy, make it go as good as it looks

. And bugs can indeed be hopped up - I once saw a bug break 10 seconds in the quarter without turbo, blower or nitrous and running pump gas, the first in the nation to do so.

But "all show, no go" is a joke, to me anyways.

The Hibben pieces that CAN fight include the entire "basic street defense series" such as that cool little 2" claw thingie and the throwers, the Kenpo knife, the wire-wrap dagger and one or two of the fantasy pieces in a pinch if you didn't mind lookin' funny

. As basic street defense, they're fine. The dagger makes a good RenFaire dress piece that again, could actually fight.

Without question, Hibben is capable of designing a fighter. It's actually *good* that people on a budget can buy a decent, reasonably well designed "streetfighter" because the steel is marginal but adequate for "reserved for defense only" duty.

My problem isn't with Hibben. It's with those fantasy freakshows

.

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On a slight tangent: how come Gil has had good results selling designs to United when they utterly screwed Harald Moeller? The various United throwers (outside of the Hibben line) usually bear a strong resemblance to the Moeller Viper series handmade throwers. Per Harald, that's because he used to be a United dealer and sent them samples of the Viper while working out a licensing deal. Dunno when that was. They completely ripped him off, stole the design, he never saw a cent and swore off ever having anything to do with 'em.

But Gil does just fine with 'em.

WTF?

Jim