Quantity or quality?

I carry a $320 Custom, $175 Mid-Tech and a $12 Opinel.

The big break for me was moving from collecting and fondling to using them.
 
I agree with the statement that price is not always an indicator of quality. My most expensive knives are a Hinderer xm-18 with a regrind and some Microtechs. I will eventually have a Sebenza when the 31s are easily accessible. I've got a mini morpho in my cart at DLT right now, debating on when to click buy. I'd love to have a Medford but just cant justify the money right now. All those knives are expensive to me but nothing compared to what alot of people on here spend on the knife they carry everyday. But I also have dozens of traditionals, probably 20+ Spydercos, ZTs, Bucks, etc. All those knives are quality despite varying prices. Love them all for different reasons. If you want to get a good balance of cost versus quality I'd look at Spyderco and Buck right now. Both will give you great heat treat and a variety of styles that wont break the bank.
 
For over ten years I edcd one knife every day. A Kershaw clash $25. Then one day I gave it to my daughter for her first knife. I always said I would never buy a knife over $50...insanity!! Then I bought my first expensive knife a pm2...fell in love. So this is what a 100 dollar knife is like. 3 months later and over $1200 later I have 13 spydies and a benchmade 940 ...what the hell happened?
 
Both I guess? I don't balk at cheap knives (I have quite a few cheap Kershaws, a few Chinese spydercos, a rat, a crkt...) but I really like my higher quality knives too (ZTs, USA and Taiwan spydercos). My most expensive knife is my 470 and I only paid 220 for it. I just find it hard to justify over 200 for a knife I intend to use! I'd love a hinderer, a crk, and a Shiro, but I can't really justify their prices even though I could afford one, except for the Shiro!

So I say, why not both! Cheap knives don't have to be junk, the cheap Kershaws and Spydercos are really good for the money imo, and rats are known to be good, and inexpensive.
 
I went the high quality route. It so happens my most expensive knife is probably my least favorite, but I do like them all. I don't have many and now add about 1 per year. Over time I'll have a lot of high quality knives and hope I continue to like them all. I do agree price does not equal quality, so one has to do A LOT of research before pulling the trigger, which naturally happens if you don't buy frequently and are shelling out a pretty penny (usually).
 
Jason Puckett said:
I'm at a crossroads in my collecting. Down one road is a few mid to high'ish knives with $200+ price tags, maybe two a year. Down the other road is a lot of sub 100 knives and maybe a few $100-$200 knives.

Which way did you guys choose to go and why?
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Oh only top shelf all the way.
OK . . . I'm lying.

I don't regret buying my ~$300 knives and there is a ~$500 knife in my future here somewhere between now and Christmas . . . maybe . . . I hope.

Lately, to my great (and surprising) enjoyment I have gone super inexpensive on a few knives and am fully satisfied (for the price) :
  • Outdoor Edge Fish Fillet & Game Boning Folding Knife with Non-Slip Rubberized TPR Handle, Nylon Sheath, Pocket Clip. If I were to design a handle this would be it; fiber reinforced but has very significant and effective traction patches on it. Nice and long, nice and thin AND IT'S GREEN ! ! ! The only thing I would change is add HAP-40 blade steel and I would pay $ 200 for it rather than the $17 that it cost me brand new off the shelf. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
  • Opinel #12 (a big honkin" Opinel . . . but still thin, strong CARBON blade (can't break it off even if bent way over) good food prep knife. Once I solved the blade pivot binding with water on it by using candle wax this thing is a super useful and satisfying knife for me to use ! ! ! !
  • Kersaw Chill. I bought two I like them so much. One to mod, one to keep stock because it is great as it is.
  • Kersaw Strobe. Such a well designed knife. Again I would pay many times what this knife sells for if it had M4 steel in it.
  • Last and perhaps least (I haven't received it yet) the Cold Steel "20K" Kudu. I can't say but I look forward to finding out.
  • Case Tribal Lock, nice solid EDC love the peach seed bone handle jigging.
  • Case Copper Lock, digging the dark blue bone, the hint of a finger guard that greatly contributes to the refined look of the knife when folded.
But yeah . . . if I don't see a screaming deal (returned but new with no box) on a Case Trapper with White SPARXX handle and black shield (I have the red shield one) . . . I may drop some serious bucks on some higher end steel and Ti; not saying what.
And will even if I don't get the Case first.
 
3fifty7 said:
I may have missed it somewhere but what does your current collection look like?
I first I wanted to try several mfgs, steels, handles, locks etc. I also wanted to get my numbers up once I began looking at others collections, mostly here.
Then consolidated my taste, some costing more than others. I’ve got a dozen Case Tiny Toothpicks that I really dig and they are all in the $50-$150 range. My more modern folders run in the $150-$400 range, for now.
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So right now it consists of a TRM Neutron, Spyderco Smock, and a small honey badger. I sold several others to be able to afford the Neutron, though. Namely a Delica, a SOG Terminus XR, Boker Urban Trapper, Native 5, and maybe a couple I'm forgetting. I technically have a Real Steel Metamorph but I'm trying to sell it so I don't count it as part of my collection.

I already started down the road of trading off "lesser" knives for nicer ones I guess. I'm saving up for an Atom (mine should be ready any time now), and I've had to pass on several cheaper knives since I know I've got that one coming soon. I'm a big fan of instant gratification, so holding off on it in favor of assumed "greater" reward later is counter to my nature.
 
After buying a Sebenza I realized my spending problem wasn’t going to get any better. So I started making knives :)

I have a lot of money invested in equipment now instead of folders. Ha.

But I would focus on $100-$150 user knives if I were going to do it all over again. My $300+ folders get little heavy use (even if I do carry them often) my $150 knives get tons of heavy use. Maybe it’s because I know they aren’t my nicest knives so I’m rougher in them ???
 
Oh yah and a SAK Alox Electrician just because I have always wanted one but have wanted other knives more. Now that I am getting caught up on wanting I figured now is the time.
 
gazz98 said:
I think *most* folks start out with quantity over quality. They try different brands, locks, blade shapes, steel, etc. As you learn what you like or don't like, you start refining from there. At some point, people start to spend more $ on knives and thin out out ones they don't carry much anymore.

The most I ever spent on a knife is around $140 or so. Due to poor financial decisions in my past (started my own business and failed), I try to save as much as possible and reload my retirement fund. I am content with my ZT 350, Delica 4 FFG, SAK or LM, or an Ontario Rat 1 in D2. I have no desire for a Sebenza, Shiro, custom, etc. I found what works for me, you need to find what works for you.
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I guess I'm not "most folks". I have always bought what I liked. I don't have huge expectations with a folding knife and don't really even look at anything seriously over $200. This works for me overall. Sure I have urges to get something a lot more expensive, but I don't give into those urges.

I have acquired a small pile of knives and haven't thinned out the herd in the least. They just get dumped into a Rubbermaid tub and they stay there until I might on a whim want to look at something I got a couple years ago and tossed in their (laid is a better term actually). It is not wealth; it's primarily laziness in terms of selling and being mostly unable to establish a market price. So, they sit and the pile grows larger. I don't worry about the knife black hole.
 
Wowbagger said:
Oh only top shelf all the way.
OK . . . I'm lying.

I don't regret buying my ~$300 knives and there is a ~$500 knife in my future here somewhere between now and Christmas . . . maybe . . . I hope.

Lately, to my great (and surprising) enjoyment I have gone super inexpensive on a few knives and am fully satisfied (for the price) :
  • Outdoor Edge Fish Fillet & Game Boning Folding Knife with Non-Slip Rubberized TPR Handle, Nylon Sheath, Pocket Clip. If I were to design a handle this would be it; fiber reinforced but has very significant and effective traction patches on it. Nice and long, nice and thin AND IT'S GREEN ! ! ! The only thing I would change is add HAP-40 blade steel and I would pay $ 200 for it rather than the $17 that it cost me brand new off the shelf. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
  • Opinel #12 (a big honkin" Opinel . . . but still thin, strong CARBON blade (can't break it off even if bent way over) good food prep knife. Once I solved the blade pivot binding with water on it by using candle wax this thing is a super useful and satisfying knife for me to use ! ! ! !
  • Kersaw Chill. I bought two I like them so much. One to mod, one to keep stock because it is great as it is.
  • Kersaw Strobe. Such a well designed knife. Again I would pay many times what this knife sells for if it had M4 steel in it.
  • Last and perhaps least (I haven't received it yet) the Cold Steel "20K" Kudu. I can't say but I look forward to finding out.
  • Case Tribal Lock, nice solid EDC love the peach seed bone handle jigging.
  • Case Copper Lock, digging the dark blue bone, the hint of a finger guard that greatly contributes to the refined look of the knife when folded.
But yeah . . . if I don't see a screaming deal (returned but new with no box) on a Case Trapper with White SPARXX handle and black shield (I have the red shield one) . . . I may drop some serious bucks on some higher end steel and Ti; not saying what.
And will even if I don't get the Case first.
Click to expand...

I'm with you there, but my fav kershaw is the ken onion design leek, in the standard 14c28n with alox handle... in terms of edc slicing, I can't find anything that comes close

...the closest is maybe my opi #8

and for the best quality traditional, it's the bf 2018 buck 2 bladed stockman in cpm154 and elk scales (unbelievably well under $100)

I still carry the leek most, but I also do carry my gail bradley 2 in m4 when I know heavier duty is needed

(if hiking or camping then ofc I add a good fixed blade into the mix)
 
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buy a spyderco carribean! only knife you will ever need and one of the only ones that is fully rust proof and still keeps a nice edge and lc200n is easy to sharpen!
 
I went through the same process when I started collecting watches, and I'm trying to avoid it with knives. I decided after a couple years that I'd rather have a few nice pieces than a pile of mediocre pieces. The problem with that is the definition of "nice" keeps creeping.
 
So when deciding what to buy it is first limited to knives within the budget at the time and then limited to the knives that strike me the most at the time.
 
Jason Puckett said:
I'm at a crossroads in my collecting. Down one road is a few mid to high'ish knives with $200+ price tags, maybe two a year. Down the other road is a lot of sub 100 knives and maybe a few $100-$200 knives.

Which way did you guys choose to go and why?
Click to expand...
I buy the cheapest knife available that I really want. Started out buying knives for $10ish. As i learned more, i eventually got an expensive $30 Boker subcom. At the time it was a big spend, but for a great, fancy steel like aus8, well I had to see what the difference was:). After that was a sandvik kershaw ram for around $60, a bd1 manix2 for about $80. At that point i started liking specialty locks and wanted to try different steels and thats when i was screwed. Now its rare that I'll see a sub $50 knife that would get much carry time, but I'm happy when they come along. Most that interest me now are $200+. If id have gotten them at first I'd have missed out on all the fun i had collecting cheap knives, learning from them and taking the next step. If I was the type of gear person that just wants to know they have the best of the best I'd have bought one real nice knife and been done, but as a collector it is more about the journey to me.
 
BenchCo Spydermade said:
... If id have gotten them at first I'd have missed out on all the fun i had collecting cheap knives, learning from them and taking the next step. If I was the type of gear person that just wants to know they have the best of the best I'd have bought one real nice knife and been done, but as a collector it is more about the journey to me.
Click to expand...
I feel the same way. The journey is big part of the fun. I did it with firearms to some degree, and been doing it with knives. You reach a point where you may be critical of choices others make with knives. Then you get past that and are happy they found something that suits them for now and perhaps will make the journey too.
 
I'm not really in either boat.

I have about 7 folders I'm guessing, most are chris reeve and rest are spyderco.

To me they are quality but some would say they're decent to good.

I probably will not spend more than 1000 on a knife anymore (have with fixed and chef knives).

I'm pretty much done with buying anymore knives until I either lose them or they get worn out, and I doubt these s35vn wear out quickly.
 
Jason Puckett said:
I'm at a crossroads in my collecting. Down one road is a few mid to high'ish knives with $200+ price tags, maybe two a year. Down the other road is a lot of sub 100 knives and maybe a few $100-$200 knives.

Which way did you guys choose to go and why?
Click to expand...
The things I cut don't seem to care if I use a $10 Rough Rider or a $450 Chris Reeve knife.
 
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