Smith&Wesson Extreme Ops CK44CS

sjhong

sjhong

Joined
Jan 28, 2010
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299
A friend of mine showed me this knife and I thought it was pretty well built and with good materials (440C blade, G10 handle). Doing some research, I found out the average retail price is about US$30.

Anyone care to explain how such a nice knife is so cheap? Is it because it's made in China?

Also, I've read there are some knockoffs of this knife around. How would I tell the difference? And why would somebody care to produce a knockoff of such a cheap knife?
 
sjhong said:
A friend of mine showed me this knife and I thought it was pretty well built and with good materials (440C blade, G10 handle). Doing some research, I found out the average retail price is about US$30.

Anyone care to explain how such a nice knife is so cheap? Is it because it's made in China?
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It's a low quality knife made in China by Taylor Cutlery. S&W has nothing to do with it other than they license their name/logo to Taylor. 440C steel would be fine at that price point, but the heat treat on S&W knives is exceptionally poor.

Honestly, for the money, they're not horrible knives, but you can do better for the same price with a Kershaw, Byrd, or Buck.

Also, I've read there are some knockoffs of this knife around. How would I tell the difference? And why would somebody care to produce a knockoff of such a cheap knife?
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It'd be delicious irony if another company was ripping off Taylor's knives, as they're well known for ripping off designs themselves. Of course, it's entirely possible that Taylor could be knocking off their own knives too. What else could you expect from a company that made knives for the KKK? :thumbdn:
 
Planterz said:
It's a low quality knife made in China by Taylor Cutlery. S&W has nothing to do with it other than they license their name/logo to Taylor. 440C steel would be fine at that price point, but the heat treat on S&W knives is exceptionally poor.

Honestly, for the money, they're not horrible knives, but you can do better for the same price with a Kershaw, Byrd, or Buck.

It'd be delicious irony if another company was ripping off Taylor's knives, as they're well known for ripping off designs themselves. Of course, it's entirely possible that Taylor could be knocking off their own knives too. What else could you expect from a company that made knives for the KKK? :thumbdn:
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Thanks for clarifying that. Just judging by its appearance and feel, it actually looked like it could take some serious abuse.
 
sjhong said:
A friend of mine showed me this knife and I thought it was pretty well built and with good materials (440C blade, G10 handle). Doing some research, I found out the average retail price is about US$30.

Anyone care to explain how such a nice knife is so cheap? Is it because it's made in China?

Also, I've read there are some knockoffs of this knife around. How would I tell the difference? And why would somebody care to produce a knockoff of such a cheap knife?
Click to expand...

Because it is a piece of crap. I wouldn't give 30 cents for one.
 
here in the philippines there are knock offs of SW folders going at about 3-4 dollars apiece. ironic no? these really look and feel like the originals.
 
A couple of weeks ago I got a new knife "fix" by buying a SW knife on sale at Big 5 Sports. It's the big honker with a 4.5" 440C blade, all black, drop point, no serrations, built in seatbelt cutter and glass breaker. I call it my "irony" knife because it's a ripoff of a DO ripoff of an ER. It's pretty solid with reasonable fit and finish. I'd never spend serious money on a knife like this but for $15.00 it's fun to play with.
 
They're okay for simple beaters, and if you lose one, you're not out a lot of $$$. Taylor S&W's are what got me back into knives 5-6 years ago.

I don't know that I'd really put one through serious abuse though.

thx - cpr
 
I got one of them New Army Knives by Taylor Brand that SMKW has. It has become my new EDC. I really like it.
 
I have one S&W by Taylor Knives, the SWFL2, that I bought a few years ago. I got it on impulse because I really liked the look of the recurve drop point blade. I also liked the all stainless construction and the frame lock.

I thought it looked like a Darrel Ralph design since it had some similarities to my Camillus EDC and Camillus Dominator. Mr. Ralph kindly responded to my e-mail and confirmed that he had indeed designed the knife, but he noted that he had no control over the production, including the heat treat.

Lately, I've been carrying this knife a lot. It is easy to carry since it is quite flat. The thumb disk makes it easy to flip open, and the lock up has been consistent and solid. It takes an adequate edge and has worked well for my everyday cutting chores of opening mail, opening plastic packaging, and breaking down boxes. It has been easy to sharpen with crock sticks. As others have mentioned, the low price makes it easy to carry, compred to my more costly knives.

I do question whether the blade is 440C. The brochure on the Taylor Knives web site says it is 440C, but the label on the blade says 440.
 
orca8589 said:
They're okay for simple beaters, and if you lose one, you're not out a lot of $$$. Taylor S&W's are what got me back into knives 5-6 years ago.

I don't know that I'd really put one through serious abuse though.

thx - cpr
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The same with me. I carried a couple of Spydercos for many years, but it was the M&P knives that caught my attention and got me heavily into knives. The S&W badged knives quickly led to other things and most of those S&W knives are now gone other than a handful kept mostly because they have zero resale value.

At the $30 pricepoint there is much better to be had for the money. A case in point is the Boker CLB knives such as the Trance, Direkt, G4 and Hyper. The S&W knives aren't the same league, and when Boker says "440C" they mean 440C.
 
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