The new Drunken: A tweaked SpydieChef?

mordhaus said:
Exactly this. The 0462 has milling on the titanium lock side and precision milling/chamfering on the CF side. It has milled pockets to lighten the weight on the titanium side. It has a hardened steel insert. It runs on industry standard bearings, which allows for user swap to ceramic if they choose and the bearings are still arguably better than the new proprietary bearing setup that Spyderco adopted post-Advocate. If you go to a couple of websites and input a coupon code, you can get it for around 220 USD like I did. You explain to me how you go from that to the price of the Drunken with the addition of a bit more milling, a nested liner, and some proprietary bearings?

You can't compare this to Olamic, Reate, and other mid-tech makers to explain the price. The quality level and customer service from those companies are much higher than Spyderco for the most part. They also produce far fewer numbers than Spyderco and still manage to stay in that price range.

The simple fact is that this knife, regardless of it's quality is priced well outside of the range it should be at. I predict a similar situation to certain other models that were a little less overpriced (Slycz Bowie, Southard, Positron, and Nirvana). The sales will be lackluster and the knife will be discontinued, leading to deep discounts. I'll just wait till then to pick one up, thanks.
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Where do you get that ZT 0462 has milling on the cf scale and ti side? If anything, the milled and contoured cf scale and lock side of Drunken are MUCH better and MUCH refined than ZT 0462.

And how is the quality level of Reate's custom service much higher than Spyderco? (I am not knocking Reate)

I am not saying that the price of Drunken is great but some of what you said is just not true.
 
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sharp_edge said:
Where do you get that ZT 0462 has milling on the cf scale and ti side? If anything, the milled and contoured cf scale and lock side of Drunken are MUCH better and MUCH refined than ZT 0462.

And how is the quality level of Reate's custom service much higher than Spyderco? (I am not knocking Reate)

I am not saying that the price of Drunken is great but some of what you said is just not true.
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I beg to differ. When you mill something, you input a program and have the system run it. Unless you are getting into sick levels of detail, the only real constraint is the time involved on the machine in comparing milling. Milling is also MORE than just etching a pattern into a surface, chamfering edges and putting specific angle grinds on a surface is similar. To highlight this, I am posting pics of MY 0462 with said items shown.

As far as Reate, they bend over backwards to help you, even if you are the one who screwed up the knife. As an example, I bought a second hand Reate Wave a while back that had some issues that weren't made totally clear when I got it. Items like slightly stripped screws and a centering issue. Reate only made me pay to ship the knife in, even though they could have simply said I was not the original owner and made me pay for all the work. I had an Epoch from them later that had pivot issues and they shipped me a brand new pivot/hardware.

I've personally had Spyderco in the past charge me for shipping out a replacement clip that broke off my Manix 2 and, up until recently, if you took a Spyderco apart you voided the warranty. I also had a Spyderco Southard that had the issue with the bearing races being cupped. After getting replacement races and having the same issue, I ended up selling it. Later I bought one again that had the platonicforms upgrade kit, it worked fine. Spyderco to this date has not addressed or recalled the Southard or Domino over cupped races, even though they have been notified of it. They simply discontinued them and redesigned their bearings to a different proprietary format that fixed the issue.

Don't get me wrong, I love Spyderco knives and when they get it right, they are amazing. But they screw up in a lot of areas as well and don't own up to it all the time. I've owned quite a few of their knives and currently still have a DLT PM2 and a KC Pakkawood Endura, both of which are great, but I've had some major headaches with their knives as well.

Also adding two WE Knife Co Pics of full TI knives with good amounts of milling, one of which blows the level of milling of the Drunken out of the water. Both are significantly cheaper (Array 250/Eschaton 350). I could go on for days, the 0620 with custom machining/full ti/stp (220), the 0920 with full ti/milling (240).

The point is, they are making a severe mistake with this price point. Especially since the bulk of their base leans towards lower prices. If they release at this price, which I am sure they will, then they will get dedicated Sinkevich fans and few FOTM midtech buyers. They will not sell enough to make it more than another expensive knife they will end up discontinuing.

PS: As you can see in the pics, there is milling on the ti side as I said. It is not much, very basic, but it is there. The Drunken is more detailed, to be sure, but once you put a part in the machine it is just an issue of time involved. I don't lie and really don't appreciate the insinuation that I did.
 

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Even if/ actually, when the Drunken does get discontinued, prolly 63%-65% off MSRP, it'll still be $220 or above. Right about where most would expect it to be anyways?
It actually may be smart pricing??
(That's assuming the math is correct)
I just cannot see how this is a $400+ knife.
 
sharp_edge said:
I think most people (myself included) think this knife is too expensive or overpriced because the majority of Spyderco folders have been in the sub-$200 range and only a few in the $200-$300 range. If the drunken were made by, say, Reate or Olamic in exactly the same setting par the logo and the spydiehole, few would call it overpriced. In addition to the big name Sinkevich, other things like the drunken pattern on both scales, the steel reinforced integral lock (which I don't know exactly is about), and the nested liner all add to the cost of manufacturing and the price.
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So this knife will cost almost as much as a Rassenti Spydie collab like the Nirvana? I suppose they are just trying to put out a really high end piece for people who want to have a Spydie that can compete with all the popular midtecha out there.

In that sense it is a good idea. For those comparing the knife to a ZT remember that the 0561 came with a very deep milled diamond checker pattern on the ti and g10 side. But to compare Spyderco to ZT seems abit unfair as no one except for some Chinese makers gets knives in for so cheap as ZT.

Alas I will probably pass on this one because when I have 400$ or more to spend on a knife there are too many other interesting models out there. I had the same dilemma choosing hetween the Nirvana and a large 21 Sebbie. I just felt like, if I am dropping this kind of loot then I might as well get the Sebbie.

Also the whole stainless steel liner under the cf scale on titanium framelock knives seems abit cheap to me. For 400$ I want ti on both sides. Just a silly pet peeve. Whats the point of having half the knife be lightweight composite if there is also a steel liner under there. (Strength I know)

Still it is a beautiful knife. I’m sure they will sell.
 
Always other things to consider as well.
Like how well Spyderco treats their employees.
I'm sure good salary and good benefits aren't cheap.
They do a lot for the community as I understand it.
Much to consider on the whole....
 
Just a bit off subject, but, Spyderco has some absolutely awesome fixed blades out this year!
The Ankerson/Sanders namely. I'll definitely be buying Spydie Fixed Blades this year :)
 
Looks like a great knife, but I can't see myself spending $400 on this. I don't think this will be a big seller at that price point. Closer to $200 would have me reaching for my wallet.
 
`br4dz- said:
Spyderco has lost their damn mind with pricing.
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Indeed. They have far too many knives with high prices these days. I have only purchased 1 Spyderco in 2018 (Para 3). I refuse to buy any more with the pricing that they have in place.

Edited to add some stuff: I understand with all of that milling and the materials used, and the fact that it is a new model adds to the price. It's not a common model like the Military is. The Military will sell no matter what. I just didn't think that people have been really wanting a $400 Spyderco. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but I see a lot of similar opinions. The Delica is no longer a bargain. I don't think people will pay $75 for VG-10 and plastic handles. It used to be a bargain at $50 and at $62 but not $75. My opinion of course. ;)
 
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`br4dz- said:
Spyderco has lost their damn mind with pricing.
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It’s a possibility, on the other hand they usually are quite reasonable. I don’t disagree with all the ZT comparisons and also wonder what justifies the price. Especially as you have the Knife Works Ti/ CF milli with the same steel and nested liners for half. It makes me kind of curious though and I want to try one before I dismiss it as crazy. Call me a fan boy.
 
I know I've heard talk about the factories' "effort" on knives (especially in Asia) before, not certain it was Spyderco but I believe so. You can pay for 7/10 or 9/10 effort, etc., priced accordingly.
 
I wish people would not complain about pricing. I understand the need to prioritize where your money goes. Since I have been collecting Spyderco’s they have always had different tier/price points for their knives. Its like Toyota making Lexus, they come out with a new model Lexus and someone saying I could buy two Corollas at that price! Both good cars they are just targeting different markets.
 
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Bertrbc16 said:
I wish people would not complain about pricing. I understand the need to prioritize where your money goes. Since I have been collecting Spyderco’s they have always had different tier/price points for their knives. Its like Toyota making Lexus, they come out with a new model Lexus and someone saying I could buy two Corollas at that price! Both good cars they are just targeting different markets.
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This may be somewhat true, but it feels like in the past they had many more knives that "regular folks" could afford. It is a hobby for sure, but it feels like many of us are simply being priced out of a good number of knives. Hey, whatever though. It will either work for them.....or not. If not, they will have to figure out what to change. I'm not mad or upset by any means. Knives for me are an extra and not something I need. I just see a lot of knives that I would typically buy.....that I will not, due to the price.
 
Maybe in the next year or two when the knife is discontinued and sold below MAP people will finally buy it and rave then people will say it was worth the original price.
 
PirateSeulb said:
I think the pricing complaint is due to the fact on this knife many of us are not seeing any added value that we want for that price. I have my guess as to what is adding to the cost so heavily and if I am right I would rather have the knife at a lower cost than have those.
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Curious about your guesses. I can only think of the milling maybe. Although the bearing is new’ish too it is incorporated in less expensive knifes and should be fairly cheap when mass produced. Tumbled S90V could be easier than satin. At least that’s what they said concerning maxamet and other hard steels. Anodizing backspacers shouldn’t be a biggy either. What am I missing?
 
I believe the bulk is in the detail milling done to the both side the CF and the Titanium have the series of grooved waves milled into them which would be a very time consuming milling as well any error at that level would be more likely to result in an unusable piece. Add to it material cost, licensing fees and/or royalties, and other detail work this knife approaches the level of detail required and expected of many high-end production knives. So would prefer less milling and less detail work for a less expensive knife. If you really want a head scratcher on price just go look at the Spyderco Paysan lovely knife not much detail but wtf pricing.
 
Well, like I said before, if the knife gets discontinued and sell for 65% off MSRP, then it's still gonna bring $220+
About what one would expect the price to be to begin with.
Sounds like an insurance policy kinda pricing lol
 
$220 would be a steal and it's never gonna happen discontinued or not. Let's see. ZT 0562cf uses same materials for the handle but without detailed milling, similar blade steels (204p/20cv vs s90v), both famous knife makers (Hinderer vs. Sinkevic) and retails at $240. The Drunken would sell very well if priced around $280.
 
I'm quite certain all of Spyderco's offerings would sell well at a price point below their manufacturing cost. Face it, folks, prices of everything are going up. They have been for about eighty years, and it isn't likely to change any time soon. Yes, David, a lot of the new stuff is priced beyond my reach as well. Guess what? So was a lot of their older stuff.

Why bother bitching about pricing on the internet? The solution is obvious: start up your own production company and show Spyderco's how it should be done.
 
Your prolly right. That was just an example.
If discontinued then they'll prolly sell at 45%-50% off MSRP.
What is standard pricing now? 35% off msrp?
$280, seems about right.
I think the reason we complain is because we care.
But, it's their company. That's all I'll say.
 
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