Over priced knives

A knife that was bought for $10 30yrs ago doesn't mean it's a cheap knife.
Case, Camilus, Kabar, Queen, Boker and a lot of other brands that don't exist anymore were good knives. They don't need excuses made for them.
Some that are still around are now junk : Schrade, Marbel and they use to be good knives. These knives were top shelf in the day and there were many low end US made knives that had pretty decent steel in them. Seems knives are a lot like today's guns. You have to pay through the nose for a 22 that shoots as well as a 1960, $19.95 single shot.
 
Overpriced knives need overpriced sharpeners. Fortunately I am learning how to use mine well in my old age, and figure my gear is going to out last me.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • Tools rs.jpg
    Tools rs.jpg
    104.7 KB · Views: 600
I like Benchmade knives. A while back, bought a little Auto Benchmite. Fine little knife! Hard to find now and not inexpensive. But a fine little knife. Bought a Auto Presideo. Great EDC. Nice size. Not cheap. Worth every penny. Few years ago, found a very nice NIB Marbles NRA sheath knife. Simply gorgeous. Not a custom. Not EDC. But beautiful. On the look out for a Camillus Boy Scout Whittler Knife ca. 1970-80. Had one while working toward Eagle Scout. It went missing. Also missing ... Eagle Scout kerchief and slide. No hope of replacing the kerchief and slide. Maybe find the knife on Ebay? Sincerely. bruce.
 
I used to carry a Benchmade Mini Griptillian, and then my daughter and wife bought me a Ken Osborn 940 for father's day years back. That's my spring/summer carry. It was about 180 bucks, but I don't think it was overpriced. It's a slick knife and feels good in the hand. I like it because my youngest picked it out for me.

Now, for overpriced...I'm going to throw down.

My wife bought me a William Henry Gentac Molten for our 25th anniversary. She said I could keep it only on one condition - that I carried it and used it. If I stuck it in my "knife drawer," she was going to return it.

It's an expensive knife. She put some thought into it, and said "Image what that knife will look like 25 years from now, after we've spent another 25 years together."

#5 of 100 made.

Inlaid Apatosaurus bone fossil from 100 million years ago. I've had it for a little over three years now. Overpriced? When I first got it, yes. Now, well, no. It's a light duty knife. If I need to carve a piece of red oak or cut up a bunch of cardboard boxes, I'll just grab a Kershaw or a Benchmade.

Knife.jpg


Besides, in 25 years, it will have only cost me $100 per year.
 
Last edited:
I lost my EDC knife last summer. I went shopping for a new one. I saw quite a few $100 knives that were overpriced but I ended up buying a $150 knife that I believe is a great value; ZT 350. BTW my wife found my lost knife :-)
 
It's a hard subject to explain ......until you've spent 7 hours taking a ELMAX powdered steel blade to a mirror honed edge , and find out what a really sharp blade is actually like. Most people have no ideal what that level of sharpness is actually like.
 
Anyone who thinks you can't buy a top quality pocket knife for around $100 has never owned a Mcusta.

If you are talking kitchen knives, you can get a Wusthof Classic 8" Chefs knife for about half of $100, or a Sabatier (**** Elephant, K-Sab, etc) for about the same price. These knives are top quality in regards to functionality and they get used every day.
 
Last edited:
I met Bob Terzuola at SOF in Vegas one year, and ordered one of his M-18 knives in '87. It was $225.00, which should be about about $500.00 in today's money. At the time, $225.00 for a knife was big bucks to me. Still have the knife, and certainly don't regret buying it, and some other knives I've acquired along the way. I think the Terzuola knife is probably the most expensive I've purchased. I have some Buck, Case, Puma, S&W, etc. knives that I paid less for though, and enjoy owning them all.

I don't have a maximum I would pay in mind, I just bought knives I liked. I think all the others were $200.00 or less. But my knives lead a relatively easy life, and I have little doubt that even less expensive knives would probably have served as well. So I guess I overpaid for some "over priced knives";)
 

Attachments

  • Terzuola (8).JPG
    Terzuola (8).JPG
    103.4 KB · Views: 56
  • Terzuola (2).JPG
    Terzuola (2).JPG
    77.5 KB · Views: 42
Last edited:
When I got out of the navy back in '67 and realized I didn't have a hunting knife I bought a Puma hunter's buddy or pal for about $30 bucks. Then along came a buck 110 for about $20 bucks. Carried the Buck from when I bought it in '77 till I retired in '96. Still have both. Over the years mostly Gerber, was given two Spyderco mariners when I worked for a living. Have about 4 Benchmade knives 2 griptilians, and two others. I do my own sharpening and funny thing is when working had guys bring me their fancy cutlery around Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years. Sportsmans guide recently had the M9 style bayonets and the one I have was the original manufacturer. Probably have a couple knives on my workbench or computer table. Wal mart had some 3 knife sets with the Gerber logo on them. All were made in China. None of the locks for the blades once locked could be released. Had to stick a screw driver between the lock and blade to release the blade. Seems they didn't grind the bevel on the lock properly and left too much metal. For $20 I'll redo the metal removal myself, not much to loose. Frank
 
Rock185 said:
I met Bob Terzuola at SOF in Vegas one year, and ordered one of his M-18 knives in '87. It was $225.00, which should be about about $500.00 in today's money. At the time, $225.00 for a knife was big bucks to me. Still have the knife, and certainly don't regret buying it, and some other knives I've acquired along the way. I think the Terzuola knife is probably the most expensive I've purchased. I have some Buck, Case, Puma, S&W, etc. knives that I paid less for though, and enjoy owning them all.

I don't have a maximum I would pay in mind, I just bought knives I liked. I think all the others were $200.00 or less. But my knives lead a relatively easy life, and I have little doubt that even less expensive knives would probably have served as well. So I guess I overpaid for some "over priced knives";)
Click to expand...

I knew Terzuola a bit and published a profile on him in a knife magazine. I think he is among the most talented and inspired knife designers of all time. His designs were licensed to Cutlery Shoppe, which made refined editions of his M-30-A1 and another model or two, inc. his sort of boot knife semi-skinner, M-10, I believe.

You haven't lost any money by buying his knife then and I've heard he no longer makes sheath knives. You'd have to get the Cutlery Shoppe version which I think costs as much as you paid for the real handmade version. And it's a danged fine knife. The version with the dull grey blade finish would be an outstanding combat knife in a place like Afghanistan. The shiny blade version is prettier, assuming that you aren't worried about an enemy seeing a reflection off the blade. I own both. Neither is for sale.

Thanks for showing Terzuola's logo, which is the Maya glyph for Etz'Nab, their god of edged tools and weapons. At the time he adopted that symbol, he was working in Guatemala. Some US special ops soldiers there told him they thought the old M-3 knife was an exceptional military style, so Bob refined that into his highly evolved version, M30. It is a superb knife. Gryphon Knives M-30-A1 is the production version, from Cutlery Shoppe. It has a 154CM blade in lieu of his D-2 steel of the original. I hope they still make it.
 
Last edited:
KNIVES........ can be a addicting as S&Ws...... so many varieties and price points...... along with the little AAA LED flashlight that rides in my pocket daily; my Benchmade 2.9" "North Fork" ($150ish IIRC) gets used almost daily. With a less than 3 inch blade and with wood scales it does not look tacticoooool!

I know I've got more than I will ever need...... including those 7" blades purchased after watching too much "Walking Dead"! :D

Price wise......mine probably range from $50 to $250. For some reason Randall knives have never appealed to me..... and doubt I'd actually use a $500 knife short of TEOTWAWKI.

Always wanted a custom knife for the cabin....... but there are too many 'steels' out there......and no consensus on quality Some of the old names seem to have slipped in quality; well at least base on my reading of "on line postings",

My working knives are pretty much Ka-bar's Mark-I 5" (before the Mark-I I used a couple of 5" versions of the famous "WWII 7" ka-bar) and Kershaw Blur. Decent quality and cheap enough to keep in each car kit ,cabin and home.


One thing I've not been happy with when I buy most new knives is the quality of the factory sheaths........ Savage Sheaths.com has made several for me. I would recommend him......not cheap at about $45-55; but hey, a good holster today is closer to $100 and up, than $50!
 
Last edited:
Said it many times, a knife is a disposable asset. They get lost, stolen, broken, borrowed & never returned and so on. I don't buy a knife I can't afford to replace next payday should anything untoward happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

boykinlp
Automatic Knives
2 3
Replies
47
Views
2K
ralph7
ralph7
A
selling guns
Replies
4
Views
285
H Richard
H Richard
AJ
Kudos to Buck Knives
Replies
17
Views
1K
clang444
C
chief38
Spyderco knives - did a bit of research this morning and learned quite a bit!
2 3
Replies
59
Views
2K
Norton 750
Norton 750
boykinlp
Pocketknives
2 3
Replies
57
Views
3K
Papa Lee
Papa Lee

Latest posts

Back
Top