Who pays $400 plus for a pocket knife?

I was gifted a 300$ hand made 3" folding knife with buffalo horn handle and lots of small details. It only goes out with me when hunting. I sharpened it til it shaves hair off my arm. Sometimes the story and the friends, are worth as much as the price tag.
 
Moab said:
Brakes are a safety issue. And a sophisticated lift that allows you to travel further by moving over larger obstacles is value.

But there is nothing - generally speaking - that a $400 knife can do that a $100 knife can not. I would even add some $50-$75 knives to that list. To me a knife is a tool. At some point you are paying for art. Which I see value in. If you want to collect beuatiful pieces of art that happen to be knives - then you have a piece of art. It stops being a tool. If it somehow worked 4 times better I could see the value in utility. But again, a knife is a tool to me.

If I ever spent $400 on a knife it would have to be of historical value. I could see spending $400 on a WWI or WWII trench knife. That makes sense to me. Otherwise its like spending $400 on a wrench.

And imho the Benchmade Bugout is so lightweight I could easily see it snapping in two on fairly common tasks. It's really meant as a slicing only tool. That won't be noticed in your pocket. As it is feather light. Not at all worth the ridiculous price tag. Again mho. I'd rather carry a $45 Gerber that I knew wouldn't snap in two if I accidently stabbed someone in a hard place.
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$400 for a trench knife would be an incredible deal these days - going rate is $700 minimum for anything decent.

I daily carry a Benchmade Casbah, not the nicest knife in the world but when I was into collecting Benchmades a vendor made a package deal.

Edit: To your point of a knife not doing more than one many dollars less, it has some merit. You could shop for the cheapest knife with equivalent blade steel but quality may not be there. A lot of people collect and buy knives simply because of action feel and fit and finish, not just because of the job they do.
 
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High end knives sure do look cool, and appeal to my tool/jeep/hotrod/gun/any cool machine leanings. But, there's definitely a bang for the buck vs artwork equation involved in all of those things.
That said, this little guy is working out well so far
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Hand-Tools/Cutting/Knives-and-Blades/48-22-1520

And I can't stop loving this sharpener. Every knife I own is minutes away from being arm hair shaving capable. Run your kitchen knives thru this thing and you can be the household hero.
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/wor...VBRCtBh2VqQrlEAQYAyABEgK7tfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
PNW_LJ said:
Who the hell pays $1500 for TJ brakes?
Or who pays $3000 for their TJ to sit 4" higher?

Like blaine said, it's all in one's personal values.
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Leave it to you to completely screw it up and compare things that are not even remotely in the same category. One of those is something that is a solution to a problem that can NOT be solved any other way. You can try, you can spend a lot of time and effort trying to do it some other way but it won't happen and when you finally throw in the towel and decide that stopping safely is cheap insurance to protect the huge investment you have in the rest of your rig, then the solution is there. It isn't cheap, but actual solutions that do what they are supposed to in order to solve a big fucking problem rarely are.
 
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Rickyd said:
I was gifted a 300$ hand made 3" folding knife with buffalo horn handle and lots of small details. It only goes out with me when hunting. I sharpened it til it shaves hair off my arm. Sometimes the story and the friends, are worth as much as the price tag.
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Yes. Sentimental value is probably the only exception to this discussion. I have several handed down guns and knives. That I wouldn't sell for any amount of money.

In fact my fathers Case hunting knife from the 40s or 50s is waiting for me at UPS. My sister shipped it to me last week. He passed a few years ago. And left it and a few firearms to me.

It's probably not worth much. It was something he probably bought at a hardware store back in the day. But he carried it and a leather handled Estwing hatchet everytime we went hunting. I watched him skin many animals with it. He always kept it very sharp. He spent hours teaching me how to use a whet stone. And eventually let me sharpen his knives once I became proficient enough.

So it has a special place in my heart. Hunting with him was the time we spent alone the most together.
 
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Shank said:
$400 for a trench knife would be an incredible deal these days - going rate is $700 minimum for anything decent.

I daily carry a Benchmade Casbah, not the nicest knife in the world but when I was into collecting Benchmades a vendor made a package deal.

Edit: To your point of a knife not doing more than one many dollars less, it has some merit. You could shop for the cheapest knife with equivalent blade steel but quality may not be there. A lot of people collect and buy knives simply because of action feel and fit and finish, not just because of the job they do.
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IMI regularly sells trench knives. Some in the $400-$500 range. But you're right. One in excellent shape and the right markings isn't cheap. I was offered the pick style one with the handguard about ten years ago. I forget what those are called. For $150. I kick myself for not buying it. But I was deep into collecting rifle parts kits then.

I have spent a fair amount on military collectibles. But every single gun part I have ever purchased has gone up in value in a major way. So I could see soending more in a historical knife. For investment purposes and the sheer value of something historical. There is something really interesting about old military items.
 
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I’ll just borrow your $400 or $10 knife, you can’t stand to watch me struggling to open this thing any more.
 
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Moab said:
IMI regularly sells trench knives. Some in the $400-$500 range. But you're right. One in excellent shape and the right markings isn't cheap. I was offered the pick style one with the handguard about ten years ago. I forget what those are called. For $150. I kick myself for not buying it. But I was deep into collecting rifle parts kits then.

I have spent a fair amount on military collectibles. But every single gun part I have ever purchased has gone up in value in a major way. So I could see soending more in a historical knife. For investment purposes and the sheer value of something historical. There is something really interesting about old military items.
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I totally understand, I am into all the same things. I posted my LF&C who knows how many pages back.

$150 would definitely be one to regret.

What kind of parts kits were you collecting? I have a 1919a4 going together hopefully soon.
 
Shank said:
I totally understand, I am into all the same things. I posted my LF&C who knows how many pages back.

$150 would definitely be one to regret.

What kind of parts kits were you collecting? I have a 1919a4 going together hopefully soon.
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I used to own an AK parts company. So I was buying more than a 100 kits at a time. I had a pretty nice collection of bfpu stuff. But eventually sold it all off. I built AKs too for many years. I also collected other kits. I had a dshk kit for awhile. Which is a huge .50 cal anti aircraft gun. Mp34s, swedish k, soumis, ppsh41 etc. Etc. And a ton of parts, old leather slings, etc. etc. I had a pretty large collection. But my wife had a major heart attack and eventually heart transplant. And I had to sell it all off.

I was trying to learn how to weld. Had the whole set up. But sold that off too.
 
Moab said:
I used to own an AK parts company. So I was buying more than a 100 kits at a time. I had a pretty nice collection of bfpu stuff. But eventually sold it all off. I built AKs too for many years. I also collected other kits. I had a dshk kit for awhile. Which is a huge .50 cal anti aircraft gun. Mp34s, swedish k, soumis, ppsh41 etc. Etc. And a ton of parts, old leather slings, etc. etc. I had a pretty large collection. But my wife had a major heart attack and eventually heart transplant. And I had to sell it all off.

I was trying to learn how to weld. Had the whole set up. But sold that off too.
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Sounds like a ton of fun but sorry to hear about your wife. Hope all is as well as possible.
 
I once built a crude knife for something at work many years ago, but honestly, this thread reminds me that I need another pocket knife. I've been using the one on my issued multitool for years now. Not the most convenient to open/ use in a hurry.
 
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Here is a picture of the kind of knife the US Navy gave me when I graduated BEEP School in San Diego in 1969. I carried it all through the service and still use it today. Sharpen it every once in a while, it sports a razor sharp edge that will cut through anything I need to cut. Other blade locks open and functions as a screwdriver.
usn knife.jpg
 
Mousy Orla said:
I once built a crude knife for something at work many years ago, but honestly, this thread reminds me that I need another pocket knife. I've been using the one on my issued multitool for years now. Not the most convenient to open/ use in a hurry.
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Yeah, I don't see the appeal of a multi-tool. I tried one because of how much everyone bragged about how handy they are. They fully bring the suck. They are heavy, slow, and outside of most of the plier function and the knife blade, the rest of the tools are not very good as tools. Lasted a few weeks before I tossed it back on the desk.
 
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This is a fairly decent carry option, its a decent knife, ok pliers, better than no screwdriver screwdriver and it's not huge either.
 
mrblaine said:
Yeah, I don't see the appeal of a multi-tool. I tried one because of how much everyone bragged about how handy they are. They fully bring the suck. They are heavy, slow, and outside of most of the plier function and the knife blade, the rest of the tools are not very good as tools. Lasted a few weeks before I tossed it back on the desk.
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I've been gifted 4 leathermans over the years. I don't know where any of them are and never used the last 3 at all.
 
Another unsatisfied multi-tool user here. Been given three over the years, and none work for me. They're all in my "knife drawer."
 
I don't recall how much I paid for my Benchmade knives back when I was in the Army, but they weren't cheap. lol

Great knives - and their lifesharp guarantee or whatever it's called has kept them in amazing condition.

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This is my small collection/carry rotation. Each one well over $400. They don’t cut any better than a box cutter, but that’s not what it’s about for me. I love the exotic materials and workmanship. I was fortunate enough to buy, sell and trade into these.

I’m sure there are some that would say you’re $150 Esse is way too much to spend on a knife.
 
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Someone who can,
and likely supports American custom made labor

$20 and under is not American made
Nor is it quality steel, its likely cheap Chinese

However thats good enough for most
 
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