Are expensive knives worth it?

Tactical Gear Tactical Lights, Lasers & Knives
1

The only knifes I have ever owned were a Spiderco Delica 4 and Endura 4 with wave feature. While carrying them I was surprised at how easily they became dull. They were $75 and $82 respectively. They are both made of VG-10 steel but with regular use of cutting cardboard and thick seram wrap they became dull quickly. Am I just expecting them to do more than they can?

When the first knife I bought, the endura 4, became dull I bought a Lansky knife sharpening kit to get it back up to working order. It worked pretty well, but I noticed from usage that the knife has some small dents in the edge. Is this normal? what else am I missing in regards to knife maintenance beside a leather strop?

Would a $300 Emerson kinfe last musch longer without sharpening with my entended usage?

2

I enjoy expensive knives, but it only took one falling out of my pocket to ensure I never edc anything more than $50.

3

I’ve carried Emersons pretty consistently for, about ten years, with a SOG thrown in in the middle for a year of so because it was cheap. I started off with a Commander and currently rock a CQC-13. First, if you are cutting a lot of cardboard it will dull out a blade pretty quick, and all knives do require sharpening. No way around it. While I carried my Commander for years without sharpening it(Because I didn’t know better), and my SOGs were sharp as hell out of the box, and held their edge well, but even they dulled over time, even more if you are using them a lot, and what denotes a lot of usage can vary from person to person. So honestly I think if you are going to run a knife hard you should expect to need to sharpen it on a regular basis, regardless who made it. That and if you are going to be opening a lot of cardboard a razor knife is probably a better option just since it is easier to swap out a razor then carry a sharpener on you.

Now, all that said, I own Emerson knives, I carry one daily, and only ever once had it exit my pocket without me drawing it, and that was because someone else pulled it from there(There in lies a story behind that), even catching clips on objects and bending the shit out of them(Have replaced several clips over the years, and keep a couple on hand, though I haven’t bent one in years), I have never had one fall out of my pocket. Granted, I carry my Emerson on the right side with my wallet so the wallet kind of adds a little extra, I guess you could call it retention.

As far as is an Emerson worth it? For me? Yes, I love the feel and the design and features, and more. Also, if you are paying $300 for an Emerson, you must either want something special, or you are looking at a odd model, since if you shop around a decent Emerson shouldn’t run much more than $200 or so. And on the used market you can find them for well under that at times. Hell my CQC-13 was bought for $100, which box, and paperwork and everything.

So, I suppose to answer the question in short, no it is not uncommon for a knife to dull if you use it a lot, and cardboard is considered to be touch on a blade. Would an Emerson last longer? Maybe. Maybe not. Is it worth it? That is for you to decide, but if you want a high(er) end knife, then there are worse reason to buy one.)

4

If you are cutting into a lot of boxes, just use a retractable or folding utility knife. I use my blades, but I try to avoid cutting cardboard with them.

5

Learn how to sharpen with whetstones/waterstones. Plenty of info on utube. Then buy yourself a couple with different grits. I use 1000 grit & 3000 grit but there are variations of that depending on the knives and quality of same. First, practice sharpening your cheaper knives until you get the knack of using the stones.

Using cheap sharpeners can ruin your blades and you’ll never get them as sharp as you can using stones.

6

Yes, they are worth it if you are into knives. Quality of steels, fit and finish, smooth action. All very nice qualities. Kinda like watches: a Timex is a good watch that tells time, and last for years, but a Rolex is superb time piece. It’s quality and it makes a statement. All in what you want to spend and what quality means to you. All that being said, with all my expensive knives, I have some cheap knives I use and like too. But if you appreciate quality, the expensive knives are worth it.

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7

My daily carry blade is an Emerson Mini CQC-7, but I don’t use it to open packages with it. I use the serrated blade on my Multi-plier for that sort of thing.

8

I’ve lost so many knives (especially in uniform) that I’m down to just buying the $10 Gerber Paraframe. I do have a Spartan Blades Enyo that I carry IWB when I’m out in public though. I would like one or two more plus an Emerson or two, but I’ve never had a problem losing anything like I do knives.

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9

I’ve been losing knives since I was old enough to have one.
I have a couple of nicer knives, but don’t carry them. Even though after I carried a Kershaw Leek for a couple years, it still sucked when I lost it.

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10

“Worth it” is only up to the consumer. Yes they are made with better materials and look and feel better. How much and whether its worth it to you is only up to you.
They all do the same thing whether they cost $50 or $2000. I own both. I say buy something in the $100-200 range and get a good sharpening system and call it a day.

11

I’m with you on that one. I have since gotten to the point of now carrying a $50.00 Kershaw EDC, I just can’t see losing another nice knife.
I’m not a Soldier any more, but I works with them and I’m climbing in and out of vehicles, carrying heavy stuff and opening packages everyday. There is no way I can spend more than $50 any more for an EDC, they only seem to last a year until they are either lost or slip in to the great unknown somewhere inside a vehicle.
My nice stuff stays in the safe and comes out only to be used when my OP/Tempo allows me a little more time to be careful.

12

I have a few $200+ knives, but I almost always carry a Kershaw Leek (found them on clearance at $20 apiece and bought the last 4). I also have a Buck 110 folder in every vehicle and tool kit I own, and a handful of Gerber, Cold Steel, Ka-Bar, and Kershaws stashed away.

I too lose, loan, or give away knives too often to afford the really expensive knives. But I buy decent knives on sale and it works for me. I also have several ceramic or diamond sharpeners I can take with me, and they work fine on my cheap knives.

13

Expense doesn’t always equate to edge retention. Vg10 and 154cm are pretty similar in that regard.

You can buy a $6000 1911 but it’s not gonna hold more rounds than an RIA.

You can get knives that have steel with better edge retention without paying much more, like the lightweight S110v Manix, but the trade off is they’re harder to sharpen. That will probably last longer than anything else under $200-300 though.

Best bet is to get proficient with a decent sharpening system.

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14

I just thought the steel on a $2-300 knife was that much better.

What kind of wet stones are good? I plan on sharpening my two knives and a few kitchen knives that are very dull. My guess is an extra course, medium, and fine will do?

By sharpening you mean using a stone, correct? Not using a steel?

15

Nah, you can get an $80 knife with 154cm or a $3000 knife in it. It’s more about the Indian than the arrow in that case.

As far as stones, probably just grab some of the larger size spyderco. Or a sharpmaker with some diamond rods.

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16

I have some expensive knives, but I bought them because I thought they were unique. They’re more like collector’s items than everyday use knives, and part of their charm is they still have that insanely sharp factory edge on them. If I could learn how to sharpen a knife like that, I would probably use them more (it’s on my to-do list). That said, my EDC knife is a $200+ Benchmade auto, and gets so much use I ended up with two of them. My most-abused knife is a $40 Ka-bar which I bought for a little “military camping trip” 8 years ago, because I knew it would be used for cutting, prying, digging, sawing, and other heinous offenses. It survived that trip and others, and I keep it in my truck now. I’ve broken knives that cost 3 times more.

Price isn’t everything. Quality can be found in the strangest of places.

17

As with everything there’s a diminishing return after a point, where the added $$ spent delivers less and less objective value. It becomes more of a subject value after a point, with that value being subjective. Is the build quality, steel, etc better between a $40 knife and a $200 knife? As a rule, yes. Is there going to be a difference between $200 knife and a $1,000 knife?

Guns, watches, etc all experience that diminishing return where at some point added $$ spent leads no real objective differences and the value is subjective.

My jaeger lecoultre Master dive watch does not tell time and better than a Timex. I still love the jaeger lecoultre…

18

Double Tap. I watched closely this time when posting and this double tap is from something happening with the forums to let mods know.

19

Something you could try is a flat ground delica or a chaparral. Even a Swiss Army knife. The thinner blade stock and grind will cut better even dull.

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20

Sound advice, and just what I was thinking. :slight_smile: