Prices of knives

[Originaltrav]

I know that a hand made knife takes a lot of time and skill to craft , but are they really worth the serious wonga .
Won't a well looked after Mora for £25 be a more sound investment or am I missing the point totally

Maybe I'm just jealous cos I can't afford one , what are your opinions on this .

Cheers

 

[Stew]

A mora will do the job fine - even cheaper than £25 versions.

A lot of it is about want not need.

I drive a Ford Ka because that's all I can afford and it gets me to and from work but I would like to have something more fancy....

 

[Bluezephyr]

Surely it's like anything you can buy, always something more expensive out there that can do the same job, more chip shop points for the better brands

 

[dwardo]

Comes up every now and then this one and can get backs up.
Why do some people buy a new car for £15000 when a £500 motor will do the same, get you from A to B?
Why do some people buy a rolex when a £10 watch from argos will tell he time just as well if not better?

A decent knife that will hold a good edge like a Mora will do all that a custom built posh Alanwood will, just wont be as nice or as shiney.

Functionally your not missing out so dinne worry about it

 

[swright81076]

I have, and have used a Mora clipper for some time. Fantastic little knives. However, hold a Mora in one hand then a hillbill in the other. Then you see why they cost more.

touched by nature

 

[demographic]

Define "better"

On mass produced items its cheaper per one when you make thousands.
Getting a one off item from a skilled maker and you still have the pay the person a decent living wage but as its often a one off things take longer.

That time costs.

 

[British Red]

Won't a well looked after Mora for £25 be a more sound investment or am I missing the point totally

No, a £25 Mora is a pretty poor investment, indeed I would fire your independent financial advisor. It is however a fine knife.

 

[Zingmo]

As with many things, price and quality are not proportional. There's many factory produced knives that will do the job for you perfectly well, but as you go up in price you have to pay more for smaller increments in quality. This gets more pronounced when you start looking for less tangible properties in a knife like its looks or it's mojo. A £250 knife is not ten times better at being a knife than a £25 knife. It is just that the extra quality on top of its basic functionality is costly to produce. Costly because it takes very skilled people a long time to do it right. You are paying for their time and their skill.

No one around here is going to think less of you because you do your cutting with a Mora. But if you want to treat yourself to some awesome piece of hand crafted cutlery, then that is good too. But you will find them pricey and you may find some jealous types telling you that it's no better than a Mora...

Z

 

[Harvestman]

Are expensive knives worth the money? Only the purchaser can be the judge of that.

 

[luckylee]

I had this conversation at the meet about a pocket knife I bout ie a sebensa, now when I told one of the members the price he said I would never pay that, but when you handle one, and appreciate the engineering and the tolerances he works to the fit and finish, you can understand why people want these things.
also, it's when you really want something and you get the chance to buy it, when most of your life you were not able to, it's a nice feeling.

 

[British Red]

I made that point when I designed my knife lee. I will never be able to do that for a car, or even a house - get exactly what I want, made to my own design, with my own choice of materials. Many people never own a single thing they have designed, from scratch. With a knife, anyone can.

 

[uncleboob]

...I think you have to pick the knife thats right for the job and right for you... although price (for me) is always a consideration it shouldn't be the main consideration. I have a mix of knives, most of which would fall into the 'budget' category (opinel, mora, svord)...but i have also a couple of beauty's (thanks hillbill and dave budd). I guess for daily bits and bobs i would use my cheap and cheerful modified mora 511 but if i'm spending a day in the woods I would probably take something more substantial

cheers

Joab

 

[Chiseller]

I have, and have used a Mora clipper for some time. Fantastic little knives. However, hold a Mora in one hand then a hillbill in the other. Then you see why they cost more.

touched by nature

+1
I have a cheap hultfors and I have a HillBill ® I can do a lot with the hultfors , but not as much as I can do with my HillBill® . (no affiliation , just a shamless lover and abuser of a quality handmade product )
The quality, the reliability, the usefulness of a knife that's made to be a heirloom....
Then there's supporting British folk that are striving to realize a dream through love of what they do......worth them extra shillings all day , every day . I live hand to mouth , my waterpump has just collapsed on my motor. Its 'only' 30£ for a replacement.....lucky ? ......it won't be getting fixed till Friday. So I value my bobs , but I know through being forced.....buy cheap .......buy twice.....or thrice.....all depends on wether you will use something cheap often enough or fully enough to find its limits.

 

[redneck]

i know that a hand made knife takes a lot of time and skill to craft , but are they really worth the serious wonga .

no........

 

[Ed Edwards]

It's the law of diminishing returns. In this instance you 'pay' more and more for what becomes less and less. I've always been a believer in getting one that does the job 'you' want it to do. We all have different wants, needs and expectations from purchase to end use. I prefer not to use an axe, instead I have a knife with a lifetime, no quibble warrantee so I can beat it up splitting wood, a Laplander for cutting and a Mora for doing 'stuff'. I'll admit, I have gone through a few to realise this is what's best for me, but we all have our own journey to take. It's part of the fun I think?

 

[thedawnawakens]

It's very personal. Providing the tool can perform, it really doesn't matter. I have a couple of mid range custom knives which are a joy to use,....but then again I have budget knives which also, are a joy to use. At the end of the day, a knife that can perform is a great tool....and so is the master who can look after it well.

 

[salad]

Some people ( like me) get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction out of owning and using a custom handmade knife.
Where as others get enjoyment and satisfaction out of being able to everything with a cheaper knife and take pride in this .

There is no right or wrong in either of these two situations as what we are doing here is a hobby and I recon hobbies are best when we do what we enjoy .


Many years ago an old friend of mine who was into mountain biking was asked why he would even consider spending £3000 on a mountain bike ( that he recently got), he replied . " because I could not afford to spend any more "

That one answer sums it up quite well , his bike was very important to him it was his passion and his hobby and was worth more than his car . Some people find it hard to understand why other spend money on something but for others the answer is obvious .
Its all down to what you like and enjoy and there is no real right or wrong in that

 

[Samon]

I think alot of fair points have already been made, specially the one about being able to design it all yourself.

I'm kind of devils advocate here, I used to think the prices were a con and still doat times, particularly when regarding a 'select' few hyper fan boy knives but I can see valuve in well made stuff, specially when it takes so many man hours to get it to that degree of fit and finish. It was my ignorance that amde me think a custom knife was just £20 of materials and a few hours work, but it goes further than that, way further. All the sand paper, glue, pins, steel, electricity, file wear, sanding belt wear, oil and time add up. I doubt many of the knife makers around here are rich, making knives is a time consuming labour of love and should be respected.


Now I did have a handmade knife, but I didn't like it. At all.. infact I hated it so much I put it up for trade within 2 days.

Bernie Garland 'recurve bushcrafter'. Not bad for the money considering it was handmade, but the fit and finish was something to be desired and to me it wasn't worth keeping when it could be swapped out for many other useful things. £240

One being an Enzo trapper, now this is a good knife! Affordable, well designed and really good in practice! At just over a third of the price of the Bernie Garland knife it was way out of it's league and almost perfect for me. £90

Lol, being me.. I traded it as I fancied trying somethigng else. I don't have alot of money so I often sacrifice the thigns I love in the adventure of 'trying that one'.

Now I only have one Mora, a 510. £13

I've abused it it to no end, used it for all sorts and always go back to it for actual 'bushcraft' type stuff. Maybe because it's the only one left that would fit in the catagory (as I sold/swapped the valueable ones!) and maybe because it's reliable, comfy and tough. A knife I'm not affraid to pry nails out with (yesterdays fun) and hit with a small hammer to chisel through wood and really just use! I love it, it's one of my favourite knives and if/when it does finally break, I'll grind it into a little neck knife and keep it going for a few more years!

So i guess I'm in the middle, but do respect both ends of the scale. Custom ones can be really nice, production ones can be great and cheap ones can even be perfect.

 

[Dave]

The most expensive knife I owned was in the region of £700-£800 [Bayley] And I've had woodlores etc. For the first few years I was on BCUK there were not that many knife makers. There are now loads. I bought an Alan wood woodlore in 2003, and sold it for nearly triple what I paid just a few years later. My problem is I see something, I want it, I buy it. If one of the true tests of charatcer is the ability to resist temptation, then I've failed badly. I could live with one knife, quite easily. Thats all most of us need really, but we tell ourselves different. I should be satisfied with 'my lot' but I never am.
Having said that most of the stuff I bought ten years ago, is now double what it cost then or even triple! Whilst wages havent really moved.

Those mora Blacks look pretty good for the money.

 

[Joe Hall]

My previous knife was a Nieto sheath knife, with a 3.5" blade.
Think it cost me around £20, back when you could buy knives from Ebay.
It was a cracking little knife for the money. Was good for skinning & bushcraft and even used it in the kitchen as it was far superior to any kitchen knife I own.
You could however tell it was a cheap blade. I had to sharpen it up every month or so.
And on the last wild camp we did, (prior to this weekend) while prepping some kindling, the blade and the handle separated. I was forced to bin it.

I have been making do with my Victorinox for the time being, until I can afford to buy more kit. (I have my eye on a S-Stainforth knife.)
But for the money it did the job, and it did it well! Had it about 5 years.

Hope this helped.

J