My Amazon store! - My FAVORITE knives & gear! - www.amazon.com/shop/metalcomplex Become a Member of my channel! - kzfaq.info/love/EZSguZ0r5zh4dansELwmGQjoin

My wife doesn’t understand why I stay up until midnight watching “some guy” ramble on about knives. Loved it, great discussion and your passion is always incredible. Thanks!

Yes, the cost of materials may be 100 bucks and they sell it for 200.... If you want the knife for 100 bucks, buy the materials and MAKE IT YOURSELF. Since you can't do that, they will do it for you...for 200 bucks! If that's not fair, I don't know what is...

I find the 80/20 applies to a lot of things in life. Including knives. The last 20% of the knife incurs 80% of the cost. It’s easy to stamp out G-10 handles and a blade. It’s hard to get tight tolerances, rounded edges, smooth operation & comfortable.

I've always liked knives & started selling them at gun & knife shows, mainly to make money, work for myself & enjoy the people around me. Now I've learned so much more & can understand & explain why there are so many difference. At one time I couldn't see paying more than $50 for a knife...now I totally understand why someone would pay $1000+ for a knife! But basically it comes down to what is that item worth to YOU & how much are YOU willing to pay! There is always more to learn & always more to discover! FORGE ON! ⚔️🛡️🤘🏻

Why spend so much on single malt scotch when I can get Jameson so much cheaper? They're both whiskey. Or why spend the money on a Sam Adams boston lager when you can get Bush lite so much cheaper. The same applies to everything we buy from clothes to food. Smaller batches, more care taken in the manufacturing process and higher quality ingredients. Pride of ownership. 425 is what it costs to enjoy owning an XM-18. If it turns you on and you get something out of it, you gladly pay it. I dont see Rick Hinderer flying around in a private jet. If he was a greedy man he would have gotten into a different business.

You touched on this a bit towards the end of the video, but I think it’s important to elaborate a little bit more on tolerances. What some people don’t understand is how much more difficult it is to hold tighter tolerances. Most knives you find in the $100-400 price range are going to be holding tolerances of the stop pins, blade thickness, scales etc. around +/- .001”-.005”. In the world of precision machining, that’s about a mile and a half. A lot of manufacturers making knives above that price range are generally holding tolerances as low as +/-.0005”. That’s half the width of a human hair. To hold tolerances that tight, your cutting tools have to exhibit minimal to no signs of wear. To put some things in perspective, your average 4 flute tungsten carbide endmill is going to cost you roughly $100-500 depending on diameter, length of cut, geometry etc. When holding tolerances of +/- .005”, you can let your endmill dull out, or the radius on one flute chip and still hold that wide of a tolerance. When holding a tolerance of +/- .0005”, the second that endmill shows any signs of wear, it needs to be changed out for a new/reground endmill. So while one manufacturer may be able to push a cutting tool through 100 operations before changing it out because they can hold their tolerance of +/- .005”, another manufacturer of a higher end knife holding tolerances of +/- .0005” may have to change that same cutting tool out after 20 operations. That means the manufacturer holding tighter tolerances could be spending 5X as much on cutting tools than those holding looser tolerances. And when we’re talking about a $300 end mill, those costs raise quickly. Another factor that comes into play when trying to hold tighter tolerances comes down to the cost of a CNC mill/lathe. You can buy a $75,000 Hass VF2 with 3 axis and make knives. But it’s going to be very difficult if not impossible to hold tolerances of +/- .0005”. To hold tolerances that tight without constant supervision of the machine and constant adjustments being made, you’ll likely have to fork over a lot more money on a much higher quality CNC machine. Some of these machines can cost you upwards of $750,000-1,000,000 for a five axis machine that can hold tight tolerances without an operator checking every part as it finishes, without making adjustments to tools after every part, and that allows you to run lights-out unmanned production. So machine cost is another huge factor. Another thing to consider js machine maintenance. These machines have components that are under high load pressures, and thus over time, need calibration and maintenance. This is especially true if trying to hold very tight tolerances. This maintenance is not cheap in the US, and many CNC technicians get paid anywhere from $40-70/hr. That’s just the tech’s pay, not what the manufacturer is charged from the company that employs the technician. Sometimes this maintenance can take days/week+ and involve replacing very expensive parts. I’ve seen machine maintenance cost a manufacturing company nearly $200,000, and nearly a week of downtime while the tech was working on the machine that the manufacturer wasn’t able to make a single dime during because the machine was under maintenance. Most manufacturers holding tighter tolerances also employ more skilled labor as holding those tolerances requires more attention to detail and someone with more experience. Highly skilled labor (people with a lot of experience in machining/manufacturing) also costs much more than employing someone fresh out of trade school who has minimal experience, as it should. So payroll gets factored in to the final cost of the knife. Manufacturers holding tighter tolerances also generally experience a higher scrap rate (parts that need to be rejected/thrown out) because of how much more difficult it is to hold those tighter tolerances. When a part is made that is not within that tolerance, it’s set aside and thrown away as scrap metal. This obviously costs them money and in turn, gets reflected in the price of the finished product sold to consumers. I know all of this as I’m a machinist and work for an aerospace manufacturer and see all of this first hand. A great resource to get a better grasp on a lot of what goes into the manufacturing process of higher end knives is to watch John Grimsmo’s YT videos. He goes in depth about the tolerances he holds on different parts, the cost of higher end machines, and everything else that goes into making high end CNC knives. I hope this sheds some light on why some knives costs more than other to some of the people who may not understand even after watching this video. MC, if you ever make a follow up video to this to include this sort of information, feel free to contact me if you’d like to know more. I’m always game to talk manufacturing/machining/knives 😊

Me and my dad had the same conversation the other day, he didn't understand why I paid $300 for knife.

Just picked up A Marfione custom protocol with fat carbon and mirror polished blade , it's what we do. There is nothing I can do about it now. I can quit anytime I want. It's not a problem , everything will be alright. Lovely knife. Money isn't everything. I'm very happy.😁 Lovely knife.

It's nearly impossible to compete with China when they pay their employees $2 a day and have special shipping rates of $5 a crate to ship into the USA.

Thank you for the education, and for not only discouraging negative comments about non-USA manufacturing, but for actively removing it from your comments. Proud to follow you.

So, my knives of choice fall in the "First Tier with Tolerances"... And I'm okay with that!

I make custom jewellery & mod knves. If I have to explain why to a potential customer why. They are likely not the right customer for me. The reason people come to me is they KNOW why. Put simply life is a shit sandwich. The more bread you got the less shit you have to eat. The best true from scratch one off custom anything is where the skill of the craftsman or woman becomes the muse of the client. In effect to create something that is as far as possible perfect for that client. That takes a lot of time skill and money to pay for the finest materials and execute (designing machining, fit & finishing + presentation) them to the best of your ability and your clients total satisfaction. That is time consuming and as good craftsmen are not cheap it becomes very expensive. Hand finishing adding the biggest time effort and cost. But you end up with an exclusive one off that is perfect for you. Down from that you have what I call pseudo - custom. Where you are given a choice of designs & combinations there of that you can choose from to make your dream whatever. Then you have the manufaturers that offer a set line of product that is made to the highest levels of materials fit and finish like Chris Reeve knives and these offer the best bang for buck for quality construction. BUT ... they have to sell through world wide distributors that also take a cut thereby reducing value and increasing cost. This is offset by economies of scale and the efficiency of the manufacturing process. Below that but catching up to the CRK's REAL fast is what I think offers the best Bang for buck in the world right now for the average knife enthusiast. Reate, WE Lion, Tops etc where you really do get excellent products with effective designs that not only look great with great materials but perform great in their intended function. They do not at least in the lower rungs have the absolute zenith of perfection in fit & finish but you sure notice the step up from the made to a cost cheap stuff under $150 or so. The unfortunate aspect is the sales & marketing tends to mouth off names and materials rather than how they are used. Crucible 440C tempered to its best which involves cryo processing will outperform 2nd & third gen powdered metals have not taken advantage of a full cryo temper. Cabon fibre is very hard to get void free and it has to be to give its optimum strength its touted as giving. I can only get it from Alpha knife & metal supplies. I don't use cheap shit and will refuse to. Its easy to compromise as no body aside from the manufacturer & supplier if used for a knife scale would ever know or perhaps even care. But the ethical craftsman DOES because its the essence of why they do it. If it wasn't Id be a corporate ceo or an international banker. I'd have infinitely more money but the hole in my soul that not creating loved working art for very satisfied clients would never be filled.

The bareknuckle is my work knife and I want to buy another just because why not.

I’m still blown away by Morakniv. I know they are fixed blades and made by robots but still, how the hell do they get away with such low prices for relatively high quality?

awesome vid. I value tough, overbuilt knives. I work in construction as a carpenter, I use a knife ALOT. Thick blade, thick scales, titanium, flippers, bearings, is what im after. Always end up on ZT 0562, buuuutt, I cant pay that, and I understand it. Im from canada, and anytime im interested in a knife, and then I realize its from china, ill stop, think about it, and then forget about it. I support my neighbors, just the way it is. I know you are trying to avoid being bias, but theres just something about china that taints the decision. If im spending more than 100$, its going to be american made. ill buy a civivi and thats about it.

I've been collecting knives from $50 to $1600 custom knives since 2012. I stopped buying knives over $500 this year and sold off all my knives worth over $500. It's the labor, low quantity, handmade custom you're paying for. To me it's a tool, I feel like it's really not worth paying over $200 for any knife. I'm glad I got out of the knife game because house payments and bills comes first. I'm very happy with production knives for good.

This is now my favorite video! This needed to be said and you didn't very well. Thank you very much.

We would all love wine for grape juice money. Every line every curve every cut , hole ,grind, edge bevel and pocket clip is a different machine with custom tooling. Never mind the hours of someone's life your buying. And if you still don't get it bring your wife or girlfriend a coal ring. She'll explain it to ya. Enjoyed this. Thanks MC

For me what it comes down to is thinking about the people behind the knife. Small companies work extremely hard and dont mass produce their knives, what youre paying for is more than the materials.. your paying to keep a knife designer in business, his cost of manufacturing and tools, and most importantly his/her time.. if it was just materials everyone would buy a bar of m390 and some carbon fiber and make their own knife... but nobody does that.. and the ones that do are typically these small 1 person businesses who charge an arm and a leg for their work because they have to to continue to bring their product to market... I also think about just how many knives a smaller company has to make and sell to be able to stay in business and when I do that and compare it against the cost of living I wonder how anyone without a production factory can afford to make and sell knives

If companies like Spyderco, Benchmade or ZT used the same design and production philosophy as Morakniv they could flood the marked with great affordable knives, but that would ruin the exclusivity of their knives and make them less interesting for collectors.

I think more to the point, the price of an individual knife has to cover the payroll of every kind of employee that made the production of that knife possible. I was a counselor for about five years, and the fee was $1,875-$2,500 per 12 and a half hour blocks. Not the price I set. People would object that the counseling was expensive, until it was explained that the person may be receiving counseling from one person, but included in that fee was all of the operational costs of a 55,000 square foot building, the management, treasury, administrative clerks, public relations and promotion team, janitors, etc. When looked at from that broader picture, the counseling was actually dirt cheap. It’s easy to look at a finished product and assume that it just spontaneously materialized out of thin air, and that somewhere in that spontaneous generation a “fair” price is assigned to it, but the truth is I simply could not have delivered the amount of counseling that I did if I didn’t have the administrative back-up that I had.

You see these prices differences in a lot of things. I think of skill toys, cars, motorcycles, paintball markers, antiques etc. Yes you can have something that just cuts / drives /shoots paintballs. But the rarity, quality, brand and demand all effect the price. Great vid! But no I wont be spending $1000 plus on a Legendary pocket knife but I will admire it.

I just discovered your channel. It's absolutely amazing. Love it. Can't wait to watch all of your videos man.

I see my new knife, on the lower right corner... Oops, maybe not kinda pricey. Guess it's a Bareknuckle instead!

🤣🤣🤣 28:04 I spit my coffee out onto the monitor screen I laughed so hard!

I can definitely respect what all goes into the cost of producing a knife and I'm grateful that I can choose to get the best value for the price I'm willing to spend, wherever the knife may be produced. I would like to have more U.S. made knives but it's just so tempting when companies like TwoSun can give you so much more for under $100

I am a custom maker and you nailed it. Going from a 1084 blade to a cpm m4 fixed blade, the steel cost is about 8 bucks more . But where the cost is the MASSIVE amount of abrasives those steels take to grind. m4 takes 5x the amount of abrasives to grind and twice the time. I can also use a $8 piece of g10 and $35 fat carbon and the knife may cost the same. The g10 will be hand sculpted while I may only use thin fat carbon and nock the corners off. There is so much unseen cost at all levels. I had to buy a 2k grinder, kiln, liquid nitrogen, bandsaws, etc. The price that is charged has to justify buying all of these tool and materials. Not to mention time spent with packaging, shipping, cleaning the shop, ordering materials.

Awesome vid man! Your enthusiasm had me hyped up lol

I agree with everything you said, another factor that will drive the price up is simply the design and designer. If it's a complicated design that has more elaborate machining the price will go up. the hours the designer spent on making it look the way it does and still have complete functionality the price goes up. So yeah people are dumb when they equate the price with high end materials and nothing else.

16:24 lol the thumb studs on the Ritter Hogue are definitely way better than the ones on the bareknuckle

I am a lower end knife guy, have some from the gas station a couple of Spyderco's, the Resilience an police, which I equally love, I have a $20. Plus Ganzo, the F720. An one that mimics the Rat 1 an 2, but have their own axis or I believe called G lock, sorry long day of work, an love these as much! Either way thank you for what I have found to be one of your best vids yet, an I like all so far! Great job!

Highly informative and entertaining video, sir! (Although my "budget" is more towards the upper left of your table...:-) That said, I find the CJRB Feldspar to be very high quality for the price...relatively speaking.

Man, I'd get over my left hand preference to have that amazing 0777:) I always wanted the KSF exclusive 0777CFM4 too.

Fantastic information well thought out and executed. Bbbbbuuuuttttttt..... I can totally see a newbie to the knife community getting overwhelmed with all of this video. It's a hot button topic I see all the time in front of a knife counter("why is this priced higher than that, who would pay so much for a knife, a knife is a knife") and its at just about every retailer/store/shop. Soooo many don't get it. Some will understand a little, others it takes time and education and experience over time, many will never understand (what a shame). Thanks for the in depth coverage and as always love just seeing the knives you show off in front of the camera.

Love the look of that blue 0609. I have seen the purple and black one. I have the original bronze anodized one. Great knife. But wow that blue one is gorgeous.

Law of diminishing returns, it's like fishing reels, and poles, it's about $80 on a rod, it's about $150 on a reel, and about $150 on a good EDC knife.

All just to cut small threads on your clothes 😂

Lol I love these videos. Needed to be said! And don't know if you ever watch Donut Media for car stuff but they recently had an entire episode about the varying quality of carbon fiber and why different grades have such different costs. Mostly why the expense has to do with the process of making the different tiers. Pretty cool!

Cool video I am getting into the knife game and it’s def hard to understand and find a good balance between value and quality and to each its own. But I liked listening to it.

...i haveta confess... that black s&w knife... that EXACT knife is currently in my glove box right now! (haha) but it just an emergency back up... but hey... i dont carry my good sk tools in my car either... always enjoy ur videos, thank u sir

Spot on! Great rant. I love both of those ZT's. The 0777 is on my wishlist. It is so hard to find one in that color combo. The XM-24 and the Rockstead are absolutely beautiful. Let me know when you want to dump that ZT 0777.

Thx man yes I did need some clarification on this matter. It makes more sense now. I don't necessarily like all of it but I get it.

Nice video, I agree most part of it. Yes, take labor, time, tolerance, etc into consideration is a must. However, why can't knife companies be judged? It's a free market, there are people work their ass off for a tiny profit and there are people ripping others off. I'm new to buying knives but have been developing bicycle wheels for years. Decent carbon wheels can range from 700 to 4,000 USD and I saw some of wheels clearly not matching their price tag. The same example happens in many industries, shoes, bags, electronics...,yet people still buy overpriced products because a lot of times they are only buying brand names. My conclusion, I trust those elite brands' craftsmanship but also judge their pricing strategy. Although I wouldn't call a company greedy until I really dig deep into knife making.

Great explanation, and unfortunately there are a lot of people that still won’t get it (until they get a hinderer or WE or any number of incredibly well made knives in their hand). That being said, there are some manufactures that charge way too much for their gimmick. Not to say they aren’t really good knives, but a half titanium half G10 Praetorian with a pretty simple design for 600 when I can get an xm-18 for 200 less is a little crazy IMHO. Thanks for the video. Good stuff.

Production costs can also be a reason why some knives are more costly. The designer or knife maker can also have a unique design which no other company can copy as well as the unique lock. For example the Benchmade knife company has a specific lock which enables the user speed to open as well as to close and finally the strength of the lock which enables more abuse or harder use when it comes to cutting.

I believe that above any reason you stated, the individuals income plays a major role. I saw a movie last night called Army of the Dead. It was alright, more entertaining than i initially expected. At one point in the movie, Dave Bautista is holding a stack of cash in his hand and says, “I’ve never held this much money in my hand before. Once that vault opens, this is just a rounding error, it’s toilet paper.” Perspective is key.

I agree with the materials used and the attention to the detail part, I would add to that Labor cost(dictated by the cost of living) + Local laws and regulations(that is a big one) = Product cost Thank you

Oh yeah one thing I also think is worth paying more money for is customer service and repair or refurbishing of a knife. Some companies do more when you send your knife then others.

Great content and explanation of why. Good vid man.

I thought the same about sebenzas and stuff when I first saw them.. and owned a few and saw how they were built and thought.. damn they have a ton of shit they go through just to get to the finishing bench.. the small details def stand out when u look closely

Wish I had a pffssst machine that shot out sweet knives lmao. Made me laugh so hard. Good stuff. Point is very valid as well and well said. I very much agree.

You said it yourself it comes down to what someone is willing to pay for it some knives mean something different from person to person. and what they will use the knife for can decide what they will pay for a knife this just does not happen with knives. jordan shoes Supreme clothing etcetera. it all comes down to the personal preference. good video though proves that not all people will agree. but if they ran there own business and put the hard work designing things and making them and trying to sell in a competitive market they would understand. but not all people will agree and that's fine what you think something is worth and what you will pay for it will not always be in agreement with others.

Perception is reality. The market is never wrong when measured over time.

The content of this particular show is very important. For new Jacks one of the reasons why knives are expensive is because they are a limited edition from a renowned knife maker. So there will only be lets say 100 made. So after the last number 100 there will be no more in circulation or easily found.

That gas station knife is clearly the best cutting tool you have ever shown I mean if you somehow manage to get 1 of the blades which are probably made of some sort of recycled aluminum can. You can just switch to the second blade and keep “cutting”

Currently considering the WE Knife Gnar vs Fox Knives TUR ... Granted the Gnar is a newer design and looks truly awesome. What makes the Gnar worth more than the TUR, when the TUR has M390 or Elmax bladesteel vs S35VN on the Gnar? Also the TUR with carbonfiber scales is a bit lighter (and looks a bit friendlier), and at least for those living in Europe (like I do) the warranty is going to be a lot more useful than that from any knife out of China. I'm loving my WE Knife Rectifier and both of my Civivi knives, but generally speaking I feel they're overpriced as compared to Kizer knives, but even so as compared to Benchmade or Spyderco😣

When pocket knives are costing more than my 8 shot 357 scandium framed revolver, it seems a bit weird to me. I get they’re well made and it’s my own personal choice whether I buy one or not. It’s just super weird to me. To each their own though. I can get why people collect them.

Hey man I work in procurement, what you are talking about is “total delivered cost.” There are many costs in manufacturing all the way down to paying the miner to mine the oar.

I have some inexpensive knives, mid range, and higher end knives. To me, high end user knives end at the $500-$600. After that, again for me, the knife becomes something too expensive to do anything with other than put it away and never use it. At that level it is more of a investment. I will use, but don’t like to, a knife around $200-$300 but I am concerned about loss, damage, or a police officer deciding to confiscate it (luckily that hasn’t happened, but it could). I have found my RAT 2, D2, to be a very effective knife to carry and use without much concern. Once you get used to collecting you will develop a feel for what to use, what to show, and when to use it.

As a socom elite with elmax steel owner the price is more than worth it for me started to sell off knives because my para 3 ,940,mini grip ,and microtech exocet are now bottom drawer knifes after I got the socom, next one will be the bugout mini for light cary because this guy is heavvvvy but similar to my endura soo 🤷🏽‍♂️ good video

Imagine how much it costs companies like Microtech to keep CNC & CMM programmers and operators on staff, as well as maintaining the equipment.

A lot of it is common sense, even for someone new to knives. Wife and her friend don’t get it though so.... As always love the passion and the information. Steven

Great video and alot of good points to the same point why is a Ferrari so much more than my dodge they both have wheels and drive they must be the same I personally can't afford the high end but I do understand the price and can appreciate why they are so expensive so untill I can have the budget to do so I will enjoy my budget blades awesome video keep up the great work

Anyone who might still be skeptical about the difference of quality between carbon fibers should just ask someone from the mountain bike industry

My faves at the moment (chosen from MC) are my Paladin and Praxis. Would like a 3" addition. Given those two, any suggestions? Under $100 ish please. Thanks. Nick

I think clothing is a really good juxtaposition to knives, at least price wise. You can go to target and get a 10 dollar white t shirt or go to Gucci and get a 500 dollar white t shirt. It's a similar thing but u can feel the difference.

I watch this whole video just to see what the last knife was the Rocksteady what a beautiful night unfortunately way out of my budget price range Great video by the way

‘Fantasy’ is a great way to describe gas station knives.

You sir are a one man podcast and I love it.

Thank you for this. I know people love to complain about made in China but yea, that market wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t such a high demand. People want American made but don’t want to pay American made prices.

I'm not sure why I enjoy your videos so much but whatever it is keep the content coming please and thank you. Have a great day

I will only buy a Canadian, Usa, german or sweden made knives, never China.Another thing with the cost is maintaining the equipment thats cuts the higher end blade steels which would be harder on their equipment to make them. Plus the higher wages for the employees that assemble them. I like supporting companies that pay their employees a good livable wage.

The knife price problem is very very simple. The price is made out of 2 components : 1- the production cost. 2- the profit. The cost includes: designing, engineering, manufacturing, raw materials, warranty, taxes, plus the sales cost. The rest is profit. Now... you have 14 knives on the table, take them one by one and present the production cost, the price and the profit in percentage. Then let us decide if the price is right, or if the company is greedy. And... by the way, Titanium is $2 per lb.( $ 4800 per metric ton).

grt vid, agree, some of the best knives aren't USA made, although some of my fav designs like Chris Reeve were conceived, designed and made first in South Africa, then moved to the States, Sinkevich is from Belarus, etc, talent is everywhere. But the fact is that labour is more expensive in the states vs these other countries.

I just bought bareknuckle 20cv used for 100. That was the normal price when new the 78 was a sale price. They dont sell them anymore I think or a pretty limited. I've seen them on eBay going for 150-200.

I just started getting into knives so thank you for explaining this. I cannot afford knives over $300 but am finding many nice knives I can afford. I often wonder if the expensive $1000 knives are actually used. I would have great difficulty scratching up a thousand dollar knife just to open a box of cardboard. 📦

USA made blade now have covid-19 skinny skinner versions that have a special stamping on it and comes with a signed card from Rick Hinderer for 425 dollars

I'm going to play devil's advocate in one or two areas. One, when manufacturers (Marfione) decide a knife's value seemingly completely independently of what it took to make it. Oh, we cerakoted this frame? $1,500. Also, when a company randomly goes way outside of their class in pricing.

Only $19.95 and if you call now we'll upgrade you to Unobtainium at no extra cost. That's not all! Get a second at no extra charge. (Just pay separate postage and processing) Seriously, value is in the eye of the buyer. If you don't see the value in the price move on. I love knives and don't hate on any no matter the cost. I just don't buy if I don't see. Great video! You did awesome keeping it friendly. I couldn't. Lol

Great information. I understand what you’re saying but I’m way more interested in the blade. If someone manufactures an amazing handle and bearings with great tolerances but make the blade out of cheap soft metal that won’t hold an edge it isn’t worth it. Maybe I’m a little further along my journey than the viewers you are trying to reach? I want to know the edge retention, Rockwell rating, and type of steel used for the blade. Will the blade rust if I don’t pay attention to cleaning and storage after use? I would hope a company wouldn’t put that much into details without using the best material for the blade. Do you have videos on your channel going over the blade?

My grandkids will own my Sabenza some day. My grand kids aren't going to own my gas station knife.

You can kinda look at it like building and the cost of a hamburger. You can get a McDonald's burger where they put a piece of meat on a grill then slap condiments and a bun on it and sell it for a dollar. Or you can get a burger from a nicer restaurant where you can have the meat cooked the way you like it with extra seasonings and toppings all the way down to specific type of bun and that can even be toasted if you liked. So some people just see two burgers but then when u get to taste it you notice why one cost more. Too bad you cant just taste the knife so newer knife people can get a clearer picture.

I saw a video of someone machining their scales and I get the time factor. There’s no way I’d make some scales for anyone and sell them cheap. I think some people are blinded by their perceived right to be given something. But talking money and economics is inviting trouble. Ultimately, people shop quality and price and that’s why most big brands have a budget brand. They don’t make enough money with those expensive pieces to stay afloat. Regardless, it’s a good time to buy knives right now. Companies are giving more than ever. Great steels, micarta, bearings, and some retailers give discount codes. Having said all that, Spyderco’s pricing irks me. 😂

28:46 my fav part

It gets crazier the longer the blade. Well made productions swords can rage from 500$ to 3000$.

Whatever you buy, there's a cost for quality and human attention. Great video!

Another reason why some knives are not cheap or expensive is because of the materials and simply how they are put together. I will give you guys an example a new welder compared to an experienced welder is not the same.

Artisan/CJRB vs WE/Civivi. What are your thoughts? I never owned a we/civivi knife but I have two cheaper artisans.

I personally think zt has a bit of room for improvement for the price they ask. Mostly just in the heat treat department. Not a big issue, but an issue that had pushed me away from several zt models. I don't want to be paying for a 20cv blade that's so soft it performs like s30v. That may be nitpicking, but when other companies are consistent with heat treat with the same materials and similar pricing, I just think ZT has room to improve.

I agree with just about everything in this video however when I see a $500+ knife with G10 handles it makes me cringe a bit.

America vs China Italian knives: yeah,yeah, that’s, right fuck me

i wish you would have gotten the G10 version of the CJRB. All you did was pick it up and beat up on its carbon fiber. you did show it once but you could have instead referred back to it for its great action, drop shut close, and fit & finish. Its a great knife especially for 33 bucks. I'll say this it came better shape than the Hinderer XM-18 i got last week. it came off centered, very sharp flipper tab, and bad detent, hand tuned my ass.

I don't mean to knock China made knives, I do own some and they have their place; however, I thought it might be helpful to explain why knives made in China are typically much cheaper than those made in the US, and it's not just due to lower labor costs or the use of inferior materials. China utilizes a business ecosystem of networked suppliers, component manufacturers, distributors and delivery services - these are often closely related both in location and in business function (Note: Some US facilities utilize the same strategy). China typically has a minimal concern associated with employee job security, health and safety (including limited laws related to child labor) and environmental regulations (e.g., air quality and waste disposal). The gov't has policies exempting imported parts and supplies from taxes/duties, and protects manufacturers from value-added taxation for items that will be exported. In addition, they strategically depress the value of their currency to keep prices of goods lower than those produced by competitors. China makes some good knives (e.g., Rough Ryder) at nice prices; it's up to the consumer to determine what's right for them... often a balancing act between quality, cost and ethics. Enjoyed your video!

Everyone has different incomes and values, to each his own.

People don't understand why some knives are expensive? They'd better stay away from whiskey.

Please review the WE 923 Scoppio

I purchased a Kizer knife and the hollow aluminum scales were a total disappointment for a knife of that price, felt like a cheap cold steel 40 dollar knife... there'd cheaper knifes that are better .

It is the same story as a Rolex of 15K or a seiko of 600. The glass / steel / hands / date / design / ect ect. They both indicate the time

Its the name more than anything