What's your rating of knife manufacturers?

[yalskey]

If you HAD to put a top 5 list together of the overall best knife manufacturers out there, based on high quality practical use knives, what would it be?

Emerson? Spyderco? Kershaw? SOG? Benchmade? or what?????

 

[benchmade_boy]

1. Strider
2. Benchmade
3. Spyderco
4. Kershaw
5. Gerber

that is my top five list but i do have to say i think benchmade and strider are number one but i put benchmade and numbet two.

hope you like

 

[Hooligan]

Benchmade, Strider, Emerson are on top for sure. I don't know if you can list them in order because they have so many different knives.

Look for good steel from a good manufacturer with a useful (for your intended use) blade shape/design.

 

[Ignoramus]

Higher End:
Busse
Chris Reeve
Strider
Swamp Rat
Fallkniven

Lower than higher end:
Spyderco
Benchmade
Emerson
Ranger
Scrap Yard Knives
Kershaw
SOG

 

[Malpaso]

1. Strider
2. Benchmade
3. SOG
4. (tie) Gerber
4. (tie) Buck

 

[ksonger]

wait til you have a qc problem with strider and then make up your list.

ken

 

[carrot]

The problem with "rating" manufacturers is they span many price ranges. And there are A LOT of them. CRK and Strider, along with Extrema Ratio and others are at the higher end of prices. I won't even begin to list the custom makers.

In the more affordable range of mass-manufactured knives, however, there are manufacturers like Spyderco and Benchmade, CRKT and Kershaw, Buck and Gerber...

Personally I usually choose Spyderco over Benchmade, but Benchmade has some great offerings, and Spyderco's sometimes appear to be a bit off-the-wall (like the Dodo!).

 

[yalskey]

So it looks like most of you guys agree that Strider is probably the best of the bigger manufacturers.

Interesting to note that Emerson wasn't mentioned on some people's list. I was under the impression that they were the best... of course I'm a newb at this.

Carrot --> I know what you are saying, but I'm just throwing all that intropection out the window and asking for a quick and dirty list based off of nothing but subjective gut feeling.

 

[ksonger]

i thought strider was among the top until someone i know had a qc issue with the knife and they currently are planning on charging to fix what was a documented defect. When you pay that much money for a knife, the bulletproof warranty should be just that, bulletproof!

I really like benchmade for production knives closely followed by kershaw ( i am a real fan of the onion assisted opening knives, i just love my titanium 189 zdp leek)

ken

 

[CLHC]

I'll have to agree with what carrot said:

The problem with "rating" manufacturers is they span many price ranges.

Also the availability of such knives. . .

The only expriences with what is considered "well-known" manufacturer(s) of knives that I'm acquainted with in no particular order:

Benchmade

Buck

Emerson

Microtech

Spyderco

And that's besides other no-name brand or "El Cheapo" knives (in my sphere that is) to try out such as CRKT, Gerber, Kershaw among others. . .

 

[cutlerylover]

I agree with carrot, there are many factors to rate knives on, but I have to say these are my top 5 favorite that I ahve owned...but this is just out of what In ahev owned, not all knives avaliable...

in no particular order...

1) Microtech (my favorite autos!!!!!!)
2) Benchmade (always made good knives for the money)
3) Spyderco (great knives for the money, also started new trends over the years)
4) Delta-Z (Italian compnay, no longer in buisness)
5) MOD (masters of Defense, up there with Microtech)

 

[yalskey]

FOLLOW UP QUESTION:

What does Benchmade call their assisted opening feature? I know Kershaw calls it "speedsafe", but I can't seem to find benchmark knives that have a similar feature on their website.

Just to be clear... I'm NOT talking fully auto... just spring loaded (not WAVE).

And what's the deal with RED, BLACK, and BLUE lines of Benchmade knives?

 

[Sharpdogs]

I hate to limit it to just five.

1. Spyderco
2. Benchmade
3. Boker
4. Kabar
5. Victorinox

Honorable mention to SOG and CRKT.

 

[jrjunky]

Different knives for different reasons.

My all time favorites (and this is purely my personal opinion).

1. Strider--------------SmF
2. Chris Reeve---------Sebenza
3. Emerson------------Commander or Karambit
4. Microtech-----------Socom
5. Benchmade---------806 w/D2

These are my EDC's and I love each one for a different reason. I have had nothing but positive exp. with each and every one of these companies and would highly recommend them. I have called for big things and little and have been treated like family...

Marc

 

[matrixshaman]

Um - not in any particular order but my favorites:
Benchmade
Strider
Emerson
Kershaw
Buck
--------
And for my big thumbs down list to totally stay away from - will never buy for various reasons:
Gerber
Spyderco
Cold Steel
Oh yeah and then in a low class all by itself is Dark Ops knives - to be avoided at all costs - and they do cost a lot. Mall Ninja style overpriced to the hilt junk which has so rightfully become known as Dork Ops :shakehead

 

[DJ Q]

i like my spec-ops airforce fixed blade

 

[matrixshaman]

The colored lines of Benchmade are explained on their site - just a way of separating the toughest built knives from the cheaper ones. Gold is like a custom - very expensive and lots of bling bling. Black - very well built heavy duty - made to withstand hard daily use. Blue is sort of your standard BM - well made but not super heavy duty. Red is made outside the U.S. and is their cheper knives but I've got one and it's still a well made knife.

 

[mjb375]

1. Randall Knives
2. Strider
3. Zero Tolerance
4. Benchmade
5. Kershaw

OM...Emerson, Ontario, CRKT, Gerber, Buck

It really depends what your price range and intended use is...you always get what you pay for.

 

[xdanx]

In no particular order:

Chris Reeve
Strider
Microtech
Benchmade
Busse

wait til you have a qc problem with strider and then make up your list.

ken

Are you by any chance a member of BladeForums?

 

[pedalinbob]

I hate to limit it to just five.

1. Spyderco
2. Benchmade
3. Boker
4. Kabar
5. Victorinox

Honorable mention to SOG and CRKT.

Zing!

I couldn't agree more. I have a knife from each of the manufacturers listed above, except Boker.
They are all excellent knives, and even the "lower-end" stuff has remarkable quality.

I would add another honorable mention to the Byrd line (they are Spyderco-lite).

My favorites:
Spyderco Delica 4 (about $45)
Benchmade Mini-Griptillian ($60 - $70)
Kabar Dozier Thumb Notch Folder ($20!)
Victorinox Soldier ($21.50, shipped!)
Byrd Meadowlark FRN ($16!)