Spydercos best "bang-for-the-buck" - knife?!

[spyderwolf]

Chappy LW, Polestar, UKPK. Ergonomics,fit and finish etc. are, so far, my best bang for buck Spydies.
The byrd line is often overlooked but are amazing value.

I think the Polestar is the most underrated Spyderco in production.And it's a shame,because it's a superb knife.

[Wartstein]

Endela.

Could very well be. Though I think in some way the byrd-line certainly offers a lot of bang for the buck,if you project the price difference from a Byrd knife to an Endela/ Endura on the many years you'll own a knife normally, the latter give you even more "bang" probably.

You probably right,but for me it's like choosing a WV over a Skoda

Guess I did not make my point well enough That´s what I think too, the MORE expensive Endela gives you more "bang" in the end than the cheaper Byrd does imho, if you take into account the many years you´ll have the knife and project the price difference on that.
Actually for me while that is true for knives, it´s NOT for cars... I´d choose the cheaper Skoda...

[spyderwolf]

Ich habe dein Beitrag in Eile gelesen.Ich bin froh, dass wir beide Endela-Fans sind :)

[carrot]

Endela.

Could very well be. Though I think in some way the byrd-line certainly offers a lot of bang for the buck,if you project the price difference from a Byrd knife to an Endela/ Endura on the many years you'll own a knife normally, the latter give you even more "bang" probably.

I don't completely agree. It's easy to mistake the Byrd knives for disposable blades because of the price difference, but after a short break-in period they feel as solid and reliable as any Spyderco. The CaraCara, Meadowlark, and Robin make it into my pockets at least as often as any of my numerous Spydercos. They are excellent designs and possibly even surpass their Spyderco counterparts (Endura, Delica, Dragonfly). The only downside is that they are a little rough around the edges and could use an extra finishing step to take off the manufacturing burrs, which you can do easily at home. If they were made in BD1N or S30V you'd barely even be able to tell them apart.

I often even prefer to carry the softer 8cr steel because it's easy to sharpen and still takes a wicked edge. Makes it suck a lot less when you end up tapping a staple, concrete, or a ceramic plate.

Thanks to Sal's encouragement, I also picked up a Starling2 G-10, which is in my opinion, easily as nice or nicer than the Ladybug or Jester of the same size. It's just a shame it's so easily overlooked, with the excellent CTS-BD1 steel and comfortable ergonomics. I do prefer the slightly larger size of the Manbug, but at the price difference I'm barely bothered.

[Wartstein]

Ich habe dein Beitrag in Eile gelesen.Ich bin froh, dass wir beide Endela-Fans sind :)

Man, that´s almost perfect German!! (I´m a rather proud Austrian , but we speak a German dialect here)
Just one tiny mistake: You´d say "Ich habe deinEN Beitrag...gelesen"

Do you speak German or did you have that translated somwhere / somehow?

And, yes: I am quite sure dass ich ein Endela-Fan sein werde. Though I´ll have to get it in hands to be 100% sure.

[Wartstein]

Endela.

Could very well be. Though I think in some way the byrd-line certainly offers a lot of bang for the buck,if you project the price difference from a Byrd knife to an Endela/ Endura on the many years you'll own a knife normally, the latter give you even more "bang" probably.

I don't completely agree. It's easy to mistake the Byrd knives for disposable blades because of the price difference, but after a short break-in period they feel as solid and reliable as any Spyderco. The CaraCara, Meadowlark, and Robin make it into my pockets at least as often as any of my numerous Spydercos. They are excellent designs and possibly even surpass their Spyderco counterparts (Endura, Delica, Dragonfly). The only downside is that they are a little rough around the edges and could use an extra finishing step to take off the manufacturing burrs, which you can do easily at home. If they were made in BD1N or S30V you'd barely even be able to tell them apart.

I often even prefer to carry the softer 8cr steel because it's easy to sharpen and still takes a wicked edge. Makes it suck a lot less when you end up tapping a staple, concrete, or a ceramic plate.

Thanks to Sal's encouragement, I also picked up a Starling2 G-10, which is in my opinion, easily as nice or nicer than the Ladybug or Jester of the same size. It's just a shame it's so easily overlooked, with the excellent CTS-BD1 steel and comfortable ergonomics. I do prefer the slightly larger size of the Manbug, but at the price difference I'm barely bothered.

You may very well be right.. I can´t really discuss that with you unfortunately, cause tbh, I never had any Byrd knife... I just thought that projected on the many, many years you should have a Spyderco, the price difference from a Byrd knife to let´s say an Endura and it´s better, but still easy to sharpen VG10 steel is not really that relevant. Could be wrong though.

[spyderwolf]

Ich habe dein Beitrag in Eile gelesen.Ich bin froh, dass wir beide Endela-Fans sind :)

Man, that´s almost perfect German!! (I´m a rather proud Austrian , but we speak a German dialect here)
Just one tiny mistake: You´d say "Ich habe deinEN Beitrag...gelesen"

Do you speak German or did you have that translated somwhere / somehow?

And, yes: I am quite sure dass ich ein Endela-Fan sein werde. Though I´ll have to get it in hands to be 100% sure.

Danke,mein freund.
Yes,i speak german,i had to learn because my fiance ist eine schwabin :),and we also lived in Germany for a couple of years.
We visited Salzburg and Wien and Worthersee are on our list for this or next year.
You will find many old timers speaking ''austrian'' in western Romania.

[zozo]

Byrd Crossbill G10 full serrated.

Got that sucker for $30 a bunch of years ago and wish I'd bought 10. I've got the usual suspects in the spyderco line and usually EDC a PM2 or Sage 5, but that Crossbill is hands down the best cardboard knife I've ever seen. My Pacific Salt SE is okay on cardboard, but doesn't come close. Holds an edge long enough to break down a mountain of cardboard, then sharpens right up in a couple minutes on the sharpmaker. Really wish they'd bring it back (not the SS one--the G10, full serrated beast).

[youmakemehole]

The Chinese Yuan is 6 to 1. That means that a US dollar is worth 6 when it crosses the Chinese border. While there is a big discussion in the US as to whether China is unfairly valuing it's currency, based on the 6-1 valuation difference, the best bang for the buck would have to be a Chinese made model.

sal

I wouldn't say it is worth $6 when it crosses the border, yes there are things that are 6 times cheaper, but for the most part the 1:6 ratio should only be thought of as the exchange rate. Nikes that cost $50 here are not going to cost 50¥ after you exchange your dollars and get 6x as much CNY. In fact real nikes I'd venture to guess would cost even more than 6x the cost of Nikes here, just because they are an imported "luxury" brand in China.That being said, Chinese manufacturing has been making some huge moves - nearly everything I buy now, I go thru this process - find the best product on Amazon by comparing reviews and what not, identify the product I would like to buy, and then go to ebay to find the same product sold directly by the chinese factory manufacturing it, for usually 30-60% off the cheapest price I can find on Amazon. If we are talking about food though, $1 can most definitely get you $6 worth of food in Asia, and very delicious food at that. Taiwan would be probably the best place to be to extract that sort of value, esp. in their night markets.

For knives, the best bang for the buck I'd agree would have to be something made out of China as well. As far as a store of value/profit turning is concerned, I dont think any brand can touch Spyderco in this regard anytime in the near future, so I will always be buying Spyderco no matter what. However, just recently I've been having a bit of a love affair with a chinese brand that rhymes with Pfizer... There will be always something special about the Sage 2 that other companies cannot replicate, however, as for other ti framelocks Spyderco offers, they (IMO) pale in comparison to what the chinese can offer, both in quality and value. It's hard to say no to caged ceramic bearings and detents that come standard across the product line along with near perfect and consistent fit due to the wire edm machinery used to manufacture the parts. As well as a much wider selection of designs, many of them from custom knife designers, that is if titanium framelocks are your thing.

Although I'd say the average consumer would be more enamored with fit, finish, and componentry that the chinese brands have an edge in, I do appreciate much more the raw, brutish uncompromising combination of quality materials put together in refined and highly functional design that Spyderco offers in their products. I'd say the most bang-for-buck would have to be something with CTS-XHP, as CTS-XHP is by far the most bang for your buck steel that is offered by Spyderco. I dont think theres any other steel that can come close. I also agree that the GB1, if it was ever $140, wouldve represented a huge value. I recently got one at $200 and still thought it was a great buy. Back to CTS-XHP, although I cannot think of too may off the top of my head... perhaps the Chaparral, Rhino, Hundred Pacer, Hungarian... as long as their prices are not inflated.. I know the Hungarian has been climbing a bit recently. A lot of the HAP40 models are great buys as well.... ahhha.... I know now.. if I had to pick one model available now given their market prices, the HAP40 Wharnecliffe dleica is probably the best bang for your buck knife. By FAR!!! It is probably IMO one of the best delicas ever created, thantas considering I have just been playing around with the new M390 sprint for the last day or two. The wharnecliffe blade shape makes the bevel even more acute than it already is as it is taller, while keeping the same thickness at 2.5mm. The steel is very comparable to ZDP and m4 in terms of edge retention as well.

[ferider]

You guys are only talking about the "buck" side ....

This morning, I was cleaning and fine-tuning my new Tuff. Man, what a knife, I should have bought one long time ago. Easily 3 times more "bang" than any knife mentioned in this thread so far. :)

[vivi]

You guys are only talking about the "buck" side ....

This morning, I was cleaning and fine-tuning my new Tuff. Man, what a knife, I should have bought one long time ago. Easily 3 times more "bang" than any knife mentioned in this thread so far. :)

Tuff retailed for what, $250?

Cara Caras can be had for $20.

So the Tuff has 3 time more bang. Well the Cara Cara is twelve times less buck!

The numbers don't lie :D

[youmakemehole]

Bang for buck is a ratio, similar to miles per hour (mph). The time and distance a car can travel for would be indefinite if the car doesn't break down. The relationship between the two is what sets each one apart.

Knife A:
300 bangs for 250 bucks

Knife B:
100 Bangs for 20 bucks

Knife A has a bang to buck of 1.2. Knife B has a bang to buck of 5. So one can say that Knife B has over 4 times more value than knife B, note that bang for buck is a measure of value, and not just bang.

[ferider]

You guys are only talking about the "buck" side ....

This morning, I was cleaning and fine-tuning my new Tuff. Man, what a knife, I should have bought one long time ago. Easily 3 times more "bang" than any knife mentioned in this thread so far. :)

Tuff retailed for what, $250?

Cara Caras can be had for $20.

So the Tuff has 3 time more bang. Well the Cara Cara is twelve times less buck!

The numbers don't lie :D

True. I should have said "than many" instead of "than any". Always wanted to try the Cara Cara.

Then again, the Endela has zero "bang" for me. You get the point, the bang part is a personal thing.

[vivi]

Absolutely. Cara Caras would have little bang for someone with restrictive blade length laws.

[Wartstein]

As I´ve already mentioned in other posts, for me one aspect about this "bang for the buck" thing is the time-factor, and another factor how many knives a person owns or will own over the course of life.

To give just one example, comparing Endura and Cara Cara (which (the latter) I admittedly still never handled!):

If a person really just wants ONE single folder for let´s say 50 years.
If this person maybe even likes the ergos of the Endura better, or that the hand is placed closer to the edge in a regular grip-
Projected on such a long period of time: Will the better steel and probably better built qualitity of the Endura offer more BANG for the buck (even if it´s three times the Cara Cara) or not?

For ME it definitely would (ok, "definitely" is the wrong term, since I never really experienced the Cara Cara or its steel).

[ferider]

You sure ?

[sal]

If a person really just wants ONE single folder for let´s say 50 years.

Other than maybe a wife, husband, parent or child, I can't think of much that one would want for 50 years?

sal

[Enactive]

You guys are only talking about the "buck" side ....

This morning, I was cleaning and fine-tuning my new Tuff. Man, what a knife, I should have bought one long time ago. Easily 3 times more "bang" than any knife mentioned in this thread so far. :)

Yeah, man! This is the point i was trying to make earlier about the SpydieChef and other high-value, but not-the-cheapest-thing knives. Another example from my favorites... V- Toku Stretch for $100.

[Enactive]

If a person really just wants ONE single folder for let´s say 50 years.

Other than maybe a wife, husband, parent or child, I can't think of much that one would want for 50 years?

sal

Ha! :D :cool:

[Wartstein]

If a person really just wants ONE single folder for let´s say 50 years.

Other than maybe a wife, husband, parent or child, I can't think of much that one would want for 50 years?

sal

Wife/husband, parent, child, Endura 4, Chaparral and Stretch 1... definitely "things" I'd want for (more) than 50 years... :D

/ But seriously, like probably most on this forum I personally can't imagine owning just ONE single folder. But if a non-knife-person just wants one reliable tool for maybe a lifetime, I still think an Endura gives more bang for the buck than a Cara Cara if you project the costs on such a long period of time... and if only for the VG10 vs AUS 8...