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

[VashHash]

Chaparral lw, Urban.

Thos bittersweet deals you get buying off the discontinued list. :o

SPY DKs still kicking around, among others...:
https://www.knifeworks.com/folding-kniv ... inued.html

I never really understood this: Discontinued models normally should be sought after and RISE in price (and in fact DO often times, believe me I know that from hunting down a Stretch 1... :rolleyes: ), but then there are some that get really cheap?!

They're usually really cheap until they all sell out and people decide to profit from that fact. It's really funny when you see the eBay flippers jack the prices up before they're even out of stock elsewhere. Discontinued models always drop in price until dealer inventories run out. I think a good bit of us here actually make impulse buys when the discontinued list gets posted every year and dealers drop prices on remaining stock. Sometimes though a model stops shipping and dealers sell out before its official.

[Wartstein]

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

Thanx for the explanation Sal! Still, for me personally it's amazing what level of quality, perfect execution, design and material you get with the Chap FRN for the money. And Taichung is NOT China, but Taiwan, right?

[Wartstein]

Chaparral lw, Urban.

Thos bittersweet deals you get buying off the discontinued list. :o

SPY DKs still kicking around, among others...:
https://www.knifeworks.com/folding-kniv ... inued.html

I never really understood this: Discontinued models normally should be sought after and RISE in price (and in fact DO often times, believe me I know that from hunting down a Stretch 1... :rolleyes: ), but then there are some that get really cheap?!

They're usually really cheap until they all sell out and people decide to profit from that fact. It's really funny when you see the eBay flippers jack the prices up before they're even out of stock elsewhere. Discontinued models always drop in price until dealer inventories run out. I think a good bit of us here actually make impulse buys when the discontinued list gets posted every year and dealers drop prices on remaining stock. Sometimes though a model stops shipping and dealers sell out before its official.

Thanx!
So from a financial standpoint: Why DO dealers sell discontinued models for a low price? I mean, they could charge the regular or even higher prices. Since people KNOW that these models will no longer be available eventually they would probably pay rather more than less.. ?

[vivi]

IMO the Cara Cara 2 can't be beat. For 1/4th to 1/6th the price of most comparable Spydercos from Japan and USA, all you sacrifice is a little edge retention and fit and finish. Ergos, cutting geometry, and build quality is still there. The FRN Cara Caras for $20 are an unbelievable value.

For fixed blades I think the Street Bowie is a very good value. You get a 5" coated VG10 blade and a very high quality sheath for about $90-110.

The Waterway is another high value fixed blade. $120 for a 4.5" LC200N blade, full tang, 3D machined G10 scales and an exquisite sheath.

[ugaarguy]

I think the Chap LW is the best value in a Spyderco for the reasons already listed. I don't think the Delica and Endura are the values they used to be. I also think the Tenacious is beaten out by some competitors.

[wrdwrght]

I’ll keep it simple.

VG10 Delica4.

Three iterations of improvement on the inspired original for less than US$80.00. The biggest BANG!

So I guess you´re with my choice in my op: If one likes bigger blades, it´s the Endura 4 instead of the Delica, right?!

Because I don’t own an Endura, per se (I do have purpose-built PE and SE Pacific Salts), I can’t recommend it to uninitiated friends to whom bang-for-the-buck is likely to matter (besides, some people would consider it too big). Hence my Delica4 recommendation.

Bang-for-the-buck has not guided my own Spydie buying since the value-folder Tenacious launched the uninitiated me.

[steelcity16]

I'd say the Tenacious is the best bang for the buck. That is a heck of a knife for the price. It it one of my favorite designs regardless of the price and COO.

From the premium lineup I would say the following are all great values:

Chap LW
Pacific Salt
Dragonfly Salt
Manix LW
Para 3 LW
Native LW

[TkoK83Spy]

Gayle Bradley 2 is one of the best deals in the knife world. When it first came out and was about $140 it was a steal.

I have to agree. Got mine on an eBay deal last year for $119 brand new and makes me giddy any time I think about it! I also think the Dragonfly ranks up there if you don't need something for hard use or a lot of cutting edge. Such a great, compact design for under $65 give or take.

[TomAiello]

Chap LW.
Manix 2 LW s110v.
Native LW s110v.
Para 3 LW BD1n.

[ladybug93]

the se pacific salt is an awful lot of knife for the money. such a wonderful knife. low maintenance and always there, ready to cut.

[TkoK83Spy]

Safe to say, there's a good 10-15 hard to argue against choices here.

[Naperville]

Spyderco knives are generally fairly priced, and the steels used are unobtainable anywhere else. You get what you pay for. They have all been a good bang for the buck in my case.

[BornIn1500]

So from a financial standpoint: Why DO dealers sell discontinued models for a low price? I mean, they could charge the regular or even higher prices. Since people KNOW that these models will no longer be available eventually they would probably pay rather more than less.. ?

I might be wrong here, but since a lot of discontinued models didn't sell well, dealers have been stuck sitting on inventory for awhile that hasn't been moving and they WISH they could have lowered the price to sell them but they were prevented from doing it because of MAP pricing. It just makes good business sense to lower the price as soon as they can to recover the investment in the product. Playing the game of hoping the knives go up in value is like playing a small lottery. Some knives don't go up in value, people still don't want to pay MAP, and the retailer would be stuck sitting on that inventory even longer. For example, BladeHQ still has plenty of discontinued knives still in stock (D'Allara, Ouroboros, A.T.R. 2, Lil' Lum). Where's the market for them to charge a higher price for being discontinued? People don't want them.

[Enactive]

Through one lens I'd say my $52 Resilience or $42 Efficient are definitely competitive. The Efficient has notably better detailing and F&F, but the Resilience is just a lot of knife for 50 bones.

Through another lens the Spydiechef is the total champ. If I could only have one folder I would pick it 20/20 times. If it's in your budget and you'll use it, there is not much it won't do very well and it is a lifetime knife for sure. The thing is absolutely unique and has no close competition whatsoever. CRK like build for $217! Semi-indestructible with reasonable use.

I might even get more controversial and say the Shaman. Ha! I need more time with it, but doubt it can touch the value of the Chef! It is also truly amazing and special tho.

[Enactive]

UKPK in CTS BD1N.

It's a Golden-made Spyderco in a great steel, superbly designed with better fit and finish than my $200 Police 4, it's featherlight and has a well-done deep carry wire clip, all for LESS THAN $60!

This is a strong contender!

[JD Spydo]

I mentioned Spyderco's great NATIVE model earlier and I'll stick to that one for the most reliable and durable folder for the price. I now so much want to get one of the newer/better NATIVE models so that I might have another Spyder with a short blade and premium blade steel that I can carry where knife laws are totally ridiculous and un-constitutional

I do however have another great Spyderco model that I truly believe is an awesome value for the price. The discontinued C-44 Dyad>> the double bladed model with one full Spyderedged blade and one full plain edged blade. With that model you literally get two premium Spyderco models for the price of one. I'm truly hoping that there will be more double bladed Spyderco folders in the future.

Actually C-44 Dyad and the C-39 Dyad Jr may indeed be the very best Spyderco models for the money that they ever came up with.

[Enactive]

OP here, and one of my two choices was (and is) the Chaparral FRN. I am actually a bit surprised that no one else brought it up so far:
I did some google-search meanwhile, and funny, in quite a few reviews it is explicitly pointed out, what a great value the Chap FRN is for the money (was not aware of this seemingly quite wide-spread opinion when I started the thread).
But then, I did not actually own too many Spyders myself compared to many on this forum probably.

The Chap LW sounds like a strong contender. Taichung build quality is astonishingly good!

I haven't handled one and have strongly considered, but it seems too small. I have read lots of praise for it too. I am sure it is an elite slicer. My Native is as small as I think I wanna go. I know you like bigger blades too, but love your Chap.

One question to you. I recall you saying you sold a Native because the behind the choir grip wasn't usable. Are you able to get a good four finger behind the choir grip on the Chap?

[Tucson Tom]

I don't know what these comments are about "fit and finish" on the Tenacious. All the copies I have seen have been absolutely fine. The only shortcoming I can see with the knife is the steel, but it ain't bad -- and especially for the price. I've got no problems with the liner lock either.

Pacific Salt seems like a solid recommendation too, with a lot of virtues.

I don't know anything about the Byrd knives. There could be some gems hiding there.

[Enactive]

The question could be refined into tiers. Best bang for buck is not the same in my mind as best value.

To me, best value is the cheapest that'll do. In that case Vivi's Cara Cara wins. To me it is best value, but not necessarily best bang for buck. Depending on application, Darby's Bradley may win-- or maybe my Chef or Shaman. In England Connor's UKPK wins. Bloke's S110v Military wins if you're cutting miles of cardboard without anything to sharpen your knife.

This is all so subjective-- and hearing all the perspectives is fun!

[npad69]

the Resilience! you get an awful large amount of blade with a smooth action at a price cheaper than the delica