Cru Mil OR Tuff at a great price

twinboysdad · #1

Local shop has a Cru Mil for about $190 out the door. I am interested but just hesitant to drop $200 on a knife with my company's crappy healthcare changes coming soon (thanks POTUS, but that's another story). However the local shop has the Tuff for half off MSRP which puts it at $150 or so out the door. Which one floats you guys' boat considering the savings on the Tuff? Decisions...

Evil D · #2

The price on the Tuff is great but I'd snatch that Military. It's a limited production and the new Tuff will likely be around a while.

xceptnl · #3

Evil D wrote:The price on the Tuff is great but I'd snatch that Military. It's a limited production and the new Tuff will likely be around a while.

I support this suggestion. The Military being a sprint and a great steel makes it my top choice for me. Getting a Tuff for 40% to 45% off of retail will still be possible when the Cruwear militarys are long gone.

Janfrederik · #4

Dang! Everywhere I've looked, the Tuff is $230+. Personally, I'd go for the Tuff.

senorsquare · #5

I'd get the Cru Millie. Tuffs will be around and you should be able to find one for a good price in the future. Once the Cru Millie's are gone they are gone, and their value will only go up.

Surfingringo · #6

Man, that's a pretty good deal on that tuff. Personally, I haven't read anything about the cruwear steel that would make me pay big money for it. If there wasn't a limited supply would you pay $200 for a cruwear Millie?

xceptnl · #7

Surfingringo wrote:Man, that's a pretty good deal on that tuff. Personally, I haven't read anything about the cruwear steel that would make me pay big money for it. If there wasn't a limited supply would you pay $200 for a cruwear Millie?

Not to pry gringo, but to play devil's advocate if this was a regular production H1 Millie you might reconsider your suggestion. I think the similarities in these steels really make this question by the OP more about how he plans to use the knife.

Surfingringo · #8

xceptnl wrote:Not to pry gringo, but to play devil's advocate if this was a regular production H1 Millie you might reconsider your suggestion. I think the similarities in these steels really make this question by the OP more about how he plans to use the knife.

Hehe...that actually makes a lot more sense than what I just said!

Of course, I would pay the $200 for the h1 Millie whether it was in limited supply or not.

Actually, when I read the op, the first answer that popped into my head was I would rather just buy a s30v Millie for $140...but I guess that wasn't the question. :)

DRKBC · #9

That's a tough one, I love the Military and I am not crazy about the tuff so it would be an easy decision for me. IMO (for what its worth) if you like the Military then its a no brainer that's the one to get, if you like the Tuff and are only being swayed towards the Military cause you think it is rarer or is going to go up in value, maybe get the Tuff.

ChapmanPreferred · #10

Military for me.

Popsickle · #11

Millie

RevDevil · #12

Surfingringo wrote:Man, that's a pretty good deal on that tuff. Personally, I haven't read anything about the cruwear steel that would make me pay big money for it. If there wasn't a limited supply would you pay $200 for a cruwear Millie?

People have paid $600 and up for some Military sprint runs. The $200 price tag seems mild in comparison.

Surfingringo · #13

Agreed rev, but that's kind of my point. Nobody (IMO) is paying for the steel at those prices. They are paying to get something that's in short supply. Xcptnl's point was a good one...at least it made sense to me. I would pay $200 for the STEEL in an h1 Millie, limited supply or not. That's kind of all I was trying to get the op to consider. Is it the cruwear he wants or the fact that it's a le. Guess it doesn't really matter because if either the steel OR the le is worth 190 to him then he should definitely buy it. It's all subjective.

xceptnl · #14

Surfingringo wrote:Agreed rev, but that's kind of my point. Nobody (IMO) is paying for the steel at those prices. They are paying to get something that's in short supply. Xcptnl's point was a good one...at least it made sense to me. I would pay $200 for the STEEL in an h1 Millie, limited supply or not. That's kind of all I was trying to get the op to consider. Is it the cruwear he wants or the fact that it's a le. Guess it doesn't really matter because if either the steel OR the le is worth 190 to him then he should definitely buy it. It's all subjective.

I was trying to illustrate that although I love the Military platform, I am paying for the steel. If they made a kitchen paring knife in Cruwear (at the right HT) I would be almost as excited about that. I have used this steel a lot (more than any of my other 8 Mule Team knives. I am not the authority on any steel my any stretch of the imagination, but I know this stuff brings a smile to my face when I use it.

TomAiello · #15

Buy the Military, and then PM me your dealer's info, so I can buy the Tuff. :)

Mike157 · #16

I've never handled a Tuff, but from the pictures and specs, I think that I prefer the Military, of which I've owned a few. If I remember correctly, the Tuff's blade is CPM-3V, and I am a fan of it. I do have the Cruwear Military on pre-order. I don't know the weight of the Tuff but I'm guessing that the Military is a bit lighter and given the blade shape more "slicey" whereas, again, I'm guessing, the Tuff's blade is quite a bit meatier and, well, tougher if pushed to the limits - whatever that means to you. I don't push my blades that hard and a more "slicey", seemingly lighter blade in a folder appeals to me a bit more.

Given a Tuff, I would keep it. If spending money, I'll for for the Military. I don't know that I would spend $190 on it at this point given that 1200 seems to be the production number and on-line shops such as Howe's are advertising them for about $143 (when they arrive) if I remember correctly. It is a bit of a gamble, but if one sticks to it, I'd think they'd be able to get one in that price range. Of course, if you're doing this to support your local store, that is just fine also.

If you have the opportunity to handle both of them in the store, get the one you think will work best for you. The Tuff seems to be a solid knife from the reviews I've read and if you feel you like it better than the Military and plan on keeping either of them as users, then go with what appeals to you. Then again, if you are building a stash or collecting, as said before, maybe focus on the Military with its short window of availability and go for the Tuff later.

It's late and I'm rambling....I hope some of this made a small amount of sense. Mike

Senate · #17

i'd go for the Tuff also. you won't be seeing a better price than that i think and the Milie in its usual flavor (s30v) is already a great knife. we might also be seeing some new flavors for the Milie every now and then so you'll have occasion to grab a cool steel another time. if you're not desperate for Cruwear than there's no reason to pay full msrp.
that being said they're really 2 different knives, so this has to be taken into account also.

Evil D · #18

Surfingringo wrote:Agreed rev, but that's kind of my point. Nobody (IMO) is paying for the steel at those prices. They are paying to get something that's in short supply. Xcptnl's point was a good one...at least it made sense to me. I would pay $200 for the STEEL in an h1 Millie, limited supply or not. That's kind of all I was trying to get the op to consider. Is it the cruwear he wants or the fact that it's a le. Guess it doesn't really matter because if either the steel OR the le is worth 190 to him then he should definitely buy it. It's all subjective.

I think it's a bit of both, short supply and the steel. If they made a Military with the budget Chinese steel and said they were only making 500 of them, I'd be surprised if they even sold out let alone fetched $600 on the secondary market even if it was a super limited run. The s90v Para 2 has sold for $900 because of the steel, no doubt about it. There are several other Para 2 sprints made in similarly limited numbers that don't command prices anywhere near that.

Jay_Ev · #19

I would go for the Tuff. It might not be around for long and once it's disco'd it will likely jump up into the $3-400 range.

Surfingringo · #20

xceptnl wrote:I was trying to illustrate that although I love the Military platform, I am paying for the steel. If they made a kitchen paring knife in Cruwear (at the right HT) I would be almost as excited about that. I have used this steel a lot (more than any of my other 8 Mule Team knives. I am not the authority on any steel my any stretch of the imagination, but I know this stuff brings a smile to my face when I use it.

Yes sir, I understood you. Like I said, it was a perfect analogy for me. And in all likelihood it is a good analogy for twinboysdad too. Based on previous conversations with him, I'm pretty certain that if he had seen the (imaginary) h1 Millie in that store for $190, he would not be writing to us asking what he should do!

. He would be at home fondling his new h1 Millie! It would be a no-brainer. (Same as it's a no brainer to u to buy it in cruwear) I don't need a cruwear Millie right now and I'm not a collector, so I would pass at $190. If anyone else would pay $190 or $290 or $390, I completely respect that! I don't know what the op and I would pay for that h1 Millie but I'd venture to say it's well north of $190. I know I would go higher, and I'm not sure where I'd stop! So I suppose I agree with evilD. It is BOTH. The steel and the limited supply.