Blade HQ M4/Jade Rock Lobster

[Senfkarte]

...This is my first Seki knife and at the moment it is also my last. Very disappointed.
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I hate reading comments like this and frankly I think this mentality is close minded.
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What I dont like about the comment is that you are writing off like a quarter of spydercos catalog based off of one knife.
Also, its been stated on here for a while that seki g10 knives are not the best at their price point.
Get any of the seki lightweights and you will be happy.

Yes, you are right. This was stupid of me. It was stupid times two. The first time, because I wrote these words, while writing the first part of the post. This was the time the knife just got worse and worse with every second I wrote the post and I was beyond objectivity. The second reason for my stupidity is because, after I fixed the detent and bevels and wrote the second part of the post, I came to the conclusion, that this one knife does not mark the categorically "I will not buy Seki again". It was one knife, and that is not a big enough sample size to ditch all other Seki knives.
I'm very sorry, that I forgot to mention this in the second part of my post. This is meant in all seriousness and without any sarcasm.

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Second, the worst bevels I have gotten from spyderco were from the Golden factory on a fairly expensive knife. While spyderco usually has good bevels, bad ones can still happen. Its just life.

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...Also, its been stated on here for a while that seki g10 knives are not the best at their price point.
Get any of the seki lightweights and you will be happy.

Yes, that's just life. But that should not be my problem, this should be the problem of the factory. Especially, when a knife has a certain price point, these things should not leave the factory.
I don't think it is the right thing to just agree, that Seki G10 are just too expensive and then forgive every fit and finish shortcoming the product has.

Guy gets a messed up knife 4 months after the release date when it sold out in hours.

What seems more likely; a lemon from the factory or "someone" messed up the knife?

I know what sounds more likely to me.

Sure, this is a possibility. But the knife looked new.
No scratches anywhere, and the bevels looked like new ones from Golden. Since I had no previous Seki models, I only can compare to Golden. If Seki bevels usually look different, then Golden ones, I'm with you and I got ripped off, if they usually look pretty much the same, I'm very sure this knife really was new.

[Evil D]

It's tough. We can all understand scientific method and how sample size works, but as a buyer our sample size is essentially just 1, unless we have a local store or a dealer who's cool enough to hand pick one per your specifications. Even if you can easily return and exchange (as in, not internationally) then your sample size is still only however many you're willing to mail back.

This is like swearing off a steakhouse for getting one steak that's overcooked, when that steakhouse has an overwhelmingly positive reputation. Also in this case it would be like that steakhouse is cooking hundreds of thousands of steaks a year, and the higher that number goes the higher the chances of one sample not being up to par, or even a few hundred.

It happens. What we need to remember is, these are tools first and collector's items last. An uneven bevel is still perfectly functional, and from a manufacture's perspective it doesn't make sense to deem this knife defective because one bevel is slightly wider than the other. And though it may be a bit more expensive than a Delica, it's still not a custom knife and doesn't come with custom fit and finish. I do agree though, that it's completely ok for a person's tolerance of this sort of thing to change right along with cost. That's completely understandable.

As for international purchases, if you knew how many times I've been hosed by stuff I've bought from overseas...I once bought some boots that turned out to be too small, and instead of dealing with return shipping and the cost and hassle of all that, I just ordered another pair and sold the small pair. It's a PITA but that's something we all have to deal with when shopping from across the pond.

[Senfkarte]

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This is like swearing off a steakhouse for getting one steak that's overcooked, when that steakhouse has an overwhelmingly positive reputation. Also in this case it would be like that steakhouse is cooking hundreds of thousands of steaks a year, and the higher that number goes the higher the chances of one sample not being up to par, or even a few hundred.
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This is a very good comparison, and I agree. I was very wrong, when I wrote, this experience made me to boycott all Seki models. In fact, I just ordered an Endela in K390 a few minutes ago.

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It happens. What we need to remember is, these are tools first and collector's items last. An uneven bevel is still perfectly functional, and from a manufacture's perspective it doesn't make sense to deem this knife defective because one bevel is slightly wider than the other. And though it may be a bit more expensive than a Delica, it's still not a custom knife and doesn't come with custom fit and finish. I do agree though, that it's completely ok for a person's tolerance of this sort of thing to change right along with cost. That's completely understandable.
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Yes and no. For me a knife is a tool, yes. But I think there are also some people out there, that just collect. To say, that one should ignore the collectors and just see these knives as tools may end not well. I don't know for sure but I think collectors help a lot to keep Spyderco and all the other knife brands alive. Additionally, at least in my mind, especially sprints and exclusives have more potential to end up in a non-user collection.
I don't want to say, Spyderco should trash something like this. But on the other hand, something with, what I would not call "slightly", uneven bevels should be spotted in QC. Maybe my expectations have been too high. For me, above a certain price point, some things should be fine. I absolutely do not expect the bevels to be as even, as it can be. I would, if this knife would be a custom knife, I totally agree. But this is an over 200 $ knife, if one side is nearly 80% bigger, than the other, I am disappointed. If such uneven bevels are fine for all of you, I guess my expectations simply are too high for this price range.

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As for international purchases, if you knew how many times I've been hosed by stuff I've bought from overseas...I once bought some boots that turned out to be too small, and instead of dealing with return shipping and the cost and hassle of all that, I just ordered another pair and sold the small pair. It's a PITA but that's something we all have to deal with when shopping from across the pond.
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Yes, international purchases always are a little bit risky. But the comparison with the boots is not so fitting. If the boots don't fit, that's one thing. This would translate to a knife, that does not fit my hands. This is nothing the boots or the knife got wrong in this case. But the "problem" I had here is more a fit and finish thing. Maybe something like a shoe sole, that is fitted a little off (the shoe can be used no matter of this flaw) or a seam, that already starts to fall apart, when the shoe is new out of the box (it is fixable, but would take some time). Sure this is a risk I take, when buying international but in my mind the risk of receiving a product, that has little flaws should decrease with increase in price. It just seems my expectations just have been too high.

[Evil D]

Yes and no. For me a knife is a tool, yes. But I think there are also some people out there, that just collect. To say, that one should ignore the collectors and just see these knives as tools may end not well. I don't know for sure but I think collectors help a lot to keep Spyderco and all the other knife brands alive. Additionally, at least in my mind, especially sprints and exclusives have more potential to end up in a non-user collection.
I don't want to say, Spyderco should trash something like this. But on the other hand, something with, what I would not call "slightly", uneven bevels should be spotted in QC. Maybe my expectations have been too high. For me, above a certain price point, some things should be fine. I absolutely do not expect the bevels to be as even, as it can be. I would, if this knife would be a custom knife, I totally agree. But this is an over 200 $ knife, if one side is nearly 80% bigger, than the other, I am disappointed. If such uneven bevels are fine for all of you, I guess my expectations simply are too high for this price range.

People collect probably everything on this planet that can be collected, from rocks to dead bugs to actual tools like hammers and farm equipment. Like collecting rocks, maybe your job (or any collector's job) of being a collector is seeking out those flawless examples, after all that is what makes them worth more isn't it? You can't walk out into the forest and get mad at the forest for not producing the most perfect butterfly for your collection, you have to seek it out. If you're really that serious about collecting, try thinking of this as part of the hobby. You got one that leans more heavily towards being a tool instead of a collector's item.

[Senfkarte]

People collect probably everything on this planet that can be collected, from rocks to dead bugs to actual tools like hammers and farm equipment. Like collecting rocks, maybe your job (or any collector's job) of being a collector is seeking out those flawless examples, after all that is what makes them worth more isn't it? You can't walk out into the forest and get mad at the forest for not producing the most perfect butterfly for your collection, you have to seek it out. If you're really that serious about collecting, try thinking of this as part of the hobby. You got one that leans more heavily towards being a tool instead of a collector's item.

There is a difference in collecting things, that nature made (butterflies, rocks, ...) and man made objects, when it comes to perfection. To find the perfect X made by nature is so rare, that this rarity is, what gives item X its value. Man made objects can be made as perfect as one want (this is simplified, maybe too much, as perfection requires time and sometimes luck) and the price is set by the manufacturer. That are two differnet ways of setting a price. Especially since we are not talking about a knife, that is only produced in a quantity of one.
But this knife is not a collector item for me. If it was, I would not have changed the detent or the bevels, because I suspect, I decreased the value for a collector by doing this. But even for a user, I expect some degre of fit and finish, when new out of the box. More so, the more expensive. But I can also accept, when I am alone with this expectation or if my expectations are too high. In the future I still will expect more or less even bevels and will be happy, if they are, and unhappy if not. I will fix them and life will go on.