Custom Knives - Worth it?

[kidicarus13]

I've seen a few posts on the blade forum of folks that have custom knives that are afraid to damage them with use or lose them, so they keep them locked up and look at them periodically. That part I don't get.

A lot of people with firearms like that also, and like you, I don't get it ...unless it's a family heirloom.

[StagLefty]

A well made custom knife is a great example of craftmanship by a knife maker. I've seen some great examples but for the price I'd rather invest in several good knives that suit my purposes.
My main consideration for a knife are blade material and ability to hold an edge and ease of sharpening. ESEE fits the bill for me.

[hatidua]

I've seen a few posts on the blade forum of folks that have custom knives that are afraid to damage them with use or lose them, so they keep them locked up and look at them periodically. That part I don't get.

Bladeforums, from what I've seen, is 95% collectors that swap knives back & forth between themselves like baseball cards. The few knives I've sold on there were first greeted with the typical bladeforums questions: are there any scratches on the box, are all the papers included, etc. The knife is assumed to be unused as none of them ever actually use their knives. When you see some of them post photos of their collection of 40 identical unused Sebenza's, you have to wonder what the motivation is...it surely isn't cutting things with knives!

[Marine24]

Reminds me of a conversation I had with an avid Smith collector. He had a pristine pre-Model 19 and he looked at me like I was an idiot when I asked how it shot. While I can appreciate the artistry and craftsmanship of a custom pistol or knife, probably better for me to buy a picture book. I can see a Les George Rockeye or FM-1 in my future and always been a fan of the ESEE fixed blade knives, but probably get my membership revoked if collectors saw the things I try to do with my knives.

[pdr240]

barbecue knife to show off = semi custom
useful working knife = I'm with Ray

A sharp piece of steel is a sharp piece of steel.

but a semi-custom could also be a useful working knife
and a useful working knife could be semi-custom

depends on how you use

[3beansalad]

If you only plan on collecting, sure. As a someone who uses knives for all kinds of things (even those outside of it's intended use,) I could never see making the investment.

The one time I might splurge would be a custom sold to benefit a charity I am particularly fond of. Not sure what'd I do with it if I actually did make that leap.

[davsel]

A well made custom knife is a great example of craftmanship by a knife maker. I've seen some great examples but for the price I'd rather invest in several good knives that suit my purposes.
My main consideration for a knife are blade material and ability to hold an edge and ease of sharpening. ESEE fits the bill for me.

Aren't these two criteria mutually exclusive?
I read this a lot, and have always been confused by the concept.
What am I missing?

[hatidua]

I've gone the custom route with a number of things, ranging from guns (a handful of custom 1911's) to fishing boats for my saltwater pursuits. Custom, and I mean truly "custom" one-off builds, in any field, are costly - usually at least 2-5X what a readily available version of the same thing would cost. If you need a custom, of anything, I think it's best to go that route only because the off-the-shelf version does not accomplish a task you need to accomplish. Simply having something custom made because it looks pretty is the realm of the wealthy or the misguided.

I do not, nor will I ever, consider an Ed Brown/Les Baer/Wilson Combat/Etc. to be a custom 1911 anymore than I consider one of the named model Chris Reeves knives to be custom - they're pretty, but there's nothing 'custom' about them, every single one within a model line is identical. Either of those categories are simply "costly" versions of something every other manufacture makes as well. A "Custom" build, to me, be it a gun/knife/boat/etc. is something where the customer outlines every single part, right down to the brand of fasteners, that will be used in the build.

Is a custom build worth it? -if it accomplishes something that nothing else will, and you need that task accomplished, it's definitely worth it. Otherwise, buy a Spyderco or ESEE and spend the money saved on inflated-price ammo.

[Ah Pook]

I could not see a custom folder. Fixed blade, yes.

Chris Reeve, while having excellent quality and unique pieces, does not qualify as a custom in my book. I really like Sebenzas and would consider them as a high quality production knife.

EESE has been mentioned a few times but I would add Greco, Emerson Grayman and Krein to the list.

[Marine24]

What constitutes custom/semi-custom is a much debated topic and hard to find consensus. I've participated in the debate on 1911s and would agree that Wilson, Les Baer and Ed Brown wouldn't be considered customer 1911 pistolsmiths. Luke Volkmann maybe. Same holds true with Chris Reeves when it comes to knives. Folks with more experience than I have may be able to make the case he fits in the semi-custom category. Les George reminds me of Luke Volkmann in that he bridges the gap between semi-custom and custom. He has standard production knives but also crafts custom knives to the customer's specifications.

All this talk about Reeve and EESE has me debating between a Reeve Green Beret and an ESEE Laser Strike. So much for folders.