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Here are some of my experiences with different knife companies.

Personally I've never been dissapointed with a Spyderco or Benchmade knife. The price may seem high but you really get what you pay for. My favorite Spydie's are the Delica, Endura and Manix knives. My favorite Benchmade knives are the Nitrous Stryker, 940/943, Barrage Mini and full size, H20 111(Though I wish the liners where drilled out so I don't have to do it myself), MINI Griptillian and of course the amazing 530. It's really hard to pick a favorite but if I had to it would be the 940, that reverse tanto blade is just too cool and extremely functional, not to mention the amazing lightness of this full metal knife at around 2.9oz!! Actually I should mention that the screws in my Benchmade 890 Torrent just won't stay put but I'm getting some more loctite and I hope that solves the issue. Otherwise it's soooo nice though the high price makes me wince a bit.

Cold steel makes some really strong and well made knives. I'm a fan of the Ti-lite series for sure but I don't have much experience with their other offerings.

CRKT is a company which seems to have a bad rep with some people but I've been nothing but impressed with the CRKT knives I've handled. My favorites are the Hissatsu 2, Fire Spark and M16 series especially the 13T(titanium). The prices are fair and fit and finish is always surprisingly good.

SOG is another company many people seem to have a problem with but I really like all my SOG knives especially the Japanese made ones such as the Pentagon and Spec Elite, Toothlock and Vulcan knives. I also really like their SAT assisted knives such as the Aegis, Flash and Trident, I'm not a huge fan of their aluminum SAT assisted back lock series such as the Blink and Twitch. Although they are really cool I just wouldn't choose to carry them since they tend to be on the heavy side and most are a bit difficult to close one handed, however it's definitely possible with some practice wink .

I really like my BOKER throwers especially my Ziels!
I also have many United Cutlery throwers and I'm happy with all of them.
I'm quite fond of my Kershaw Amphibian. I have one of the original Japanese ones and I've yet to actually use it but I use my current run amphibian quite a bit. It actually makes an excellent thrower.

KA-BAR is of course a great company. And most of the KA-BAR knives I've handled have been really excellent. I'm especially a big fan of their TDI knives but the Chinese made TDI folder leaves much to be desired unfortunately. It seems the liner was not heated treated whatsoever because it bends with a very slight amount of force. Really unfortunate. burning_eyes

I'll add some more info as I think of it. 3nodding

These are good choices. I don't personally own a KABAR fixed blade but I have 2 KABAR folders though. One of which I really like the other(the TDI folder) I'm interested in selling.

The liner seem really weak. Too weak imo. I have a terrible suspicion that it's not heath treated. You can literally bend the liner with just a bit of downward pressure on the spine of the blade. Also despite the fact that the handles are drilled out it's still an unreasonably heavy folder. Granted the blade is quite massive. But it's just too heavy for me to carry comfortably with most pants. I dig the G10 on the handles though. The fit and finish is a little bit far from perfect to. I suspect this is because it's made in China rather then in Taiwan as the other TDI products are. The quality control in Taiwan is actually really good most of the time. I'd sell it for $30.

yah Spyderco is definitely a great manufacturer. I have a Ladybug, Delica and Endura wave and P'Kal. They P'kal was a bit on the pricey side but I really like it. I have quite a few Benchmades. My favorites are the 530 and 940. I also love my Stryker! I was surprised to find it's now discontinued.


^530

I've owned both sized Cold Steel Ti-lites which I was impressed with though have since replaced with Spyderco's Delica and Endura wave series as assisted pocket openers. I have also owned some CS fixed blade neck knives. While impressive in both fit and finish I have also replaced them with an alternative (the CRKT Mimimalist which is awesome imo. I'm not big on neck knives to start with though).
I understand your point about price/quality. Personally I have not had much luck with Gerber folding knives. However much of my knowledge comes from the assisted Gerber folders I've owned. The Paraframe and the Applegate-Fairbourn folder. They seem well made and with quality materials like GRN and G10 for the handle scales. I like that the pocket clips allow for the knives to ride low in the pocket. But the issue which prompted me to sell them was the locking mechanism. It's similar to SOG's SAT lock only it is reversed and the secondary lock is integral with the blade lock release. It's kind of hard to describe but the problem is that when deploying it from my pocked I could not be sure that the secondary lock was engaged or not. At least with the SOG SAT knives the secondary lock can be disabled with a dab of super glue or removing it all together.
I've not much experience with Gerber fixed blade knives but the ones I've handled felt quite comfortable. I certainly wouldn't mind getting my hands on a Mark II! xd
Here in Canada they don't sell knives or ammo at Walmart but rather a store called Canadian Tire.

heheh. Wow that's pretty awesome. biggrin
I actually got my dad a folding knife this past Christmas.

yah he really did. I was so happy! heart xd