As a user and collector of custom knives, I can shed a little more light on the topic. Knives are like guns, bows, cars....pretty much anything that is man made. There are tons of production knives. Literally thousands of them. Benchmade falls into that category and there's nothing wrong with a Benchmade. They're a decent knife for the money and to their credit they make their knives here in the US. But they are a production knife and that imposes some limitations....meaning you get what they make. No options, period.
Custom knives are a whole nuther animal. They are that. Custom. You get it your way. If one has the means, the world of custom knives is like custom bows. When you hold a knife from S.R. Johnson, Steve Young, or the man himself, Bob Loveless, you know you're holding a knife that's a true work of art. Randall's are hand forged, hand ground, hand polished etc. In today's hurry up world, lots of folks don't want to wait 5 years for a knife. I get that. Those willing to wait are rewarded with an incredible knife. Those not willing to wait, the world of off the shelf production knives are waiting for you.
I started collecting and using them decades ago. Some old timers on this site will remember the story of my brother accidentally dropping one in the porta potty at Cloverdale one year. Yep....he reached down in there, got it back and brought it back to camp and boiled it for a half hour.
Like a custom now, some might decide a Randall isn't worth the money, takes too long to get etc.... I enjoy them. I've carried a model 3-5 in my huntin pack for close to 25 yrs.
Topic: How long would you wait? (Read 5155 times)
