Once a certain price point is reached, there may not be much difference in knife performance. Is a custom knife worth the money?
by Leon Pantenburg
So who really needs a custom survival/bushcraft/utility/whatever knife?
Short answer: Probably nobody.
This Bark River Bird and Trout Knife makes a superb paring knife. If you process and can food, it could be a really good investment.
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Go to a museum (I went to the Plains Indian display at the Smithsonian) and check out the cutlery used as trade knives during the days of the early frontier. You’ll see a basic butcher knife, with a soft carbon steel blade and plain wooden handle. The standard back then was to carry an inexpensive utility knife that could be sharpened with a rock. The knife may have been the only steel cutlery in a lodge, and it was used for everything.
Today, you can go to any hardware store and for less than $50 buy better knives than the mountain men carried.
Knowing all this up front, I continue to accumulate different brands, style and designs of custom knives.
Here are five reasons why you may need a high end, custom knife:
It’s genetic: I come from a long line of farmers, blacksmiths and butchers. My ancestors used knives every day as tools. I started carrying a pocket knife before I hit the double digits in age. I feel naked without a knife, anywhere or any time. I’ll quit carrying a pocket knife when I quit using it everyday.
As humans, we use tools, and the earliest tool was probably a knife. You are probably hardwired to like knives, and it may not take much to turn you into an enthusiast.
One knife can’t do it all: Despite looking for decades, I haven’t found a knife that can do everything. Your cutlery needs will change with the environment, situation and activity. My go-to Cold Steel SRK survival knife is lousy for peeling potatoes, filleting fish or fine whittling. But it does most of what I need a survival knife for.
A good handle fit is paramount for safe knife handling. A custom knife can be tailored to your individual needs.
Specific needs: Every cutlery user has unique tasks that may make a custom knife a good thing. A survival mom into canning, for example, may need a paring knife that stays sharp through a bushel of tomatoes or peaches. In that case, a well-designed blade, coupled with an ergonomic handle that fits her hand, is a sound investment.
Likewise, a trapper’s knife for skinning furbearers is different from a big game hunting knife or a blade designed for filleting fish. If you do a lot of cutting, you’ll want a knife designed specifically for that purpose.
My great-uncle, John Wirth, made a complete set of butcher knives for my grandfather, Leo Wirth. Leo didn’t have time to mess around with re-sharpening when he was handling carcasses all day.
The handmade butcher knives served him well for years. Today, those knives are cherished heirlooms. I use Leo’s steel for quick edge touch-ups when butchering deer or elk.
My Jim Grenfell tomahawk and C.T. Fischer knife provide me with a lot of enjoyment.
Art appreciation: I appreciate fine painting and sculpture. I love classical music. I’ll go to art galleries or displays because I want to. I don’t really think I’m a redneck, even though I wear camouflage, hunt ducks and love to play the fiddle at hoedowns.
But IMO, art is also evident in some tools’ workmanship, design and function. I hunt squirrels with an expensive, custom flintlock rifle. It has a matching, handmade pipe tomahawk and custom knife designed for skinning small game animals. The wood in everything matches.
None of those are necessary. But sometimes, I’ll take a break while hunting, lean the flintlock against a tree, and display the tomahawk and knife with it. I’ll eat some homemade hardtack or jerky, and for a few minutes, I am an Eastern longhunter. I’d call that art appreciation.
Safety: Are custom knives safer than less expensive knives?
Of course not! It’s all in the user. But a full tang knife is going to be less likely to break than one with a partial tang. A handle that fits is less likely to slip in your hand when the cutting job gets slippery or messy. A blade designed for a specific job will be more efficient at that task, and subsequently safer to use.
A dull knife is dangerous because it may slip while cutting, while a blade with excellent steel stays sharp longer. Many of the lower end knives have lousy steel (See Bear Grylls knife review) and subsequently, are dangerous.
Can a person have too many knives?
No.
Here’s the bonus, underlying reason I continue to buy high end cutlery: I lust after custom knives.
I don’t play golf, collect expensive cars or drink top shelf single malt Scotch. I prefer to invest my fun money in other things. And if you can afford to smoke a pack of cigarettes per day, you burn up enough money every month to buy virtually any custom knife.
It’s all a matter of priority, and a cutlery enthusiast like me doesn’t need to justify buying more knives. I don’t think cutlery addiction is reversible.
Don’t try an intervention. I won’t accept help, and won’t go to rehab.
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