I'm at the point where I won't consider a knife under $150. Nothing less than S30V steel. Life is too short to own crappy knives.

Collecting anything becomes more than just the product, it becomes refining your taste, and recognizing patterns in the way things come and go. curating a collection of anything is about the Journey. IMO

Tiawain and Chinese blades are looking better since they are getting better but the knives here for most people at the price would be sculptures to look at not use and maybe that's what they'd be better at anyway. Nice example shown here but for their intended purpose very expensive Robust User but i get nastalgia and branding efforts to so yeah that alone take luck and skills capture attention.

Great, now I can't unsee the PM2 nub. Was just thinking about ordering a Crucarta this week.😂😭

I love my striders. The oz Rosie is not worth the money to me. I don't like the way the Rosie looks. Very vanilla imo, the blade shape has too much belly and just looks like a titanium native5.

I like the snafu best!

Worth, is in the eye of the beholder...

The Strider looks the coolest by far imo. But I don't like the pivot that takes two tools and don't they have bad lock-up geometry? Also has no steel insert and the middle of the knife around the pivot looks thinned out and week. Maybe it's fine, all these other people chimed in to say they are tough people who carry them in tough conditions... perhaps they are comparing it a much cheaper knife they had before? IDK. I'd take the Kunwu out of all the ones you showed but not in an Axis lock! That's a whole different discussion tho! Cheers.

I hear you. I feel the same way about Old Dominion Knifeworks, Skike, and Direware; can’t beat the classics!

Sometimes things just don't seem to "click", when you're holding your newest item in hand. As an example, I fell madly in love with a plain Spartan Harsey Folder, although the design didn't really speak to me in the beginning. On the other hand, I didn't like the Sebenza 31, which I still consider the more elegant design. That's my 2 cents on the matter 😅

I've been in the knife buying hobby for 25 plus years. I sold 3/4 of my knife collection to start buying Striders, I was starting to lose interest in higher end knives but something about Strider knives pulled me back in. They're unique and part of the holy trinity, you can't go wrong buying and collecting them

It's a safety function. It's a good function to stop accidental injuries.

No knife is worth $1k as a cutting tool. We pay for the pride and joy of ownership. So anything like that is worth what ever someone is willing to pay! It's not about logic is about how it feels to you. Yes they is the point of premium materials and hand made and made by Americans, that need to get paid much more than the old guy in some town in the Balkan mountain that sells great custom knives for like $30 (RIP bay Ivan 😢)

Love the channel.

It is ridiculous. I collect knives with no rhyme or reason . I also make knives . I also collect and restore old axe heads , most are not worth a whole lot , but better than some stuff , in some cases. It's more about the hunt and skill it takes to bring something back to life , I guess. I can see collecting like knife sets like those Case shark lock blades. I loved those as a kid. I can't stand not using them though.

So nice...SO nice... to hear someone judge Strider on it's quality and reliability and not all the Man's past "sins". How many makers (Cold Steel, Medford, Hinderer, etc.) have been judged by other than the product of their skills. Enough already!!! If the best knives makers are "Boycotted" cuz of their mistakes, fact is; a lot of industry designers have historically had questions of their past. Their products can still be Stellar!!⚡

#598 here. I had to get a Christmas gift for myself beautiful knife! Your original review made me pull the trigger haha.

Yeah, I definitely think the aesthetics work better on the regular rosie.

I went through a similar process with the XL. I didn’t connect with the original but thought the size would change things with XL. Nope. There is a lack of robustness and authenticity that makes it hard to spend nice Strider money on. It feels like more of a commodity.

The Strider and Rosie are two different knives IMHO. The Strider is a tactical knife, a work knife. The Rosie is more elegant and is a casual pocket knife. I get down and dirty with my Striders. I take my Rosies with me going out to dinner or to the office.

I agree it depends on when you got into knife collecting. If you were collecting during the overbuilt rugged trend knives now just don’t hit the same. Also overseas companies have stepped their game up big time. So like you said many of these knives appear the same w/o handling them. There’s also the trend of knife designers vs knife makers. Great time to be a knife collector but I do miss some of the knives from a few years ago.

People want expensive fidget spinners that cut cardboard. Overbuilt (potentially life saving) cutting tools are a thing of the past. Everything is made on a machine, nothing is done by hand. The market has changed.

Do what makes you happy!

I like Rosie XL, but paying more than 450 is insane, I rather get a combat troodon at that price

The oversized thumb hole on the full flat ground blade gives me an impression of major weakness. I guess this was a design point motivated by aesthetic concerns over performance concerns. By comparison the Strider hole is half the size and goes through the flat on the saber grind. It's functional: they put flair into plenty of other areas such as blade grinds, etches, CNC patterning etc. I know you're not supposed to use a cutting tool for prying etc but it happens and blades with half the mass taken out of the flex point will snap quite easily. Ergo the Strider might actually work for prying open a treasure chest. The other one will snap and the tip might hit someone in the eye. Best get rid of it.

My opinion, Strider for example is unique, they have a unique look to them you could black out a picture of one and still tell by the shape that it’s an SMF or an SNG same with Emersons and Hinderers. A lot of “modern” knives all look the same you can’t hardly tell between a Chinese titanium framelock or an actual midtech sometimes there’s a bunch of brands out there now, basically they have no character. Also Striders, Emersons, Hinderers have a track record for being used in harsh conditions, Emerson and Strider especially, I carry a Strider on duty wether at the fire station or at my reserve unit and done training operations with them used em and its what I trust my life to. YMMV.

Collecting anything is madness (as you say) whether it be knives, guns, coins, cars, etc. Everything I purchase is used until it fails me then it may or may not be replaced. While I worked my tail off my entire life for my family's well being I had to live within my means. The only thing I have ever collected is bills and I'm not talking about currency. I'm happy for those who are able to collect things and I enjoy watching their excitement as they share that enjoyment with us. Peace and prosperity to everyone throughout the upcoming new year.

Watching you do these things takes the focus off of myself doing these exact same things....

Every new knife i get, after a little bit. i always come back to Emerson and the cqc7

It's hell getting old, but there with ya.

I prefer washers , I hate when bearings get dirty and I feel the action get crunchy. Especially a bigger knife should be washers imo . The smaller Rosie is sweet not so much the large

After all the years I have watched your journey in the hobby I still really relate to you especially with these types of videos. I often wonder had very similar thoughts and experiences. Kinda like the music I grew up with….nothing modern seems to satisfy me as much. I think it’s the same with the knives. Dunno 🤷‍♂️ why just is what it is 😎🤘🤘

I think, for the most part, we don’t have an opportunity to get these knives in hand before we purchase them. We look at them online and then we purchase them. Not having them, or the opportunity to have them in hand is extremely frustrating sometimes when we get what we purchased in the mail. In the old days, as I remember it, we could go to a local store and actually feel the knife in hand before we purchase them. That is so different from today. I live in a state where our population is very low so The opportunity to have a Knife store local where we can actually pick one of these beauties up is just not so.

The 3rd angle... Collecting as fun investments. Meaning either playing the arbitrage game buying lower and selling higher (getting a deal), or buying rare things that the value will go up in time - which gas station knives don't do 😊

I collect many things, I do it because it brings me joy.

Because people are inherently unhappy

What else is: 1) A tool 2) A collectable 3) An investment 4) An emergency weapon 🎯💯⚡

I used to consider myself a collector but not anymore more. This is for several reasons like how I feel like the knife industry has grown to far and people are making the same styles of knives. Or how the community is extremely toxic towards newcomers or people with limited resources. Don’t get me wrong I have stupid expensive knives and have been carrying quality knives since 2006 (started when I was 16) But now a days I buy old mora knives and restore them and I couldn’t be more happy, for me now I don’t take or deal shit in the knife or edc community

Without knowing how much he paid it's hard to judge if he was ripped off. Definitely was like new but it's in good condition I'd say

I realized that if I took care of all my knives and used them one at a time, I have enough knives to last me several life times 😭

If it makes you happy it’s not ridiculous

A huge benefit for a collection is if it can increase in value or at a minimum retain it's value

Pattern welded...

Not comparable

I love my ninja gas station knifes