Hahaha loved it! Laughed my ass of because of the sweater jokes. I think you added some really good points to these 'lies'. Really appreciate it a lot!
That was quite a ride - from nationalism to knives to woolen sweaters, all in the blink of an eye. I love that I never know what I’m going to see when I come here. Thanks for the vids brother!
That's a level of logical, informed opinion not commonly found in the knife community! It's always refreshing to find people who don't just bask in the warmth that an echo chamber provides.
Loved the American knife ads ! Yes I'm an American from the south ! Those ads were so accurate ! Your assessment of American knife industry is exactly what happened in the auto industry. When the competition got tough instead of making better cars the automakers just doubled down on patriotism. Own many Chineses brand knives !
@@russellcharles7839 that was the situation in the 80s & 90s but the automakers eventually realized they needed to improve reliability, fuel economy & longevity. In other words - they had to compete.
Great stuff!! Loved the knife adds. Nailed it. When you started that “Benchmade” one i thought for just a second you inserted a real Benchmade advertisement. Funny! Gerber’s was precious.
Holy shitballs the Knife Nationalism is spot on. I've noted a few times how Made in Sheffield (or England) is used to suggest quality, but on some pretty shoddy blades.
100%. When I started out collecting blades about 35 odd years ago Sheffield blades were indeed respected for their quality but I'm afraid those glory days are gone. Don't see many blades coming out of the UK anymore. Have a great day.
Brand loyalty has a temporary shelf life, when early reputation and nationalism wanes from a decrease in quality and increase in price. British steel/blade manufacturing essentially died, when the local culture and government, stopped promoting and using related products.
Sheffield made knives are complete shit these days, it blows my mind they've kept the rep but then it's all about being close to home I guess, same with the Americans who swear til their blue in the face that case make good quality knives when the fact is they're massively overpriced, made of poor materials and worst of all thrown together in a half assed way which leaves the fit and finish fucking terrible with gaps, cracks, etc throughout. Then those same Americans will say a rough rider which cost a fifth of the price is garbage even though it's made of an equal steel (or even better in many cases) and for the most part have near perfect fit and finish. It's not accurate in any way it just helps them justify it in their mind lol
The Chinese can make good products if its for the export market, their domestic stuff is junk, I'm loving Ruike knives as they appear to be good quality and reasonable prices, I can't justify $300 for a pocket knife as a $70 will do what I need just as well. One of my favourite knives is still the Opinel, Coz as a knife it just works, it cuts and I'm not going to cry if these get lost, damaged or stolen just go replace it.
nunnas5393, I am right there with you ! Some channels saying I gotta get this $200 plus knife or I might as well try cutting with a piece of cardboard ! BS ! I have many Chinese knives that are well made & cut for miles. Some cost $26, $34 & some $100. Then I hear about shitty customer service from makers of $500 & up knives - WTF !
I got burned on the most expensive knife purchase that I made for a midtech. I super hate paying for a steel alloy that's not pushed in hardness and no explanation is offered!
I like to think the GiantMouse Ace Sonoma was designed for the specific use of sommeliers to use while serving charcuterie platters during vineyard tasting tours.
Saved the best for last there, eh Pete? Fucking hilarious! When the American industrial model changed to find the cheapest labor, cheapest materials and cut the most corners while telling consumers their opinions on quality don't mean shit - that's when it's time to cut the bullshit. Yes, there are amazing knife makers in the US of A - but there are also some serious pieces of shit. Guess what? There are amazing knife makers in ALL SORTS of other countries! As "The Nick" has said many times - quality is about effort, not geography. Love your work and absolutely appreciate your delivery!
Nailed It! The Nationalism post was golden, I really appreciate the thoughtful at the end. If folks would either try to get first hand experience or primary sources for their information we would be in a much better place.
Military-grade equipment == the lowest-cost vendor who wins their procurement process. What you really want is Batman-grade equipment. American quality at the lower-end is terrible. Want to buy 'Murican? You're welcome to pay for the 4x premium but let others do what they want - you know Freedom of choice.
CPM-440V was run at 56 HRC back in the day due to lower over temps and brittleness at higher hardness but with newer ovens and tempering you can run it harder.
I have one more to add to the list. "Home cooks should be using 8" to 12" chef knives." These knives are 50 % to 100% longer than we need for 95% of what we do in my opinion. They require 50% to 100% more precision & power input at the handle to do tip work with these knives. Any thoughts ?
Yeah true. I work in kitchens and we generally don't use the tip to cut on those 8in knives, but we use it to press down on the chopping board whilst working the 2 in nearest the handle up and down chopping shallots etc.. I mostly use an 8 in Santoku, a paring knife, and a 10 inch pastry knife.
I have made & tested many knives. My favorite for now is a 5.7" Rocker Santoku style knife. Knives beyond 6.7" just seem unnecessarily long & more difficult to power & control for most tasks. I find women often prefer a knife is the 5" to 5.3" range. I use a pinch grip custom designed handle which likely accounts for my preference of 5.7 over 6.7" blades. Basically I am not consuming that portion of the blade as a hand grip.
@@simonh6371 Just curious ... Are you using a forward pinch grip on the knife blade. In my way of thinking this forward pinch grip effectively minimizes the downsides of the longer blades by about an inch of more depending on your grip.
I wish you would cover the use of glass fiber in plastic fixed blade sheaths. I bought a diving knife sometime around 1980 designed by a well known knife maker. The design of the knife and sheath was great, however the plastic sheath was glass filled. I got a good edge on the blade, but kept having to resharpen it even when I didn’t use it. I found that when the edge touched the inside of the sheath it was instantly dulled because of the glass fibers. Fortunately there was enough room in the sheath to cover the area the edge touched with epoxy, which solved the problem. Then 20 years later it started with other plastic sheaths, some with no room to correct with epoxy. Some had enough room that I could make sure the back of the blade was against that side of the sheath so the edge was spared, some had too little room for even that to work. CRKT was one who started putting glass in their sheaths first, later Cold Steel started. Morakniv has great sheaths with no glass, Glock sheaths do not have glass, and if they don’t need the glass neither do the other brands. Yes, I could make my own sheath but why would I spend over $100 for a knife and then have make a sheath because the manufacturer did not correct a sheath design flaw? Please look at this problem for those who don’t want to sharpen a fixed blade knife every time they draw it from the sheath, especially for knives used for self defense.
Preach, Aussie brother from Downunder! So much good stuff here. I always appreciate your "country" American accent. Despite not being in the south, it's frankly pretty damn close to how some folks talk 'round these parts. Does saying round these parts make me sound more folksy? I've made a conscious effort to avoid Amazon if possible over the past few years but they are super hard to kick utterly.
I’ve got an old bayonet, can’t remember the country, I got when I was a kid for $5 at the Army surplus. I cut the barrel lug off and sharpened it. It was totally dull. It took a long time to sharpen because of it’s hardness. It was before you could buy diamond sharpeners. Once I got an edge on it it really holds it. A buddy of mine got one they sold in PXs during Vietnam. I’ve seen them in collections on you tube before. It was dull. It took quite awhile to sharpen but once I did it held the edge dressing and skinning several animals at hunting season. That included splitting the breastbone and the pelvis. I remember when Buck Knives advertised that you could hammer their knives through a bolt. They could do it but it chipped the blade bad. The older Bucks held a great edge through use. The older Old Timer knives (carbon) held a great edge too. Marbles Knives ,back around WW2, could also be hammered through steel. I believe he used a railroad spike. Ruana Knives still hold a great edge as far as I know. They do make some models out of SS now. I get by with carbon steel or 8cr. Can’t afford expensive blades anymore.
This is a great video. I agree with all your points except Chinese knives. As I type this on a Chinese made phone, I truly enjoy buying American made when I can. Especially when there are so many Chinese made things that can’t be avoided. USA made tools, knives, clothing, flashlights etc all bring me joy. Plus, if no one supports these companies, they will cease to exist. Not to mention, the customer service is always much better. Buying heirloom quality tools with real life time warranties gives me the fizz😄 I absolutely hate Medford knives but Greg has a pretty heartfelt video called “The Chinese Assault on the American Knife Industry” or something. The biggest takeaway for me was the American brands that use Chinese OEM’s and how it’s cheating. I guess I have more of a problem with Chinese OEM work more than the Kizer/Reate/Civivi knives of the world.
Probably driving a car with most Chinese made parts on it, watching a TV Chinese made, drinking a coffee right now made from a Chinese made coffee-maker so on and so forth. They never cease to amaze.
To be fair, Americans and euros invented the tech, designed the models, worked out the technical aspects, then sent factories to China etc while still overseeing QA for those products.
@@ShoahBiz Oh yeah definitely! Some of my favorite knives are American-designed & Chinese manufactured, like my SBD Apex & Ferrum Forge Archbishop 3.0.
When I was in the military (USAF) back in the early 80s, I always carried a Swiss Army Champion (because it was the closest thing to a multi-tool available) and a USAF Survival Knife from Camillus (because it was a good utility knife). Today I would have a Leatherman or Victorinox multi-tool and...something. There are so many good, excellent, and great options for a middle-sized utility fixed blade I couldn't begin to list them all.
+1 on the Vic or Leatherman today! On my first day as a conscript, i got issued a Glock FM78 (big hint on the country i guess 😉 ), and a few minutes later in our room (12 guys per room) our instructor going through our complete issued stuff, told us to get a pocket knife or multitool to carry with us as soon as we leave the barracks. I was delighted as i was used to have a Victorinox in my pocket anyways, but others wouldn't understand, so he followed up with: "You are not allowed to sharpen the Field knife, and you are to keep it oiled. The oil you got is gun oil, and nobody wants to have gun oil on his food. So get yourself something that you can have with you all the time to cut food." (bread, sausage, cheese, whatever). Some times i had 3 knives on me: the FM78 upside down on the left shoulder as part of the loadout, the victorinox for everything else and an Al Mar sportsman to cut food. (Sometimes you have to cut something you don't want on your food either, without ability to properly clean the blade...) We also got issued a spoon, fork and "table knife" that could be linked together and stored with canteen, but as with any butterknife, you could not slice a loaf of rhye bread with that thing, let alone a salami style sausage. And the can opener on the Victorinox was far superior (in my view) than the one on our messkit cxutlery which was the same shape as the Leatherman one.
"Best" steels may be a bit subjective. I do still prefer high carbon - particularly things like 1095 that a lot of knife 'experts' dismiss. I like the way they sharpen, have zero issue maintaining an edge (I actually enjoy stropping/honing as part of the knife hobby) and still prefer them to most stainless. Maybe it is because, at 51, when I was really getting into knives in the 1980s a lot of stainless junk was, well, junk. Maybe it is different, now but I am glad there are still companies like Ontario, Tops and Esee that see the value in the older, carbon steels. Latest doesn't always mean greatest and, as the cliche goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it and I see nothing 'broke' about high carbon. One thing the DBK boys did mention was that, for the most part, the best steels you can get at more affordable prices are still high carbon steels - especially for fixed blades. Sure, Buck and a few, other companies do the higher end of the 400 series steels well but overall if you want the best, all around fixed blade for $150 or less, or even $100 or less, it is probably going to be high carbon steel
did you know for example, a stainless steel like s30v has a higher carbon content than 1095 steel. So when you say high carbon for 1095, yes it could be slightly higher than some stainless steels , but definitely lower than others. basically a stainless knife steel , is a carbon steel with at least 13% of chromium in it, which makes rust resistant
@@daveyboy6985 And people generally refer to those as 'high carbon stainless steels' which differentiates them from more traditional high carbon steels such as 1095.
I think that the low hardness knives are definitely from errors in the tempering process. I don't think they can use workability of the material being an excuse for the low hardness, they should have received the ingot from the steel manufacturer in a state that is fairly soft to begin with and they have to harden it themselves. The temper could also get messed up if after hardening they grinded the material to a high temp as they were finishing it or putting on coatings that require high temperatures making the steel soften in the affected areas. Also, Maarten's sweater was indeed looking awesome, comfortable and sophisticated. 👌
11:35 My mini crooked river and I feel attacked... Sure, the closest I get to hunting is field dressing Amazon boxes for recycling, but I love my over-priced Uncle Randy neo-knife!
Love all your videos! Bravo on the sweater music video at the end! Good points made as well. Honestly every time RUclips recommends a DBK video to me I just groan and move on, I don’t know why but their videos just aren’t for me 🤷🏻♂️
@@clintwestwood3539 I'm American & laughed right along with you ! There are some companies that are "sacred" to so many & I'm like, why would you spend that much for THAT !
@@tombrown4683 Way too many people are taking it way too seriously imo. I love some USA products, but nowadays so much crap gets pushed out for such a premium price that the only thing justifying it it’s the “made in USA”, which is completely insane to me. Cheers, have a good week brother.
@@atreydies9954 tbh they are angry at themselves because of a joke Pete made. Some people, me included, doubled down on it just to get a laugh and most got butt hurt, probably because, as Italians say, “in fondo al gioco c’è verità”, you can get the same out in Latin. Which means that, in the end, when you say something jokingly, there is a truth behind it and it hurts most of the time, like in this case. No one wants to see Americans angry, it’s just funny to see them getting butt hurt on some gags, but god forbid if you say something when they insult “Europoors” as they call them, “Monkeys” for South Americans and Africans, when they talk about how every single Asian must be living in slavery (somehow), so on and so forth. Right? We can talk about this if you want, I’m here for you too. Cheers
I read somewhere that the sign of true exceptionalism in a man is displayed when they wear both a fine woolen sweater and a pastoral hat. That could just be another knife lie as well.
"Sharpness is important" is, I believe, a reference to whether or not the knife being used is as sharp as IT can be, i.e. a knife that WAS sharp and is now DULL is both less effective and more dangerous. This isn't about blade geometry or blade steel, it's about SLICING your tomato vs CRUSHING it. Chefs, carvers, joiners, fishmongers, they all say the same thing: SHARPNESS IS IMPORTANT. KEEP YOUR EDGES SHARP.
I’ve never met Greg Medford or any reps from ZT or Gerber or Benchmade, but this has to be the most spot on characterization of their marketing I’ve ever seen. Especially Medford and Gerber. You deserve an Oscar man.
Good points and levity to boot. The last point is...well...a bit tricky. Few people doubt the attention to build and details of quite a few chinese companies (at least the most well known ones). To me things like fidgit factor and perfect blade centering are less important than blade geometry, heat treats and overall design. I'm also not crazy about paying a premium for titanium, carbon fiber and whatnot. That's fine for those who do, but not my thing. The one aspect i think American (and from any other country) makers can copy is the responsiveness chinese makers have towards tips from knife nerds (like yourself and many other reviewers). As for the geopolitics of the matter, that's a complex topic for another day (and maybe not suitable for knife channels?). I understand why there is quite a lot of bitterness towards "made in China" by a good many people; I guess I'd be just as bitter if my once well-paying blue collar job had been outsourced and swapped for a low pay service job (flippin' burgers, etc) and told my salary paycut was balanced by the ability to buy cheaper goods at Walmart/Amazon. A country also needs a certain amount of manufacturing capability to provide for critical items as personal protective equipment and medicines during a pandemic. But there I go getting too serious...this is a knife channel for God's sake!
The US is China’s #1 consumer. Our relationship and views of each other is odd and strained, but capitalism has been great for China’s communist party. I’d rather always buy knives made in countries that are nicer to their people, but I’ve met Ben a few times and I’m glad he can have Knafs break into the biz by utilizing manufacturing where they can afford to.
I agree on the American knife thing, just because it's "American" made there is an automatic premium put on the knife. Even if it's sourced from China. I only know of one company that sources China, but are reasonably priced is Finch.
The part where you got a member of the government to show proper pushbike safety was absolutely amazing 😂That is going to be stuck in my head forever! Have a beautiful day and stay safe and healthy brother 🫵😘👍
For me, I view knives as a an optional hobby with a high degree of flexibility so I buy American to support American makers. Sometimes with more urgent/ “needed” purchases, I’ll be more flexible. As it’s political (not quality) for me, I’m open to our allies in Taiwan (RAT, Cold Steel) or Japan (Delica).
@daver6564 Chinese brands are just like American brands: They don't represent their governments. They're just common owners and employees providing a product. Should I stop buying American products since I don't care for the current anti-self defense American administration? No. Consumers need to separate politicians from ordinary people/companies.
In regards to the military thing, at least from the perspective of the US Military. 1. As a general rule companies are not allowed to use photos or video of the military to market their products. If they have permission its probably a joint marketing campaign with the military. 2. Half the time when you produce something for the military you have no idea where its going, who has it, what unit selected your bid and if and where they put it. So you are not going to get hardly any information back. 3. Much of what gets made for the military is made nowadays on a unit by unit basis and even on a job by job basis within that unit. The US military post Vietnam / Gulf War shifted to a per unit- requisition system so its rare to find branch wide contracts other than firearms, uniforms and things that need to be universal. For example: My brothers unit wanted Leathermans that were customized Leatherman MUTS for their rifle program, so they got 100 of them. Leatherman sees an RFP that says "the US military needs 100 customized Leatherman MUTS with these specifications for this price. Leatherman makes them and ships them out. When they want to market that service that they just provided they literally make it up because they only have a best guess as to where it went. Sometimes you have the unit designation on a RFP but not all the time and half the time one unit will take your stuff while another unit takes another. Sorry, I just wanted to clarify .
It's funny to see people all on the "China bad Amurica good hurdurdur" thing because it's still insanely common even though poor work conditions, abuse of workers, reducing labor costs by moving to cheap places, polluting communities, and poor products due to cutting corners all happen in America as well as overseas. And spending money on "American made" doesn't keep that money in my community when the drive from where I live to where a knife is made in Idaho is longer than the drive from Munich, Germany to Paris, France.
The main issue that many (but not all) have is that the United States has outsourced labor for decades, which has gutted the middle class here. Manufacturing jobs used to be plentiful and paid fairly well, allowing a person to live a decent life and provide for their family. The wealth gap has increased as a result and frustration has grown. China was the recipient of most of those jobs lost here in the states, which soured many on the country. Some economists have said that cutting off trade with China would decimate the US economy, since it's come to rely so heavily on cheap Chinese goods. I'm sure China doesn't want to get rid of it's cash cow either, despite the growing tensions.
7:40 - I very much agree with the sentiment, but I do find it a bit a bit funny that cheaper or lower grade steels seem to be heat treated alot worse than higher end steels spesifically because they are less valuable. The cheaper the steel, the less they care about doing it right it seems. Which would make sense, the equipment, personell and hours of work is a very expensive investment into a cheap steel that is likely not going to sell for alot of profit and most likely to an audience that either doesnt care or accepts that it is what it is. I guess the point is that while the properties of a softer steel can be a very good thing, it doesnt make sense to buy expensive steel to make it worse when a cheap steel does the same thing, and likewise it doesnt make sense to put alot of effort and money into a cheap steel that wont make back that investment. So while "softer steel is bad" isnt true, you could imo functionally still live by that advice and do very well. ...Unless its soft-soft. Like, factory-soft. Thats just playdough and bad no matter which way you spin it haha
Military knives aren't great, but I like SOG bowies. They say crap about MACV SOG etc. Could be true (or not), but I just like the knives even though they are AUS-8 steel. BTW SOG if you read this, make some bowies out of some nice steel, like the XR-Termius.
Love it 😆 that fake Benchmade commercial 😆 🤣. Chinese knives are great and he's right it's about some pride or patriotism that has nothing to do with a great knife
I live in Canada, the ultimate American-bystander nation, and an always interested in these kinds of comments. I have a lot of Chinese knives, Kizers, CJRB, SRM etc. And also a lot of Chinese-made American knives. When Biden was elected, I felt that I HAD to buy a REAL 'Merican knaafe. I couldn't think of anything better than a Buck 110. Since then I have bought about 15 more Bucks, some Made in USA, some made in China, some made for Canadian tire in China, but all 420. All good value. I also have a SOG Terminus XR like the gold one you showed but did not mention. Actually, I have four XRs. None gold!
I heard that high and mid tier steels don't cost too much more than one another. It's likely an attempt to pay less for high potential steels, heat treat them cheaply and then sell them at a premium price tag. Based on what I've seen Nitro V can do, most companies aren't heat treating this cheap steel to their fullest potentials.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Hahaha loved it! Laughed my ass of because of the sweater jokes.
I think you added some really good points to these 'lies'. Really appreciate it a lot!
Aww such a class act as always.
Hi Maarten, where did you buy your jumper?
Cosy looking sweater indeed. Hope is 100% lamb's wool :-)
DBK and C & A are easily two of the best on RUclips!!!
They should do a regular video together. Half q&a and half knife world discussion.
And Average Knife Bro
Knife Steel Nerds if you like the metallurgical/chemistry theory side of knives. Dr Larrin Thomas is awesome.
@@undertow2142 what about sweaters?
They could introduce "Uncle Randy" to "Uncle Lars"! It could be internationally epic!
That was quite a ride - from nationalism to knives to woolen sweaters, all in the blink of an eye. I love that I never know what I’m going to see when I come here. Thanks for the vids brother!
“And if you make any handles for it we will sue you.” I died.
That's a level of logical, informed opinion not commonly found in the knife community!
It's always refreshing to find people who don't just bask in the warmth that an echo chamber provides.
CNYKnifeNut gotta agree with you here ! Also enjoying that St. Nicks Spydey !
100%. All too often one person's opinion or agenda becomes contagious and somehow becomes fact. Have a great day.
A video on EDC sweaters is needed!
Loved the American knife ads ! Yes I'm an American from the south ! Those ads were so accurate ! Your assessment of American knife industry is exactly what happened in the auto industry. When the competition got tough instead of making better cars the automakers just doubled down on patriotism. Own many Chineses brand knives !
Cheers.
Chevy beat Toyota for reliability this year. No s#@t. I was surprised too.
I thought about the auto industry as well.
@@russellcharles7839 that was the situation in the 80s & 90s but the automakers eventually realized they needed to improve reliability, fuel economy & longevity. In other words - they had to compete.
@@tombrown4683 Really started in the 70's with the gas crisis. Big cars with lots of emissions and pushrod v8s being robbed of horses didn't do well.
I’m a New Zealander and i 100% relate to your bemusement at the strange American nationalism we see in the knife industry
Fully dude, but it's most American youtubers some are so bad it's not funny
Great stuff!! Loved the knife adds. Nailed it. When you started that “Benchmade” one i thought for just a second you inserted a real Benchmade advertisement. Funny! Gerber’s was precious.
9:41 made me spit my drink everywhere!!
15:44 too real.
This was beautifully done and even tastefully unhinged! 5/5 stars
Holy shitballs the Knife Nationalism is spot on. I've noted a few times how Made in Sheffield (or England) is used to suggest quality, but on some pretty shoddy blades.
100%. When I started out collecting blades about 35 odd years ago Sheffield blades were indeed respected for their quality but I'm afraid those glory days are gone. Don't see many blades coming out of the UK anymore. Have a great day.
Brand loyalty has a temporary shelf life, when early reputation and nationalism wanes from a decrease in quality and increase in price.
British steel/blade manufacturing essentially died, when the local culture and government, stopped promoting and using related products.
Sheffield made knives are complete shit these days, it blows my mind they've kept the rep but then it's all about being close to home I guess, same with the Americans who swear til their blue in the face that case make good quality knives when the fact is they're massively overpriced, made of poor materials and worst of all thrown together in a half assed way which leaves the fit and finish fucking terrible with gaps, cracks, etc throughout. Then those same Americans will say a rough rider which cost a fifth of the price is garbage even though it's made of an equal steel (or even better in many cases) and for the most part have near perfect fit and finish. It's not accurate in any way it just helps them justify it in their mind lol
The Chinese can make good products if its for the export market, their domestic stuff is junk, I'm loving Ruike knives as they appear to be good quality and reasonable prices, I can't justify $300 for a pocket knife as a $70 will do what I need just as well. One of my favourite knives is still the Opinel, Coz as a knife it just works, it cuts and I'm not going to cry if these get lost, damaged or stolen just go replace it.
nunnas5393, I am right there with you ! Some channels saying I gotta get this $200 plus knife or I might as well try cutting with a piece of cardboard ! BS ! I have many Chinese knives that are well made & cut for miles. Some cost $26, $34 & some $100. Then I hear about shitty customer service from makers of $500 & up knives - WTF !
I got burned on the most expensive knife purchase that I made for a midtech. I super hate paying for a steel alloy that's not pushed in hardness and no explanation is offered!
It is so nice of you to bring attention to a little-known knife channel like DBK
our main exports are now lithium, coal and class A eurythmics covers.
Song at the end was so beautiful
I like to think the GiantMouse Ace Sonoma was designed for the specific use of sommeliers to use while serving charcuterie platters during vineyard tasting tours.
Saved the best for last there, eh Pete? Fucking hilarious!
When the American industrial model changed to find the cheapest labor, cheapest materials and cut the most corners while telling consumers their opinions on quality don't mean shit - that's when it's time to cut the bullshit.
Yes, there are amazing knife makers in the US of A - but there are also some serious pieces of shit.
Guess what? There are amazing knife makers in ALL SORTS of other countries!
As "The Nick" has said many times - quality is about effort, not geography.
Love your work and absolutely appreciate your delivery!
Lmao well firstly I love the DBK boys. I desperately want the DBK knife. Secondly I happen to support their comments on these stated knife lies.
Nailed It! The Nationalism post was golden, I really appreciate the thoughtful at the end. If folks would either try to get first hand experience or primary sources for their information we would be in a much better place.
I have that SOG. The gold finish came off when I oiled it with Benchmade Blue Lube.
God that Gerber “ad” had me crying 😂. Mate keep doing what you’re doing, love your insights and perspectives. Brilliant
I absolutely love his comedy,fantastic video bud!
Military-grade equipment == the lowest-cost vendor who wins their procurement process. What you really want is Batman-grade equipment. American quality at the lower-end is terrible. Want to buy 'Murican? You're welcome to pay for the 4x premium but let others do what they want - you know Freedom of choice.
“Just asking questions” should be a regular segment. Yes. Yes. Please.
CPM-440V was run at 56 HRC back in the day due to lower over temps and brittleness at higher hardness but with newer ovens and tempering you can run it harder.
Just to be clear: 440V is now called S60V. Cheers!
Lots of good points here Pete. And that is a really great sweater that Maarten wears. 👍🏻
Maarten wears the proper manly sweaters, as he should, since he's a blade guy.
Bro you are slayin' with these videos!
I have one more to add to the list. "Home cooks should be using 8" to 12" chef knives." These knives are 50 % to 100% longer than we need for 95% of what we do in my opinion. They require 50% to 100% more precision & power input at the handle to do tip work with these knives. Any thoughts ?
Yeah true. I work in kitchens and we generally don't use the tip to cut on those 8in knives, but we use it to press down on the chopping board whilst working the 2 in nearest the handle up and down chopping shallots etc.. I mostly use an 8 in Santoku, a paring knife, and a 10 inch pastry knife.
I have made & tested many knives. My favorite for now is a 5.7" Rocker Santoku style knife. Knives beyond 6.7" just seem unnecessarily long & more difficult to power & control for most tasks. I find women often prefer a knife is the 5" to 5.3" range. I use a pinch grip custom designed handle which likely accounts for my preference of 5.7 over 6.7" blades. Basically I am not consuming that portion of the blade as a hand grip.
Agree. Both wife and I find ourselves using the 6 inch chef's knife and the smaller nakiri more often than any of our larger/longer knives.
Fact!
@@simonh6371 Just curious ... Are you using a forward pinch grip on the knife blade. In my way of thinking this forward pinch grip effectively minimizes the downsides of the longer blades by about an inch of more depending on your grip.
Pretty incredible insider footage you got of the Gerber multi tool factory!
That’s any US factory nowadays tbh 😂
And that's just the factory floor. Wait until you see the designers up in their tree .....
I wish you would cover the use of glass fiber in plastic fixed blade sheaths. I bought a diving knife sometime around 1980 designed by a well known knife maker. The design of the knife and sheath was great, however the plastic sheath was glass filled. I got a good edge on the blade, but kept having to resharpen it even when I didn’t use it. I found that when the edge touched the inside of the sheath it was instantly dulled because of the glass fibers. Fortunately there was enough room in the sheath to cover the area the edge touched with epoxy, which solved the problem. Then 20 years later it started with other plastic sheaths, some with no room to correct with epoxy. Some had enough room that I could make sure the back of the blade was against that side of the sheath so the edge was spared, some had too little room for even that to work. CRKT was one who started putting glass in their sheaths first, later Cold Steel started. Morakniv has great sheaths with no glass, Glock sheaths do not have glass, and if they don’t need the glass neither do the other brands. Yes, I could make my own sheath but why would I spend over $100 for a knife and then have make a sheath because the manufacturer did not correct a sheath design flaw? Please look at this problem for those who don’t want to sharpen a fixed blade knife every time they draw it from the sheath, especially for knives used for self defense.
Preach, Aussie brother from Downunder! So much good stuff here. I always appreciate your "country" American accent. Despite not being in the south, it's frankly pretty damn close to how some folks talk 'round these parts. Does saying round these parts make me sound more folksy? I've made a conscious effort to avoid Amazon if possible over the past few years but they are super hard to kick utterly.
You are such a goofball and I'm here for it! Lol loved the knife ads 😂
I’ve got an old bayonet, can’t remember the country, I got when I was a kid for $5 at the Army surplus. I cut the barrel lug off and sharpened it. It was totally dull. It took a long time to sharpen because of it’s hardness. It was before you could buy diamond sharpeners. Once I got an edge on it it really holds it. A buddy of mine got one they sold in PXs during Vietnam. I’ve seen them in collections on you tube before. It was dull. It took quite awhile to sharpen but once I did it held the edge dressing and skinning several animals at hunting season. That included splitting the breastbone and the pelvis. I remember when Buck Knives advertised that you could hammer their knives through a bolt. They could do it but it chipped the blade bad. The older Bucks held a great edge through use. The older Old Timer knives (carbon) held a great edge too. Marbles Knives ,back around WW2, could also be hammered through steel. I believe he used a railroad spike. Ruana Knives still hold a great edge as far as I know. They do make some models out of SS now. I get by with carbon steel or 8cr. Can’t afford expensive blades anymore.
Your comedy kills me bro!! The skit about medford and gerber! 🤣🤣
HHHHHHHAAAhhh, really appreciate the commercials, cant help laughing😂
This is a great video. I agree with all your points except Chinese knives.
As I type this on a Chinese made phone, I truly enjoy buying American made when I can. Especially when there are so many Chinese made things that can’t be avoided. USA made tools, knives, clothing, flashlights etc all bring me joy. Plus, if no one supports these companies, they will cease to exist. Not to mention, the customer service is always much better. Buying heirloom quality tools with real life time warranties gives me the fizz😄
I absolutely hate Medford knives but Greg has a pretty heartfelt video called “The Chinese Assault on the American Knife Industry” or something. The biggest takeaway for me was the American brands that use Chinese OEM’s and how it’s cheating.
I guess I have more of a problem with Chinese OEM work more than the Kizer/Reate/Civivi knives of the world.
This video is a work of art. Also with solid discussion points.
Where can I get the Buzz Lightyear Knife you were talking about? Will it cut sisal rope to infinity and beyond?
If I ever design a knife now I’m going to add ‘I designed this knife for buzz lightyear’ in the description
People saying they won't buy Chinese-made knives while watching the video on a Chinese-made device.
Probably driving a car with most Chinese made parts on it, watching a TV Chinese made, drinking a coffee right now made from a Chinese made coffee-maker so on and so forth.
They never cease to amaze.
To be fair, Americans and euros invented the tech, designed the models, worked out the technical aspects, then sent factories to China etc while still overseeing QA for those products.
@@ShoahBiz Oh yeah definitely! Some of my favorite knives are American-designed & Chinese manufactured, like my SBD Apex & Ferrum Forge Archbishop 3.0.
How did you get Medford to appear in your video? And how did you get him to rep for ZT too?
Wow, this video was a ride. From talking about end-stage capitalism to absolutely glorious sweaters. I loved it!
Bro I'm dying at the mock ads you came up with.
DBK got knife lies but Pete has knife fly ! Australia gets the point !
When I was in the military (USAF) back in the early 80s, I always carried a Swiss Army Champion (because it was the closest thing to a multi-tool available) and a USAF Survival Knife from Camillus (because it was a good utility knife). Today I would have a Leatherman or Victorinox multi-tool and...something. There are so many good, excellent, and great options for a middle-sized utility fixed blade I couldn't begin to list them all.
+1 on the Vic or Leatherman today!
On my first day as a conscript, i got issued a Glock FM78 (big hint on the country i guess 😉 ), and a few minutes later in our room (12 guys per room) our instructor going through our complete issued stuff, told us to get a pocket knife or multitool to carry with us as soon as we leave the barracks. I was delighted as i was used to have a Victorinox in my pocket anyways, but others wouldn't understand, so he followed up with: "You are not allowed to sharpen the Field knife, and you are to keep it oiled. The oil you got is gun oil, and nobody wants to have gun oil on his food. So get yourself something that you can have with you all the time to cut food." (bread, sausage, cheese, whatever). Some times i had 3 knives on me: the FM78 upside down on the left shoulder as part of the loadout, the victorinox for everything else and an Al Mar sportsman to cut food. (Sometimes you have to cut something you don't want on your food either, without ability to properly clean the blade...)
We also got issued a spoon, fork and "table knife" that could be linked together and stored with canteen, but as with any butterknife, you could not slice a loaf of rhye bread with that thing, let alone a salami style sausage. And the can opener on the Victorinox was far superior (in my view) than the one on our messkit cxutlery which was the same shape as the Leatherman one.
I never knew that I needed the knife that was made for Buzz Lightyear to shank aliens with until now....
This was fun! I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on point of diminishing return with regard to build of knives and the cost.
Like many men, Pete is obsessed with what cuts the cheese the best. Guess I'll have to whip up a batch of hummus and test out my old Buck knives.
"Best" steels may be a bit subjective. I do still prefer high carbon - particularly things like 1095 that a lot of knife 'experts' dismiss. I like the way they sharpen, have zero issue maintaining an edge (I actually enjoy stropping/honing as part of the knife hobby) and still prefer them to most stainless. Maybe it is because, at 51, when I was really getting into knives in the 1980s a lot of stainless junk was, well, junk. Maybe it is different, now but I am glad there are still companies like Ontario, Tops and Esee that see the value in the older, carbon steels. Latest doesn't always mean greatest and, as the cliche goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it and I see nothing 'broke' about high carbon.
One thing the DBK boys did mention was that, for the most part, the best steels you can get at more affordable prices are still high carbon steels - especially for fixed blades. Sure, Buck and a few, other companies do the higher end of the 400 series steels well but overall if you want the best, all around fixed blade for $150 or less, or even $100 or less, it is probably going to be high carbon steel
did you know for example, a stainless steel like s30v has a higher carbon content than 1095 steel.
So when you say high carbon for
1095, yes it could be slightly higher than some stainless steels , but definitely lower than others.
basically a stainless knife steel ,
is a carbon steel with at least
13% of chromium in it, which makes rust resistant
@@daveyboy6985 And people generally refer to those as 'high carbon stainless steels' which differentiates them from more traditional high carbon steels such as 1095.
I love your videos. It relaxes me kinda like talk radio does plus I learn a good bit.
I think that the low hardness knives are definitely from errors in the tempering process. I don't think they can use workability of the material being an excuse for the low hardness, they should have received the ingot from the steel manufacturer in a state that is fairly soft to begin with and they have to harden it themselves. The temper could also get messed up if after hardening they grinded the material to a high temp as they were finishing it or putting on coatings that require high temperatures making the steel soften in the affected areas.
Also, Maarten's sweater was indeed looking awesome, comfortable and sophisticated. 👌
Nice of you to link the original /s
11:35 My mini crooked river and I feel attacked... Sure, the closest I get to hunting is field dressing Amazon boxes for recycling, but I love my over-priced Uncle Randy neo-knife!
Just wanted to say that I absolutely love your videos! Learn a lot and laugh a lot - great combination 👌
😂😂😂😂
That's gold......
I may be close to Uncle Randy's age and era...
But your take on all of it was awesome......
And spot on!!!
Love all your videos! Bravo on the sweater music video at the end! Good points made as well. Honestly every time RUclips recommends a DBK video to me I just groan and move on, I don’t know why but their videos just aren’t for me 🤷🏻♂️
The summarization of American knife companies, spot on, thank for the laughs Pete.
I love how angry Americans are watching this video, how dare we laugh at their right to be ignorant
@@clintwestwood3539 I'm American & laughed right along with you ! There are some companies that are "sacred" to so many & I'm like, why would you spend that much for THAT !
@@tombrown4683 Way too many people are taking it way too seriously imo.
I love some USA products, but nowadays so much crap gets pushed out for such a premium price that the only thing justifying it it’s the “made in USA”, which is completely insane to me.
Cheers, have a good week brother.
@@clintwestwood3539 thanks. You have a good week too.
@@atreydies9954 tbh they are angry at themselves because of a joke Pete made. Some people, me included, doubled down on it just to get a laugh and most got butt hurt, probably because, as Italians say, “in fondo al gioco c’è verità”, you can get the same out in Latin.
Which means that, in the end, when you say something jokingly, there is a truth behind it and it hurts most of the time, like in this case.
No one wants to see Americans angry, it’s just funny to see them getting butt hurt on some gags, but god forbid if you say something when they insult “Europoors” as they call them, “Monkeys” for South Americans and Africans, when they talk about how every single Asian must be living in slavery (somehow), so on and so forth.
Right? We can talk about this if you want, I’m here for you too.
Cheers
I read somewhere that the sign of true exceptionalism in a man is displayed when they wear both a fine woolen sweater and a pastoral hat. That could just be another knife lie as well.
Not a lie!
"I've designed this knife for Buzz Lightyear..." 🤣🤣🤣
And then ina turn of events, Buzz Lightyear designed his own knife to sell to us.
"Sharpness is important" is, I believe, a reference to whether or not the knife being used is as sharp as IT can be, i.e. a knife that WAS sharp and is now DULL is both less effective and more dangerous. This isn't about blade geometry or blade steel, it's about SLICING your tomato vs CRUSHING it. Chefs, carvers, joiners, fishmongers, they all say the same thing: SHARPNESS IS IMPORTANT. KEEP YOUR EDGES SHARP.
The honky tonk sounds fun
I’ve never met Greg Medford or any reps from ZT or Gerber or Benchmade, but this has to be the most spot on characterization of their marketing I’ve ever seen. Especially Medford and Gerber. You deserve an Oscar man.
Good points and levity to boot. The last point is...well...a bit tricky. Few people doubt the attention to build and details of quite a few chinese companies (at least the most well known ones). To me things like fidgit factor and perfect blade centering are less important than blade geometry, heat treats and overall design. I'm also not crazy about paying a premium for titanium, carbon fiber and whatnot. That's fine for those who do, but not my thing. The one aspect i think American (and from any other country) makers can copy is the responsiveness chinese makers have towards tips from knife nerds (like yourself and many other reviewers). As for the geopolitics of the matter, that's a complex topic for another day (and maybe not suitable for knife channels?). I understand why there is quite a lot of bitterness towards "made in China" by a good many people; I guess I'd be just as bitter if my once well-paying blue collar job had been outsourced and swapped for a low pay service job (flippin' burgers, etc) and told my salary paycut was balanced by the ability to buy cheaper goods at Walmart/Amazon. A country also needs a certain amount of manufacturing capability to provide for critical items as personal protective equipment and medicines during a pandemic. But there I go getting too serious...this is a knife channel for God's sake!
well said.
3:28 Oh man I'm in stitches 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Mate Whats Up !!!! I Reprofiled my edge on my s35vn Kwaiken
The US is China’s #1 consumer. Our relationship and views of each other is odd and strained, but capitalism has been great for China’s communist party.
I’d rather always buy knives made in countries that are nicer to their people, but I’ve met Ben a few times and I’m glad he can have Knafs break into the biz by utilizing manufacturing where they can afford to.
@Spitch Grizwald garburg from Mora, is made of 14c28n, and it's prices at ~90$
I agree on the American knife thing, just because it's "American" made there is an automatic premium put on the knife. Even if it's sourced from China. I only know of one company that sources China, but are reasonably priced is Finch.
I live in China and have bought several Chinese made knives. They are very very good. Good steel and good craftsmanship
The part where you got a member of the government to show proper pushbike safety was absolutely amazing 😂That is going to be stuck in my head forever! Have a beautiful day and stay safe and healthy brother 🫵😘👍
ngl Pete, Maarten's sweater be stylin' lol 🤣
The fly is winning the war...
When he started talking about the military all I could think about was Spyderco
For me, I view knives as a an optional hobby with a high degree of flexibility so I buy American to support American makers. Sometimes with more urgent/ “needed” purchases, I’ll be more flexible. As it’s political (not quality) for me, I’m open to our allies in Taiwan (RAT, Cold Steel) or Japan (Delica).
I buy primarily American as well. I’m a Benchmade fan. I do own a couple Kizers however, and they are very nice knives.
@daver6564
Chinese brands are just like American brands:
They don't represent their governments. They're just common owners and employees providing a product.
Should I stop buying American products since I don't care for the current anti-self defense American administration? No.
Consumers need to separate politicians from ordinary people/companies.
Love your thoughts Pete! Thanks mate.
In regards to the military thing, at least from the perspective of the US Military.
1. As a general rule companies are not allowed to use photos or video of the military to market their products. If they have permission its probably a joint marketing campaign with the military.
2. Half the time when you produce something for the military you have no idea where its going, who has it, what unit selected your bid and if and where they put it. So you are not going to get hardly any information back.
3. Much of what gets made for the military is made nowadays on a unit by unit basis and even on a job by job basis within that unit. The US military post Vietnam / Gulf War shifted to a per unit- requisition system so its rare to find branch wide contracts other than firearms, uniforms and things that need to be universal.
For example: My brothers unit wanted Leathermans that were customized Leatherman MUTS for their rifle program, so they got 100 of them. Leatherman sees an RFP that says "the US military needs 100 customized Leatherman MUTS with these specifications for this price. Leatherman makes them and ships them out.
When they want to market that service that they just provided they literally make it up because they only have a best guess as to where it went. Sometimes you have the unit designation on a RFP but not all the time and half the time one unit will take your stuff while another unit takes another.
Sorry, I just wanted to clarify .
😂🤣😂 commercial parts funny as f*ck hilarious! Keep up the good work!
Good thinking you are expressing, yes!
It's funny to see people all on the "China bad Amurica good hurdurdur" thing because it's still insanely common even though poor work conditions, abuse of workers, reducing labor costs by moving to cheap places, polluting communities, and poor products due to cutting corners all happen in America as well as overseas. And spending money on "American made" doesn't keep that money in my community when the drive from where I live to where a knife is made in Idaho is longer than the drive from Munich, Germany to Paris, France.
The vinyl chloride train car thing in Ohio for a recent example.
14:20 what phone do you have?
Fly at 9:12
Also at 10:31
I was laughing my ass off!
The main issue that many (but not all) have is that the United States has outsourced labor for decades, which has gutted the middle class here. Manufacturing jobs used to be plentiful and paid fairly well, allowing a person to live a decent life and provide for their family. The wealth gap has increased as a result and frustration has grown. China was the recipient of most of those jobs lost here in the states, which soured many on the country.
Some economists have said that cutting off trade with China would decimate the US economy, since it's come to rely so heavily on cheap Chinese goods. I'm sure China doesn't want to get rid of it's cash cow either, despite the growing tensions.
So the hogue k320 is no good?
I like the Benchmade and the ZT haha!
1:35 Buck 119 is my current “What the Hell - it’s a kitchen knife” knife.
Sweater fetish, the struggle is real. Take care brother.
Yeah naah. Great video. On point with all the questions asked. 👍
And that Amazon driver is making a pretty good living room wage.
7:40 - I very much agree with the sentiment, but I do find it a bit a bit funny that cheaper or lower grade steels seem to be heat treated alot worse than higher end steels spesifically because they are less valuable. The cheaper the steel, the less they care about doing it right it seems. Which would make sense, the equipment, personell and hours of work is a very expensive investment into a cheap steel that is likely not going to sell for alot of profit and most likely to an audience that either doesnt care or accepts that it is what it is.
I guess the point is that while the properties of a softer steel can be a very good thing, it doesnt make sense to buy expensive steel to make it worse when a cheap steel does the same thing, and likewise it doesnt make sense to put alot of effort and money into a cheap steel that wont make back that investment. So while "softer steel is bad" isnt true, you could imo functionally still live by that advice and do very well.
...Unless its soft-soft. Like, factory-soft. Thats just playdough and bad no matter which way you spin it haha
Military knives aren't great, but I like SOG bowies. They say crap about MACV SOG etc. Could be true (or not), but I just like the knives even though they are AUS-8 steel. BTW SOG if you read this, make some bowies out of some nice steel, like the XR-Termius.
You had me at: "Magnacut you Dick!"
Lol!
Very funny video! Even more funny than DBK ! Great job Mr. Cedric !
His name is Pete ;)
@@Owieczkin I know, I just said that for fan, kind of funny comment to a funny video.
I mean "fun", not "fan". Sorry, English is my third language.
@@leslawwajcowicz1356 dobrze Lesiu, 3maj się 🤝
@@Owieczkin Takiej odpowiedzi się nie spodziewałem. Przyjemne zaskoczenie!
Commenting again just to give love to the Gerber slander. 🤘🏼🤣🤘🏼
Love it 😆 that fake Benchmade commercial 😆 🤣. Chinese knives are great and he's right it's about some pride or patriotism that has nothing to do with a great knife
Dude, I love you… hilarious, and thoughtful, and hilarious.
I live in Canada, the ultimate American-bystander nation, and an always interested in these kinds of comments. I have a lot of Chinese knives, Kizers, CJRB, SRM etc. And also a lot of Chinese-made American knives. When Biden was elected, I felt that I HAD to buy a REAL 'Merican knaafe. I couldn't think of anything better than a Buck 110. Since then I have bought about 15 more Bucks, some Made in USA, some made in China, some made for Canadian tire in China, but all 420. All good value.
I also have a SOG Terminus XR like the gold one you showed but did not mention. Actually, I have four XRs. None gold!
I heard that high and mid tier steels don't cost too much more than one another. It's likely an attempt to pay less for high potential steels, heat treat them cheaply and then sell them at a premium price tag. Based on what I've seen Nitro V can do, most companies aren't heat treating this cheap steel to their fullest potentials.
Does anyone know whatever happened to Michael Christie’s knife sharpening channel ??
Your bemusement at my anger bemuses me, and that makes me angry. Thank you.
Lmao I also noticed his jumper
13:30 makes me realise just how much Can and Aus are the same lol