That's why you carry more than one knife.  A beater for daily tasks and one for self defense.  I guess it all comes down to how well you take care of your shit.  I still have my first pair of Oakleys that I bought with my first paycheck in 1998.  Those suckers turned 20 years old.  My wife however can't keep a pair of sunglasses for more than a few years, her record was losing some Maui Jim's I bought her in 2 months.

So if you can take care of a nice knife, treat yourself.  If you can't, stick to cheap ones.

True, but for me, if I had a $400 knife in my pocket, I wouldn't want to do anything with it but show it off.  I do have a range knife that so far has been used to cut cord, card board, and tennis balls.  It's actually a $140 dollar knife, but the wife got it at the CKRT factory and they gave her a 50% off coupon.  So it only cost $70.

I had an Oakley sunglasses that I bought in 2002.  Got stolen when my car was broken into.  It was in the compartment above the mirror.  But no big deal, they were pretty bus up and I only wore them when changing my battery (once ever few years).

Boker has different brandings:
Boker Manufaktur Solingen which is their premium line made in Solingen Germany
Boker Arbolito made in Argentina
Boker Plus is not made in Germany.  could be in US, Europe or Asia
Magnum by Boker is their most affordable line mostly made in China

I have a couple fixed blades from Boker Arbolito.  they are well made and both came with a really nice leather sheath

Where have you been buying them? I’ve seen some on Amazon, but also some what wary until I know which are the trusted vendors.

I’ve been browsing sites like BladeHQ and a few others.

Where have you been buying them? I’ve seen some on Amazon, but also some what wary until I know which are the trusted vendors.

I’ve been browsing sites like BladeHQ and a few others.

I usually go Ebay or Amazon.  theres a few sellers on Ebay that are pretty good that I have saved on my list.  lately I've been going more on Ebay but make sure that the seller is legit

I usually go Ebay or Amazon.  theres a few sellers on Ebay that are pretty good that I have saved on my list.  lately I've been going more on Ebay but make sure that the seller is legit

Ahh. Gotcha. I’ve been doing similar for some blades (Lehrer brands) as well as some stuff like lights and other gear. I’ll take a look and hit you up if I see any items or vendors that catch my interest.

Ahh. Gotcha. I’ve been doing similar for some blades (Lehrer brands) as well as some stuff like lights and other gear. I’ll take a look and hit you up if I see any items or vendors that catch my interest.

 

Save yourself a few bucks and buy used/pre-owned. Then beat it up because you didn't pay full price for it. 

here are the ebay stores that I have bought from and had good experience, fast shipping and is either cheap shipping or free.  tracking # when it ships usually the same day or next business day

http://www.ebaystores.com/The-Sharpest-Store-On-The-Web?_rdc=1

http://www.ebaystores.com/eCop-Police-Supply?_rdc=1   (this store sells a lot of gun stuff too)

https://www.ebay.com/str/Mountainclmbr?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

here are the ebay stores that I have bought from and had good experience, fast shipping and is either cheap shipping or free.  tracking # when it ships usually the same day or next business day

http://www.ebaystores.com/The-Sharpest-Store-On-The-Web?_rdc=1

http://www.ebaystores.com/eCop-Police-Supply?_rdc=1   (this store sells a lot of gun stuff too)

https://www.ebay.com/str/Mountainclmbr?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

Cool. I’ll check those vendors out. Haven’t been looking that much, but will be looking around soon. So many choices.

Save yourself a few bucks and buy used/pre-owned. Then beat it up because you didn't pay full price for it. 

I’m ok with pre-owned if the blade is clean and edge looks very good.

When I lived in WA state and did more outdoor stuff, my blades definitely got good use and even abuse in some cases. Don’t really see that living here now, but even if it’s an expensive knife, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Many times, people overthink things. It’s a tool.

Anyone got recommendations on a place that sells knife parts or could give me some information.

I have a Kershaw Sapphire and the screws holding the body together fell out and are gone. 
Its a discontinued model so Kershaw doesn't have parts

Anyone know where I can find screws that small,  or have spares or possibly know what size screws I'm looking for?

I know I could just buy a new one,  but it was cheap, $20, probably because it was getting discontinued and I should have gotten 2, but I like the size of it and haven't really seen anything else that has caught my eye

I have a ton of kershaw pocket clip screws with the same pitch but none are long enough. Id bet a frame screw from a shallot or a leek would fit. Same generation and similar handle thickness.

Thats a collectible. Those older kershaws are much better than current ones minus maybe the usa made dividend and link in m390.

couple other websites that might interest you:

https://deadwoodknives.com/    (I've ordered 2 Boker Arbolito fixed blades from here)

https://newgraham.com/Knives/    (never ordered from here, but I like to look at the higher end knives they have)

I picked up another Boker knife designed by Boris Manasherov called the Masada folder
this one is about 1 inch longer than my previous Wildcat karambit style folder
both work very well.  ball bearing is smooth, easy to open with the flipper, D2 steel, G10 grips, feels great in my hand.  both are great folders, 2 of my best folders, very well made.  both were about $85

I picked up another Boker knife designed by Boris Manasherov called the Masada folder
this one is about 1 inch longer than my previous Wildcat karambit style folder
both work very well.  ball bearing is smooth, easy to open with the flipper, D2 steel, G10 grips, feels great in my hand.  both are great folders, 2 of my best folders, very well made.  both were about $85

SNIP

Nice!

I've been wanting a fixed karambit for a while.  A buddy is an instructor in eskrima/arnis and got me into techniques with the karambit.  I really want one of the skeleton type (without grip panels) for appendix carry.  I haven't looked into folders, but I've seen you post a few that got me interested.  I tend to stick to straight to convex blade profiles for ease of sharpening, but will give the karambits a try. 

thinking about getting one of these




Or the Ken Onion edition. Not sure which one I should get

Ken onion+blade grinder attachment 
Its what i have. I just dont have room for a permanently mounted 2x72"
  the ken onion is so small i can move it anywhere in the house. Fine metal dust is nasty though so i always bring it to the patio.
If you have the room then id build a full size one. There are plans online. it only cost a little more than the ken onion and blade grinder attachment.  Belts for these little belt sanders are pricey and i already wore one machine out after about 5 years of decent use. I have no idea how many belt sets ive been through but im positive a 2x72 would have been cheaper in the long run. I tried buying 3rd party belts and none come close to the premium belts that come with the kit. Factory belt kit comes with only 1 of each grit for 20 bucks. theyre only 1x18" so they wear out quickly if you have anything above s30v. Id guess 5-6 premium knives or 15 softer kitchen knives

thinking about getting one of these




Or the Ken Onion edition. Not sure which one I should get

A few guys on another forum have that Ken Onion thing and they love it.  I don't have a workshop space for something like that, but I would definitely consider it if I did have say a workshop or garage space.  For now, I stick with whetstone. 

The only system I considered was the one where you have the blade in a vice and it has arms with stones and I think leather straps on each side.  I think it's the Wicked sharpening system or something like that.  A custom knife builder that I know uses that to finish blades and they are SUPER sharp! 

I don't really have much work space either, but I like that work sharp sharpener
for now i'm using a 2 sided diamond stone and it works well.  when I take my time I can get my knives to shave the hair off my arm pretty easily.
so I don't know if I really need the work sharp, but it does look like a cool piece of equipment to have
I've also considered the ones with the vice and the stone that holds it at specific angles.  I think that wicked sharpening system is like $700 for the pro model, less for other models.  or there's other brands that are much cheaper, I might try one of those first bc that wicked edge is pretty pricey

That's the one.  Wicked.  There was another that I looked at.  Maybe Lansky or something like that.  It was the same basic idea, but the base and arms were not as stout.  The Wicked system makes sense for my friend as he's using it in pretty much a business application where he's producing multiple blades each week.  But damn is that thing effective.  It's also great at concave sections of blades, where it sucks to sharpen those on stones. 

I would like to try one of these as well

https://lansky.com/index.php/products/dlx-5-stone-system/


https://www.smithsproducts.com/diamond/arkansas-stone-precision-sharpening-system

This was the Lansky system that I was considering buying.  It's been in my Amazon wishlist for a while. 

https://lansky.com/index.php/products/dlx-5-stone-system/

There was also another that was closer to the Wicked system that had the blade vertical, but I can't seem to find it now.