Like almost any class of products (cars, etc.), most EDC items such as pocket knives, flashlights, etc. generally obey the law of diminishing returns. The relationship between money spent and quality received is not linear.
For example, the best $300 pocket knife is generally not 3X better than the best $100 pocket knife. Rather the relationship takes the form of a curve where, from my perspective, the quality per dollar spent rises pretty steeply in pocket knives from $10 to $75 and then starts to be more 1:1 from $75 to $150 or so before it flattens out over $150.
Different items will have slightly different curves and will also depend on the point of view of the purchaser. For me, most flashlights begin to flatten out at $50, and are almost totally flat above $100. YMMV
This is not to say that every $50 pocket knife is of the same quality. There is a wide variation of value propositions at every price point.
This is one reason why most online EDC content is aimed at the "budget" realm. You've got two factors at play. A relatively steep correlation between dollar spent and value, and a wide range of value at each price point. A scatter plot of this range would be all over the place but show the general trend.
And so a few $30 knives are better than the average $50 knife, and a few $50 knives are better than the average $75 knife, etc. Bottom line, there is a lot to talk about in the budget realm.
Because of the wide range of value props at the lower end, one way to cull the wheat from the chaff in terms of EDC content producers is to identify a product you know to be terrible (for example the Wuben G5), and then unfollow anyone who touts that product as good. Such a creator cannot be trusted to identify good value from bad across the vast array of EDC products in the "budget scatter plot."
by PecanPlan
3 Comments
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x axis: money spent
y axis: pussy received due to zircuti inlays
i feel like the point of diminishing returns exists in 2 places on the pricing of knives. the first one is 200-300 dollar price bracket. most companies will do a super steel knife with g10 or micarta or some kind of premium handle materials for 150-200. the 2nd one is the 500 and up. because most companies can do a titanium folder knife for between 300-500 dollars. i don’t think a titanium precision milled knife is diminishing returns until it gets past 500. its basically the main reason why i will not buy a Oz Roosevelt. other companies can due titanium for cheaper, and they do. its why i dont spend $270 on the spyderco shaman, because the PM2 or Manix 2 costs 150-200 bucks. but thats just me. i dont even really like entry level knives at this point. too much of a knife snob nowadays for budget.