Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool

Tangent: I had a decent benchmade griptilian folding knife for the last 10 or so years. Wasn’t the sharpest knife but I loved the form factor, grip, etc.

I left it on the bed cover of my truck the other day while unboxing some towing equipment in a parking lot and took off accidentally.

Looked at Amazon to replace it and they’re going for $200+ now. Is this just Amazon tax? Tarrifs? Something else? No way in hell I paid that for it initially. It was probably $50! It’s listed at $160 on their website right now.

Why?!?! It’s a simple plastic body and a small piece of steel. Make this make sense.

Television, survival, bushcraft, social media.

It used to be knowledge based survival skills, but today it is all gear based survival skills. Prices have gone crazy.

Look up the Ritter Houge, or something like that. I think it's a less (maybe) expensive version of the griptilian from the same designer. I think. Could be wrong.

Benchmade has raised their prices over the years to the point where it's hard to justify most of their knives unless you're a big fan with disposable income.

> Wasn’t the sharpest knife

Sharpness is a product of sharpening, which should be done regularly for good results.

Benchmade's pricing is based on irrational customers being willing to pay premium prices for knives that really aren't competitive anymore.

If you want a replacement knife that's very similar for a more reasonable price, consider the crossbar lock version of the Vosteed Raccoon.

> Sharpness is a product of sharpening, which should be done regularly for good results.

How often? I have a Japanese santoku knife made of VG10 and I really like it when I get it razor sharp. But is it normal that it loses that after a few weeks? Do I really need to keep sharpening on a whetstone that often? I cut vegetables almost every single day.

Knives should be sharpened when they no longer cut as effectively as the user would like. Several weeks of daily use with no maintenance is probably longer than I would go, but I do not know your knife.

It's not necessary to use a whetstone that often though. My preference is a leather strop with a fine (under 1 micron; I use 0.25) diamond paste on it, and it usually only takes a few strokes (around five) per side to restore my gyuto to performance I'm happy with. The duller I let it get, the more time it takes to restore.

Houge's the brand. RSK-Mk1 is the model (Ritter Survival Knife). Sold exclusively at https://knifeworks.com/dr/

Benchmade used to make a variant of their Griptilian that he designed (the "Ritter Grip", and when they discontinued it, Hogue stepped up (proceeds go to support Ritter's https://kniferights.org/ organization)

I feel like the prices have gone up for years & years. I thought my Spyderco was a cheaper alternative to Benchmade, but now they're basically all $100+. $65 is now $130 or so.

My guess is collectors that'll buy at almost any price. Some knives from the '80s that used to cost $25 are simply eye-watering today (well past 10x).

Yikes those are all extremely expensive for what they are.