$330 for a hand-made, well-crafted and balanced pocketknife you plan to use and keep the rest of your life, is not outrageous. There is an obvious difference in quality. It just depends on what you want and how much you’re willing to spend. Real tools typically cost real money.

actually d2 is a low carbon stainless,as stainless does mean it wont rust.however mild stainless will discolor .and Jeffzx9 is absolutely right,a hand made knife from a custom maker?330 is a bargain.

I see the author’s point. $330 isn’t cheap, but yes for a handmade knife like this it is par for the course, if not a good deal depending on what exactly you are comparing it with. It looks like a wonderfully made knife.

D2 is an interesting choice. It actually does have a fairly high carbon count (1.5%), but it’s very tough. It’s categorized as tool steel and should work well in outdoor applications. Also, it’s often called a “semi-stainless” steel because it is not a true stainless, but is more corrosion resistant than classic high carbon steels like 1095 due to the relatively high amount of chromium in it.

Either way this is a nice knife and I’m glad to see it get some attention on a major blog like GearJunkie.

Dan@ BladeReviews

Some of the comments hear about a knife costing $330.00 being reasonable are really funny. Lets be honest. If you are going to spend $330 USD, you are a knife collector and not a knife user. This is without doubt a very nice knife. I’m especially impressed with the clean well balanced lines. It is essentially a refined version of the ubiquitous Sod Buster that has been around in one version or another for at least 500 years. For $330 USD, it would not have been unreasonable to install a lock back on the knife. D-2 is a decent steel, but I prefer SV30. But if you are looking for a using folder, one of the tiny little Gerbers for $20 USD will work just as well, or even the Buck 110 folder (which does lock)in SV30 is my pick—at one third the price.

I cannot disagree more with Faultroy’s comments and with considerable respect for his clear knowledge of knives, let’s be honest and agree to disagree. Comparing this instrument to a Gerber is like saying, “why wear a Patek when a digital quartz Timex will probably tell better time”. And sure, he’s probably right that a lock-back might have been helpful, but it would have detracted from the perfect aesthetic of this design. Why not add a quick deployment button to a Nihonto Katana sword? I would pay $330.00 for this in a heartbeat, use it as a daily-carry and leave it to my kids and their kids. I would buy a knife like this because it’s extraordinary, I respect the craft and the finished product, and I’m definitely not frivolous about my cash. Maybe SV30 is better and in all likelihood, many of the knives in my quiver from Kershaw to Helle (and back) are higher performance instruments, but they’re not hand-crafted Pateks, they’re mostly Timex. I’m typing this on a PC running Windows 7 wishing it was Mac because I’d rather have paid more for something better. Note to self: only read the article, never the user comments.

A knife is a tool we all have occasion to use. Some people don’t carry one, and so want to use mine. A knife can be a work or art, as Gene’s knives are just that, with wonderful attention to detail. Doing everyday tasks can be a joy using a tool that is such a work of art. I own one of them — not a sodbuster, but I might have to do something about that — It is a joy to use something this beautiful and made with this kind of attention to detail, well worth every penny. There are details in Gene’s knives I’ve never seen anywhere else, let alone a production knife. Just about any knife lover, hunter, or outdoorsman, and lots of others would jump at the chance to own this sodbuster.