>>693682it rustles my jimmies as well when I see those "if your knife is not X expensive, it is shit", but it's not that different from "hurr durr, my 20 dollar junk is just as good as your 200 dollar premium".
You pay 200 dollars, you don't get 10x the quality of a 20 dollar knife, but you do get better steel, better fit and finish, better ergonomics, better aesthetics (not really relevant to performance).
Typically, a handmade, semi-custom will run you anywhere between 130, and 200 bucks, which is par for the course.
Paying more gets you exclusivity - short runs by famous knifemakers, extra attention to detail, and exotic materials. Prime example of this is damascus - at this point in time, damascus is entirely superfluous, but it's expensive, and damascus knives fetch high prices.
I certainly won't agree that it's "insanity" to buy a better knife if you can afford it.
Going by that logic, no one has any buisness owning a smartphone, since a nokia 3310 also does the job. Granted, that's a rather extreme example, but you get my point.
