Check the iron or steel quality of the knife.Upping thus thread. Ima bout to cop a couple of pieces for the crib and I'm looking fir a few ideas.
http://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/
Check here for some info. As a first knife I think Spyderco has a good variety and is a good entry level knife depending on your need. I got razor blazes to shanks and the type steel matters. In that pic I posted you see the tip of one of my knives broke off because the steel was poor and knife was cheap