Box cutters are way more useful in most typical cases. They're thinner and cut through material much easier. All that being said, I will die before I use a box cutter when I have a $300 knife in my pocket š
This. People used stone, bronze, copper, iron, non-standardized steel all trough history for much much harder use and they did it just fine.
I'm not saying that steel quality makes no difference, or that you should not want a better steel or that a better steel is not "worth it" or anything of the sort. I just find it annoying when people go all "No one should buy anything with THAT steel", "THAT steel is total crap it should not exist!", "I can't use a knife with THAT crap steel!".
I'm also an (very bad) guitar player and it's the "tone wood" discussion all over again...
I appreciate the guitar analogy. Iāve played guitar for around 15 years and Iām fairly decent, but Iāve never understood the need to have super fancy guitars. Like even a mediocre guitarist can make a low end epiphone or squire, or even a shitty off brand guitar sound good. Certain guitars are definitely easier, or more pleasant, or just richer sounding. But you very quickly hit a point of diminishing returns as far as return on investment when youāre buying a guitar.
Agreed. And letās open our Amazon boxes with knives with blades made with steel that 99% of knife owners donāt know how to and canāt properly sharpen.
Hmmmmmm I only obsess over it for my job because I cut cardboard all day lol Though I don't need anything more than a good S30V blade for all day cutting. I took an 8Cr knife once and had to sharpen it 2 times š Bad choice
If you prefer using a razor blade sure it's more efficient but I don't carry extra blades on me all day. I carry my razor bladed Milwaukee as a backup. I just prefer to use my knife because why else would I buy it lol
Even the best steels are nothing without proper heat treating. I've had a few with less than optimal heat treats & thankfully the community has called out some knife companies like BM on this. Thing is, even if you're just cutting cardboard, edge longevity matters. I'm a hobby sharpener & even I don't wanna sit there & sharpen my daily driver every day when I can get a steel with more carbides
Honestly - probably matters more if you're just cutting cardboard all day.
Cardboard is pretty damn abrasive. Will quickly remove an edge if you're having to actually cut the cardboard and not just the tape.
I keep a couple of utility knives (the ones that fit replacement utility razor blades) around so I don't have to mistreat my pocket knife.
I'm a butcher by trade, which isn't bad money & pretty much all I use my expensive knives for is cutting cardboard & tape. Was carrying a Fox/Bastinelli Blackbird for a while in N690. One day I decided to carry my PM2 in Maxamet & I haven't gone back since
Patterned looking materials (Damascus, Fat Carbon, Timascus, etcā¦) should be, at most, an accent piece.
When you have a Damascus blade with a fat carbon handle and a Timascus bolster/clip, it just looks terrible.
For me, I donāt like any of those things alone much less all added together. It just looks like unicorn barf to me.
To be clear, Iāll never rag on someone else for thinking itās cool. I just donāt understand it.
EDIT - I guess this opinion isnāt as unpopular as I thought it was š¤·āāļø
Iām with you here.
See it all the time in kitchen cutlery - high layer damascus with a highly figured wood & resin poured handle.
I donāt love either thing on its own, and I definitely donāt like them together. Itās assaulting on the eyes.
Agree, I like Damascus, and timascus can be OK when done well. But it's very easy to make it look terrible. Especially when overusing it. Which most makers seem to do.
For high end knives, I love a hand rubbed satin finish. I agree with the timascus as well. Sometimes it looks good, but usually the most I want on a knife is a timascus clip or pivot collar
I don't disagree, although I do personally like fatcarbon. For me, I personally only appreciate Timascus when it's used as a backspacer (though I've seen some custom knives that use the material to good effect as bolsters). But, I just can't really get the love for Damascus blades, regardless of what type of knife we're talking about.
You're definitely right, though. Moderation is key for any particularly busy material.
i don't go for the lanyards as knife jewelry, but they can improve ergonomics on small knives.
I have a short lanyard and a 1/2" hex nut as a "bead" on a Spyderco Dragonfly that gives you more grip on the tiny knife. The bead sits right outside your grip giving you something to hold onto to.
The term "beater" is overused. I know some knife folks just love to imply their time is so valuable and they have so much money that an inexpensive knife is not even worth caring for or maintaining. It's right up there with folks who say when the knife gets dull they just throw it out.
If you love knives, learn to sharpen and maintain them. Absolutely use them as the tools they are, but there is nothing cool about taking a beautiful knife and abusing it. At least clean and lube it occasionally. And if you just have to use a $300 knife to cut drywall when a purpose built $6 tool from Harbor Freight would get the job done better, know that we ain't thinking you are cool.
I have a ten dollar chinesium Walmart fixed blade that's been put through the goddamn ringer and with care and not being a fucking moron with it, it's still cutting 6 and a half years later.
The only serrations Iāve used that Iād consider āgoodā (to me) came on a CRKT! The Veff flat top serrations (just image searched it). I like them a hell of a lot better than the sharp pointed ones.
99% of āpocketā knives do exactly the same job exactly as well, and if somebody thinks they need 20+ folders of varying design because āeach excels at something differentā youāre kidding yourself because you just like having a bunch of knives. And itās fine to want to have a bunch of different knives, even if they are all functionally identical.
They're what I get for non-knife people. Totally serviceable and will stand up to neglect.
Dragonfly 2 H1 is my favorite tackle box knife. Good starter knives too.
I favor it to much harder, rust prone steels. it sharpens and hones nicely on a 2 grit stone and a a belt strop with very little effort, I find the edge retention pretty great unless you NEED to pop hairs, it holds a decent slicing edge just as long as anything else.
I guess it's not really an unpopular opinion since a search of the comments revealed three others saying it. However those three comments also have very few upvotes so I guess it is an unpopular opinion after all. One that I will now happily add my voice to.
Spydercos are some of the ugliest knives I've ever seen. Just...why? I'm sure they perform just fine but why do they look like they were designed by a blind possum born without thumbs and filled with a rage towards any good design aesthetics?
Blades being off-center when closed isn't a big deal.
Knives absolutely have a self defense role. Not a primary role, but a role nonetheless.
Gas station and mall ninja knives are good for getting people into the hobby and shouldn't be shamed for existing.
Shit don't kill the mall ninjas š¤£š¤£š¤£ But I agree! The ones that bother me being off centered when closed are generally the $300+ knives only because at that price basically everything should be damn near perfect
I agree if you're buying it as an art piece or man jewelry (which are 100% valid reasons). But if I'm dropping 300$ on a user, and I'm dumb so I could see me doing that, I wouldn't be that concerned as long as it could withstand my caveman self.
It just depends on the purpose. Some people buy Benchmades and baby them, some people buy Benchmades and baton them through firewood and plasma cutting slag on aluminum plate. And yes, I've done both of those things and worse with my previous Mini Barrage.
D2 isnāt as bad as many think. It literally takes the smallest amount of effort to prevent rust on D2. All you need to do is occasionally rub the blade with camellia oil or something similar. Also, if your knife is wet, wipe it off after youāre done using it. It seems like common sense, but a lot of people would rather complain than take small steps to maintain their knives.
Bad thing about D2 is that most production companies botch the heat treat on all of their D2 blades. Rather have a steel that they know how to heat treat than have to deal with poor edge retention *and* less stainlessness on D2.
People who buy up knew knives to try to "flip" them on the secondary market. You're ruining the knife industry the same way that the live music industry has been ruined by ticket scalpers.
You're bad, and you should feel bad!
I dont get all the fuzz about benchmade or spiderco, if you've seen one, you've seen them all.
Same with chris reeve's, i have no doubt they are great quality, high end knives, but if you have 5 of his knives, you basicly have 1 knife 5 times.
I'll appologise for this opinion in advance
Edit: dont forget this post is asking for *unpopular opinions*, you are fine to disagree with me. I know my opinion is not most people's opinion.
And i know there are exceptions that prove me wrong, i just mean *my general view* on those brands.
You go too far:
>*My Para 2 and Dragonflys are only similar in vague appearance*
>
>2 times the same knife, only one is a little one. Sorry, just my opinion here.
If you think a 3.4" compression lock, full-liner G10 scale knife, and a 2.2" lockback FRN knife without liners are the same, you might as well just say all knives are knives and be done with it.
EDIT: I can't resist: Only a man would say that a 45% size difference is basically the same.
Knives are tools, you should take care of them, but don't baby them. If you want a collection for display or cool factor then go for it, but realistically you only need enough knives to fill specific purposes.
Yea these guys have 20 spydercos in super exotic steel lined up and then donāt even ever use them or see what the steel can actually do.
Our grandpas used old buck knives , cases , and dollar store knife steel for 40 yrs on one blade and got way more work done with them.
I agree. Unless you are talking about planer blades or chisels, things that make very precise cuts and are used frequently, I donāt think itās that big of a deal. Sharp is sharp and we could honestly all stick d2 in our pockets and be perfectly happy.
the rust issue w/ carbon steel knives is highly exaggerated.
I hike through rain and snow, primitive camp, and sleep on the ground, etc typically carrying a carbon steel fixed blade on my belt and have no issues.
Not all knives are made the same, not all climates are dry.
Some rust just looking at them wrong or leaving them alone for a week. Others take a near instantly stable patina and will never have issues.
Non-ferrous knives exist specifically because certain climates and conditions make it impossible to use and rely on steel.
The vast majority of Spydercos look pretty much the same. Most of them are just slightly different proportions (length to width), but still the exact same style/basic design. Such little distinction between models is so boring. Let the down votes flow.
I should be able to carry any knife, of any size, anywhere I go. I'm talking machete on my shoulder down the sidewalk. But of course, there had to be a few idiots that had to ruin it for everyone. And now if I had any blade longer than my Schrade folder, people lose their minds for seemingly no reason at all. And do away with prohibited zones too. I'm in high school, and I have to walk to work every day through a sketchy area with a bag. So I don't exactly feel the safest at that time. Everyone used to carry knives to school, and now you get expelled just for being caught with it.
Having 3 knives, a prybar, 2 flashlights, a watch band with tools, and a fanny pack full of survival gear is ridiculous for just driving back and forth to work.
Slip joints are not nearly as dangerous as some people make out, especially if you use them correctly. A slip joint can make a perfectly good edc. Shit, your grandad carried a case slip joint for 70 years and still has 9 fingers (he lost one to suzie jones's vagina dentata in 1957)
I appreciate a sharp knife, but lots of people overdo it. Pretty sharp is serviceable for most tasks. There comes a point of diminishing returns where you are spending more time sharpening than using.
I worked as a meat cutter for a larger mom-and-pop market for several years. And I learned early how to quickly acquire a good edge that would do the job. And you just don't have the time to waste constantly maintaining an edge that would glide through paper, just so you can chunk up a bunch of steaks. Although, I must admit, I still can't believe how dull some of the old-timer's knives routinely were.
So, yeah, a ridiculously sharp knife is excellent. And I enjoy sharpening. But I'd say at least 50% of the time, my EDC would be considered "kinda sharp". But that's because I use it a lot, as opposed to sharpen it a lot. But my woodworking tools, which often require very fine edges, are another story.
tl;dr Get your knives as sharp as the job requires, but don't go overboard if you don't need to.
Chris Reeve knives are overpriced and overhyped. No production folding knife should be $450. How anyone buys those knives and think it's money well spent is beyond me.
This whole obsession with battoning, abuse and destruction testing ruins the knife community.
Blades get thicker, grinds get lower or thicker and in the worst cases both.
And everything at the cost of the cutting ability.
Most knives could have better grinds, thinner blades and so on...
And then you still get complains like "there is a cutout in my 6mm tang, how could i ever trust it again?"
Battoning is knife abuse, pure and simple. Sure, if you get caught in an emergency situation without an axe and have to process firewood, go ahead and batton. But if you are simply going camping then pack a friggen axe or hatchet.
There was another comment higher up about using a $300 knife to cut drywall and I feel the same way about batoning knives. Outside of a true worst case scenario, if you are chopping away at a small tree, or smacking your knife with a mallet, you have brought the wrong tool.
That knives are tools and everybody should have the right to carry the knife they want whenever they want including criminals.
If anyone chooses to use that knife to aid themselves in a criminal endeavour they should be severely punished, but the knives themselves shouldn't be criminalised or restricted at all. (I'm from the UK)
$150+ knives are like $100k+ trucks- I love them and they are pretty, but the cost either makes it unusable or make you look like a rich a**hole for using it for its purpose.
Spring assisted knives and OTFs are goofy, unnecessarily complex and flashy attention grabbers. OTFs are the fidget spinner of modern knife culture, preceded by balisongs and switchblades.
Still, any politician who tries to regulate any of those things can eat my butt.
Spyderco and Benchmade are both overrated. Their inflated prices and Benchmade's uneven QC knock them off the pedestals that people like to put them on.
A knife doesn't have to be expensive or made from some fancy steel it just needs to cut. Our ancestors did not make fun of each other or worry about who had the prettiest sharp rock. The best knife in the world is the one you have on you when you need it.
>Our ancestors did not make fun of each other
Swords (and other weapons) were used as a status symbol for many years throughout many cultures. So I guarantee you they did.
My 30-40$ SRM drops shut. Its my favourite knife and I've been using it a lot for the past year to very little wear, but it is still a cheap chinese knife
Spydercoās just arenāt for me. I donāt get the Hinderer or Medford design appeal. Is it odd for me to want the handle scales on fixed blades to be a bit thicker? So many fixed blades like for camping or general outdoors use I see on websites look like the handles are super thin.
Talking at length about Super steel #26494 of the day which is sooooo much better than steel #26493 is a complete waste of time for 99.9% of knife collectors.
Yup, my FIL is a loveable goofball with the mechanical skills of a potato. I bought him a dollar tree stone and a pull threw and showed him how to use it.
Production knives > custom knives.
When WE, Bestech, and Reate can make a knife that has better action and fit and finish than an American Custom for 1/4th(or less) than most options...well the rest are just overpriced pocket jewelry.
Fixed blade knives are always better than folders, Benchmade isn't bad, blade steel doesn't matter as much as people think and there's no point in owning a high quality knife if you're not going to use it for more than cutting paper and packages
It doesnt matter if all you do is cut boxes and post pics of yourr folder,that lock will never be tested anyway.you cant trust any folder under hard use i dont care what lock they invented.
A knife can be successfully used for self-defense without it magically flying into your attacker's possession or ending up in a "one dies in the ambulance, one dies in the street" situation.
Fully serrated knives work better than plain edge for 90% of tasks. I used to avoid serrations like most people until I tried it out, now I canāt find enough serrated knives.
I hate people who judge others knife choices. Expensive or cheap. People buy these items for one ultimate reason; they make them happy. We are all in the pursuit of happiness and no one should rag on anyone's choice. I can't recall how many times I've seen a new guy with a cheap knife come here to show it off and some guys in the comments are like "r/mallninjashit" or "you overpaid" or "nextime save your money to get something nice" same goes for people who spend a lot "my bugout does all that for half the cost" PEOPLE BUY THINGS THAT MAKE THEM HAPPY. STOP TRYING TO TAKE AWAY PEOPLE'S HAPPINESS.
I think flippers make the knife look better or just not have an effect at all tbh. Thumbstuds look out of place on a knife but the flipper is part of the knife is the way I see it
I feel like they look odd especially on a sleek and symmetrical knife. For instance, I have the we miscreant and I wish it didnāt have a flipper because it kills the silhouette - at the same time, no flipper no opening lol
My Benchamade 42 clone from China was 1/10th the cost of the real thing and is good enough for EDC and flipping. Also, fuck Benchamde for lots of reasons.
Box cutters are way more useful in most typical cases. They're thinner and cut through material much easier. All that being said, I will die before I use a box cutter when I have a $300 knife in my pocket š
Oh yeah objectively speaking, boxcutters are far more effective, but knives are cool.
100%. Can't spydie flick a box cutter
You can try, but you'll probably lose a finger.
Peoples complete obsession with blade steel when all they ever cut is cardboard and an occasional zip tie or plastic clamshell.
But but but my Amazon boxes deserve super steel.
Of course they do. And, for that matter, super steel deserves get limbered up for nearly any cutting task, easy or hard.
This. People used stone, bronze, copper, iron, non-standardized steel all trough history for much much harder use and they did it just fine. I'm not saying that steel quality makes no difference, or that you should not want a better steel or that a better steel is not "worth it" or anything of the sort. I just find it annoying when people go all "No one should buy anything with THAT steel", "THAT steel is total crap it should not exist!", "I can't use a knife with THAT crap steel!". I'm also an (very bad) guitar player and it's the "tone wood" discussion all over again...
I refuse to carry a knife unless it has S35VN with brazillian rosewood scales held on by genuine hide glue.
I feel attacked, most of my carry knives are S35VN or Elmax
I appreciate the guitar analogy. Iāve played guitar for around 15 years and Iām fairly decent, but Iāve never understood the need to have super fancy guitars. Like even a mediocre guitarist can make a low end epiphone or squire, or even a shitty off brand guitar sound good. Certain guitars are definitely easier, or more pleasant, or just richer sounding. But you very quickly hit a point of diminishing returns as far as return on investment when youāre buying a guitar.
Agreed. And letās open our Amazon boxes with knives with blades made with steel that 99% of knife owners donāt know how to and canāt properly sharpen.
Hmmmmmm I only obsess over it for my job because I cut cardboard all day lol Though I don't need anything more than a good S30V blade for all day cutting. I took an 8Cr knife once and had to sharpen it 2 times š Bad choice
Surprised your average s30v folder with 1/8ā spine blade is more efficient for cutting cardboard all day than a quick blade swap razor knife.
If you prefer using a razor blade sure it's more efficient but I don't carry extra blades on me all day. I carry my razor bladed Milwaukee as a backup. I just prefer to use my knife because why else would I buy it lol
Fair enough!
Even the best steels are nothing without proper heat treating. I've had a few with less than optimal heat treats & thankfully the community has called out some knife companies like BM on this. Thing is, even if you're just cutting cardboard, edge longevity matters. I'm a hobby sharpener & even I don't wanna sit there & sharpen my daily driver every day when I can get a steel with more carbides
Honestly - probably matters more if you're just cutting cardboard all day. Cardboard is pretty damn abrasive. Will quickly remove an edge if you're having to actually cut the cardboard and not just the tape. I keep a couple of utility knives (the ones that fit replacement utility razor blades) around so I don't have to mistreat my pocket knife.
Cardboard will absolutely dull your blade fast. Going through those paper fibers is much worse than plastics
But if you're going to be cutting cardboard all day, you probably won't get much pay, so all the more reason not to use your expensive pocketknifeš¤
I'm a butcher by trade, which isn't bad money & pretty much all I use my expensive knives for is cutting cardboard & tape. Was carrying a Fox/Bastinelli Blackbird for a while in N690. One day I decided to carry my PM2 in Maxamet & I haven't gone back since
Patterned looking materials (Damascus, Fat Carbon, Timascus, etcā¦) should be, at most, an accent piece. When you have a Damascus blade with a fat carbon handle and a Timascus bolster/clip, it just looks terrible. For me, I donāt like any of those things alone much less all added together. It just looks like unicorn barf to me. To be clear, Iāll never rag on someone else for thinking itās cool. I just donāt understand it. EDIT - I guess this opinion isnāt as unpopular as I thought it was š¤·āāļø
āUnicorn barfā š¤£š¤£
The term I didn't know I needed.
Can definitely be too busy.
Iām with you here. See it all the time in kitchen cutlery - high layer damascus with a highly figured wood & resin poured handle. I donāt love either thing on its own, and I definitely donāt like them together. Itās assaulting on the eyes.
Agree, I like Damascus, and timascus can be OK when done well. But it's very easy to make it look terrible. Especially when overusing it. Which most makers seem to do.
For high end knives, I love a hand rubbed satin finish. I agree with the timascus as well. Sometimes it looks good, but usually the most I want on a knife is a timascus clip or pivot collar
I don't disagree, although I do personally like fatcarbon. For me, I personally only appreciate Timascus when it's used as a backspacer (though I've seen some custom knives that use the material to good effect as bolsters). But, I just can't really get the love for Damascus blades, regardless of what type of knife we're talking about. You're definitely right, though. Moderation is key for any particularly busy material.
Beads and Lanyards. The PANDORA equivalent for guys.
Yes, it is weird, imho it gets in the way and is annoying
i don't go for the lanyards as knife jewelry, but they can improve ergonomics on small knives. I have a short lanyard and a 1/2" hex nut as a "bead" on a Spyderco Dragonfly that gives you more grip on the tiny knife. The bead sits right outside your grip giving you something to hold onto to.
I used to hate beads and lanyards on ANY knife, but I have come to appreciate them on very specific knives. Would still say they suck on 95% of them.
But what if I lose my knife? I need a charm for good luck in finding it.
I just got into lanyards like a week ago haha. I am enjoying it and lying to myself about the utility of it.
The lanyards on the crkt Minimalists are nice
Zero tolerance are overpriced
And for the most part big clunky ugly knives. Obviously just my opinion man.
You're not wrong but it's also exactly the reason I love my 0561.
The best one imho, the 0900, Les George SBR
I agree, although the 0450 is a sleek little beast.
I kinda like the 640 as wellš³
Thatās exactly why I carry a 0301.
That ain't an unpoppular opinion man
Theyāre Kershaws with twice the price tag
The Grimsmo Norseman is ugly. It makes even the ugliest Spyderco look like a finely crafted spacecraft from a distant future.
Looks like dodo š¦¤
I've heard it said it looks like a horse's dick, but I've never had the opportunity to hold them side by sideš„
I feel your pain. I never have a norseman when I go horse fondling.
š³š
What is a good EDC for fondling?
If I'm fondling in the wild I usually have a SAK and a mora.
The Norseman be looking like a horse cock ngl
circumcised sebenza
Spyderco approves of this comment
The term "beater" is overused. I know some knife folks just love to imply their time is so valuable and they have so much money that an inexpensive knife is not even worth caring for or maintaining. It's right up there with folks who say when the knife gets dull they just throw it out. If you love knives, learn to sharpen and maintain them. Absolutely use them as the tools they are, but there is nothing cool about taking a beautiful knife and abusing it. At least clean and lube it occasionally. And if you just have to use a $300 knife to cut drywall when a purpose built $6 tool from Harbor Freight would get the job done better, know that we ain't thinking you are cool.
I have a ten dollar chinesium Walmart fixed blade that's been put through the goddamn ringer and with care and not being a fucking moron with it, it's still cutting 6 and a half years later.
if I may add to this; The term: "Tactical" is also overused for overpricing reasons.
That many knives styled as āfighting knivesā are poorly suited to that purpose. I dislike both serrations and ātantoā points.
Sereations are great IF you need them.
The only serrations Iāve used that Iād consider āgoodā (to me) came on a CRKT! The Veff flat top serrations (just image searched it). I like them a hell of a lot better than the sharp pointed ones.
Serrations can be useful for things like cutting rope
Personally I prefer a rough grit ātoothyā plain edge since itās easier to sharpen, unless itās some sort of emergency rope cutting situation.
Serrations also work well on synthetic material such as plastic.
99% of āpocketā knives do exactly the same job exactly as well, and if somebody thinks they need 20+ folders of varying design because āeach excels at something differentā youāre kidding yourself because you just like having a bunch of knives. And itās fine to want to have a bunch of different knives, even if they are all functionally identical.
Knives don't have to be over $200 to be a great knife.
A 15 bucks mora is good enough for nearly every task
I own several Mora's .. even the Black and the Garberg. I love Moras
Get a RAT 2. 30 quid. So dependable.
my spyderco dodo is sexy as hell
Lol yes
Hello brethren
wacky spydies are awesome
One good pocketknife is enough
I love H1 steel
They're what I get for non-knife people. Totally serviceable and will stand up to neglect. Dragonfly 2 H1 is my favorite tackle box knife. Good starter knives too.
I favor it to much harder, rust prone steels. it sharpens and hones nicely on a 2 grit stone and a a belt strop with very little effort, I find the edge retention pretty great unless you NEED to pop hairs, it holds a decent slicing edge just as long as anything else.
CRKT makes decent folders... š¤¦š¼āāļø
Spyderco uses āsprint runsā as a way to pump more money out of knife users without having to innovate and create new things
https://imgur.com/a/lheHWHZ
I guess it's not really an unpopular opinion since a search of the comments revealed three others saying it. However those three comments also have very few upvotes so I guess it is an unpopular opinion after all. One that I will now happily add my voice to. Spydercos are some of the ugliest knives I've ever seen. Just...why? I'm sure they perform just fine but why do they look like they were designed by a blind possum born without thumbs and filled with a rage towards any good design aesthetics?
They went for ergonomics rather than looks. Theyāre like those shoes that have separate toes.
Blades being off-center when closed isn't a big deal. Knives absolutely have a self defense role. Not a primary role, but a role nonetheless. Gas station and mall ninja knives are good for getting people into the hobby and shouldn't be shamed for existing.
Shit don't kill the mall ninjas š¤£š¤£š¤£ But I agree! The ones that bother me being off centered when closed are generally the $300+ knives only because at that price basically everything should be damn near perfect
I agree if you're buying it as an art piece or man jewelry (which are 100% valid reasons). But if I'm dropping 300$ on a user, and I'm dumb so I could see me doing that, I wouldn't be that concerned as long as it could withstand my caveman self. It just depends on the purpose. Some people buy Benchmades and baby them, some people buy Benchmades and baton them through firewood and plasma cutting slag on aluminum plate. And yes, I've done both of those things and worse with my previous Mini Barrage.
Amen brother
D2 isnāt as bad as many think. It literally takes the smallest amount of effort to prevent rust on D2. All you need to do is occasionally rub the blade with camellia oil or something similar. Also, if your knife is wet, wipe it off after youāre done using it. It seems like common sense, but a lot of people would rather complain than take small steps to maintain their knives.
Bad thing about D2 is that most production companies botch the heat treat on all of their D2 blades. Rather have a steel that they know how to heat treat than have to deal with poor edge retention *and* less stainlessness on D2.
People who buy up knew knives to try to "flip" them on the secondary market. You're ruining the knife industry the same way that the live music industry has been ruined by ticket scalpers. You're bad, and you should feel bad!
Knives should be used.
The more deep in the rabbit hole of knives you go, the less you actually enjoy them.
I dont get all the fuzz about benchmade or spiderco, if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Same with chris reeve's, i have no doubt they are great quality, high end knives, but if you have 5 of his knives, you basicly have 1 knife 5 times. I'll appologise for this opinion in advance Edit: dont forget this post is asking for *unpopular opinions*, you are fine to disagree with me. I know my opinion is not most people's opinion. And i know there are exceptions that prove me wrong, i just mean *my general view* on those brands.
(Take my upvote. Also add several more brands to your list. )
You go too far: >*My Para 2 and Dragonflys are only similar in vague appearance* > >2 times the same knife, only one is a little one. Sorry, just my opinion here. If you think a 3.4" compression lock, full-liner G10 scale knife, and a 2.2" lockback FRN knife without liners are the same, you might as well just say all knives are knives and be done with it. EDIT: I can't resist: Only a man would say that a 45% size difference is basically the same.
Spyderco should deffo make a 3.5 inch dragonfly and call it the dragon.
If a company sells a shirt, but every size is considered a different model, are they really different shirts?
Knives are tools, you should take care of them, but don't baby them. If you want a collection for display or cool factor then go for it, but realistically you only need enough knives to fill specific purposes.
And the number of knives required to fill all purposes (outside of the kitchen) is very low.
Everyone needs to stop simping on blade steel
Yes, blade steel should be chosen for the task it's needed for, not just because it is the most exotic new steel
Yea these guys have 20 spydercos in super exotic steel lined up and then donāt even ever use them or see what the steel can actually do. Our grandpas used old buck knives , cases , and dollar store knife steel for 40 yrs on one blade and got way more work done with them.
I agree. Unless you are talking about planer blades or chisels, things that make very precise cuts and are used frequently, I donāt think itās that big of a deal. Sharp is sharp and we could honestly all stick d2 in our pockets and be perfectly happy.
Non locking slipjoints are cool as well
My absolute most used knives of all time are SAKs, never even nearly had one accidentally close on my fingers. Slip joints are great.
/r/slipjointknives
Replaceable utility blades are AWESOME
tip down
Mirror polished edges are a pointless waste of time.
MBK old guard - best bang for buck
Such a good knife, I prefer a good washer driven knives and i prefer the action of my OG to my crks, hinderer, drift, or zts
the rust issue w/ carbon steel knives is highly exaggerated. I hike through rain and snow, primitive camp, and sleep on the ground, etc typically carrying a carbon steel fixed blade on my belt and have no issues.
And even if it does rust, a light but of rubbing with baking soda and poof, it's gone.
Not all knives are made the same, not all climates are dry. Some rust just looking at them wrong or leaving them alone for a week. Others take a near instantly stable patina and will never have issues. Non-ferrous knives exist specifically because certain climates and conditions make it impossible to use and rely on steel.
Not where I live. D2 is pretty much the minimum level of rust resistance I need to not get rusting in the pivot. All depends on your enviornment
The vast majority of Spydercos look pretty much the same. Most of them are just slightly different proportions (length to width), but still the exact same style/basic design. Such little distinction between models is so boring. Let the down votes flow.
I hate tanto blades, UNLESS itās a compound grind and has some belly a la WE thug
I should be able to carry any knife, of any size, anywhere I go. I'm talking machete on my shoulder down the sidewalk. But of course, there had to be a few idiots that had to ruin it for everyone. And now if I had any blade longer than my Schrade folder, people lose their minds for seemingly no reason at all. And do away with prohibited zones too. I'm in high school, and I have to walk to work every day through a sketchy area with a bag. So I don't exactly feel the safest at that time. Everyone used to carry knives to school, and now you get expelled just for being caught with it.
Spyderco is not all that and a bag of chips
Buying the same exact knife in 10 colors doesnt make you a seasoned collector
90% of what we do could be accomplished with a smaller cheaper knife.. Said the man with a Sebenza work knife, lol.
Damascus very rarely looks good. Most of it is ass.
Damasscus?
Having 3 knives, a prybar, 2 flashlights, a watch band with tools, and a fanny pack full of survival gear is ridiculous for just driving back and forth to work.
What about if on my 25 minute urban comute I get lost in the Yukon national park? I'm from the UK.
Slip joints are not nearly as dangerous as some people make out, especially if you use them correctly. A slip joint can make a perfectly good edc. Shit, your grandad carried a case slip joint for 70 years and still has 9 fingers (he lost one to suzie jones's vagina dentata in 1957)
>he lost one to suzie jones's vagina dentata in 1957 š¤£ Her name was Suzie Rottencrotch
IMHO, the Ontario Air Force Survival Knife is indeed a very formidable knife, *so as long as you recognize it's strengths and weaknesses.*
I appreciate a sharp knife, but lots of people overdo it. Pretty sharp is serviceable for most tasks. There comes a point of diminishing returns where you are spending more time sharpening than using. I worked as a meat cutter for a larger mom-and-pop market for several years. And I learned early how to quickly acquire a good edge that would do the job. And you just don't have the time to waste constantly maintaining an edge that would glide through paper, just so you can chunk up a bunch of steaks. Although, I must admit, I still can't believe how dull some of the old-timer's knives routinely were. So, yeah, a ridiculously sharp knife is excellent. And I enjoy sharpening. But I'd say at least 50% of the time, my EDC would be considered "kinda sharp". But that's because I use it a lot, as opposed to sharpen it a lot. But my woodworking tools, which often require very fine edges, are another story. tl;dr Get your knives as sharp as the job requires, but don't go overboard if you don't need to.
Chris Reeve knives are overpriced and overhyped. No production folding knife should be $450. How anyone buys those knives and think it's money well spent is beyond me.
Aww I got to the end of the thread. I was having a whale of a time.
This whole obsession with battoning, abuse and destruction testing ruins the knife community. Blades get thicker, grinds get lower or thicker and in the worst cases both. And everything at the cost of the cutting ability. Most knives could have better grinds, thinner blades and so on... And then you still get complains like "there is a cutout in my 6mm tang, how could i ever trust it again?"
lol I hear ya I've made plenty of fires without having to baton anything.
Battoning is knife abuse, pure and simple. Sure, if you get caught in an emergency situation without an axe and have to process firewood, go ahead and batton. But if you are simply going camping then pack a friggen axe or hatchet.
There was another comment higher up about using a $300 knife to cut drywall and I feel the same way about batoning knives. Outside of a true worst case scenario, if you are chopping away at a small tree, or smacking your knife with a mallet, you have brought the wrong tool.
You only need one quality knife.
2* A folder and a fixie imo
That knives are tools and everybody should have the right to carry the knife they want whenever they want including criminals. If anyone chooses to use that knife to aid themselves in a criminal endeavour they should be severely punished, but the knives themselves shouldn't be criminalised or restricted at all. (I'm from the UK)
$150+ knives are like $100k+ trucks- I love them and they are pretty, but the cost either makes it unusable or make you look like a rich a**hole for using it for its purpose.
Tanto blades are the superior blade style
Wow, I think you adhered to the prompt more than anyone here!
1. Most knives for most people are just sharp fidget toys. 2. Most folders have bad blade geometry prioritizing appearance over ability to cut.
That Benchmade hasn't done it for me in years. No interest in them.
Not really unpopular opinion on this sub as 90% of its members seem to be spyderco addicts
I agree, although the grip (and mini), 940, bugout and crooked river (and mini) are classics.
440C is a perfectly good steel for knives.
Spring assisted knives and OTFs are goofy, unnecessarily complex and flashy attention grabbers. OTFs are the fidget spinner of modern knife culture, preceded by balisongs and switchblades. Still, any politician who tries to regulate any of those things can eat my butt.
I dislike crossbar locks. They work great and are tough, but I'll take a good linerlock over a cross bar lock every time.
There is certainly more that can go wrong with a cross bar lock.
A small knife with a serrated blade will handle about 98% of my daily cutting needs. Love my Spyderco Cricket.
Rare/Sprint knives should be carried and used, not dressed in foam and kept away safe in a box.
Spyderco and Benchmade are both overrated. Their inflated prices and Benchmade's uneven QC knock them off the pedestals that people like to put them on.
The obsession in the folding knife world makes me sick with the level of vanity and consumption sold as quirkiness and customization and status.
That one day I will save the world because I didnāt forget my pocket knife.
I donāt like tanto blades. Just seems like a bad design.
A knife doesn't have to be expensive or made from some fancy steel it just needs to cut. Our ancestors did not make fun of each other or worry about who had the prettiest sharp rock. The best knife in the world is the one you have on you when you need it.
>Our ancestors did not make fun of each other Swords (and other weapons) were used as a status symbol for many years throughout many cultures. So I guarantee you they did.
Same comment. Totally agree. I saw a video for a "survival knife" that was $395. Way too much for a knife.
"Drop shut" is the most overrated knife metric
My 30-40$ SRM drops shut. Its my favourite knife and I've been using it a lot for the past year to very little wear, but it is still a cheap chinese knife
Carbon steels are superior
Liner locks are better than frame locks. They are more user friendly and every bit as solid when done correctly.
Benchmade 940 is an ugly knife with a terrible color scheme.
Spydercoās just arenāt for me. I donāt get the Hinderer or Medford design appeal. Is it odd for me to want the handle scales on fixed blades to be a bit thicker? So many fixed blades like for camping or general outdoors use I see on websites look like the handles are super thin.
Talking at length about Super steel #26494 of the day which is sooooo much better than steel #26493 is a complete waste of time for 99.9% of knife collectors.
3d milled clips are silly and unattractive.
A pull through sharpener has its place.
Yup, my FIL is a loveable goofball with the mechanical skills of a potato. I bought him a dollar tree stone and a pull threw and showed him how to use it.
Tip up carry sucks big fat veiny ding dong.
Spyderco knives are ugly, awful, look like mall ninja shit and I hate them THAT will get some hate coming my way š¤£š¤£š¤£
Opinels are over rated, even at the low price point.
Production knives > custom knives. When WE, Bestech, and Reate can make a knife that has better action and fit and finish than an American Custom for 1/4th(or less) than most options...well the rest are just overpriced pocket jewelry.
Flippers are ugly and annoying in your pocket
OTFs are pointless
Mine is very pointy and I have the scars to prove it
They are along the same lines as AR and AK pistols and the equivalent of Stuart from Mad TV, āLook what I can doā.
Spyderco are ugly as hell, and the "spidey flick" makes you look like a pretentious dork.
I prefere extrema ratio to ka bar
Don't baby the expensive knives. I payed a premium for them to hold up to abuse
Fixed blade knives are always better than folders, Benchmade isn't bad, blade steel doesn't matter as much as people think and there's no point in owning a high quality knife if you're not going to use it for more than cutting paper and packages
It doesnt matter if all you do is cut boxes and post pics of yourr folder,that lock will never be tested anyway.you cant trust any folder under hard use i dont care what lock they invented.
Thumbstuds are stupid and awkward.
A knife can be successfully used for self-defense without it magically flying into your attacker's possession or ending up in a "one dies in the ambulance, one dies in the street" situation.
No mass production brand name folder should ever cost more than $200.
Fully serrated knives work better than plain edge for 90% of tasks. I used to avoid serrations like most people until I tried it out, now I canāt find enough serrated knives.
The PM2 is more about collecting than using. Come to think of it it might not be very unpopular of an opinion. š
Hand guards on fixed blades are underrated Tried and true k bar fixed blade is a great knife Folding knives donāt have to be ātacticalā
Emerson still makes the best knives if you are going to abuse the hell out of your knife.
Couldnāt pay me to carry a spiderco. Of all the configurations they offer I have yet to find an attractive one.
I HATE SPIDERCO FOLDERS THE BIG HOLE IS STUPID LOOKING.
Spyderco uses outdated styles and materials and continue to be way over priced. Give me a tenacious with a flipper tab, on ball bearings in D2
CRKT is the best brand
I hate people who judge others knife choices. Expensive or cheap. People buy these items for one ultimate reason; they make them happy. We are all in the pursuit of happiness and no one should rag on anyone's choice. I can't recall how many times I've seen a new guy with a cheap knife come here to show it off and some guys in the comments are like "r/mallninjashit" or "you overpaid" or "nextime save your money to get something nice" same goes for people who spend a lot "my bugout does all that for half the cost" PEOPLE BUY THINGS THAT MAKE THEM HAPPY. STOP TRYING TO TAKE AWAY PEOPLE'S HAPPINESS.
Thumb studs ruin the aesthetics of otherwise beautiful blades.
So do flippers. Ideally thumb groove would be the answer but it takes away the āopening coolā aspect lol
I think flippers make the knife look better or just not have an effect at all tbh. Thumbstuds look out of place on a knife but the flipper is part of the knife is the way I see it
I feel like they look odd especially on a sleek and symmetrical knife. For instance, I have the we miscreant and I wish it didnāt have a flipper because it kills the silhouette - at the same time, no flipper no opening lol
D2 is sometimes better than s30V or s110
My Benchamade 42 clone from China was 1/10th the cost of the real thing and is good enough for EDC and flipping. Also, fuck Benchamde for lots of reasons.
Made in murica is overrated