A Stupid Question

It is a slippery definition (no pun intended). I consider my Case Sharktooth to be a traditional knife but I would have a tough time calling my Cold Steel Shinobu traditional despite the mechanisms both work the same. Some might say that is because the Shinobu isn't make in the US or because it has rubber scales but the Puma lockback is both yet I consider it to be traditional.

Obviously scale material or country of origin can't be used as a standard. Is it a matter of pattern then? The manner of lock used? Even the addition of a thumbstud does not mean a knife can't be traditional, I certainly consider the Boker Trapper with a thumbstud to be traditional.Same can be said for the liner lock as we have seen Soddies with them as well as Trappers and othe patterns. Nor can we say that it is determined my maker, the Cold Steel Country Classics are slipjoints without a doubt yet their other models are not.

Could it be something a simple as appearance then? Yep...maybe it can be that simple. Of course there are grey areas due to personal perceptions but I think appearance is the deciding factor and I do think that it can and does shift over the years. I am sure that many years ago the friction folder club felt a slipjoint was something only barnyard ninja would own.

Also it can be, as was pointed out, regional. Different places on the globe have their own traditioal knife patterns that don't always jibe with our ideas of traditional her in the US as well as other countries.

I guess "traditional" is in the heart, not in the eyes.
 
Personally, I consider the Buck 110 to be a traditional knife. It's still a slipjoint, and lockback knives have been around a long time.
 
Another thought is the backspring, can a folder be considered a traditional without one? I know we count the friction folder as traditional so would it be a lack of a backspring and the presence of a lock that disqualifies it?

tough question...
 
What if Case comes out with some new design that's a slippie? It didn't exist until 2009, but I bet we could discuss here. What about customs? A lot of them are one of kind, never existed before in that exact form, but they end up being discussed right here along with Barlows and Sodbusters.

For me, I think of traditional as being opposed to modern and/or tactical. If it doesn't fit in the more modern genres, and especially if it looks like something Granddad would have carried, it's traditional.

And if it's got bone or wood, all the better.

But don't ask me about G-10 slabbed Stockmans. I would throw that in the subforum of abominations.
 
I say traditional even though the scales are......carbon fiber:eek:.
Non-locking slip joints by Tison, Chamblin and another by Tison.

IMG_0023.jpg
 
Carbon fibre and micarta often looks excellent on Traditional/Older pattern knives.

But, how about Popcorn Stag on a Spyderco.............
 
Thomason....do us a favour and open out that Soddie so we can have a look at the blade....Please.
 
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