Am I getting too picky or have standards dropped off?

I blame the Swiss - Vic and wenger. I grew up on these things. Every single one I have ever bought was flawless. It is still true today.

Actually as I sit here and think about it - all the knives I bought in my younger years were perfect. My schrade old timers, my buck lockbacks and slipjoints. Recently, I have gotten into some of the more expensive production slipjoints. Standards have dropped and expectations have stayed the same. As I still own many of the knives I got when I was younger I am able to look at them today, right here, right now... So I know this is not just a rosey view of the past.
These days if there is a case knife I want I will only buy it in person. This is my personal experience. You may think me OCD, and you may be right. But if I do work for anyone(I'm an electrician) my end product not only works but it is installed in a professional manner.
 
Oh, I have lots in my EDC Rotation.
ZT 0560CBCF
ZT 0350CBZDP
Kershaw TilT
Kershaw JYD Ti SG2
Strider Monkey Edge SMF 3V
Dendra Tiger Jump
Spyderco Tuff
Spyderco Para 2 Blue M390
Spyderco Caly 3 CF ZDP
Spyderco Caly 3.5 Super Blue
Dpx Hest 2.0 Folder


BITEME said:
Your too picky,cut with it instead :D
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LadyEarth said:
Tixx, while I understand your stance/thoughts, I still think you're missing my point. My point is that no matter how stringent the creator is of an object in the making, there is bound to be imperfection somehow somewhere on the knife itself.
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I get it and this is true. Take something down to microscopic and yes, an imperfection will probably exist.


LadyEarth said:
And then the knife is just going to sit there...sharp and unused for years to come with the owner being terrified of even putting a finger print on the blade. It's great that it might be considered art but at the end of the day, it's still a tool that will take a beating and still come out on top, scratched filled "flaws" or not.
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I don't see what relevance this holds to the topic. What a person does after the purchase has no bearing on the quality of the item upon receipt.

LadyEarth said:
In another word, I think people that expects perfection every time they buy something is just a person that is full of unreasonable entitlements. There is such thing as going overboard in expectations and the opposite holds true for those that accepts really low standards for a product.

Everything in moderation, that's the key.
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Can go 2 routes here. Items with such should be listed as having visible flaws and would cover the manufacturer and allow the buyer to either go elsewhere or accept the fact. Or, continue to not list items as a "flaw lottery" and the respective expectation of not having flaws remains. This is simply called managing of expectations. Manufacturers hope people will overlook flaws in their products knowing they are there. If they listed items as a "Flaw Lottery", they they would have to charge less. Thus a greed driven transaction taking advantage of the consumer. "How low can we reduce the quality while charging full price before we start chipping away at our bottom line?" is the question. Notice it is a position that could really care less about you other than giving you the least for the most they can charge.
 
Tixx said:
Can go 2 routes here. Items with such should be listed as having visible flaws and would cover the manufacturer and allow the buyer to either go elsewhere or accept the fact. Or, continue to not list items as a "flaw lottery" and the respective expectation of not having flaws remains. This is simply called managing of expectations. Manufacturers hope people will overlook flaws in their products knowing they are there. If they listed items as a "Flaw Lottery", they they would have to charge less. Thus a greed driven transaction taking advantage of the consumer. "How low can we reduce the quality while charging full price before we start chipping away at our bottom line?" is the question. Notice it is a position that could really care less about you other than giving you the least for the most they can charge.
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Honestly, if there was a company who did zero finishing work and only focused on fit, tolerances, performance, etc, I would be ecstatic. Perfect, mirror finish or unfinished waterjet marks, I do not care.

Focusing on the perspective of aesthetics, what if a company made knives that looked perfect but would fail after a few months of use? The collectors would never notice. This sets a worse trend than a scuff here and a ding there.

Since my knives are primarily tools, function is my highest priority. I sincerely hope that aesthetics never become the highest priority for production knife manufacturers.
 
I have had a few knives with some visual blemishes and I just kept them and used them. My Sage 1 has a defect in the Carbon Fiber that is visible in the light right. I considered exchanging that one, but ultimately kept it. For a $100 I expect that bad CF to be thrown out and good CF to be used. One of my Chokwe's came with a small scuff on the Ti lock bar. That one doesn't bother me too much because non-stonewashed Ti will do that with use. What really bothers me is functional issues.
 
Nullity said:
Honestly, if there was a company who did zero finishing work and only focused on fit, tolerances, performance, etc, I would be ecstatic. Perfect, mirror finish or unfinished waterjet marks, I do not care.

Focusing on the perspective of aesthetics, what if a company made knives that looked perfect but would fail after a few months of use? The collectors would never notice. This sets a worse trend than a scuff here and a ding there.

Since my knives are primarily tools, function is my highest priority. I sincerely hope that aesthetics never become the highest priority for production knife manufacturers.
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Completely agree, but we are talking flaws here, not solely in regard to aesthetics. Function has to be number one. Otherwise a shiny lump of metal would not spur you to purchase it in hopes of functioning as a knife.
 
nccole said:
I have had a few knives with some visual blemishes and I just kept them and used them. My Sage 1 has a defect in the Carbon Fiber that is visible in the light right. I considered exchanging that one, but ultimately kept it. For a $100 I expect that bad CF to be thrown out and good CF to be used. One of my Chokwe's came with a small scuff on the Ti lock bar. That one doesn't bother me too much because non-stonewashed Ti will do that with use. What really bothers me is functional issues.
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Functional flaws are by far a number one concern over aesthetics.
 
My point was this: Why be so overly OCD over flaws and then turn around and beat the crap out of it? That smacks to me of redundancy.

If a collector collects knives because of it's perfect look, perfect form, perfect shine, etc then it can be said that they are NOT a knife lover as it is to them beauty over function. So why should we give them any trust in their judgement if they don't use it to see if the tool in their hand will function in perfect harmony of it's intended design thus perfection being judged and found via use, whereas they will just store the knives into a storage and call it a day?
 
LadyEarth said:
My point was this: Why be so overly OCD over flaws and then turn around and beat the crap out of it? That smacks to me of redundancy.

If a collector collects knives because of it's perfect look, perfect form, perfect shine, etc then it can be said that they are NOT a knife lover as it is to them beauty over function. So why should we give them any trust in their judgement if they don't use it to see if the tool in their hand will function in perfect harmony of it's intended design thus perfection being judged and found via use, whereas they will just store the knives into a storage and call it a day?
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I thought previously I understood what you were getting at, now I am uncertain.

1) You reference OCD, an extreme disorder while speaking of noticing flaws in aesthetics and/or function. These are not synonymous at all. OCD would be something extremely outside a normal quality control discussions.

2) I'm uncertain your use of the term redundancy and how it applies here. We know that what you do with your knife after purchase has no correlation to the condition in which the knife was received for the most part. Thus nothing redundant. What you do with your purchased item is irrelevant to the condition in which it was received. Redundancy for example would be more like the theory "one is none and two is one" where you carry multiple items of the same function in case one fails.

I hope that makes sense.
 
The use of "OCD" is the use of a modern cultural description of a human behavior where a person can go overboard while doing a particular activity/action. It does not have to be the literal medical definition.

As for redundancy itself, just by the fact that the person over-examines a knife for flaws only to turn around and abuse it to oblivion is a redundancy; he or she no longer can validated the action of being picky about the cosmetics of knives they buy after subjecting said knives to it's intended tool functions.
re·dun·dan·cy
riˈdəndənsē
noun
noun: redundancy

1.
the state of being not or no longer needed or useful.

Such is the beauty of the English language. I hope the above helped to make sense for you.
 
So without going into too much detail it must just be luck of the draw. So far I have bought 3 knives from the same dealer and every single one had an issue with it. Two of the knives were the same make and model. Of the two identical knives I kept one as a user and sent the other back. I then ordered one of these knives from a different dealer and it too has a 1/2" long scratch in the blade. I think im going to buy used knives only. Because I really see no benefit to buying new.
 
PURPLEDC said:
So without going into too much detail it must just be luck of the draw. So far I have bought 3 knives from the same dealer and every single one had an issue with it. Two of the knives were the same make and model. Of the two identical knives I kept one as a user and sent the other back. I then ordered one of these knives from a different dealer and it too has a 1/2" long scratch in the blade. I think im going to buy used knives only. Because I really see no benefit to buying new.
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You really should post pictures. I want to see what you are referring to. Where exactly are the scatches/scuffs? How large are they? How deep?
 
I guess I've been lucky. I have never bought a new knife with scratches,rub marks or other noticeable marks on them. I do however have a couple of Spydercos that came with blade play that I will send in one day.
 
Fanglekai said:
You really should post pictures. I want to see what you are referring to. Where exactly are the scatches/scuffs? How large are they? How deep?
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I think the issue with the main offender is due to the satin finish. Satin finish blades show any mark that doesn't fall in line exactly with the machine made grind lines. Mind you these scratches are not deep but they are there. And like I said I dont have a camera nor the photo skills to get them to show up. I have a feeling this is why you dont see many satin finished blades being made by factories anymore. They simply show every little imperfection. With a stone wash finish its easier to say something just comes that way as Im experiencing with the $400 knife.
 
I have a question about blade play (side to side) on my Case Russlock folder. Overall good fit and finish, but the blade has a little play. Should I send it in to Case for repair or live with it? Will the blade play become a safety issue or get worse with time? I paid $72 for it new and thought this reasonable. The problem with buying online is that you don't get to inspect the knife first before buying. Let me know what you think. Much Appreciated!
 
doland3229@yahoo.com said:
I have a question about blade play (side to side) on my Case Russlock folder. Overall good fit and finish, but the blade has a little play. Should I send it in to Case for repair or live with it? Will the blade play become a safety issue or get worse with time? I paid $72 for it new and thought this reasonable. The problem with buying online is that you don't get to inspect the knife first before buying. Let me know what you think. Much Appreciated!
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Blade play is an automatic return or exchange. Unless the description advertised "comes with blade play!" :)
 
A knife is a utility tool, now if you aren't intending to use it.. why buy it? Unless your a high-end collector.. In that case (imo) $1,000 and UP knives..

$100-$300 really isn't much nowadays.. especially with these steels costing what they do ...

Though in my experience, if I buy a knife thats brand new from a manufacturer.. there usually are not blemishes.. them again I havn't spent under $300 on a knife in years.

I would think that a knife straight from a company wouldn't have a blemish on it... where are you buying it?? lol ebay? and which brand of knives also makes a difference..

Lastly, blade-play would be the only thing to annoy me.... up and down .. means something is extremely wrong.. slight side-to-side you might want to try the pivot... or returning it! =p ...

Later bro.
 
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