Are looks important to your purchase decision?

reskar said:
i just bought a spyderco para 2 despite the way it looks. It just handled too well especially for detail work for me not to buy it. And I decided not to buy a benchmade 940 that I LOVE the look of because it didn't feel right in my hand. So yeah i guess looks aren't that important to me.
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Oh man I love the looks of the 940. I've owned 2, but never warmed up to using them so they weny bye-bye.
 
Of course, I think subconsciously we all go for looks. The looks are what usually catch my eye at first where I then judge how well it will suit my needs.
Heck, its been driving me crazy what opinel I want to get just because they all look good and function well.
 
We all shop with our eyes. Imagine shopping for a knife with a blindfold on, how much blood would be lost?
One of my best looking knives, is my least favorite to use. It's too thick, never was that sharp, and the handle just isn't me. It's like dating a beautiful woman, but you just don't like her as a person. Her looks were the attraction, but now that you've had a test drive, you realize that she's dull.
I do like function, and it doesn't hurt if it looks good while performing. What I think looks good may not be the same to someone else. I don't buy art pieces, but tools. I admit that my knives look way better than my hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches.
 
Looks are important , tho what I look for in looks has changed a lot over time .. if that makes sense
 
If you did'nt like how your wife or Girlfriend looked would you have asked her out to begin with?So,of course,to me looks matter.
 
To my eyes, good looks come from well thought out, efficient design. Bland doesn't bother me, so long as the utility is there. I find that if initally, if some design feature doesn't look great, but is well thought out and functional, I'll end up liking the look eventually.
What tends to leave me cold is frivolous, unnecessary features added only for looks. That, I could take or leave.
 
yes looks are very important.

that said once a non-attractive design, to me, knive is used and i realize the shape/design makes sense, i can appreciate the looks of it. sounds nuts i know, but it's true. there are plenty of looks i liked until i used them and realized they look good, but stink a bit as users (americanized tanto's or partial serrations are a good example for myself.) afterwards, my appeal of the looks dimishes a bit, not completely, but a bit.

conversely when i run into something ugly, to me visually, but get a chance to put it to task and it works well, then the design becomes attractive to me. not completely, but enough that i put it from ugly to decent looking status.(wharncliffe's are an example for myself that followed this.)
 
zyhano said:
I don't have ugly knives at all :)
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you're right about that
Off topic but have you ever thought about making a video about your whole collection?:)
i love the one you did on your storage system!
i upgraded a code case with pick n pluck foam to be my knife storage because of it:)
 
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mantzao said:
you're right about that
Off topic but have you ever thought about making a video about your whole collection?:)
i love the one you did on your storage system!
i upgraded a code case with pick n pluck foam to be my knife storage because of it:)
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thanks :thumbup: I've given it some thought, but I'm apprehensive about it. I might do it sometime, but probably not in the near future :)
 
For me function usually comes first, but looks are very important. Good thing for me, I have a wide range of tastes.
 
For years I ignored Spyderco knives because I thought they were all 'fugly ugly' knives. Then at a knife show a guy handed me one to play with while looking into his display case and my hands said otherwise so I bought it due to the glove like fit of the knife to my hand. I've found, at least for me since then that looks are secondary to what my hands tell me about the knife so if my hand likes the knife regardless of what the heck it looks like I will sometimes buy and use the knife providing I like the blade type and grind also. A good handle by itself is not enough alone any more than a good blade if I don't like the grind so the whole system of how well things mesh together in the folder all plays in my decision. But my feelings now are that there is the eye appeal, which sometimes is the only thing the knife has going for it because many great looking knives simply don't carry or handle all that well, and then there is the so called 'hug test' and sometimes these two things don't show up in the same knife together. Its nice when they do but its not always the case. To me with knives, just like its always been for woman I kept in my life, if she doesn't pass the hug test she ain't a keeper! :D

STR
 
Looks are important to me, and I would never like a knife that looks ugly to me (altho others may find it awesome).
Also, I guess time has kinda taught me what kind of shape suits my needs better, so I assume there is some "functional" part in my aesthetic judgement after all...
:cool:
 
It is the look that catchs my eye. Then I look at it closer with my mind going over the functionality, if that matchs the look and my wallet it will probably be coming home with me. Some knives that catch my eye and are very functional are just so high priced that if I do buy them they become part of my collection and are not in my carry inventory.
 
Obviously function is important...but I ain't putting money for something ugly either just because it might perform good. There are so many choices...no reason to spend my money on something that doesn't make me happy on every level.
 
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