Are we spoiled?

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kutch133

Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Messages
557
There are a lot of new knives coming out nowadays that don't seem to get much interest. 5-10 years ago they would have put the then cutting edge knives to shame. I'm not saying that it isn't a knifelover's dream but, are we spoiled by too many choices?
 
Put a kid in a candy store with limitless choices and he will soon be
so overwhelmed that he won't know what to do. So it is for the knife
nut. We have to much to chose from and to little appreciation of the
basics of knives in general. Most of the folk's who visit here (and
other foums) soon become confused by the choices available and
spend endless amount of time wanting and / or buying this knife
and that knife looking for the narvana of knives. To one degree
of the other all these choices leads to a kind of snobbery that
totally ignores the educational aspects of cutlery. That , I think,
is why the slipjoint / lockback is so ingnored. The g-10
one hand wonder knives have displaced a good understanding
of what a good piece of cutlery is really all about. Dependable ,
simple, working tools. The advances in steels and handle material
are all positve features but, they are not and end unto themselves.
How / why a blade shape works along with lessons in ergonomicly
correct handle shapes would be much more important than any
discussion of the newest wonder knife. So, YES, we are spoiled.
And as spoiled children we need to mindful of the consquenses
of being spoiled. We , the older member, should spend more time
educating the younger members so that hobby can survive and grow.
 
As more than one knife writer has put it: "We are in the golden age of knifemaking!" There are more knifemakers making more cool stuff with better materials and a blossoming meturllargy science to put us in the best place for edged tools that there has ever been...
and you the consumer reap all the benefits......Only a short 15 years ago ATS-34 was hailed as the breakthru knifesteel....now very few custom makers take it seriously.....Jerry Hossom ( :( ) just got thru grinding the first few STAINLESS 3V blades.......its only going to get better. :):):)
 
Stainless 3V? Gota get one of those puppies!

I think many knives are now overpriced and as a result don't sell that well unless they are exceptional. Oh and its very hard to do that in such a competitive market. Also availability is not always what it aught to be, I think 70% of the market is in B&M shops at least. Such shops rarely take risks with new expensive ot strange looking blades. The Spyderco Wegner for example. My local Spyderco dealer would not touch it as he thought the shelf was all it was good for from a sales point of view.:rolleyes:
 
We are definitely not spoiled by too many choices. I love seeing all the great new knives. When knives get as good as they are now it makes the manufactures and makers have to keep improving the quality of their products. That is good for us knife people. So I say, keep bringing out as many of the great knives as possible. That way we wiil have the best selection we can get. That will also mean that the mediocre knives will have a harder time surviving in the marketplace.

I personally love the choices that we have as knife buyers and wouldn't want it any other way.
 
Look at all the quality knives under $100 bucks!!!!! Or even the selection between $100 and $200. I love seeing new designs but if this keeps up we are going to see some major companies go the way of the dodo....
 
We're certainly in a great period for knifenuts--not a golden era, but maybe a talonite one:)

Spoiled? Ehhh, maybe--certainly it's easy to get overwhelmed with the choices out there. I often wonder just what impact the internet has had on the industry, other than pushing down prices on production knives . In my case, though, I know this site, and Knifeforums before it, raised my awareness of what was out there to the point where I was willing to spend a *lot* more money than I ever thought possible on some really well made knives and similar items(flashlights, bags, watches, that sort of thing). All the info out there has created a larger class of better-best quality knife users who have been willing to experiment with, and then support, new blades, which I would think is a good thing.
 
I say enjoy it while it lasts.

I bet there hasn't been this much excitement about knives since the silk road 500 bc or so. cross cultural trading and such!
 
I think that as long as we understand and appreciate the fact that we're living in one of the special eras in the history of knife making, then we're not really spoiled per se, just lucky. :)
 
We live to see a “knife renaissance” because of the interplay between increased demand and improved supply. More people buy more knives and more manufacturers sell more knives. Better materials, better engineering/quality and better assortments. Regarding our passion we live in a great time!
 
I have to agree with you Horus, we do live in a great time for knife lovers. Right now, we can get knives for under $100.00 from manufacturers and under $200.00 from makers that are of a quality that would have cost far more even just a couple of years ago. This is very hard on the new makers coming up right now as they are going to have to make pretty darn good knives right off the bat to be successful. manufacturers also have to make better and better knives to keep up with the cmpetition. Isn't it wonderful?

I love the variety of great knives that are coming out right now and hope that it continues from now on. Life is good.:)
 
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