Are we spoiled?

It's really a matter of what you like. I've found that the longer you are involved in a hobby, the easier you see though all the gimmicks and hype. A lot of people figure out what works, and see no need to search further.

I appreciate more traditional knives, but also enjoy a lot of the new "tactical" stuff that comes out. Then again, I like just about anything with an edge on it. Carbon steel is fine by me because most of the time, I don't NEED a stainless steel.

Actually, this thread is tempting me to head to WallyWorld and pick up an Old Timer slipjoint.
 
ElectricZombie said:
Actually, this thread is tempting me to head to WallyWorld and pick up an Old Timer slipjoint.
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To be a true knife knut, you have to have or at least have owned an OT. ;)
 
I can see both sides of the debate.
While I do prefer stainless steel (I tend to sweat), I really don't have a problem with carbon. Extreme edge holding has lost a lot of meaning to me. I can sharpen a knife. ;) Now I look at the overall package...design, materials, fit, finish, and overall quality.

What shocks me the most is the almost fear that some have of slip joints. :confused: Granted, there are some slippies of questionable quality that are best avoided. But a well done slip joint is simply a joy to use.

Paul
 
I was searching for a good folding knife recently. I looked at the CRKT M-16, the SOG Flash II, the Gerber Paraframe, many types of Spyderco knives, but I just wasn't that impressed with them. I ended up purchasing a Buck 110 folding knife, and it is a very good piece of cutlery in my opinion. Traditional, functional, and aesthetically pleasing with its wood scales and brass frame.
Who needs super-steels or tactical features? The Buck is a damned good knife and is made to take the abuses of many years of service. I also carry a small Imperial 2 blade slipjoint folding knife with a carbon steel blade. I keep it clean and sharp and it serves me well.
I believe many knife enthusiasts are spoiled. Many of us should stop trying to find the biggest, and the best, and instead discover those knives that have been proven through many years of hard use.
I'm not saying get rid of the new ones, but remember that it doesn't need to be able to hack through a brick wall to be a good piece of cutlery.

TheSurvivalist
 
jackknife said:
IMHO I think we have lost style. The new stuff all looks alike, all the same materials, shape of the tanto tacticle blades ect.

I just feel a little sad sometimes that the world has become such a homogenized place.
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I agree with most of what you wrote except the sentences above.

I think we are in the "Golden Age" of knifemaking. More models than I can ever remember. Materials that our grandfathers could only dream of (I'm an old fart ;)). Some knife companies are offering the same model knife with different blade materials. Sometimes I wonder if we have reached the pinicle, and then a new advance like Ken Onion's stud lock is introduced. At times I feel almost overwhelmed by all the choices.

I still love my slip joints. A trapper with a turkish clip and warncliffe is still one of my favorite knives. However, when I'm in a situation where I have to depend on a knife, I will take the modern materials every time. Just like depending on my Glock instead of my 1911.
 
ElectricZombie said:
I've found that the longer you are involved in a hobby, the easier you see though all the gimmicks and hype.
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Absolutely. I remember that there were countless junk I've bought when I first started up the knife hobby.

I agree with what Jackknife said too. Actually I am striving to resist the temptation of getting more new knives from time to time and keep my inventory simple, so I can actually use what I have and enjoy them, seeing them age is one great pleasure too, yet hard to do if I keep trading from knife to knife and hardly really use anyone of them.
 
We are not the people that going to give our grandchildren that kind of memories. They probably going to remember that we had a knife handy when it was needed but they dont going to remember the looks of it as it was ever changing in modell in rotation. When we die they going to get a lot of good knives. But the single grandfatherknife with the memories of a lifetimes work and caring they not going to have.
 
Maybe we're just spoiled with more disposable income.
If you were living hand to mouth, you'd pick a good knife, keep and take care of it.

I'm not much on the blackticle wonder knives, in fact I was thrilled when these 2 arrived.
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Then again, if I were living hand to mouth, one of these wouldn't be a bad choice.

I really have to agree that this is a golden age of knifemaking (and buying)
:D
 
In (1989?90?) my girlfriend (now my wife) asked me, how many knives DO you have? I wasn't sure, but more than one and less than how many I wanted. We went to the local flea market and picked up a display case. We got home and I spent the next few hours gathering them all up, from toolboxes, cars, top dresser drawer, etc. 97. 97 knives. When all a person needed was one, one good knife like our dads and grandpas had. Spoiled? Yep. Today it is almost 500, probably a third of which are cheap throw away knifes, got at flea markets, yard sales, K-mart, and the like (when I was just starting out), another third antiques (anyone else have a Wostenholme or HJ Sears? Eagle brand? Walden? Case and Sons?). As my jobs got better, so did the knives. My best/favorite knife at the time was probably my Super Tinker SAK, I actually got the first one they had with the phillips© instead of the corkscrew. Brand new feature at the time. My latest knife, now my most frequently carried knife, is the Ritter mini-Grip. Does the S30V cut any better than the SAK? No, not really. Both do the job the same, they cut something that I need cut. Was I happier opening the box with the RMG than I was with the Super Tinker? No, not really. Which one will last longest? You tell me. Yes, we are spoiled. Yes, at times we are lemmings, buying the latest and greatest that comes along. I personally have 5 Benchmade Griptillians, 2 in S30V, 2 in D2, one 440C. Spoiled? Yep. I enjoy my 112 as much as my grips, my Old Timer 8OT as much as them all. I wouldn't have it any other way. Spoiled, yes. Unappreciative, no. Your post has made me reflect, thank you for that. I turned 40 this year, maybe it's the leaves changing, but I enjoyed this trip back in time.
 
Terhune said:
I know and understand what you are saying, and agree with alot of it. We are a society that has the extra wealth to purchase things we want because we want them, not because we need them. Many older people either lived through, or grew up during the Depression and that had a huge effect on their spending habits and use of money from then on. Much of it stems from advertising and articles from gun and knife "gurus", i.e., this is the latest and greatest and you must have it to be one of the elite. I work with people that buy a new deer rifle, in a new caliber, every year. When I was younger, I fell for that kind of crap also. As you get older, I think you gain appreciation for what is important and what isn't, with "image" and "trendy" being the first to go.
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same here...especially since having gone through a period of unemployment for more than one year...

I'm simplifying my life these days.
 
I'm 24 years old and growing up my first two knives were a buck lockback and an old timer stockman. I still own the stockman along with all my new knives and I bought a new 110 to replace the old one. I think that alot of the current generation has experianced this growing up and I still have alot of love for the older style knives. As my EDC a stockman just doesn't offer the ease of use that a one handed knife with a pocket clip does. I still appreciate the older designs and my children will recieve the same type of knife when it comes time for them to have a knife.

As far as not being able to tell one tactical from the next I think that depends on what you are into. I can walk into a knife store and instantly know who makes what. The same goes for guns. Visually I see a big difference between say a USP, Glock, or Springfield XD. And this goes for the knives too. Although I do prefer a revolver as my carry piece I own appreciate the quality of both glock and H&K.

All this said, Lately I have found that my interests in knives has turned a little. I find myself being more and more attracted to more classic handle materials like bone, MOP, and Wood. I am becoming less attacted to G10 and other "tactical" Materials. I have absolutly no interest what so ever in plastic of any kind. I find that FRN handles like on the spydies make the knife look cheap. I do like Metal handles though.
 
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