Back To Basics

B

Blade Junky

Joined
Sep 27, 2005
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340
Well, not quite basics, but after a number of years of buying and using customs, I'm finding myself going "back" to productions. Anyone else finding themselves doing the same?

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While I don't have much to say on the custom issue, I wanted to compliment you on that beautiful William Henry.
 
Back to basics ... I just picked up a couple of Opinels, another SAK, and now a slipjoint, moose pattern. I cut up apples with the moose, it's 1095, and got a nice patina started. I like working with smaller knives and simpler patterns sometimes. it puts the tactical folders into context, and actually enables me to enjoy them more.

My primary kitchen knife is a CRK Sable III. But I use so many others, rotating them from time to time, it makes the Sable more fun when I do use it. I can appreciate its strengths in comparison to the others.
 
I tend to alternate between production and custom knives. My custom knives look better than my production knives, but they don't really cut any better. For this reason, I've been buying production knives lately. I'll still buy a custom that catches my eye though.
 
I went back to basics along time ago. Back in the 60's and 70's I made the mistake of collecting customs. I thought I really was getting a better knife. I was'nt collecting for the sake of collecting, but wanted a better knife for use in the field camping, hunting and fishing and such. I had Randalls, Loveless, Hastings, Morseth, and alot of other big names. I was a super knife snob.

Little bit by little bit I started paying attention to how well these things really worked. One day I went to cut something and I used a high dollar hand forged knife by a well known maker. It got dull very fast. Since I was a machinist I had a production stockman in my pocket for use in the shop and I used that to finish the job. It did better than the hand forged number.

I then did some cutting tests on hemp and cardboard, testing out my high dollar snob knives against some of the quality production stuff out there. It was an eye opener. Even more of an eye opener was some of the more mundane knives compared to the customs. Knives like Case CV knives, Opinels, a Buck 301 stockman, a Schrade Old Timer stockman, an old carbon steel mora, and my old army issue Camillus MK2.

When it was all done, I boxed up all the customs and sent them down to A.G. Russells to be sold off on his knife lists. I got most of my money back on some, lost on others, made some on the Randalls and Loveless knives.

Now I use Victorinox saks, Opinels, and Case CV knives like sodbusters and stockmen. Exept for the sak's, I've went back to using traditional knives and carbon steel.
 
I have definitely returned to production knives. I first got into knives hard about 6 years ago. I started, like a lot of people, buying cheaper knives and slowly moved into higher end production. Then for a brief moment I purchased or traded for a few custom knives.

A lot of the customs that I've had through the years were really pointless for me to own. I like to carry and use my knives and I had a hard time using a $500 custom knife. My customs would just sit there in a case untouched for months because I didn't want to ding them up. The last year or so I totally got out of knives and pursued my other hobby, firearms. But lately I've had a renewed interest in knives. I see myself only purchasing less expensive customs or middle/high end productions from now on.

More than likely the vicious cycle will kick back into full swing and I'll be purchasing more custom knives again.
 
I find myself in the middle, I buy semi-customs if you could call them that(busse, SRKW, Reeve, WH). I mix in a custom every once and a while. For fixed blades I have had very good luck with customs my Randall 25 has held up superbly and my Matthew Roberts has taken some real beatings. Most of my other customs just sit like you all mentioned mostly because A)I have a production that does that type of work OR B)I just dont want to scuff it up:D .

There is something about a custom knife that a production just doesnt have if you buy a good one. You get a piece of the maker especially if you worked with them on exactly how you want it, and you get to meet and talk to someone new about knives; many times this is what i like most. Now does that mean my Military doesnt outcut some of my customs? NO way my military, other spyders and some of my other productions do outcut the customs. However the feel and many times materials make up for it with my customs.

I'll never think customs are a waste of time I just limit how many i buy and what I buy them for. I am more case specific now I usually stick to hunters and bowies. You can get some very nice customs for the price of a production. Just check over in the Makers section some time there are too many makers to mention and not give credit for putting out affordable customs.
 
I've yet to get into customs. The only custom I see myself buying is a self-designed classy slipjoint.

I've been content with a mere SAK in my pocket since I got into knives. My current EDC, a Buck 110, is overkill, but I just like the knife so much that I don't care.

Today I took my Opinel #10 to some woods for a fire to go with the sunrise. Batoned it through some wood seeing as everything was wet and made some wood shavings and splits to get the base of the fire going. Cut up an apple I brought with me, peeled the skin then roasted the slices for a bit.

I don't have any desire to really go for customs at this point, or even high-end production knives. No Sebenzas or Striders for me. I see no reason to buy such knives, as well made as they might be, when an Opinel will outcut them. That just seems silly to me, I could buy myself 50 Opinels for the price of a Strider and have a better working knife. It may not have the superior fit and finish, or the prying strength, or one-handed opening, but I don't need those things. The Opinel lock is preferable to a framelock for me and so are the wood handles compared to Titanium.

I see people getting worked up over new steels and spending 200$ on new folders and I just wonder, what exactly are they doing with them? I like playing around with a variety of steels as the much guy, but when it comes time to do some cutting, I reach for an Opinel, SAK or the 110. You don't need ZDP to slice up an apple or part some cardboard. Even the much-loathed 420j2 will easily take a shaving sharp edge. :rolleyes:
 
For me, customs are about more than just performance. I buy from people I like and want to support. Some of them are friends, and some of them are just people I really like. I don't kid myself, though, there are cheaper options for matter separation. My Buck/Mayo 172 will do anything that I generally need done. Worse yet, a SAK would do all the things I generally need to do. However, I don't know the person who made the SAK or the 172.

I think of it like my other passion: Watches. I dream of owning either a Breitling Seawolf or an Omega Moon watch. Now, for just telling time, my Seiko works just fine. As before, worse yet a $20 Timex would do everything I need to do. However, there's something special about a watch (or even a knife) that has some history to it. Is it worth $1-2K? Maybe not to some, but to me it would be.

Using basic tools is a good thing, as it helps me appreciate the differences between those things I need, and those things I want.

In short: I only buy customs from people I know and like. Productions will do anything I need, but the customs from friends and people I admire go beyond what I need and get at what I want: reminders of the REAL reason I'm in this hobby.
 
SpyderJon said:
For me, customs are about more than just performance. I buy from people I like and want to support. Some of them are friends, and some of them are just people I really like. I don't kid myself, though, there are cheaper options for matter separation. My Buck/Mayo 172 will do anything that I generally need done. Worse yet, a SAK would do all the things I generally need to do. However, I don't know the person who made the SAK or the 172.

I think of it like my other passion: Watches. I dream of owning either a Breitling Seawolf or an Omega Moon watch. Now, for just telling time, my Seiko works just fine. As before, worse yet a $20 Timex would do everything I need to do. However, there's something special about a watch (or even a knife) that has some history to it. Is it worth $1-2K? Maybe not to some, but to me it would be.

Using basic tools is a good thing, as it helps me appreciate the differences between those things I need, and those things I want.

In short: I only buy customs from people I know and like. Productions will do anything I need, but the customs from friends and people I admire go beyond what I need and get at what I want: reminders of the REAL reason I'm in this hobby.
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I am in this place too. I buy from makers that I like and want to support.

 
Jon, you put your perspective into good words. I understand the allure, I'm just more of a minimalist type of person. I prefer, if I can, to get by with the least I can for various reasons, and any excess I have I like to give away. I apply this thinking to my knives, my clothes, money etc, just possessions in general.

I think there are very few people here who would be genuinely underknifed with just a SAK Soldier. Heck, people might get by even better if they carried one, using the awl or screwdrivers to pry and the thin blades to cut, etc.
 
I bounce back and forth between the 2, I do find myself going in for the more traditional production folders, Queen D-2 blades,SAKs and the like.

Living in North Eastern Pennsylvania(NEPA) I run across a lot of older used traditional slipjoint folders in excellent condition, most for under $20, this allows me to try lots of patterns and handle a lot of knives that were from the Tristate area, historically this area was rich with the companies that started the US production knife industry.
 
Most of my Custom Knives also work just fine as users. Some are by less known makers, but the work is just as good as some well known makers. I've never bought a knife as an investment, looking to make money down the road. I have seen some knives I really like by well known makers, but cannot justify the price. A good example is Ed Fowler's knives. I like the way they look & feel in my hand, quality of fit & finish is good. At $1000 and up I just cannot justify a Ram Horn handled knife forged from 52100 steel. If I was at a different income level than I would probably buy 1. At my current income level though, I can find a knife in the $200-$300 range that will accomplish 99% of all my cutting needs.

My basic hard use camping gear usually consists of a Fallkniven F1, Victorinox Trekker, and a Gransfors Bruk Hatchet.
 
Nope--no customs---I love my knives but if I'm spending more than $100 or so--it going to be stamped Browning---S&W---Ruger or something else along those lines----and we ain't talkin knives then.
 
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