Biggest disappointment!

Easy for me was schatt and morgan toothpick . Took it out , opened it, put it back in the box and sent it back.
The blade wobbled worse than any wore out cheapo ive ever seen .
Also anything with a blunt "nessmuck" design .Im sure that works for some people but 2 customs and a couple of production models later , I know its not me.
 
Boker Plus Titan drop point. Read great reviews for it all over the place, saw some videos that said some good things, liked the looks, liked the price. Got it in hand...

...and the lock spring decided to pop forward on about the third deployment.

Opened it up to fix it and looking at the design, it's just garbage. The way it's set up the front of the spring rides on a curved surface. This isn't unusual, but the angle it sits at makes it possible for the spring to slide forward. Anyone with even a modicum of design knowledge would know this would happen just by looking at it. The Boker designers apparently didn't. :\ Boker USA's people were quick to respond but I ended up not sending the thing in. What could they do? I put the spring back just fine. I just can't rely on it in any way for any reason ever, so it sits on the shelf looking damn good. :(
 
Kershaw Camp 18

Big machete fan and was excited for this, with what looked to be an awesome sheath. (which is typically unusual for all the cheap standard suspects, minus the Ontario..which has a decent sheath option)

The blade is pretty decent, but the sheath is straight up crap. I can't believe Kershaw actually let that piece of junk out the door. What an incredible disappointment. It could have been a major winner, but falls way short.

The fit is so loose and sloppy, its downright silly. Retention strap consisting of the crappiest nylon material known to man...which you have to use...because there is SO much play in the sheath. FAIL.
 
Emerson

Way overpriced. Crappy fit/finish on multiple examples I have had and held.

Then, after years of talking all this **** about supporting America and the like....

He goes and gets in bed with China.

Never again Ernie.

Yea, I may try out 1 or 2 of the China Emersons. That is just because I know ill get better fit/finish from them, over buying an actual Emerson.
 
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Spyderco Street Beat, definitely. Maybe a shock, I know.

It was one of my grail knives for the longest time, I always thought it was so cool and badass. But when I finally got it the QC was terrible. Very uneven fitting micarta scales with scuff marks on them, and a few other minor problems. But worst of all was the terrible gimping. It was so uneven it actually started at an angle, if that makes any sense. One side of the gimping had very deep "gimps", while the others was very shallow. It looked really bad. Individually, each one of the problems wasn't a big deal, and I probably could have lived with just one of them (maybe even the gimping could be fixed with some delicate filework), but the culmination of all these flaws was totally unacceptable. I returned it instantly.
Even though I'm sure that was a very rare case, I can't help but be somewhat weary of Spyderco's QC from now on. But I dunno, I might try my luck with a Dragonfly 2 soon... if I do it will be Spyderco's only chance at redemption
 
Emersons here too. Good materials, but bad ergos for me and hate their pivot. I've had about 5-6 over the years and just can't warm up to them no matter how hard I try.

Kershaw Skyline. It just feels like a cheap toy to me. Too thin for me and don't dig the ergos because of that.

No real problems with any of them, just weren't for me.
 
I forgot to add Benchmade Griptilian.
My blade is far from centered, I cant seem to find the sweet spot, it feels cheap, and I dont like the clip.
Kershaw Leek. I love it. I really really like it, but even AFTER loctite-ing it, it still gets loose.
Native 5. Again, I love it and always will, but it requires alot of constant adjusting.
 
ninjarabbi said:
My biggest disappointment has to be this big pack of knives I got for like $12. It was 75% off and I wasn't expecting anything other than gas station specials but they didn't even meet that. Most of them just had pinned pivots so there was no adjustment at all which was a real bitch because the ones that looked to be the cream of the crap all had a lot of bladeplay...
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I can't believe that. When you buy knives in the bulk pack for 12 clams you'd think at least one would be a genuine stag handle Randall or at least a Bark River. :p
 
For me it's got to be the benchmade rift. It was a great knife but for some reason felt so wrong in hand. It's too bad too because it's a beautiful knife.

the XM-18 I had disappointed me a little too. No specific reason why, it just didn't give me that warm and fuzzy feeling CRK and Striders do.
 
GripnCOLDSTEEL said:
Yea, I may try out 1 or 2 of the China Emersons. That is just because I know ill get better fit/finish from them, over buying an actual Emerson.
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+1

I know for a fact that those $30.00 Chinese made Emersons that Kershaw has in the works are going to blow the real Emersons away in the fit and finish department.
 
RevDevil said:
Same here, although I did put one through some good use in the garden. :D
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Wait, the knife or the wife?

I have to say my most disappointing knife would either be the Cold Steel AK-47 or the Benchmade Full Griptilian. Neither seem especially nice. The AK came with handles as smooth as 80 grit sandpaper, and the pocktet clips needed a pot of bending to fit onto the pocket of anything but jeans. The Grip just sucked. I had two of them (studs and hole) to give them an honest shot, especially because I love the Mini Grip. They were about as light with the same awful weight distribution as a Svord Peasant and I just couldn't get the blade to freely swing or open as easily as a Mini Grip.
 
GripnCOLDSTEEL said:
Emerson

Way overpriced. Crappy fit/finish on multiple examples I have had and held.

Then, after years of talking all this shit about supporting America and the like....

He goes and gets in bed with China.

Never again Ernie.

Yea, I may try out 1 or 2 of the China Emersons. That is just because I know ill get better fit/finish from them, over buying an actual Emerson.
Click to expand...
Keep the language neutral and leave your political observations away from this section.
 
ZT 0550. Came dull and with uneven grinds. It had pitting at the blade heel and traces of the lasercutting too. The edge came so obtuse, that I eventually gave up sharpening it. Grabbing the knife hard and leaning on it to cut showed how uncomfortable the knife really is. The back of the scales/titanium has chamfered edges, but it still feels like grabbing a flat piece of steel. A hard-use knife, that can't be used hard. At the price I was pretty disappointed.

I've since gotten some diamond rods and it helped on the edge but I still don't like it.
 
Spyderco Manix 2 Lightweight translucent blue. The knife felt cheap, partly because it was SO lightweight, and the handles felt super plasticky. The compression lock isn't as easy to use as BM's Axis or even Spyderco's Compression lock. I usually enjoy Spyderco's forward 50/50 choils, but on the Manix 2 LW, it felt like a waste of cutting edge.

As a side note, I LOVE the Manix 2 G10! And I'm super excited for the new for 2014 FFG version!
 
ZT 0560's, I sold all mine a couple of months ago, just a little to large for me. Not a bad knife, but just didn't do it for me. ZT must of sold LOTs of them, always some available for sale here, but the knife trend swings all the time.
 
Chris Reeve Professional Soldier.
Had great machining, everything was precisely even except for one grind flaw at the coating but that was fine. Great sheath too. But the knife is completely unusable. The gun-coating on it makes so much friction, that it's almost like designed to NOT cut through cardboard boxes and any tight spots. Well all right, you could uncoat your blade and I did. I also gave it stone wash. But then, you are left with their over soft S35VN steel that literally gets dull after one long slice of cardboard. Also the hollow grind thing kind of gets old for me unless you do it right (Gayle Bradley) and the handle for me was just plain uncomfortable.
Most overpriced slab of steel I've ever bought. It sits in my drawer now. Maybe in the trash can in the future.
 
Manix XL. I bought it after I got my PM2, and it just couldn't compete. Big knife, but thinner than the PM2 so not the hard use folder I was looking for. Plus I expected the caged ball bearing lock to be similar to an Axis. NOPE! I don't have weak hands or anything, but man was mine difficult to easily and quickly unlock.

The Benchmade Contego. I wanted to like it. I would have loved it if not for the incredibly uncomfortable handle. Hopefully they will work on their ergonomics in the future. Great for gloves, awful for bare hands. Can't wear gloves all the time, Benchmade.

Spyderco Military. Not fond of the angle versus the handle, and after the PM2 I just don't see the point of owning it AND the military.

CRK Sebenza. I liked it, but it didn't thrill me like everyone said it would. Same thing for the ZT 0560. Just didn't feel right or worth the price. Maybe I'm just not a fan of framelocks.


So far my favorites are the PM2, Gayle Bradley, Ritter Grip, and the Rat 2. That Rat 2 is pretty darn hard to kick out of my pocket so it usually rides along too. XD
 
Recently ordered a Spyderco Nishijin Stretch Damascus and just couldn't get into it at all. The Nishijin scales looked like hard shiny plastic and the Damascus pattern looked like it was spray-painted on the blade. The knife (as spydies usually do) had a top shelf fit and finish but the flashy Stretch just wasn't for me.

With that said, I'm still a huge spydie fan and will continue to spend the majority of my money buying their great products.
 
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