Biggest disappointment!

Buck Sprint Pro with micarta scales, thought it would be a cool little knife in S30V, on sale so not out a lot (under $100). Highly dissapointed in the stamped detent that wasn't strong enough to hold the blade closed. The lockbar could be pushed all the way to the opposite scale and stick there. Lots of lock rock. I took it apart, punched the detent a little deeper, 'adjusted' the lockbar, cleaned it all up. It's better but not great.

Viper Storm in M390. The lockbar skitters across the blade, had to tighten it up quite a bit to eliminate blade play to the point it needs some authority to get it to flip well and is very sluggish. Thought I'd give it a try since it's a Hinderer collab, again, wasn't a whole lot of $$ but that's pretty relative.

Some of the knives people aren't liking really surprise me. I love my CRK Zaan, ZT 0560/561's and PM2/3's. Good thing there are so many to choose from.
 
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The Stedemon ZKC-BP02 was pretty disappointing. I wanted to try a ball-bearing kwaiken-style folder and discovered that this one feels cheap and flimsy in the hand, and the blade is too thick for the kind of slicing I prefer. Despite my usually adequate sharpening skills, I have a devil of a time getting it back to shaving sharp. The pivot loosens easily and noticeably after about ten openings, introducing blade wobble. On the up side, though, the orange-handled knife is easy to spot rolling around inside the black console of my car.
 
dkb45 said:
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.
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Well, tastes change over the years. My Grip is currently my only knife I've bought custom handles for, and love albeit don't carry often. While I never grew fond of the AK-47 it was the size that got me, and my Mini AK-47 is dearly beloved knife. Perfect EDC size, and the blade is ground wonderfully thin in a great steel, possibly the best ~$50 I've spent on a knife. The AK handle texture was one thing I really warmed up to, I found out that just lightly rubbing it with some wood takes the pants eating away while keeping the grippy nature.
 
Weiss said:
The Stedemon ZKC-BP02 was pretty disappointing. I wanted to try a ball-bearing kwaiken-style folder and discovered that this one feels cheap and flimsy in the hand, and the blade is too thick for the kind of slicing I prefer. Despite my usually adequate sharpening skills, I have a devil of a time getting it back to shaving sharp. The pivot loosens easily and noticeably after about ten openings, introducing blade wobble. On the up side, though, the orange-handled knife is easy to spot rolling around inside the black console of my car.
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Weird that we have such polar opposite experiences with that knife. For me it's my gold standard of thumb stud knife action, an absolute free swinging blade with a perfect detent. No issues getting or keeping an edge on it either, but that could be being accustomed to very stubborn steels like Maxamet and S110V, everything below S30V just feels easy to sharpen in comparison. My only complaints with the knife are that the perfect free swinging blade requires the pivot to be a hair loose, so there's a smidge of play, and the tip is able to be just barely snagged when the knife is open, although it hasn't happened yet.
 
Well, one of these days I'll Loctite the pivot screw and give it a proper sharpening. Maybe then I'll warm up to it. Till then, though, I have other knives to play with. I do agree with you, though, on the bullet-firing nature of its deployment, and the ease with which it swings shut.
 
Mistman68 said:
Buck Sprint Pro with micarta scales, thought it would be a cool little knife in SV30, on sale so not out a lot (under $100). Highly dissapointed in the stamped detent that wasn't strong enough to hold the blade closed. The lockbar could be pushed all the way to the opposite scale and stick there. Lots of lock rock. I took it apart, punched the detent a little deeper, 'adjusted' the lockbar, cleaned it all up. It's better but not great.
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Like you I was super disappointed with the Buck sprint pro. It completely turned me off. I love the vantage line, but always felt I was being lenient because I love the brand. But the sprint pro Left a bad impression with me
 
For me it was the Strider SNG. It may have just been a bad one that I got but man did it have lock rock and blade play.
 
Comeuppance said:
Right? The reviews for that knife are glowing, for the most part, but it's a knife that is unnecessarily cumbersome to close and has Krupp 4116 steel - which has just a little bit less edge retention than warm butter. It's an overbuilt knife for non-knife people, or someone that loves sharpening SO MUCH that they want to do it absolutely every day.
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It's an acquired taste for sure. I have one in CTS BD-1 steel and rather like it. It's about as close to a fixed blade in a folder that you'll find. Takes a real he-man to close it though!
 
Mine was a microtech ultratech I got for myself for the big 3-0. Broke in less than a month with hardly any use. It went back to MT, they fixed it and I got it back after a month and a half. It broke 3 days later. While I was in the store to have it sent back again a guy offered to buy it when it came back. Done deal, took $100 loss after another month and a half but I learned my lesson. Couldn't get myself to take more than that given its history. They aren't that complicated inside, 3 days is pretty ridiculous - I've seen people post clones that have done better, lol.
 
Dull blade on a new 562ti. I got over it. I’m very bitter about my crappy Pilar too- great design, terrible knife.
 
I've owned 3 Emersons. All had significant issues. Linerlock jamming. Off center. Blade rub. Gritty.

Never again.
 
Tried 3 different Emerson’s and I was embarrassed for the company.
Hinderer blades were a big bummer for sure.
I’m a spiderco fanboy but the Military wasn’t a happy buy for me.
 
Large Sebenza with Wood Inlay and Damascus blade
  • Too large to carry regularly
  • Too nice to carry regularly
  • Shiny titanium scales already scratched so devalued
  • Damascus blade degrades from "hydraulic smooth" action like I get on small Inkosi
  • Damascus blade makes action feel less "tight" than similar quality production knives I have with "regular" steel blades
Unfortunately I'm not good at selling hobby items I acquire. Right now I'm "damned if I do, damned if I don't" with this knife. It pains me to spend good money on something I don't avidly use. It pains me even more to lose money on something I just sold because I did not avidly use it.
 
My biggest disappointment had to be the very first CRK knife I bought, a Mnandi in bog oak (and as I explain in this post, this isn't an issue with CRK quality at all). I ordered the Mnandi from a major knife retailer and, upon receiving it, began opening the CRK box with excitement. It was beautiful, as expected, and then I opened the knife...and the blade veered sharply to the right. Not a little, a lot. My excitement evaporated as I stared in disbelief at the crooked blade. Fortunately, I am quite comfortable taking apart knives, and CRK encourages it, and found that one of the washers was also slightly crimped. Cleaned everything, re-lubed and reassembled the knife and all was well. I have two Mnandis, and several other CRK knives and all have a perfect fit and finish, and this Mnandi remains one of my favorites. My guess is that someone tried to work on this knife and returned it to the retailer and it somehow got put in the rotation and sent to me unknowingly as I have always had a flawless experience with the manufacturer. Glad the story came full circle and it's one of my most carried and used knives to this day.
 
I don't recall the model number, but a Gerber lockback.

Slicing warm butter dulled the thing, and the pivot screw kept falling out.
It went into the trash the last time the screw came out and I couldn't find it.
I'll never get another Gerber.
 
Boker plus urban trapper
- arrived with chips in the cocobolo
- completely dull out of the box
- very hard to sharpen, either the heat treat is bad, I suck at sharpening, or I just don’t like VG10
- I feel like I can snap this thing in half with minimal effort
- very light detent
- has to take it apart twice to get the blade to stop rubbing the lock side liner

Buck redpoint - the first knife I ever bought

- absolute train wreck of a design, not even worth typing a whole page of what was wrong with it
 
Got to say a Blackhawk CQD Mark I with bright yellow nylon handles.I found the handle extremely large and not ergonomic at all
 
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