Boring/dull/plain looking knives?

Boring means it's likely to be reliable and work well.. Boring is high praise, imo.

I won't disparage fellow knife enthusiasts for liking what they like, but for me personally, the further a knife strays from being boring, the more likely I am to turn my nose up at it.. all that fancypants, expensive rainbowTi-zirca-mascus stuff ranges from "does nothing for me" to "I aggressively dislike that".. hahah, give me black g10 any day. I'm actually glad my preferences lean towards boring.. thinking on it now, boring has probably saved me quite a bit of money over the years..
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
bob_loveless_lawndale_ivory_drop_rev_L.jpg

This is pretty much the definition of a "classic" knife design.
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Reminds me a lot of a loveless. Pure class.
 
LostCause said:
Ka-Bar TDI or Cold Steel Recon1 neither have really crazy grinds or anodizing, and will both work.

Even the ESEE Izula isn't really boring knife, yet it doesn't look crazy either.
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True. I agree they're all pretty straight forward. But using the ESEE as an example, I'd take a tan or OD version, but I'd leave the orange or lime green alone. I'm mostly into traditionals and if a GEC has a blue camel bone cover....I'm not giving it a second look.
 
I think many of the classic Benchmade autos were “boring” in a nice way. Clean, purposeful, yet pleasing in a simple, almost Glock or G.I. 1911 like manner. AFO, Reflex, Stryker, Tsunami, Kodiak, and Spike is what I’m thinking.
 
Olumin said:
Reminds me a lot of a loveless. Pure class.
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That is a Loveless! What a beauty!

I know that for me if I like the look, materials, function and ergonomics of a knife I'd be tempted to purchase it. I guess that's what it is all about.

Sometimes that's a plain, dull, boring knife. Sometimes it could be one or a combination of colorful, etched, Damascus, scrimshaw, file worked, engraved or otherwise artsy.
It's great that we have so many options!
 
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As long as people don’t attach moral superiority to their preference this is a perfectly fine debate.

Personally, I prefer fairly straightforward blade shapes for my knives. For bigger knives and harder users I prefer “bland” designs. I like a bit of beauty for gentleman’s carry knives.
 
For my taste, simple and boring are not the same.

Something can be extremely utilitarian but also beautiful aesthetically, we as humans are drawn to lines in nature. Nothing about Laconico's knives are "boring" to me, functionality adds to the beauty. If I were to hazard a guess about what craftsmen would produce a light year from now on a path to progression that somehow was not intrerupted or "reset", it would be clean designs that are nearly resistance free... total utility. The beauty would be measured by other metrics.
 
LostCause said:
It's like "that guy" at the office, always wearing polo shirt or sweater, only talking about job. He doesn't smoke, drink and doesn't even come to team building or Christmas party. He never got in any trouble at work or school. He drives boring car and has no hobbies. Even if he has a pet - it's something like golden retriever. Nothing in his life is spicy - not even food. You get what I mean...
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Hey, wait a minute... I think I am that guy :oops:
 
There is something to be said about a good basic design or just enjoying subtle flair. There can also be ergonomic benefits.

I posted a handful of knives in the other thread. Of course, a few were Ray Laconico designs. However, this simple in-house budget design from Sencut really hit the nail on the head for me. It was my folding knife of the year for 2022 despite getting my hands on several premium folders.

ZqS5lEM.jpg
 
Any Chaves full Ti model. It’s just two slabs of rectangle titanium. So much more could be done to those thick slabs of titanium. That being said, I just put in a pre-order for the Damasteel 229 kickstop😂 so I guess the jokes on me!
 
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