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Carbon Fiber and Titanium...So What?

Insipid Moniker

Insipid Moniker

Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
27,492
Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike titanium and carbon fiber, but they don't really do anything for me. I get that they have some advantages in strength-to-weight ratio and such, but it seems like such incremental improvements that I usually find myself wishing that the money had gone into improved blade steel, a superior lock or top notch fit and finish.

There's nothing wrong with wanting your knife to look and feel like a million bucks, but these materials on folders just seem more like a trend than an improvement to me.

Am I crazy/stupid/just plain wrong?

So how do you feel about this stuff, and why?
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I usually find myself wishing that the money had gone into improved blade steel, a superior lock or top notch fit and finish.
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Why can't I have that and ti/cf? :thumbup:

My xm has ti, cf, perfect lockup, superb fit and finish and a top tier steel :cool:
 
Eh, different strokes for different folks. Like just about any choices we make in luxury items like fine cutlery, they're based on our own personal likes and preferences. Personally, I love carbon fiber and I like Ti. Are they the end-all be-all knife materials? Maybe not, but I do think they look good.
 
Doesn't bother me at all if the knife I want has nicer materials.
Blade steel is one thing but I like carbon fiber and titanium more than g10.
If anything the materials are improving with time and Blade Steels are trendy.
 
Just to be clear, if you love this stuff, more power to you. I just find myself vaguely puzzled whenever people get excited by CF scales on a knife.
 
Kind of ironic to bag on Ti and CF for being 'incremental improvements' and then preach putting that money towards better blade steel which is usually an incremental improvement at best.
 
I happen to think CF looks much classier than FRN, G10, SS, etc. To each his own.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
... I just find myself vaguely puzzled whenever people get excited by CF scales on a knife.
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Because it's pretty, because its different, because when your trying to dress/look your best 98% of the people you meet that notice your knife won't be able to look at it and think "oh that's a fitting knife for the occasion because it has an upgraded blade steel" but they can see the CF is beautiful and visually different from Joe the mall ninja's black death tool 2000 and many people, even those who know nothing about knives at all know to associate CF with higher end products. Especially to other knife guys, it offers an instantly recognizable upgrade, steel looks like steel be it 8Cr13 or a tier 1 super steel

Not saying a upgrade from G10 to CF/Ti is more important than a steel upgrade, I'm a steel junkie myself and personally am more impressed with a blade upgrade than scales but I do love CF and it does appeal to me and in many cases, spyderco & benchmade come to mind, a handle upgrade to CF almost always means a [sometime huge] jump up in blade steel as well.
 
Scurvy092 said:
Kind of ironic to bag on Ti and CF for being 'incremental improvements' and then preach putting that money towards better blade steel which is usually an incremental improvement at best.
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Who's preaching? I'd rather have an incremental improvement on the business end than on the slabs. If you prefer the other, that's fine too.
 
Im pretty much done with carbon fiber. Just doesn't do anything for me anymore. Pretty much all synthetics don't either now that I think of it.

For folders I prefer full ti construction. My favorite folder has a 5.25" handle in full ti and the whole knife weighs under 6 ounces even with a 3.75 inch blade. If that were stainless steel it would be a brick.
 
Titanium requires less care than steel, and can deal with a wider range of environments with less worry. If it takes a dive in saltwater, for example, you don't have to worry about disassembling and cleaning it under the scales like you would with steel liners. You hose it down, oil the blade, and get on with your life.

Carbon fiber is very light and very strong. Both of these are desirable traits in any application outside of hammers.

Basically what it boils down to is right now there's some old fart grumbling about the kids these days and their micarta and G10 and why can't we just all use good ol' stag horn?

And few things are more incremental than improvements in blade steel.
 
dsimmons said:
Titanium requires less care than steel, and can deal with a wider range of environments with less worry. If it takes a dive in saltwater, for example, you don't have to worry about disassembling and cleaning it under the scales like you would with steel liners. You hose it down, oil the blade, and get on with your life.

Carbon fiber is very light and very strong. Both of these are desirable traits in any application outside of hammers.

Basically what it boils down to is right now there's some old fart grumbling about the kids these days and their micarta and G10 and why can't we just all use good ol' stag horn?

And few things are more incremental than improvements in blade steel.
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That actually strikes me as a much better argument for Ti than the strength-to-weight that's often cited.
 
I'm a sucker for Titanium. It's tough, light, has a distinct feel and look to it, and I also worked with it professionally it for years, making several different grades of welded tubing for industry.
 
evanPGH said:
Im pretty much done with carbon fiber. Just doesn't do anything for me anymore. Pretty much all synthetics don't either now that I think of it.

For folders I prefer full ti construction. My favorite folder has a 5.25" handle in full ti and the whole knife weighs under 6 ounces even with a 3.75 inch blade. If that were stainless steel it would be a brick.
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You've got my attention... what knife is it?
 
dsimmons said:
Titanium requires less care than steel, and can deal with a wider range of environments with less worry. If it takes a dive in saltwater, for example, you don't have to worry about disassembling and cleaning it under the scales like you would with steel liners. You hose it down, oil the blade, and get on with your life.

Carbon fiber is very light and very strong. Both of these are desirable traits in any application outside of hammers.

Basically what it boils down to is right now there's some old fart grumbling about the kids these days and their micarta and G10 and why can't we just all use good ol' stag horn?

And few things are more incremental than improvements in blade steel.
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I'm sure somewhere out there for whatever reason, art, some crazy use, military, just because someone can make one, I bet there is at least one carbon fiber hammer somewhere in this world, people are idiots. And you know what else, that guy with one is sitting there thinking we're all idiots for using it on knives.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
That actually strikes me as a much better argument for Ti than the strength-to-weight that's often cited.
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Well the funny part in that is you don't see pure titanium in knives. It always seems to be grade 5, which is an alloy. Pure Titanium(such as grade 2) cannot be hardened through normal methods.
 
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I don't have carbon fiber OR titanium anything.
I REALLY like G10.
I want titanium though. Just can't afford it.
 
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