Carbon Fiber and Titanium...So What?

[Joshua J.]

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?

About a decade ago (it's hard getting used to the year 2000 being more than a decade ago) Talonite and other Cobalt based blade materials were all the rage. Were they good? Yes. Did the trend last? No. Does it matter? No. People buy what tickles their fancy. Titanium is well established as being "high tech" and carbon fiber is both that and is shiny, so it makes sense. I attribute most of the success of the framelock to being easy to clean.
Maybe in a few years Graphene and Magnesium will be all the rage.
I actually think blade steel selection has been doing really well lately, M390 is showing up all over the place, and Benchmade actually did a sprint run in S90V.
Now we just need to get manufacturers to start listing edge geometry as a selling point again (apparently Buck had good success with their "edge 2000" program back "more than a decade ago").

 

[Insipid Moniker]

About a decade ago (it's hard getting used to the year 2000 being more than a decade ago) Talonite and other Cobalt based blade materials were all the rage. Were they good? Yes. Did the trend last? No. Does it matter? No. People buy what tickles their fancy. Titanium is well established as being "high tech" and carbon fiber is both that and is shiny, so it makes sense. I attribute most of the success of the framelock to being easy to clean.
Maybe in a few years Graphene and Magnesium will be all the rage.
I actually think blade steel selection has been doing really well lately, M390 is showing up all over the place, and Benchmade actually did a sprint run in S90V.
Now we just need to get manufacturers to start listing edge geometry as a selling point again (apparently Buck had good success with their "edge 2000" program back "more than a decade ago").

I would be frickin' thrilled if companies started listing edge geometry and CATRA results.

 

[craniotes]

Carbon fiber? Check.

Titanium? Check.

Stoopidly expensive "candy" watch (that's also made out of carbon fiber and titanium)? Check.

These items are carried in the heart of NYC, not the backwoods of Oregon, and no, I'm not worried in the least about about a "junkie" liberating me of them to support his next fix. So, why the pretty materials for my knife? Simple, they make it light and strong and easy to carry for urban EDC. Oh, and they look nice. Since I'm not chopping trees down, clearing brush or dressing grizzlies in the middle of nowhere for my dinner, a crazy-ass mili-tacti-specops fixed blade is complete overkill. Right tool for the job, and all that...

I dunno, but I think someone needs to spend less time in their backwoods bunker and more time interacting with folks. It's a big world out there, and for the most part, not everyone is a drug-addicted ex-con looking to score. Just sayin'.

Regards,
Adam

PS - When I am in the country (in this instance, my country house in CT, where a back yard is a couple of acres and not a national forest), I find that this suffices:



Though more often than not, I'm using this (oh, look -- there's another one of those candy-ass watches...):

 

[powernoodle]

Carbon fiber and titanium are pure bling. Pocket jewelry. They make people feel good, so in that respect they are performing exactly as intended. That's the only real reason that people spend hundreds of bucks on a pocket knife, or multiple hundreds (or thousands) on blingy watches. There is no watch at any price, for example, that is as accurate as my "entry level" G-Shock, but timekeeping is not the point of a spendy watch. Spendy, blingy knives and watches are all about feeling good.

What it boils down to is whether a person feels better with 1) carbon fiber and titanium in his pocket and on his wrist, or 2) a Buck Vantage, Timex and $900 in his bank account. Both guys are doing what they can to feel good - just doing it in different ways.

 

[NetshadeX]

It's not that I hate titanium, I just dislike the way it's presented by both manufacturers and a lot of youtube reviewers. They present it like they have it mixed up with Wolverine's indestructible adamantium.
When it comes down to it, I actually prefer T6 aluminum handles to titanium ones.. Ti lockbars have been hit and miss with me and if I can avoid the risk from now on, I'll be more than happy to. And don't even get me started on CF, that stuff has no place on a knife imo.

 

[Charlie Mike]

How do you like that Rolex Deepsea SD? I'm buying one in a few weeks.

 

[craniotes]

How do you like that Rolex Deepsea SD? I'm buying one in a few weeks.

I love it. In fact, this is my second one, since I stupidly sold my first to help fund an AP 15202. The Glidelock clasp is an engineering marvel, as is the rest of the watch. Yes, it wears large, but it's supremely comfortable on the wrist all the same.

My first love is horology (I've been fascinated by timekeeping since I was a young child), but I'm still getting a feel for this knife-business. As with most hobbies, I've noticed that there are some folks who take things waaaaaaay too seriously and forget that the purpose of a hobby is to have fun (they're easy to spot with their sweeping generalizations and inflated opinion of their own, uh, opinions). Yes, knives are tools, but they can also be beautiful tools, and if a measure of practicality can come with that beauty -- in this instance, lightness, strength and corrosion-resistance -- all the better. Sure, I can carry a lump of cheap steel in my pocket and cut 99% of things that I need to cut, but if I've got the scratch, then why not lighten the load a bit? Bear in mind here that I'm a skinny jeans-wearing, city-living libtard, not a barrel-chested, hirsute mountain man with carpenter's overalls and a Carhart jacket; light means right for my daily loadout.

Regards,
Adam

 

[Rival1314]

this seems to be an ongoing discussion of prefrences, and there is no right or wrong. Personally I prefer Ti framelocks, and i like CF. There are people on these forums that pay several hundrad dollars for a handmade traditional knife with simple materials. IMHO i think those people are nuts. I also find bone scales ugly as sin, but that doesnt mean they suck or have no place in the knife world....different strokes right?

I have noticed lately this forum has been more about complaining about the things people dislike instead of discussing the things they do like. Seems pointless to me to start a thread that intentionally dismisses peoples individual objectivity.

Ti and CF have a place in the knife world, just as traditionals, wood, bone, and all other materials under the sun. The fact that a group of people doesnt like them is irrelevant as long there is another group that does like them.

Perhaps, when one dismounts from a high horse they can objectively identify both the positives and negatives to any material instead of dismissing an entire group of individuals who appreciate those materials..... this thread would have yielded a more productive discussion had the OP asked "Why do you like Ti and CF, or What benefits do they offer". Instead its just another thread that creates cliques and feeds the haters and trolls.

 

[Krav]

I can't stop eyeing the sabenza carbon fiber 21. :thumbup:

 

[Insipid Moniker]

this seems to be an ongoing discussion of prefrences, and there is no right or wrong. Personally I prefer Ti framelocks, and i like CF. There are people on these forums that pay several hundrad dollars for a handmade traditional knife with simple materials. IMHO i think those people are nuts. I also find bone scales ugly as sin, but that doesnt mean they suck or have no place in the knife world....different strokes right?

I have noticed lately this forum has been more about complaining about the things people dislike instead of discussing the things they do like. Seems pointless to me to start a thread that intentionally dismisses peoples individual objectivity.

Ti and CF have a place in the knife world, just as traditionals, wood, bone, and all other materials under the sun. The fact that a group of people doesnt like them is irrelevant as long there is another group that does like them.

Perhaps, when one dismounts from a high horse they can objectively identify both the positives and negatives to any material instead of dismissing an entire group of individuals who appreciate those materials..... this thread would have yielded a more productive discussion had the OP asked "Why do you like Ti and CF, or What benefits do they offer". Instead its just another thread that creates cliques and feeds the haters and trolls.

You do realize that I explicitly stated that I don't dislike these materials and asked for others opinions while offering my own, right? I've also repeatedly pointed out that I'm not criticizing anyone for enjoying them, just wondering if there were advantages I was overlooking. I have no issues with having criticism leveled at me, but I would appreciate if you read what I wrote before doing so.