Changes that you'd like to see from the large manufacturers of folding knives?

M

mastiffhound

Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
345
Getting the catalogs from my favorite manufacturers always puts me in a ya or nay mood. I go through and mentally check what I might get and what doesn't interest me in the slightest. I've come to the realization that it isn't the overall design most of the time that puts me off but one or two small problems that I just can't accept. I wonder how many of you have had the same thought? Along the line of "If this folder had or didn't have this I'd buy it for sure, too bad.".

So here is what I'd like to see changed:

1. DEEP CARRY CLIPS! Come on, you can't tell me that manufacturers of folders haven't noticed that people are getting good money making deep carry clips for folders? Casey Lynch comes to mind, check the bay and you'll find tons more. I don't like having so much handle sticking out that it could be grabbed by someone else or snagged on something and lost so easily. I pay Casey's price gladly, he does a great job. I just wish he did DCCs for more companies. I'd rather be able to get a folder and have to do nothing or at least the option to order a DCC to come with it. Some companies have them but you might have to lie and say you have a different model than the one you bought to get one. Others only come on certain folders and they are so completely different that they won't work on another folder from the same company. I pay extra to someone that makes them on the side, that means your company is losing money that could easily be had.

2. Please stop with the garish, super polished, weird shaped, bright clips. Nothing says "Look at me!" like bulbous shiny objects, otherwise people wouldn't buy diamond rings and gold watches. A folding knife is not jewelry! A brightly polished weird shape attracts attention and people can't help but ask "Hey, what's that sticking out of your pocket?" or "Hey, the reflection off of your clip just burned my retina. Can you cover that up?". It's almost a joke that something being sold as a "defensive" or "tactical" folder would have a super shiny "Hey, over here!" clip. Stone-washing might be cheaper and is perfectly acceptable to most people, youtube is full of videos of guys stone-washing super shiny clips. Paint or powder coating works too but probably costs more and doesn't seem to last as long. Most companies already do stone-washed blades so it wouldn't be hard to just drop some clips in the machine while doing the blades.

Well, that's what I'd like to see as far as changes. What changes would you like to see?
 
mastiffhound said:
Getting the catalogs from my favorite manufacturers always puts me in a ya or nay mood. I go through and mentally check what I might get and what doesn't interest me in the slightest. I've come to the realization that it isn't the overall design most of the time that puts me off but one or two small problems that I just can't accept. I wonder how many of you have had the same thought? Along the line of "If this folder had or didn't have this I'd buy it for sure, too bad.".

So here is what I'd like to see changed:

1. DEEP CARRY CLIPS! Come on, you can't tell me that manufacturers of folders haven't noticed that people are getting good money making deep carry clips for folders? Casey Lynch comes to mind, check the bay and you'll find tons more. I don't like having so much handle sticking out that it could be grabbed by someone else or snagged on something and lost so easily. I pay Casey's price gladly, he does a great job. I just wish he did DCCs for more companies. I'd rather be able to get a folder and have to do nothing or at least the option to order a DCC to come with it. Some companies have them but you might have to lie and say you have a different model than the one you bought to get one. Others only come on certain folders and they are so completely different that they won't work on another folder from the same company. I pay extra to someone that makes them on the side, that means your company is losing money that could easily be had.

2. Please stop with the garish, super polished, weird shaped, bright clips. Nothing says "Look at me!" like bulbous shiny objects, otherwise people wouldn't buy diamond rings and gold watches. A folding knife is not jewelry! A brightly polished weird shape attracts attention and people can't help but ask "Hey, what's that sticking out of your pocket?" or "Hey, the reflection off of your clip just burned my retina. Can you cover that up?". It's almost a joke that something being sold as a "defensive" or "tactical" folder would have a super shiny "Hey, over here!" clip. Stone-washing might be cheaper and is perfectly acceptable to most people, youtube is full of videos of guys stone-washing super shiny clips. Paint or powder coating works too but probably costs more and doesn't seem to last as long. Most companies already do stone-washed blades so it wouldn't be hard to just drop some clips in the machine while doing the blades.

Well, that's what I'd like to see as far as changes. What changes would you like to see?
Click to expand...

I would say check out Zero tolerance.... they have a bunch of deep carry stuff now. I carry my 0900 and 0562cf daily
 
I don't think companies should offer deep carry as standard options. But to sell their own deep carry clips would be very useful for those who prefer it.

Serrations need to be done smarter. Not the much too commonly fragile, impossible to sharpen crap.

Less of these thick Cerakote type coatings (Benchmade, Emerson, Microtech). Go PVD or proper DLC. Blades that look like they've been coated in thick paint look horrible.

Less acid stonewash. No thanks, I don't want the blade on my $250+ knife to look like it was given an amateur pimp job.

Don't have the tang of a bead blasted blade also bead blasted. This causes annoying lock stick and corrosion issues for those that prefer to have a dry pivot and not use sharpie on their blade tangs.

Better consistency in detent strength. No knife should come with a detent loose enough to release the blade with a gentle shake or so strong that it is difficult to open the knife.

If you are going to have cutouts in the scale or frame to allow access of the finger on the lockbar, do it in a way that doesn't create a hotspot on the index finger when the knife is being used hard.

Either finish your carbon fiber consistently well or just use G-10.

Don't overtighten your screws to such a degree that things strip and break when attempting disassembly. Heating each screw with a soldering iron and tugging at it repeatedly until it finally breaks loose is not what I want to spend time doing.

More floating blade stop pins. It really does make a difference over time.

Please don't put words or logos on your pocket clips. Please stop with the excessively large, billboard like logoing on blades.

Either have crisp, well-defined thumb ramp jimping or don't have any at all. There's nothing worse than that sloppy, slippery feel of polished over jimping that isn't deep or sharp enough to grab into the thumb.

Stop with the zombie stuff. That ship has sailed.

Don't sell a production knife with no significant increase in quality at midtech to custom prices just because it's a "limited edition".

Please clean the pivots and washers of grease, dirt and gunk before shipping the knife.
 
More four-way swappable pocket-clips please! Like ZT used to do :grumpy:

Since I carry strictly and solely tip-down, roughly 90% of the knives are not even an option :(

Also I like to see more traditional knives (i.e. GEC and Northwoods) with better stainless steeled wharncliffe or sheepfoot blades (e.g. 13c27, 154CM, VG10, S35VN).

As a Dutch libertarian/anarcho-capitalist I don't give an ef where something is made, by the way.
 
I know this will offend lefties and tip-down carriers, but I really like when knives are drilled solely for right side tip-up carry. Selfish, but I can't help myself!
 
More utility/user type blade designs, and less self defense looking pieces. I would hazard a guess that most knife buyers buy a knife for their common everyday knife needs with defense being quite far down the list. Seems to me most knives anymore are so tacticool looking rather than actually made to be used daily. And do they have to be so big?
 
Id like to see built to order semi custom production knives. There is a guitar company that ONLY sells factory direct. You select a basic model and then you add or subtract options and they make a custom guitar to your specs. It would be cool if a knife company did a similar program where you essentially had a modular design that you could add or subract features and get exactly what you want within reason.
 
1. Less black G10 and more stabilized wood or linen micarta.

2. More contoured/rounded handle shapes. I realize these take up a little more room in the pocket, but I'm tired of two flat slabs with a blade in between.
 
More thumbdisk options / models. I feel that these are more intuitive than thumbstuds.

More black micarta, less green micarta.

More angled thumbstuds, as on the Marlowe Bulldog for example.

Less glossy stonewash on Ti lock sides. Have a bead blasted or tumbled finish.

Make your hardware match. If the whole knife is a matte black don't have glossy black screws and pocket clips.

Offer chisel ground knives in right-hand configuration. It doesn't make a difference with normal EDC but when I find myself doing stuff that a chisel ground blade could be potentially advantageous, I can't take advantage of it.

More straight back blades with a generous curvature to the blade. I found these much easier to use, with a stronger tip and a more useful belly, than drop point or spear point blades.

More bolster locks, fewer liner locks.

More hawkbills and wharncliffes, less sheepsfoot.

Just less sheepsfoot in general. Horrible for piercing.
 
mastiffhound said:
Getting the catalogs from my favorite manufacturers always puts me in a ya or nay mood. I go through and mentally check what I might get and what doesn't interest me in the slightest. I've come to the realization that it isn't the overall design most of the time that puts me off but one or two small problems that I just can't accept. I wonder how many of you have had the same thought? Along the line of "If this folder had or didn't have this I'd buy it for sure, too bad.".

So here is what I'd like to see changed:

1. DEEP CARRY CLIPS! Come on, you can't tell me that manufacturers of folders haven't noticed that people are getting good money making deep carry clips for folders? Casey Lynch comes to mind, check the bay and you'll find tons more. I don't like having so much handle sticking out that it could be grabbed by someone else or snagged on something and lost so easily. I pay Casey's price gladly, he does a great job. I just wish he did DCCs for more companies. I'd rather be able to get a folder and have to do nothing or at least the option to order a DCC to come with it. Some companies have them but you might have to lie and say you have a different model than the one you bought to get one. Others only come on certain folders and they are so completely different that they won't work on another folder from the same company. I pay extra to someone that makes them on the side, that means your company is losing money that could easily be had.

2. Please stop with the garish, super polished, weird shaped, bright clips. Nothing says "Look at me!" like bulbous shiny objects, otherwise people wouldn't buy diamond rings and gold watches. A folding knife is not jewelry! A brightly polished weird shape attracts attention and people can't help but ask "Hey, what's that sticking out of your pocket?" or "Hey, the reflection off of your clip just burned my retina. Can you cover that up?". It's almost a joke that something being sold as a "defensive" or "tactical" folder would have a super shiny "Hey, over here!" clip. Stone-washing might be cheaper and is perfectly acceptable to most people, youtube is full of videos of guys stone-washing super shiny clips. Paint or powder coating works too but probably costs more and doesn't seem to last as long. Most companies already do stone-washed blades so it wouldn't be hard to just drop some clips in the machine while doing the blades.

Well, that's what I'd like to see as far as changes. What changes would you like to see?
Click to expand...

1) I hate deep-carry clips, and sometimes I avoid a knife due to this reason.

2) Ever heard of Art-Knives? Not everything that folds is meant to be "tactical"...

What I'd like to see, is more manufacturers making acceptable flippers. I see more and more flippers that don't flip that well IMO. Also, I'd like to see more carbon steels like CPM-M4 and CPM-CruWear being used. More Linerlock flippers would be nice, and also seeing more washer-pivots would be nice too. Bearings are becoming a fad with little functional advantages...
 
I would like to see more wood used on handles, and a more robust handle with leather pouch options offered.
 
I also am not a fan of deep carry clips. They're difficult to remove from the pocket. What would be ideal is the proper placement of the holes so that a standard clip would work for both standard carry and deep carry.

My only other gripe is when a framelock relief cutout is on the outside if the lock. I've had issues with the knife getting caught on my pocket when trying to remove it from my pocket.
 
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