Default knife configurations you can't stand

ShaiHulud said:
To clarify, what are some knife configurations adopted by most companies that irritate you to no end, for some its the lanyard holes, for others its the ---?

I'll start, and im probably alone on this but I get irritated that a lot of folding knives are configured with a tip up design, I prefer tip down, whats your beef?
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The tip up tip down thingimajig will only bother me if we can’t move the dang clip. Otherwise, it’s really no bother with a screwdriver. Two minutes and done.

Assisted opening is definitely my gripe. I just stay away from them. For fixed blades, bad sheaths.
 
I am having trouble with pocket clips. They snag on furniture and are inconvenient for me to deploy for some reason. Maybe it's the casual slacks I were. The clip doesn't feel right in my hand either.

"Odd" looking blade profiles bother me as and dumb humps bother me esthetically as do the hump and eye hole look of most Spiderco knives.

II know that there is a whole universe of butterfly aficionados, but I just don't see the point of ll all the fiddling required to open and secure the blade. . . .though I've seen some impressive videos (in slow motion!) of folks who make it look like performance magic.
 
None of these are dealbreakers, but… tip down only, excess holes in fixed blades (Tops), handles shorter than 4”, fixed blades that don’t come with a sheath, flipper and thumbstuds on the same knife (pick one and commit, dammit!), finger choils on small knives, and my #1 pet peeve - unergonomic handles.
 
I'm not a fan of folders that force your hand into a specific grip as well as those with wasted potential real estate to make a knife better.

Case in point: I'm going to pick on Cold Steel. The Mayhem has cut in backward slanting side finger grooves that almost force you to hold it in a sabre grip. That's fine. I get it. It's not exactly a subtle piece of EDC kit, but I just hate how it tries to lock my hand into that one grip when maybe I would like the option of manipulating the knife a different way.

Also, going to the way it wastes space, there is a WHOLE section at the front of the handle where they could have put something. I get that not everyone wants a choil, but one of the things that makes the monstrous 5 Max handle well is that you can choke up on it. The Mayhem has this big bump of like an inch that you can't do anything with.

I get that it's supposed to be a big goofy impractical knife...but that doesn't mean it needs to go out of its way to be even LESS useful.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I'm not a fan of folders that force your hand into a specific grip as well as those with wasted potential real estate to make a knife better.

Case in point: I'm going to pick on Cold Steel. The Mayhem has cut in backward slanting side finger grooves that almost force you to hold it in a sabre grip. That's fine. I get it. It's not exactly a subtle piece of EDC kit, but I just hate how it tries to lock my hand into that one grip when maybe I would like the option of manipulating the knife a different way.

Also, going to the way it wastes space, there is a WHOLE section at the front of the handle where they could have put something. I get that not everyone wants a choil, but one of the things that makes the monstrous 5 Max handle well is that you can choke up on it. The Mayhem has this big bump of like an inch that you can't do anything with.

I get that it's supposed to be a big goofy impractical knife...but that doesn't mean it needs to go out of its way to be even LESS useful.
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Oversized handle guards are terrible too. Can make it difficult to grip the knife higher.

I’ll be cutting open boxes with this thing, not dueling the Count of Monte Cristo for crying out loud.
 
One thing that bothers me is space between the heel of the blade and start of the handle, when there's big wasted cutting performance between my fingers in the forwardmost position on the handle and the start of the edge. That bit of real estate is where I have the most control over a knife and I just don't understand why you wouldn't make use of it. It's one of the many reasons I don't get why people like Benchmades, some Spydercos have that problem also, as well as so many other knives.

Finger choils are a way to combat this problem, but only on folders imho, on fixed blades under a certain blade length they're just stupid, but I prefer the design be carried out in a way where there is no wasted space between handle and edge and preferrably no choil (the Bodacious is pretty much perfect in that regard).

And, to drive the point home, I don't like Benchmades, I think they're stupid and overpriced. Also framelocks, though I would like to try a CRK or SHF at some point.

And knives designed like toys. Winterblade comes to mind, also anything with a goofy bladeshape.
 
I guess I’ll add that I dislike certain styles of knives with only one opening method. Slip joints and friction folders are excluded, of course. Still, if I like it enough, I’ll still buy and use it.
 
Ikhnaton said:
One thing that bothers me is space between the heel of the blade and start of the handle, when there's big wasted cutting performance between my fingers in the forwardmost position on the handle and the start of the edge. That bit of real estate is where I have the most control over a knife and I just don't understand why you wouldn't make use of it. It's one of the many reasons I don't get why people like Benchmades, some Spydercos have that problem also, as well as so many other knives.

Finger choils are a way to combat this problem, but only on folders imho, on fixed blades under a certain blade length they're just stupid, but I prefer the design be carried out in a way where there is no wasted space between handle and edge and preferrably no choil (the Bodacious is pretty much perfect in that regard).
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This is one of my top pet peeves as well.

I have always called a long ricasso section as “dead space” because it subtracts real estate that is neither handle nor edge. I want my hand, behind any guard, to be as close to the heel of the cutting edge as safely possible for leverage and utility.

Phil
 
Frame lock flippers that require a specific grip placement to open. Particularly fingers anywhere near the lock bar. I don’t have that many knives, but I do have more than I can remember how every one has to be held. I’ve gotten rid of a few (some otherwise pretty nice ones) that were more of a pain in the ass to operate than they were worth (to me, anyway).

Close second, and I know I’m in the minority here, but lockbacks. I need to be able to operate a folder one-handed - opening and closing - and I’ve yet to find any lockback that allows me to do that.
 
Danny Linguini said:
Frame lock flippers that require a specific grip placement to open. Particularly fingers anywhere near the lock bar. I don’t have that many knives, but I do have more than I can remember how every one has to be held. I’ve gotten rid of a few (some otherwise pretty nice ones) that were more of a pain in the ass to operate than they were worth (to me, anyway).

Close second, and I know I’m in the minority here, but lockbacks. I need to be able to operate a folder one-handed - opening and closing - and I’ve yet to find any lockback that allows me to do that.
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I share your dislike for lockbacks, but the Spyderco Endura I once ordered for a friend allowed me just that, without letting the blade drop on my fingers
 
Ikhnaton said:
I share your dislike for lockbacks, but the Spyderco Endura I once ordered for a friend allowed me just that, without letting the blade drop on my fingers
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The Spyderco chaparral is similar, I use it one handed all the time
 
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