Do Looks Matter To You?

Definitely. Looks count, but as many others have said, function has to be there too or I won't buy it.

- Mark
 
of course it matters.
Secretly, thats why i refuse to buy spydercos. I think that hole just ruins the blades profile.
 
lookd matter to a point , but I prefer to pay more attention to how it feels and performs. It can be the most drop dead good looking knife , yet feel like a 2 x 4 in your hand , or have so many sharp edges or points that it feels terrible to use.

Function, Form , looks... its nice to have all 3 , but I put more weight towards function....

beauty is certainly in the eye of the beerholder ;)
 
Sure! If I can find an ugly knife that meets my needs and a good looking knife that can meet my needs (and I almost always can) of course I'll buy the good looking one. ;)
 
I do not like the look of the Kukri style blade but the Cold Steel Kukri machete is a tough tool that functions as designed.
 
If a knife is nicely put together - of decent materials - with apparently much attention to detail and having tight tolerances, I am interested. Okay, not so much if it's pink... or orange... or yellow...

While a $27 Wally World Buck 110 is a functional work of art to me, some of the blue Yellowhorse big dollar Buck 110 productions, etc, are just too gawdy. Some are super, of course. It's axiomatic at best to me now - even the $27 would be a problem today.

A poorly fitted knife, no matter the marque, is anything but attractive to me.

Stainz
 
Looks are very important to me, but I will not make a purchase based on looks without knowing the knife is of good quality and materials.

Some knives I have to warm up to - and it may take me handling it a few times at the store or reading reviews and watching videos about it to move me to buy it.

I will not buy an ugly knife no matter how well made.
 
Looks mean a lot to me. I do sometimes look at and buy a knife I normally would not look at twice unless I put it in my hand....sometimes I just fall in love with something like that.
 
I'm more about function than form. That said, I find functional looking working knives quite attractive. Not so much into the froo froo looking knives. Give me something that looks like it can hack off my hand, and leave an infection while doing so, and I'm happy.

Jason
 
outlaw918692000 said:
100_0661.jpg
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Is that the RW-2? How do you like it?


Looks are very important to me. There are so many functional knives out there that I think it would be silly to buy a knife that you didn't fine aesthetically pleasing. If you keep looking, chances are that you will find a beautiful knife that performs just as well as the less beautiful knife.
 
I'm actually surprised how many people care. I thought I'd be a minority
and most people would say I'm too superficial in my choosing of knives.
Haha.
 
Everyone buys based on looks. We buy knives that look good, knives that look tough, knives that look traditional, knives that look tactical, knives that look like we weren't trying to buy based on looks.
 
Spyderco is my favorite company and I've dozens of Spydies.

So, no, looks don't matter to me :D

I don't want a truly atrocious, or silly looking knife, but the things that influece my buying decsion are function, lock, cost. Looks are a few rungs below those qualities.
 
I find that looks are very important. I've also noticed that many of the most functional knives also look the best. Maybe it's that we subconsciously like functional things.

gajinoz said:
I'd hate to be a knife maker trying to work out what people like.
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The knife maker should simply be making the designs he likes. Someone is bound to have similar tastes. Even is many people hate the design.

It is next to impossible to design and build something you hate, even if it is popular.
 
Phillip Dobson said:
many of the most functional knives also look the best. Maybe it's that we subconsciously like functional things.



The knife maker should simply be making the designs he likes.
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You took my two points away from me. I have noticed that as my knife life has progressed that I have found beauty in function, and have not been disappointed in how a good looking knife performs in a long time when I finally get my mitts on them. I think we all reach a point in our passion where what we find attractive is also what we want out of the tool. THe materials, shapse and colors all meld into one homogenous beautiful thing, form flowing into function- it is up to the collector/user to determine the scope of the beauty and function.

I have moved away from dull blacks and browns for more color in my life, and many feel knives with color are distasteful. To each their own!
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
You took my two points away from me. I have noticed that as my knife life has progressed that I have found beauty in function, and have not been disappointed in how a good looking knife performs in a long time when I finally get my mitts on them. I think we all reach a point in our passion where what we find attractive is also what we want out of the tool. THe materials, shapse and colors all meld into one homogenous beautiful thing, form flowing into function- it is up to the collector/user to determine the scope of the beauty and function.
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These are interesting theories.

Undoubtedly functionality must be a factor but I suspect familiarity is the key. Presumably, the more useful the knife is, the more you use it, the more you become used to it's appearance. Maybe the tactical knife trend is from familiarity established by television, movies, video games, ect. The traditional knife folks refer to their father's knives often. Maybe your own preferences are a way to represent yourself as associated with those things, whatever they may be.

To momentarily sidetrack, it seems to me by most requirements a Toyota Prius is a very practical car, yet based on everyone I've asked the car is unequivocally ugly. It has particularly distinct styling, looking like a futuristic hatchback VW Bug. The unfamiliar appearance might explain why it's a hippie car made for pussies instead of an efficient people-mover.

It's curious how we assign completely arbitrary, irrelevant values to inhuman, inanimate objects like machines and tools.

Anyways, I thought the thumb ramp looked weird on the sebenza before I got one, and how that I have it I think it's comfortable and looks perfect. Function is everything to me, but fit and finish does seal the deal.
 
hardheart said:
Everyone buys based on looks. We buy knives that look good, knives that look tough, knives that look traditional, knives that look tactical, knives that look like we weren't trying to buy based on looks.
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I was about to say something similar. Anyone who says looks don't matter to them in a purchase is a liar.
 
rwATR said:
Is that the RW-2? How do you like it?


Looks are very important to me. There are so many functional knives out there that I think it would be silly to buy a knife that you didn't fine aesthetically pleasing. If you keep looking, chances are that you will find a beautiful knife that performs just as well as the less beautiful knife.
Click to expand...

No it's an EB-T 1/4inch thick sharpened prybar!
 
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