Do you regret getting a coated blade?

C

cutitout

Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
135
Probably a dumb question, I know. One of my first knives was a Zero Tolerance 0350 coated blade. As I became aware of all the variations in knives and began collecting knives, I became more anal about the looks of my knives. While I am still very new to collecting and do not have that many, I have since picked up a ZT 560 Elmax and a ZT 350 stone washed from Blade HQ, which is one of my favorites. But now I find that I don't want to use my coated blade ZT 350 because I like the look of it. But the irony is that it is no good to me if I can't use it and I don't want to use it because the coating will start to wear. I know, a worn coated blade is a good thing to some, but not me.

So, I was curious if anyone else has bought a coated blade and regretted it. I have learned from these forums that knife collectors are a bunch of detail oriented folk to put it nicely.
 
Hello,

Ive always gotten uncoated blades because I thought having a worn coating would bug me, then I got a ZT300. I use it regularly and the coating is still holding up well but it shows a little wear. I really dont mind it like I thought I would, they are battle scars. Unless your buying the knife as a collectors blade then use it and take pride in the fact that it shows some wear. That ZT350 is a great blade and it would be a shame if you didnt use it because of a scuffed up coating.

have a good one,

Chris
 
No

I use my 0301 daily and I use it hard pretty often, baton wood, open metal buckets, chop branches, dig, scrape caulk, silicone and paint off of metal roofing and houses, and all kinds of other crap, I havent worn through the coating yet.
 
It depends on the coating for me. I didn't like it on my Izula, so I took it off. The same for my 350(I did like the DLC on this one, but i like it better without). I put time into both those knives making them my own so no regrets at all.
 
A coated blade looks great if it's a user, and there's a good amount of wear on it. Doesn't look so good initially when you get those first few scratches though. So for me after the first use..... heavy regret. A few months later when it's all worn out and has a lot of character..... no more regrets.
 
I used to baby my knives, then I had an epiphany. You only live once. You might as well enjoy everything you can as this may be your only chance.

What good is a knife if you can't use it?
 
Its funny, I went through the exact thing with my 0350 which was my first higher quality knife purchase. But i moved on to a Para 2 and Gayle Bradley, instead of the 0560 and another 0350 haha.
 
When I first started on my journey into the knife world I had this thing about putting any marks on my knives because they were just so pretty. As I went on I started to care less and less about a scratch here or a scuff there and really started to EDC my knives, putting them through their paces. Sure the coating is pretty and it looks good, but I enjoy carrying and using my knives. When they start to show wear you do kind of go through a state of mine where you think "Oh no, it's not going to be perfect anymore."
But as with everything in life your knives will show wear and imperfections but be just as beautiful as before when everything appeared perfect.
I enjoy when my knives get wear marks, it adds character and lets me appreciate the knife more. As it's earned those "battle wounds" by doing it's job the best it can.
I used to hate the idea of the coating wearing off of my knives. Then I owned a Spyderco Manix 2 all black and it was my user for a long time. It had lots of wear on the blade but they fit it well and showed to me that it had been loved and appreciated. I began to enjoy the wear marks on my knives so much that I get excited when they start to show that they've been used, appreciated, and have done their job.

I'm sure once you start using and truly appreciating your knife and what it can do, you'll find a new soft spot for the wear that your trusty old faithful knife starts to show.
 
I regret stripping a few outdoor knives. Why make them more vulnerable to rust, and higher maintenance.
 
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