Ever waited for a knife, only to be disappointed?

I

Infinite Zero

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Nov 22, 2010
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I had been waiting for my local knife shop to get ahold of an Endura Wave for me for several months. I bought a Delica Wave back in October, and knew right away I wanted the Endura.

I let the owner of my store know I wanted one and he set about trying to order one for me.

It finally showed up yesterday and I picked it up. After deploying it all night, i found myself vastly prefering my Delica Wave to the Endura. There was nothing really wrong with it; but something just didn't feel right to me (which is surprising since I love my FFG Endura).

I took the Endura Wave back this morning and got a Bob T Slipit instead (which I had been messing with at the store waiting for his UPS delivery). The Bob T may have tainted my opinion on the Endura, since I kept wishing I had bought that instead all night.

Has anyone else ever waited months for a knife, only to be vastly disappointed?
 
Oh yes, anything Emerson, but thats another story for another day. The Spyderco JD Smith G10 was a HUGE dissapointment for me.
 
I totally second the thought on Emersons. Returned a commander after one day. IMHO, much ado about nothing. I wasn't too hot on my Spyderco Zowada either, although I love my Sages, Millie, Persian, and Kopa.
 
Yes...twice for me.

I spent a while searching around for a NIB Endura 3, plain edge. When I finally got ahold of one, it had the most blade play I've ever seen in a knife and didn't fit my hands at all. I might have carried it once or twice, then sold it. It was not a bad knife, it just wasn't the knife for me.

I put a special order in for a Benchmade 520 Presidio with an online dealer. It was, to date, the most expensive knife I've bought. When it got here, it had a whole wack of up-and-down lade play that couldn't be fixed, so I sent it back to the retailer to see if they could find one without that problem. Around a month later, I get the same one back with a note that said they checked every one they had received from Benchmade and they were all equally loose. :eek:

Whatever, not really vital to the function of the knife, it was just annoying to see such an obvious problem on what is, to me, a pretty expensive knife. I sucked it up and started using the knife anyway, at which point an Omega spring broke, so I had to send it back to Benchmade for repair. It comes back, I use it some more, and the other spring breaks. Time to ship it to the other side of the continent again. :rolleyes:

Since I bought the knife, it spent more time being shipped around the world for repairs than actually being used. Finally got sick of sending it out for repairs and got rid of it. :barf:
 
I had two that were perfect in F&F but the cutting edge was a half inch shorter than it could have been IMHO. There is a 1/2" of tang that isn't utilized for a choil or the edge. That was my dissapointment about the JD Smith. I won't ding the thin delicate looking blade since that is a subjective matter but I found that extra tang a waste. I sold them both. The fine tip is very handy but that can be acquired with a Military ;)
swedgie said:
I was hoping to eventually get a JD Smith -- what disappointed you about it?
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It happens.

I think that when you are forced to wait for something, psychologically that anticipation builds you up to expect something more than what you should expect. I would bet that if you could have bought it without the wait, you would not feel as high a level of disappointment.

Another similar phenomena seems to occur (with me) when I read scads of raving reviews on a knife on forums and for whatever reason, I allow these reviews to convince me to try a knife that I would not have tried otherwise. It sounds stupid to type such a thing, but it happens...you start to think that perhaps your radar missed something and you ought to try the knife because EVERYONE else RAVES about it. Sometimes everyone else is right...but most of the time if I think I won't like it...I won't.

You can probably guess the knife I am talking about....
 
unit said:
It happens.

I think that when you are forced to wait for something, psychologically that anticipation builds you up to expect something more than what you should expect. I would bet that if you could have bought it without the wait, you would not feel as high a level of disappointment.

Another similar phenomena seems to occur (with me) when I read scads of raving reviews on a knife on forums and for whatever reason, I allow these reviews to convince me to try a knife that I would not have tried otherwise. It sounds stupid to type such a thing, but it happens...you start to think that perhaps your radar missed something and you ought to try the knife because EVERYONE else RAVES about it. Sometimes everyone else is right...but most of the time if I think I won't like it...I won't.

You can probably guess the knife I am talking about....
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Actually that's not always true. My Spyderco Para2 in S90V and Carbon Fiber and ZT 0551 were two knives I waited a while for, and they certainly did not disappoint:thumbup:.

My Large Sebenza 21 did not impress me all that much, though it did finally sink in on why it cost so much once I checked for blade play and saw the blade sitting smugly-I mean, snugly inside the handles:D.

But again, Emerson knives have 1st place as far as my disappointments go. For a knife that has hard use as its selling point, and tip strength for the CQC-7 Tanto blade, the tip has thus far been far from reliable, with the tip breaking off on both of the ones I had. The black oxide coating is among the worst I've ever seen and is worn away by my pants. There is a huge gap between the blade and the handles, allowing for lots of blade play. The pivot is among the quickest to loosen up after a day's use if you don't loctite it. I also think that a chisel grind on such a thick blade does nothing to aid with ease of cutting, particularly given that the direction of the grind is reversed and actually makes right hand cutting more difficult. I suspect the grind was just thrown on for a "tacticool" feature, with the black oxide coating on for the same reason.
 
Yikes, I thought I was the only one with the Emersons, judging by the seemingly immense adulation for his knives. Bought and handled a couple CQCs and always sold them right after. Dunno why, but I just don't like them (nor liner locks). They are fantastic knives though.

Couple others:

My first Spyderco (didn't like the blade shape)
Small Sebenza (AT FIRST, but grew to love it... probably due to buyer's remorse)
Benchmade 551 Griptilian (Ugh... hated the handles... sooo much)
 
I've been a bit dissapointed with the Emerson's as well. I had issues with my Mini CQC-15 as well as my EOG-1 in OD Green. After just 2 weeks of use with the CQC I had to send it back and have the locking liner replaced... so much for Emerson titanium.
 
Infinite Zero said:
I had been waiting for my local knife shop to get ahold of an Endura Wave for me for several months. I bought a Delica Wave back in October, and knew right away I wanted the Endura.

I let the owner of my store know I wanted one and he set about trying to order one for me.

It finally showed up yesterday and I picked it up. After deploying it all night, i found myself vastly prefering my Delica Wave to the Endura. There was nothing really wrong with it; but something just didn't feel right to me (which is surprising since I love my FFG Endura).

I took the Endura Wave back this morning and got a Bob T Slipit instead (which I had been messing with at the store waiting for his UPS delivery). The Bob T may have tainted my opinion on the Endura, since I kept wishing I had bought that instead all night.

Has anyone else ever waited months for a knife, only to be vastly disappointed?
Click to expand...

Everyone here has experienced disappointment. I find the bolded part a bit disappointing. Someone will buy that Endura you took back after deploying it all night and wonder WTH is wrong with it (blade play, finger prints, no longer new, but slightly used). It doesn't take me an entire day or night to make up my mind if I like a knife or now. I have to like it if I order it online, but I ususally don't give it a couple hundred cycles. If the grip is wrong for me, I sell or trade it.
 
For me it's been BM. I've heard so much about how great their stuff is, but after getting a Bone Collector and a Rift, I was left wonder why. I guess I'm just a Kershaw/Spyderco guy.
 
Spyderco Military for me. Probably about 3 years ago. So many people liking it and praising so high - I thought that must be something. Got two - in s90v and D2. Sold them on without even playing much. ;) Nothing wrong with the knives as such - just me hating the shape, blade angle, big handle - everything. Agrh...
Love Enduras!
So somebody disappointing does not necessarily means the knife is bad...
 
Sage 3. Bolt lockup got harder to close, not easier, with use. Looked like the bolt rod was wearing a 1/8" long groove in the blade tang. I returned it (with note explaining why) and ordered another BM mini grip M390 and a BM Onslaught instead.
 
Just happened today. got the bm 805 limited today. i hate it. the axis lock tilts to one side when open, the knife seems so long & thin,the handle notch is too far back from the blade.also, the pocket clip has 4 tiny notches,2 on each side, as if when it was cut,it was broken away from the rest of the form like a plastic model car part,leaving 4 little dimples there.on a 200.00 knife this & the tilted axis lock is unacceptable.its going back tomorow.part of the problem too is i just got a umnumzaan star tac, & it makes this 805 look like crap.
 
I bought a 400 dollar semi custom knife by a maker everyone raves about. I got and it was barely sharp and the bevel was very sloppy and the grinds werent that clean and it was a tad rough.

I sharpened it and I still like it very much (will be my edc soon) but I was expecting a little more for 400 dollars....
 
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