Fading popularity of traditional knives

I was owner and operator of a small landscape company for over 10 years. I carried and used a knife everyday. I started with a Case trapper. I used it for a few years. It worked as expected. At some point I bought my first Spyderco, a Manix2 with S30V. They had just switched from CPM154, so S30V was the new steel. I was blown away with how easy I could remove it from my pocket cut something, fold it closed, and put it back in the pocket. I thought it forever changed my work knife. I sold my landscape company and went to nursing school. I now carry a traditional pocket knife in my pocket everyday. Usually a mini trapper or a barlow.
 
colubrid said:
Now I wonder what the responses would be in the General knife forum?
5% traditional and 95% modern flipper sword pig stickers is my guess.
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My guess is you're a little on the conservative side on your guesstimate for the General Knife area. Although Traditionals are being mentioned there more often than they used to be. Heck, I remember not so long ago, if you mentioned a traditional over in General they'd run you out with pitchforks, pikes, and flaming torches.

I think the Traditional Knives are gaining in popularity, over-all. More and more young people are discovering that generally speaking, a traditional slices better than most "modern" knives, using two hands to open is not that much slower than a OHO, and is not as "inconvenient" as the marketing departments lead them to believe. They are also slowly discovering that having more than one blade makes the knife more versatile, and a traditional has "soul".
Not to mention a drastic drop in the number of dirty looks they receive when they use it.
(oops ... I mentioned it)

I only have one "modern" OHO. A Rat 1.
It's an ok knife, but I rarely carry it.
I prefer the Buck 110 or 112 on the belt instead of something clipped in my pocket.
I do have a couple other single blade traditionals, but they don't see much use outside the kitchen.
To be honest, although a Buck 110 or 112 is always on my belt, I use the stockman or Scout/Camp knife that's in my pocket probably 99.99998% of the time. Even when I do use it, the stockman could probably do the job just as well.
I haven't hunted in decades :(, so cleaning game is not an issue.
I could stop carrying the 110/112 for all that I use it. I guess you could say it is only force of habit that keeps it on my belt after 40 odd years.

I prefer a pocketknife with more than one blade. I always have. Even when I was young and an Old Timer 7OT was my "primary" knife, I always had a stockman or Barlow or Scout/Camp knife in my pocket to go with it. Back then, the 7OT was only used to scrape engine gaskets off, cut radiator and heater hose, strip/cut wires and cables, and other heavy and/or dulling work around the shop.

I don't need or want an (in my eyes) ugly, blocky, souless, cookie cutter, "mall ninja" overbuilt 'tactical' knife that can stab cars or baton through 8-8-16 concrete blocks or a fully serrated carpet/linoleum/budding/pruning knife, for that matter.
I think they call them a "Krambit" or some such thing nowdays?
I don't know about you, but I've never had a reason or desire to stab some poor innocent car to death. A chipping hammer and chisel, or a concrete saw works much better than a knife when working with bricks or 8-8-16 block. :)

As for "super steels" ... Until this year I've never owned anything above 440C. Now I have one D2 (Buck 112) (is D2 considered a "super steel"?) and soon to be two with CPM-154 (Buck 110LT Smoke Jumper and the 2018 Forum knife)
I've never needed a "super steel"; I still don't for that matter.
I'll admit it's nice to have something different, though, even if I do need a SiC or diamond stones to maintain the edges if/when they need it. :)

Sorry for the long winded post. :(
 
I suppose I can't post a photo of it but my Spyderco UKPK in S110V is selling for around $90 or less.
Is everyone telling me that for another fifty dollars we can not have a full on traditional in M4 ?
or
That hmmmmm Spyderco is not only making wood handled knives now but will soon pick up all that money laying on the table for a full on traditional in super steel ?
(with a tiny little round hole near the pivot of course ;))
heck I don't even need bone or stag. Laminated black canvas would be just fine thank you very much.
contour it roundy like the Churchill though (enough with the slab / flat scales already).
 
What does popularity gain you? Nothing.

Traditional knives aren't dying out.

At a place like Blade HQ you won't see many people carrying a GEC because they don't sell them. Instead check the pockets of folks at Knives Ship Free.

I was just maturing at the same time as the tactical boom happened. I carry 2 (or more) knives. One modern one hand opening model like a Sypderco since I can find it in my pocket quick and open and close it up a ladder or if I can't set down what I want to cut. I carry a traditional like a GEC or Northwoods because I appreciate the aesthetic and the easy carry of them. I easily have room and cutting tasks for both.

I an always wary of folks who very stridently defend their choices while at the same time demanding validation for those choices. That's not just knives, that's the guy with the Ford truck constantly running down Dodge and Chevy, the guy with an iPhone running down someone who still wears a wristwatch, the guy with a Glock who can't stand 1911s even though he's never shot one.
 
If I pull a red wine jigged bone GEC Talon out of my pocket some people will admire it. If I pull a Benchmade 940 out of my pocket some people will give it a hard look.

Having said that I carry both but the 92 is a thing of beauty and the 940 is more of a tool. I think they are both well made and useful knives. I am glad to have both.

I was with my brother at the GEC Rendezvous last week and he uses knives in his line of work. Construction. He now really appreciates the craftsmanship involved in producing something like the 44 Gunstock.
But on a day to day basis he is more likely to carry the griptilian I bought him

They both have their place and time so I expect they will both continue to thrive for the near future until more laws start restricting their carry.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
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I grew up with a Stockman in my pocket, starting around age 6 or 7. As an adult, I worked around electronics and carried a SAK most of the time because those tools were so darned useful so often. Once I retired, I bought a few Benchmades, because looks, thumbstud, lock, etc. They were OK knives and cool looking but never really sliced very well due to thick stock and thick grinds. I did like the clip as it kept my knife mostly in my pocket. When Benchmade went to MAP pricing and the fun of deal hunting went away, I moved on to Spyderco. They generally cut better than the Benchmades and I got rid of all but my favorite BM. The Spyderco Centofante 3 and 4 in particular cut well and are less fugly than most of the other models. I kept trying the other models with mixed success as too many were tacticool with thick stock and thick grinds but it was fun. I really liked the modern steels and the thinner lighter weights, but I kept snagging that dang clip on stuff and I still lost a knife or two. I grew to dislike the hole, that stupid hole, in everything, whether it made sense or not. Then MAP came to Spyderco around the time that prices really seemed to take off. For me, the value proposition went negative and the deal hunting fun was gone. That was it.

I started remembering how well the knives of my childhood had worked and how darned good the SAKs really are and started looking around at my options. I bought a GEC and loved it. Eighty freaking bucks for a knife that Spyderco would sell for hundreds on the street. And it cut better than my Spydies once I reset the obtuse factory edge, something I'd had to do to all of my BMs and Spydies anyway. So I started buying more. And more. What a blast. Affordable fun again. About the only thing I miss is the better steels. Of the traditional steels, I like 1095 the best, but there are so many better options these days. I wish the traditional makers would find some, particularly on the stainless side. Most of the stainless used in traditionals is lame. 440C is barely acceptable but so out of date technology-wise as to be laughable. There's no excuse. I'm happy to see Mike out there getting traditional models made with modern steels at reasonable prices, so maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel.

So back to the question, are traditionals in decline? Absolutely. But then knives in general are in decline. When I grew up, all the farm kids and half the town kids carried knives. Everywhere, including to school and church. This was in Commie-fornia, of all places. Nobody ever thought twice about it. Now you see kids being sent home for having a plastic knife in their lunch box. Times have changed, for sure. People actually ask "What on earth do you need that knife for?". More and more, the answer is "habit". Modern indoor life and modern packaging, other than the dreaded clamshell, has made an EDC knife nearly obsolete for most people. And when you're not cutting stuff, lots of stuff, every day, how well the knife actually cuts becomes secondary to styling and you end up with exotic tacticool folding prybars that never get used for cutting anything but envelopes. And they all need locks to protect the fingers of people who never learned to use a knife properly. So yeah, traditionals are in decline. Other than in flyover country, where people go outside occasionally, they're an obscure hobby followed mostly by a bunch of old geezers who will be dying off soon. So enjoy those knives, guys. Use 'em up. Once our generation is gone, these things will be curios ... :) Half serious, half in jest. You decide which half. ;)
 
I have always carried a traditional of some sort, mostly Case, Buck & Schrade. I went through a "Modern"phase back in the 90's but found while I carried one a lot I didn't use it much. The ones I have owned were not good carvers or slicers, at least when compared to a Case Trapper or Stockman. I do have a soft spot for the Gerber LST. Light, a good slicer and with practice you can open it with one hand.
 
Fading popularity?

All I know is that I'm always missing out on knives I fancy on the Exchange..:eek::( OK it has partly to do with living in Europe and being on an advanced time zone...Missed a Black Box Winchester I was really after....And, prices don't seem too depressed either, nor do the vast majority of Traditionals remain on the Exchange for long ;)

Bluntly...most people in the world just aren't interested in knives except to eat with so I think with knife enthusiasts it's very difficult to gauge popularity with any accuracy, it's merely perception-and this is where marketing propaganda can create false images. Hardware stores in the US may not carry a large range of Traditional knives but that may be due to pressure from suppliers or lack of supply of Traditionals not just popularity. As a European, it would be very near impossible for me to get hold of American Traditionals, it's tricky enough accessing ones from other European countries, were in not for the Internet. Twenty years ago my array of Traditional knives was meagre simply because getting hold of them was so obscure and tricky-or even knowing about them:eek: And I'm sure I'm not alone in this...;)

Some American (and overseas) cutlery firms have gone bust but I have to say that it is usually in connexion with a failure or inability to maintain credible QC rather than being out priced by imports or a lack of interest in the Traditional knife itself. Modern knives offer certain advantages certainly, but I don't like them that much because of their sheer size and bulk, most are not that attractive to look at, but that is naturally subjective :D I have a Ken Onion designed CRKT Ripple I'm sort of fond of because it is thin, the blade is thin and slices very well and the assisted opening is amusing, nor was it costly. I don't altogether trust it in my pocket as I suspect it could open accidentally:eek: But apart from that and a Benchmade and Byrd I have no interest in buying more and little need to carry or use one.

Popularity is nebulous and often dangerously overrated....think trends :D:D
 
The numbers tell all. Of all the knives I own, only 2 are moderns, the rest, ever how many hundreds, are traditional. Ok, at one point I owned maybe 5 moderns but now only two.
 
Dean51 said:
This may not be a popular thing to say but maybe they're not available because they're not popular aka not selling. If they were selling the big box stores would have them.
**********
Young people getting into knives these days have a choice, they don't have to put up with low grade steels and patina. There's a good chance there dad didn't carry a traditional and just as likely he didn't carry a knife. So why should they buy a traditional, there's no tradition there. In 1960 there was but not in 2018.

I'll date myself here but Pocket knives have gone from mainstream available in every hardware to just a niche market. Traditional knife companies had a chance to change and update but they didn't and the result is almost all of them are gone now.
What I'm seeing now are modern makers dipping their toes in to what you could call a modern traditional. Maybe that's the new future.
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You do make good points. I guess I do wonder how many people buying knives are actually putting that much thought into it. About half don't think at all, and another whatever just know "Hey, I heard that's a good knife.". We are in a little bit of a bubble here at BF even looking at more than the big boxes.

There are slipjoints at the big box, just not very good ones. Not at mine anyway. So, more trouble to find a good one for that non knife nut that actually wants to cut stuff. 1095 and 12c27 are fine for a lot of people but 420 will turn them off.

I like a lot of the modern traditionals myself, that Shuffler is a nice looking knife. I hope to see more of that happen. I like slipjoints due to the design and not just the gestalt.
 
Great original post and replies. Like others have said traditional has been making a comeback recently with all the tacticool non sense some people are tired of it. I feel you on the kydex replacing leather I love leather nothing like a leather holster belt or sheath. I do have a blackpoint holster I like rather well tho with a kydex holster and leather wings to conform to your body. Bladehqs videos on traditional knives I didn’t like but they just don’t get it and that’s ok would figure to not see any trads in their pockets.

Tradionals are just eye catching and look so good and classic. Like an old Gibson is my best analogy.

I only have 6 modern knives that I mainly carry because I think they’re extremely cool. But I have 8 or so traditionals(with a few more on the way) that do most of the work.

Companies like Case GEC Buck I don’t see going anywhere. Especially GEC bc as long as they’re making high quality products ppl will be there to buy them.
 
It seems a lot of folks around here have the erroneous idea that OHO and a pocket clip turns a knife into some kind of shameful thing consigned to abusive tasks only. :rolleyes:
I've owned a few modern folders over the years and none were designed to pry open doors, punch through brick or baton firewood. They do however slice just as well, if not better than some of my traditionals, and are available in superior steels at decent prices.
Its understandable to have a preference one way or the other but theres no need for zealots on either side denigrate the other. Meanwhile I'll continue to spend to much money on both...
 
solphilos said:
It seems a lot of folks around here have the erroneous idea that OHO and a pocket clip turns a knife into some kind of shameful thing consigned to abusive tasks only. :rolleyes:
I've owned a few modern folders over the years and none were designed to pry open doors, punch through brick or baton firewood. They do however slice just as well, if not better than some of my traditionals, and are available in superior steels at decent prices.
Its understandable to have a preference one way or the other but theres no need for zealots on either side denigrate the other.
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Marketing departments have done plenty to present modern OHO as weapons or breaching tools. I don't think it's unreasonable for non-knife people or non-modern knife people to have that perception of them when companies constantly push their modern OHO as military- or ems- or police-grade or companies like Cold Steel actually advertise their knives piercing doors.
 
gaj999 said:
I grew up with a Stockman in my pocket, starting around age 6 or 7. As an adult, I worked around electronics and carried a SAK most of the time because those tools were so darned useful so often. Once I retired, I bought a few Benchmades, because looks, thumbstud, lock, etc. They were OK knives and cool looking but never really sliced very well due to thick stock and thick grinds. I did like the clip as it kept my knife mostly in my pocket. When Benchmade went to MAP pricing and the fun of deal hunting went away, I moved on to Spyderco. They generally cut better than the Benchmades and I got rid of all but my favorite BM. The Spyderco Centofante 3 and 4 in particular cut well and are less fugly than most of the other models. I kept trying the other models with mixed success as too many were tacticool with thick stock and thick grinds but it was fun. I really liked the modern steels and the thinner lighter weights, but I kept snagging that dang clip on stuff and I still lost a knife or two. I grew to dislike the hole, that stupid hole, in everything, whether it made sense or not. Then MAP came to Spyderco around the time that prices really seemed to take off. For me, the value proposition went negative and the deal hunting fun was gone. That was it.

I started remembering how well the knives of my childhood had worked and how darned good the SAKs really are and started looking around at my options. I bought a GEC and loved it. Eighty freaking bucks for a knife that Spyderco would sell for hundreds on the street. And it cut better than my Spydies once I reset the obtuse factory edge, something I'd had to do to all of my BMs and Spydies anyway. So I started buying more. And more. What a blast. Affordable fun again. About the only thing I miss is the better steels. Of the traditional steels, I like 1095 the best, but there are so many better options these days. I wish the traditional makers would find some, particularly on the stainless side. Most of the stainless used in traditionals is lame. 440C is barely acceptable but so out of date technology-wise as to be laughable. There's no excuse. I'm happy to see Mike out there getting traditional models made with modern steels at reasonable prices, so maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel.

So back to the question, are traditionals in decline? Absolutely. But then knives in general are in decline. When I grew up, all the farm kids and half the town kids carried knives. Everywhere, including to school and church. This was in Commie-fornia, of all places. Nobody ever thought twice about it. Now you see kids being sent home for having a plastic knife in their lunch box. Times have changed, for sure. People actually ask "What on earth do you need that knife for?". More and more, the answer is "habit". Modern indoor life and modern packaging, other than the dreaded clamshell, has made an EDC knife nearly obsolete for most people. And when you're not cutting stuff, lots of stuff, every day, how well the knife actually cuts becomes secondary to styling and you end up with exotic tacticool folding prybars that never get used for cutting anything but envelopes. And they all need locks to protect the fingers of people who never learned to use a knife properly. So yeah, traditionals are in decline. Other than in flyover country, where people go outside occasionally, they're an obscure hobby followed mostly by a bunch of old geezers who will be dying off soon. So enjoy those knives, guys. Use 'em up. Once our generation is gone, these things will be curios ... :) Half serious, half in jest. You decide which half. ;)
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Great post! Eloquently put.
 
JohnDF said:
A few minutes with a sharpening stone, a strap, and a drop of oil make most of these steel arguments a non-issue. :D
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Make that about 5 drops for me, I sweat a lot :D

Personally I don't need any super steel, but I'd be quite happy if GEC would bring on more stainless knives. That, and Buck start expanding their traditional options since im a big fan of their steel:thumbsup:
 
This is great! I was afraid this thread might get too heated, but very civil and well thought out posts all around. Thanks all.
One thing I would like to clarify is marketing. Yes, it sucks that companies market knives as ninja weapons, but on the other hand... I am 25, but thanks to Uncle Sam I am on VA disability. Bad knees, degenerating spine and some other less exciting stuff haha. As a result, I know I cant beat up every "bad guy" that may try to hurt me or my family, and I live in an anti gun state so I carry one of these ninja weapons lol. I see both sides, and for some people, like myself, its a necessary evil to use a "weapon". I dont like it but its better than going unarmed. So when Lynn Thompson stabs car doors and what not to market knives, I try to be understanding.
However, the vast majority of the time I actually use a traditional. They arent scary, they work well and they mean more to me than a soul less chunk of G10 and black coated steel. I do understand those that prefer the modern stuff, and like I said, I have a use for them too but Im a traditional guy. Plus, whacking open a zombie killer 4000 in the grocery store just flat out scares people!
If you ask modern knife people why they like their knives, they will mostly say "performance". They like one handed speed, locks and stainless steels with tough materials. I think thats understandable but flawed thinking. A knife is meant to cut. Thats it. Otherwise people would use different tools. Most tactical knives though(like that IT guys Medford) dont cut nearly as well as this Case trapper in my pocket. They have huge thick blades that just arent good for cutting. So, wheres the performance in that???
Again, thank you all for the great discussion! I really hope this keeps going and gets people thinking, and maybe even helps some one to come over from the dark(black G10) side lol.
 
Wurrwulf said:
... companies like Cold Steel actually advertise their knives piercing doors.
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Don't forget "covert deanimation activities". LOL CS has a lot to answer for.

Some modern folders are quite good knives. Some are junk. Some are well designed, some are just silly. The same can be said for traditionals. In my mind, a good knife is defined by good ergonomics, quality construction, and by cutting ability. Traditionals tend to be great slicers first and foremost. The ergos are usually pretty good, having stood the test of time. Build quality varies. Moderns are generally built better but don't usually slice nearly as well. Ergos vary all over the place, from very good to truly awful. Very good knives can be found in both camps at many different price points. The choice comes down to aesthetics. I like the styling, the materials, and the history of traditional knives. But then I'm an old geezer who cut his teeth(and a finger once) on a Stockman. Were I to make an objective, unemotional choice of knives based on value, quality, and cutting ability, I'd buy a SAK and be done with it. Technically, I'd carry one of my SAKs, sell the rest, and be done with it. I'm glad to be able to indulge myself by buying knives that I don't really need. What fun.
 
I like the personal meaning an old worn out pocket knife has for me too. I live on a family farm that my great great grandfather built from the ground up. He started this farm with a mule and a wooden plow that we still have in the tractor shed. Eventually, he got a steel wheeled tractor and some sons. When I use an old yellow Case, or a Buck, or whatever, I feel connected to that history. I get to keep tradition alive just a bit in this modern world. I like to slow down and open that knife up, maybe just to spite the fast paced modern life we all have. Life is too short to go so fast, we all need to stop and smell the roses, not chop them with our ninja cutter 3000(blacked out black ops edition of course). Anyway, if a slipjoint was good enough for a hard worker like that, then its good enough for me. (Also, like one person posted here, the modern knives sometimes are a little fragile with all their small moving parts that really dont like dirt)
 
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