Features You Don't Care For

Not sure what it's called, but I hold a strong disdain for shields that look like someone added a scrotum to the bottom of a chess piece. Honestly I kind of dig some of the goofy shields gec uses, but I've never been able to pick one up. They appeal to my inner 12 year old.

I prefer carbon blades with stainless springs.

Not a huge fan of multi blades unless it's a smaller framed knife, then it's nice to have a bit of edge held in reserve.

Spear point blades, give me a clip. I make exceptions for victorinox, but usually carry another knife to do cutting chores with.

There's really nothing on this list that's absolutely a deal breaker, I'm willing to compromise on most anything if I like the knife enough. Except the shield described in the first part of my list.
 
Smithhammer said:
Yup. And I know that he supposedly used some different knives later on, but I just think that the whole 'Bowie' thing has gotten pretty ridiculous and far from what it was historically.
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I see what you mean. Just to be the Devi's advocate, though, arguably the cheesiest, most embellished bowies were made in the 19th century.
 
I think my only deal breakers are "made in China" and "has a caplifter".

Someday I'll probably buy an SAK with tools (only one I currently own is a Solo, which I do love), and that will have a caplifter, and I'll give it a pass. Won't buy any other knife with one, though.
 
Possibly companies buying a brand name and trying to advertise themselves as being a continuation of the original company when they have no actual connection to it and companies that try to use the country of origin or "origin" as their main selling point, disregarding quality.
 
Wow definitely a lot of things folks don’t like in a traditional. For me, it’s a small list and purely aesthetic: double nail nicks or slanted bolsters.
 
Features I don’t care for..
Double nail nicks, I think they look goofy
Matchstrike Nail nicks, once seen as a cool feature but I find when using the knife for food prep stuff gets stuck in the grooves and is hard to clean, plus they shred your fingernails if the pull is stout.
Half stops (I know, now I’ve done it 😂)
Small pen blades, they don’t have enough cutting surface. They are just too short to be useful to me. Longer pen blades are ok though
Thick blade stock, I absolutely hate. I don’t want a pry bar, I want to cut stuff!
And lastly, a price tag of over $150. That is a deal breaker, regardless of how much I love knives I don’t want to pay that much for a cutting tool, and if I did I would be hesitant to use it for that purpose. Pretty much makes them useless to me. I guess thats why I don’t buy customs, but that’s just me. To each his own, whatever makes you happy, but premium prices do not make me happy and I am unwilling to pay it (so far 😜)
 
Dislike:
Thick / uneven scales - specially Stag
Serrations on the blade

When it comes to Stag, I really do not care for "Burnt" Stag. In my opinion it deteriorates the stag and just looks bad. Decent stag does not need enhancement
 
chevyrulez1 said:
Features I don’t care for..
Double nail nicks, I think they look goofy
Matchstrike Nail nicks, once seen as a cool feature but I find when using the knife for food prep stuff gets stuck in the grooves and is hard to clean, plus they shred your fingernails if the pull is stout.
Half stops (I know, now I’ve done it 😂)
Small pen blades, they don’t have enough cutting surface. They are just too short to be useful to me. Longer pen blades are ok though
Thick blade stock, I absolutely hate. I don’t want a pry bar, I want to cut stuff!
And lastly, a price tag of over $150. That is a deal breaker, regardless of how much I love knives I don’t want to pay that much for a cutting tool, and if I did I would be hesitant to use it for that purpose. Pretty much makes them useless to me. I guess thats why I don’t buy customs, but that’s just me. To each his own, whatever makes you happy, but premium prices do not make me happy and I am unwilling to pay it (so far 😜)
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Thick blade stock has become one of my very few deal breakers too, at least on pocket knives and "edc" knives. I certainly enjoy some extra strength and what not on some of my outdoor knives that truly take some heavy hard use but, for most of my knives my main focus is how they cut and slice not how they chop or how hard I can hit them without breaking or chipping them because... well... I bought a knife not a hammer or a crowbar.

That is actually one of the big things that pushed me back into traditionals. I started out with traditionals, then got interested in modern knives as well but the overabundance of overly thick, "hard use," heavy duty tank-like modern knives always was one of the factors keeping my flame alive for traditionals. I still like both modern and traditionals for different reasons but my "edc" rotation leans HEAVILY towards traditionals and a few moderns that actually have reasonable, functionally thin blade stock meant for cutting rather than the apocalypse.

Another feature that isn't a deal breaker for me but I typically don't care for are pocket clips. This is also a thing that has always kept me in the traditional knife game. Even on my modern knives I remove the clip off of most of them. I just find that even with the most well-designed and comfortable pocket clip, every single knife is instantly more comfortable without it.
 
Darren, is it parallel slanted bolsters or opposed slanted bolsters you don't like, or both? Parallel looks kind of "racey" to me . . .

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while opposed slanted bolsters fit very well on a double-ended knife.

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black mamba said:
Darren, is it parallel slanted bolsters or opposed slanted bolsters you don't like, or both? Parallel looks kind of "racey" to me . . .
while opposed slanted bolsters fit very well on a double-ended knife.
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Both but definitely the parallel slanted bolsters. The opposed style have their place but just something about them, in general, that doesn't suit me. I don't know why, exactly, but such are the unique and specific tastes of us traditional knife knuts :)
 
Sabre grinds, it literally is making what you are trying to accomplish harder. I have one Bohncliffe Northwoods remaining in my collection because of the contributions to traditional pocket knives that Derrick had made. Other than that one special knife, no sabre grinds. Everything else I'm okay with.
 
Jiki said:
Sabre grinds, it literally is making what you are trying to accomplish harder. I have one Bohncliffe Northwoods remaining in my collection because of the contributions to traditional pocket knives that Derrick had made. Other than that one special knife, no sabre grinds. Everything else I'm okay with.
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I agree. On a folding pocket knife I’ll take a full flat grind any day of the week. I can see the usefulness on a large fixed blade but I’ve reached a point in my life that for me they are not practical. It’s all about the slice and dice. 😃
 
Jiki said:
Sabre grinds, it literally is making what you are trying to accomplish harder. I have one Bohncliffe Northwoods remaining in my collection because of the contributions to traditional pocket knives that Derrick had made. Other than that one special knife, no sabre grinds. Everything else I'm okay with.
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I'm generally with you on disliking the Sabre grind, but I have a Case 31SAB that ai actually like even with the thick main blade. The large secondary helps to offset my hatred for the Sabre grind. And I suppose I understand it a little bit on a hard working large work knife.
 
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Lots of the same stuff already mentioned: Thick blades/grinds (0.1" max, most modern knives off the table instantly), thick knives generally. I also don't buy knives with blades significantly longer than 3", or knives larger than 4" closed. Even 3.8" is pushing it. Also heavy knives, which to me is over 100 grams, unless there's a pocket clip which is vanishingly relevant to traditional knives.

Can't do slanted bolsters or etches/engraving on the bolsters/shields unless it's done to a standard much higher than I can afford. Most of the time it just makes knives look cheap to me.

Not a fan of some handle materials, especially carbon fiber or acrylic with glittery elements. Also no synthetic pearl/abalone/gemstone (like the Rough Ryder Stoneworks), but I do like natural pearl/abalone.

I don't like knives with spey blades either, never found it a useful profile and I think they look bad.
 
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