Features You Don't Care For

I don't have many absolute deal breakers. Probably a barlow with the word "barlow" on the bolster. Like Mr Carboniferous above, I can't stand the glitter acrylics. Also, mismatched stag. I'm OK with thick or thin, but not one of each on same knife. It just looks all wonky to me and feels a little weird. I guess I hate mismatched handles in general. When one side is so different in color that it basically looks like a magician knife, that's a deal breaker for me.

Not deal breakers, but strong dislike for knives that the blade is so hard to get to that you have to add a nail-relief. Weak closing knives. A lot of times, you don't find out till the knife gets to your house, but if I know before hand I'm probably not going to get it.
 
Interesting discussion.

Deal breakers for me.
Made in china
Double nail nicks
Garish covers.
Plastic such as patriotic, celluloid looking. (Yellow case or old timer handles are okay)
Holes in blades like bucks 192 with a deer or elk.

I don’t care for
saber grind
Stag
Single blade, more specifically, overall thinness
Spear point
Smaller than 3 1/4”
Mismatched covers (hey case this is you son)
Odd shields, including hotdog
Blade etching
Super steel
California or Turkish clip blades
Half stops
Plastic
 
Dislikes:
-Reproductions
-Made for collectors
-Limited runs
-Too expensive
-Stiff pulls

It is ok if nostalgia is part of the knife’s appeal, but it has to be secondary to its usefulness. I like old brands and models that are still produced because people continue to buy and use them as originally intended.
 
Primble said:
and this is for you corkscrew haters : 🤣🤣🤣 A pretty useful knife if you ask me ! ( There is a steel toothpick on the bare head end ) Can't say I have tried it.☺️
In the old days bottles and jugs as well as medicine bottles were corked. You would change your mind, if you lived a few generations ago. 🤔

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So I have a new to me function for a corkscrew. Recently started wearing hearing aids. They're very small totally in the ear. There's tiny little hole that lets sound from the hearing aid get in the ear. It occasionally needs to be disassembled and cleaned. There's a little brush and rubbing alcohol, but for anything that won't handle, the perfectly pointed end of a good corkscrew does an admirable job. So it looks like either this little gem or an SAK is going to be part of the usual gear now.

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I dislike weak springs, but I still have a few that are around a 4 or 5 to me that I use.

Also, no half stops. I always get grit in knives with no half stops and it feels bad to open them.
 
I've done a count of the answers so far.
So, if you are a knifemaker who wants to gift us an "Indiana Ideal" or "Missouri Solid", here is a list of what to stay clear of:

- Bad fit and finish: Poor blade alignment or blade play. No gaps, please.
- The spring should be neither too soft nor too strong (what a surprise).
- No double nail nicks, and no matchstrike nicks.
- Pick whatever steel you like, you can't please everybody. Same with half stops.
- No thick bladestock or saber grind. And no spey blade.
- A blade length of 3 1/4" seems about right.
- No decorating the blade with nice etchings, or edifying quotes. And don't put filework on.
- As for covers, synthetics are unpopular, as is thick or mismatched stag. Customers loathe ivory.
- Some people don't like traditional shields, some don't like novelty shields, safest bet is no shield at all.
- And finally: Don't produce the knife in China.
 
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I guess I'm the only one that actually likes spey blades, in fact I wish there were more options of single blade speys.

I actually love the look of many saber grind blades but am always disappointed at their lack of slicing power.

I'm quite surprised at the dislike for thick stag since most knife people I know who really like stag seem to specifically prefer it as fat as possible.
 
Heathenhymnal said:
I guess I'm the only one that actually likes spey blades, in fact I wish there were more options of single blade speys.

I actually love the look of many saber grind blades but am always disappointed at their lack of slicing power.

I'm quite surprised at the dislike for thick stag since most knife people I know who really like stag seem to specifically prefer it as fat as possible.
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I'll be burned for a witch but I like a spey better than those foot blades.
 
IMHO, it's all good.

Just because I prefer something or don't like something else, doesn't mean others have to agree.

That would make for a very boring world.
 
Luke_Chambers said:
I've done a count of the answers so far.
So, if you are a knifemaker who wants to gift us an "Indiana Ideal" or "Missouri Solid", here is a list of what to stay clear of:

- Bad fit and finish: Poor blade alignment or blade play. No gaps, please.
- The spring should be neither too soft nor too strong (what a surprise).
- No double nail nicks, and no matchstrike nicks.
- Pick whatever steel you like, you can't please everybody. Same with half stops.
- No thick bladestock or saber grind. And no spey blade.
- A blade length of 3 1/4" seems about right.
- No decorating the blade with nice etchings, or edifying quotes. And don't put filework on.
- As for covers, synthetics are unpopular, as is thick or mismatched stag. Customers loathe ivory.
- And finally: Don't produce the knife in China
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Whoa whoa whoa, if this is the official guideline for makers can we edit it to read “and you should probably have half stops”
 
Heathenhymnal said:
Well dang I like both and now all I'm picturing is a sweet 2 blade setup with a main spay blade and a backup small sheepsfoot.
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Here's what waverave waverave pictured for me once upon a time. They're similar to what you mention, but mini trappers with spey/wharncliffe or spey/lambsfoot blade combos, with some of my favorite covers.
(I'm a spey blade fan, too.)
waverave said:
5K Qs 5K Qs
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- GT
 
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