Comfortable, compact, corrosion resistant cutting power.
Rubber handles are a must:
I like other things but for a utility knife nothing gives me the semi-amphibious feeling that I desire in a knife like a good rubber handle. It's not just that I'm disposed to synthetics either. Rubber can be molded and textured brilliantly or it can be done badly. A nice high traction handle whether wet or dry, covered in slime, blood, whatever, that just rinses off is too user friendly for me to pass up. I think there are loads of great examples from the Swamp Rat Mudder grips, the Rec-C used on their old Camp Tramp [didn't this knife really build Swamp Rat's reputation], the Fällknivens, through to more pedestrian offerings. I don't care about knife fashion and the reasoning that says because rubber molding can be cheaper it is necessarily inferior. There are some shoddy examples off it for sure but I am unperturbed by them. I'd pay extra for rubber handles if it were required. I'd certainly be willing to pay more for a good rubber handle design than I would an identical design in Micarta or G10 let alone FRN or some wood. I judge it by the way it performs for me not the cost of the raw materials or how easy they are to manufacture. Happily rubber handles tend to be cheaper win / win. The only downside is I can't make great ones myself [and that pisses me off no end].
Corrosion resistant:
Opinions seem to vary on this a lot but for me any corrosion sux. I suffer it with impact tools like goloks and axes but the sooner the nanotechnology and glass gets up to speed with this problem the happier I'll be. Meantime some kind of built in corrosion resistance is a must.
Compact:
The handier it is the more likely I am to reach for it. If it feels like a lump I'm not going to want to carry it let alone use it. I have saws and impact tools so I can afford to move away from excess without too much concern. That said, I did wonder how tough my Super Edge would be in ATS 34 at 60. Good hunting knife though.
Cutting Power:
Sharpness doesn't mean that much to me. I take it for granted that I can get things sharp but that doesn't tell me much about how well they will cut stuff. Sure if it is sharp it will cut string better than when it was dull, same with making fuzz sticks or cutting fabric. What sharpness doesn't tell me is how well a blade will completely pass through a medium, whether that be slicing or using it like a wedge.
Pattern spotting:
At the moment I more than happy with my tweaked Boker in 440C. What makes me the happiest is how I somehow mysteriously kept returning to it. I sold it once on a camping trip and about a week after we got home I bought it back. I gave it to mah woman too and she had it for about a year. Then I used it again and missed it loads. I bought her something else as a surrogate and got it back. Before that I used the mighty fine F1, before that a Linder Super Edge, and before that a Cold Steel Master Hunter. There's just something useful about these little black usin' knives that appeals.
I'm now at a point at which I'm not really interested in using anything else and haven't been for quite a long time. I do keep an eye on what is going on though so the merits of the Extrema Ratio Shrapnel are not lost on me. I just have no use for one now. And if I could devise a great rubber handle for the Enzo Camp Knife I'd surely snag a blank at a superb price. Others I like but I just keep coming back to my preferred handle type problem. If it wasn't for that BRKT has a couple of neat looking stainless offerings. Then there's the fantastic looking Spyderco Temperance design, and even though I'm not into Scandis I think their Bushcraft knife with a good rubber handle could have been a real workhorse. Better than pissin' about with eye candy wood anyway. A real world useful one of those may even have swayed me to try one. Rust and rotten wood doesn't. Who knows, may be a better one will come out under the Byrd banner. Folks can all take a punt on a decent usin' Scandi for £30 or so and if they don't like them give them away. The list goes on from the humble Lion Steel MCKF through to numerous handy little Japanese offerings.
