Full Circle.

A.P.F.

A.P.F.

Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
7,132
Anyone else find themselves going full circle in their knife collecting and use? I think that I suffer from 'steel fatigue'. I have my S90V, M390, CPM-M4 and a number of other 'boutique' steels on some great knives, so what do I end up using the most? My Krupp 4116 Cold Steel Kudu and my carbon and 12C27 Opinels! I get just as much if not more satisfaction out of using these 'value' knives, as I do my high end knives. Am I nuts or just suffering burn-out?
 
Must be nuts........ LOL LOL

Not really, I use all types of knifes and steels.
Its just really cool for me having something a bit special in my pocket.
I am the only one who know's, and thats fine by me. ;)
 
I wouldn't call it burnout. Seems sensible. You put the beatings on the less expensive ones. You hit a level of diminishing returns, dollar-wise, after the level of the knives you're using. Especially with the sub-$50 stuff coming out lately. Not that that stops us from shelling out big on our hobby...Those users are just guilt-free cutting tools & we cutting tool enthusiasts enjoy using them.

Hot rodders spend thousands to shave a 1/4 second off the quarter time of their project car but usually drive the family sedan to the store. Given my income & the dependents that live off of it, I cringe at the thought of messing up cutlery that took me a few weeks of saving & planning to afford. Byrds & CS Voyagers go to work with me. The expensive ones are my Sunday drivers.
 
I've the same feeling. Although the only two supersteels I've ever owned were zdp and S30v.

Now my favourites knives are in D2, 8cr13mov, 12c27 and carbon damascus. i've just stopped caring about supersteels. Even sold off the Caly3 in Zdp I had.
 
That's interesting. I've gone "full circle" in a different way.
I use to collect custom handmades in the 90's when I worked at a gunstore.
Now that I've got back into collecting in the past three years I swore to not get back into high end famous knifemaker customs and stayed with high grade factory mades. Some with high end steels like you mentioned and way better than the common ATS-34 of the 90's. I have a LE Blue Spydie Stretch in ZDP and barely use it.
Since signing up here, I've fallen in love with the great values of some of the forums known custom knifemakers and at great low prices.
I'm back into the clutches of handmades but haven't paid over 200 yet!

Now back to what you were saying, these "entry level" customs use guess what?. . . . super simple and proven D2 and A2 steels.

Here's some pics:
DSCN0156.jpg

006.jpg

R. Flaherty Model 1 Ti framelock, A2 blade steel
Gene Wiseman Ultra-Lite Back Pocket (blue) / Front Pocket (orange), D2 blade steels.
 
I agree with you all. The so-called 'lesser steels' (as opposed to the new super steels that seem to come out every now and then these days) actually give very respectable performance as far as common daily use is concerned. Unless you cut lots of stuff day in day out I am satisfied with what I get from the 'lesser steels'. The current state of economy also serves to give a reality check on my impulsive buying.
 
Same here too. I thought it was just me! This past month I find myself carrying steels/knives that I bought when I first started getting knives.
 
I've never worn out a blade no matter what steel it's made of... If I like a knife enough, I buy it. Be free... :thumbup::cool::thumbup:
 
I feel the full circle thing, but in a different way.

I have found the super steels that work for me, and I am sticking with them. I am sure that some day better ones may become available, but I am tired of searching only to find marginal or negative improvement. What I mean is, steels are made to do various things...an area of improvement may or may not be an area I frequent...for example, the toughness level of my choice of steel is adequate for my needs, I am not interested in trying something tougher.

Further, I have found that pretty knives work no better than ugly knives...in fact some of the knives that MANY people here think are beautiful, I find mundane in use (and nearly invisible when they are obscured by my hand that is grasping them during use).

Simply put, I am tired of looking for something better because I have found something that is better than I need, and it did not cost as much as half the knives that are reported to be "must haves" on these forums.
 
I've done the same. Started with a couple of slip joints, got into the whole supersteel tactical thing, and now am back to carrying slipjoints. I don't cut 1000 cubic feet of cardboard or 1000 strands of manilla rope a day, and find that a simple knife with a simple steel gets me through the day just fine, and 3 seconds of touching up with a ceramic stick is easier than busting out the Edge Pro. Not that I wouldn't mind a Case 63032 in S125V...
 
A.P.F. said:
Anyone else find themselves going full circle in their knife collecting and use? I think that I suffer from 'steel fatigue'. I have my S90V, M390, CPM-M4 and a number of other 'boutique' steels on some great knives, so what do I end up using the most? My Krupp 4116 Cold Steel Kudu and my carbon and 12C27 Opinels! I get just as much if not more satisfaction out of using these 'value' knives, as I do my high end knives. Am I nuts or just suffering burn-out?
Click to expand...

I think it comes down to what you use you knife for most of the time.

For me steel choice has everything to do with how and what I cut on a daily basis.

My EDC Steel choice is different from my Work Steel choice.
 
I've come a very full circle in my life, and now I'm back where my father was.

I started out with a Camillus scout knife my dad gave me when I was 12. I carried that knife for many years, until I left home and joined the army. While in the army, I bought a Buck 301 stockman at the PX. For the next 25 years, that stockman was my daily edc carry knife. On camping trips, a sak would go along, but that was it. Then later in life, I got bit by the knife bug. I collected custom sheath knives from high end makers, especially from the American Bladesmith Association. This kept up for a while, and I also did a lot of buying of folders.

Then, little by little I started to ask myself what the heck I was doing. Then one day I looked at them and asked myself if I was nuts. Something happened, and I just lost my taste for them. Sold off every single one of them, and most of the high end folders, and never looked back.

Today, I'm happy as a clam in the mud with a Case peanut in my pocket and a sak classic on my keyring. I've got a few other pocket knives around, and a two sheath knives, and they do what I need just fine. I look back on my out of control knife accumulation days like I was in some form of temporary insanity. I still like knives, like em a whole lot. And I think it wisew to keep a sharp cutting tool in your pocket for life's little chores or even an emergency. But I keep it in perspective these days. I've got a handful of those special knives I really liked, and that's it. No more senseless accumullation. If I can't make it with 5 or 6 knives in my cigar box, the heck with it. At one time I had about 50 customs, now none. What I do have is regular working pocket knives like my old Buck stockman, a couple Case peanuts in different handles, an old pocket knife that belonged to a co-worker and friend who passed on. That's it. Just what I started out with a very long time ago.

Carl.
 
My first non-junk knife was a SAK. There was a time when I care more about super steels (and I still own several knives made of those), but today I carry SAKs again. I found that carrying multiple different tools made of standard steel is much more useful than one super steel blade. The two multitools that I EDC today are about as heavy as two folders, but they pack at least 25 different functions between them. I don't need my knife to be strong and bulky enough to be prybar, chisel, and screwdriver because the multitool includes dedicated prybar, chisel, and screwdriver.
 
Started out with a Sak, then collected and used Spyderco´s in all the different steels and now I´m back to SAK´s again.
 
spydutch said:
Started out with a Sak, then collected and used Spyderco´s in all the different steels and now I´m back to SAK´s again.
Click to expand...

You just made me feel a whole lot better, Spydutch, because in my wildest dreams, I never thought I would hear those words from you.
 
I do not have the feeling of moving in circle. I have started with cheap Chinese knives of crap stainless - and I am not coming back. On the other hand I have always had a healthy respect for carbon steel and that will not change.
I am still eying aus 8, sandvic or these new "quality Chinese steels" with various degree of suspicion and would rather have honest carbon steel instead - any time. Yes, it is not completely rational. I understand that - so I have a number of knives in my collection with these steels. But if I have had a choice I would probably prefer to pay a few buck extra for having decent carbon blades in them. There is nothing wrong with carbon steel in a folder!
Hey, use D2 - it should not be that expensive for sure!!
 
I do still enjoy a great knife, but I get more satisfaction from the activity surrounding the use. Meaning, I'd rather go camping with a cheaper knife than sit at home holding my more expensive knives. There's only so much enjoyment to be gathered from using a knife, the rest comes from the work accomplished.
It is nice to have functional, edge retaining, and ergonomic knives to use, compared to the cheapest crap. But, I don't buy knives like I used to, nor am I as focused on the specs of steels.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top