"Guilty Pleasure" Knives...

Chariotz4

Chariotz4

Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
831
Was recently browsing the forum and came across this thread here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1385590-I-want-a-quot-Tactilol-quot-Knife!

It seems that the OP was occasionally prone to bouts of "Ninjavitis" :D and wanted a folder that would satisfy his unreasonable and perhaps, dare I say, unfathomable, need to be "tacticlol". Anyways, I found the thread to be great and entertaining in many ways and on many levels, and it got me thinking; assuming (yes, I do know what assumptions make out of "u and me" ;)) that the majority of members of this forum are people who have been into blades for long time and enjoy this hobby with some degree of seriousness, are newcomers and are (hoping?) to end up the former, and all sorts in between the two, how many people have a blade(s?) that they enjoy that by a lot of accounts they shouldn't as seasoned hobbyists? Bad manufacturer reputation, lower material quality, bad or generally poor QC/F&F etc. Just curious to see what the responses are like and if people do have knives that fit this bill, why it falls into this category for them.

I'll start off with my most recent purchase, the CRKT Fossil Compact with Veff Serrations. My first 2 knives that I bought were both CRKT's and I actually kind of liked them both (M16-10KZ and a M16-13SF), but after deciding to take the hobby of "collecting (and using) pointy things" seriously and joining this forum, the knowledge that I'd gained from this site steered me towards other makers that generally have a wider informal approval rating (at least here anyways) such as Kershaw, Benchmade, etc. Anyways, long story short, I saw the same model sans serrations at my local store and had a chance to handle it. I LOVED the design and feel of it, but over $100 for 8Cr13MoV and G10/aluminum...:eek: So I kept putting it off until...NO MORE!:
B7B22509-DD13-42AF-8F12-1250A8B2A0E2_zpskfmrinua.jpg


And I honestly couldn't be happier (paid a bit under MSRP too)! All this despite all the nay say towards the company (I do tend to agree with it though) and the materials used in this "$100" knife. Not a knife many people may find good by "popular" standards, but I just can't help but like it... ;)
 
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I think it looks sweet. CRKT gets a bad wrap, mostly deserved but I've had some real gems from them. Particularly the otonashi no ken. Its a $100 knife in aus 8. Over priced in that regard, but the build quality is superb. Perfect lock up, super smooth action.

I try to give any brand the benefit of the doubt (except mantis/qtrwhatever and strider) until I experience it first hand.

Out of the few CRKT I've owned, and the ones my friends own that I've handled, I like them a lot. Their issue is that their nice pieces are far from competitively priced.
 
Ok I'll play. Here's my "ninjavitis" blade. Not lacking in the materials or quality department at all. But there's only one thing it's good for
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stonproject said:
I think it looks sweet. CRKT gets a bad wrap, mostly deserved but I've had some real gems from them. Particularly the otonashi no ken. Its a $100 knife in aus 8. Over priced in that regard, but the build quality is superb. Perfect lock up, super smooth action.

Same as my M16-13SF; great knife, but not worth the retail IMO

Out of the few CRKT I've owned, and the ones my friends own that I've handled, I like them a lot. Their issue is that their nice pieces are far from competitively priced.
Preach!
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Yeah, I really wish CRKT would re-structure their pricing to make it more palatable in comparison to competitiors.
 
Chariotz4 said:
Yeah, I really wish CRKT would re-structure their pricing to make it more palatable in comparison to competitiors.
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Atleast in regards to the otonashi noh ken, it'd be worth about $120 (to me) even if they just bumped it up with s30v. A lot of people don't like the steel framelocks, in this particular knife I like it a lot. But gimme a steel upgrade and id be all over it.
 
stonproject said:
Atleast in regards to the otonashi noh ken, it'd be worth about $120 (to me) even if they just bumped it up with s30v. A lot of people don't like the steel framelocks, in this particular knife I like it a lot. But gimme a steel upgrade and id be all over it.
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My main issue as well; blade steel =/= price point on most of their models across their lineups IMO. They generally use 8Cr13MoV and reserve Aus8 for 'premium' models. That being said, I haven't had any problems with their heat treat, but I think we can all agree that on a $100 knife, we'd all like to see something better then 8Cr13MoV blade steel...
 
Well I'm not proud of this, but since you asked. I'll probably get a lot of shit, but I'm used to it. :-P

Back in my very young days, before I knew pretty much anything about knives, I picked up one of these. I was heading out on my first deployment and, while I knew the advertising itself was total BS, the knife itself looked very strong and well...tacticool. *rolls eyes at my younger self.* I think that was my first experience on Blade Forums, which definitely had all negative comments about the company. I listen to the advice on here much better now and have some high quality knives as a result.

To be fair, this knife actual served me well downrange. Although it was far bigger than I needed, it handled everything I threw at it. Even cut a gas tank out of a car once (long story), something I am sure my SOG Seal Pup Elite would not have handled very well.



Still have it lying around somewhere. It will probably come in handy during the Zombie Apocalypse. :D
 
I'd have to say that my specific guilty pleasure knife would probably be my benchmark backpacker as it's a 10$ fixed blade with unknown Steel ( mine holds an edge pretty well since I use a leather sheath vs the original blade dulling one ) in general though I just can't ever feel a sense of pride in any Chinese knife and no matter how good it might be I just won't feel too good about using whatever it is.
For example I could be using a 100$ + kizer, rest...ect ( unlikely as they're not my style ) and the Sabre pocket knife I just got for 50 cents, and would feel more confident in the Sabre just because it was made in the USA ( it's just a cheap re-branded colonial sak copy )
Another one would be anything from rough rider, because a 12$ Chinese pocket knife shouldn't be as good as they are and I shouldn't like them because they're Chinese ( I'd feel less guilty if they weren't super shiny stainless Steel though ) but they're just so hard to beat.
 
Hickory n steel said:
For example I could be using a 100$ + kizer, rest...ect ( unlikely as they're not my style ) and the Sabre pocket knife I just got for 50 cents, and would feel more confident in the Sabre just because it was made in the USA ( it's just a cheap re-branded colonial sak copy )
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+1 (Although not everything made in NA is gold and everything made overseas is junk, the closer to home it was made, for me, the better it is :thumbup:)
 
Chariotz4 said:
+1 (Although not everything made in NA is gold and everything made overseas is junk, the closer to home it was made, for me, the better it is :thumbup:)
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Sometimes it's just burned onto your brain though and you can't shake it. For me a Chinese knife will probably always be knives you buy at a gas station or flea market , I may love and use my benchmark backpacker all the time ( probably give it up in a heartbeat for a stripped essee izula with rubber dipped tang ) but that stigma is just always gonna be there.
 
Can't say I have a single one.

Sent via pony express
 
I've come full circle too.
Mora, Opinel, SAK, and Chinese made Buck StockmanFTW.

I used to turn my nose up at anything less than $100.
I still have a few of them.

And yes, 440C can be very well done. I have some kitchen knives made by an older gentleman who worked in nothing but 440C, "The original Super Steel" he would say.
He had blades heat treated by Paul Bos and a few he'd have them run up the hardness, problem was getting a decent edge on it back in the day before diamond stones.
I wish I paid attention to the numbers back then.
The few kitchen knives I have from him are incredible.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I'd have to say that my specific guilty pleasure knife would probably be my benchmark backpacker as it's a 10$ fixed blade with unknown Steel ( mine holds an edge pretty well since I use a leather sheath vs the original blade dulling one ) in general though I just can't ever feel a sense of pride in any Chinese knife and no matter how good it might be I just won't feel too good about using whatever it is.
For example I could be using a 100$ + kizer, rest...ect ( unlikely as they're not my style ) and the Sabre pocket knife I just got for 50 cents, and would feel more confident in the Sabre just because it was made in the USA ( it's just a cheap re-branded colonial sak copy )
Another one would be anything from rough rider, because a 12$ Chinese pocket knife shouldn't be as good as they are and I shouldn't like them because they're Chinese ( I'd feel less guilty if they weren't super shiny stainless Steel though ) but they're just so hard to beat.
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Kizer is top notch. On par if not better than a lot of american manufacturers.
 
SamuraiDave said:
I've come full circle too.
Mora, Opinel, SAK, and Chinese made Buck StockmanFTW.

I used to turn my nose up at anything less than $100.
I still have a few of them.

And yes, 440C can be very well done. I have some kitchen knives made by an older gentleman who worked in nothing but 440C, "The original Super Steel" he would say.
He had blades heat treated by Paul Bos and a few he'd have them run up the hardness, problem was getting a decent edge on it back in the day before diamond stones.
I wish I paid attention to the numbers back then.
The few kitchen knives I have from him are incredible.
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Were freaking spoiled with steels these days :p

There's just something incredible about a well done 440c blade.
 
I'm mostly past really wanting most tacticool type knives regardless of where they are manufactured. I'm still pretty much the same person I was 30 years ago. Back then, you had the Rambo knives and I honestly picked them up over and over again at gun shows and considered buying. I just never purchased one. There were other artsy knives sourced from Star Trek designs or other sources that were cool/interesting but not for me. I knew that. Things were made in Japan then and Korean manufacture was just starting. Many people turned their noses up at Japanese manufacture, but it was slowly changing from the junk typically manufactured there in the 60's. The same will happen with Chinese manufacture.

But back to the focus of this thread, I have not purchased any tacticool knives. I resist buying tanto type designs as an example. But I have purchased some cheap knives on whims. As Hickory & Steel said, they are not my style.

The change occurred about 2000-2005 when I started buying more knives and handling a larger variety of knives. I was "into" SOG knives or designs in 2005-2007 or when I first joined BF. Partially serrated blades were the rage then. But still no tacticool knives....
 
Didn't we have this thread once before? I think we did. I forgot who it was but I remember one member had a Cold Steel Ti-Lite presented as their guilty pleasure knife, with a my little pony figure in the background.
 
Charlie_K said:
Didn't we have this thread once before? I think we did. I forgot who it was but I remember one member had a Cold Steel Ti-Lite presented as their guilty pleasure knife, with a my little pony figure in the background.
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My apologies if this thread's already been done a whole lot. I'm still green (I'm sure you can still see the shininess on me ;)) and I haven't seen a thread like this on my time on BF so far. And as for the gentleman with the Ti-Lite and the pony obsession...:cool::D:D:D
 
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