How have your knife requirements changed over time ?

harronek

harronek

Joined
Nov 29, 2013
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I have been analysing my knife requirements quite a bit lately , and it has become obvious that my needs and tastes have been a continual progression .
As I've got older I have moved away from Traditional's and Slipjoints to more modern knives , which is kind of unusual move it seems reading through the threads on Bladeforum .
Many here have moved in the opposite direction and have gone back to the knives of their early years and memories .
I still love Traditional's , but I find that looking at them gives me more enjoyment than actually using them .
Modern one handed opening , locking , modern steels that don't rust and keep an edge longer , new handle scale materials , pocket clips , the ability to take apart and maintain or clean , ease of customisation are all aspects that I've adopted and embraced .
Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks :)
All my Traditional's are boxed up for a rainy day now , I'm sure they will have their day in the Sun again but it probably won't be anytime soon .
I'd be interested in hearing about other people's knife journeys and how your tastes and needs have changed over time .

Ken
 
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Mine have defiantly changed.

Now that I can do the type of work that I used to do anymore I don't have to use a knife for work everyday.

But I still like the knives I have.
 
I used to go for knives that were more complex and decorative. Front opening knives, damascus, natural materials. As I started to use my knives more and admire them less I moved on to plainer systems that were more sturdy, lighter weight, lasted longer, and had better performance/ease of maintenance. That meant washers, liner locks, single detents, single slabs of G10 or Micarta, and thinner blades.

I do value ownership of a handmade custom knife, however, and knives with this description are rarely being produced in today's custom knives what with the overbuilt, bearing pivot and framelock flipper fads. I turned to vintage 90s custom tactical knives and haven't looked back since.
 
I have done the same thing. I carried a Victorinox, Leatherman, or occasionally a Trapper for many years.

It wasn't till I got into knives I got interested in locking folders with pocket clips.
 
harronek said:
All my Traditional's are boxed up for a rainy day now , I'm sure they will have their day in the Sun again but it probably won't be anytime soon .
I'd be interested in hearing about other people's knife journeys and how your tastes and needs have changed over time .
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Started with traditionals. At that point they were the only knives I was aware of as a kid. Was never really interested in broadening my knife interest until the late 1980's when I started buying fixed blades (post Rambo movies). My first modern knives were small and inexpensive years later (probably in the mid-90's). I decided around the time I joined BF that I wanted something different to try out. The first moderns were made by SOG. Still like the ones I chose for the most part but moved to Spydercos after reading about them here. They just looked funny to me and I never even picked one up to handle in a store. The forum discussions pushed me to try out a Native from WM. I liked it and still like it.

In the last couple of years, other than SAKs which I EDC, I pretty much like both modern's and traditionals. Been buying more traditionals lately. In my quest for the ultimate traditional for me, I landed on the GEC #42 (two blade Missouri Trapper). It took me a while to allow myself to buy something more costly than a Case traditional.

So, my interest includes both today. I routinely carry a SAK and a modern such as the Native, Delica, or ZT 0770CF these days. I may substitute the GEC #42 for the dominant 111mm SAK, but I will add something like the Bantam in addition to the GEC and modern because I enjoy having the toothpick and screw driver tools. I have lots of choices these days.
 
When I first got into knives I went more in looks and didn't know about steel, edge geometry, different locks, etc.

My tastes change as my collection does. I want a variety of knives, but gravitate to modern folders as they are most practical for most of my edc needs. As I've now got most of the modern folders I want in my price range, I now want to turn to getting some more traditional knives.

I also want a few stilettos. I have one POS stiletto now, but I want a nice one. I believe the stiletto my dad carried when I was a kid had a lot to do w me becoming a knife nut, and even tho I can't really carry one it'd be nice.
 
Speaking of "requirements",,, no they do not change with time,rather with task and environment...What i am going to do,or where i ll be.Time,however, is in pair with my overal knowledge and experience,therefore time will have overal affect on my opinion....This was different 10years ago,than it is today and will be most certainly different in future.
 
GENERAL CHANGES:
I was a fixed blade fan first...mainly due to being outdoor oriented, spending a lot of time in the bush and in the mountains as well as camping, backpacking, whitewater, etc. I had only a few good folders.

Not sure when the transition occurred but now I buy mostly folders, with a fixed blade purchase only on rare occasions. I am in a self-imposed moratorium on fixed blades at the moment simply because I have too damn many that I like. A new one comes along that I am drawn to and I have to fight purchasing it. So far so good....but I have about ten on a "want" list now. :(

SPECIFIC CHANGE:
My latest "requirement change" seems to be gravitating to longer blades in folders. I now prefer a 4" blade and a few folders I once coveted are on hold because I wish they had slightly longer blades. Good examples are the Al Mar SERE 2000 and Emerson Super CQC-7.

I want them but can't pull the trigger because I want blades just a "leetle beet longer" so I look for something comparable....which, of course, isn't out there.

The obvious compromise is to find a used SERE Attack and go with a CQC-15, but I'm still holding off because those aren't EXACTLY what I want.

It's a hell of a sickness I know, so I'm waiting for the new Cold Steel 4" Ti LItes in XHP steel to come out in an attempt to assuage my anguish by compromise. Just hope they release some in satin finish.

Oh the woes........
 
Great question! My knives have gone from lockback to swiss army type knives to a small Buck Lancer. Essentially they have shrunk partly because my jobs gotten less physical and my knowledge has increased, I know how to do more with less.

In addition my ego has also shrunk.:)
 
BenchCo Spydermade said:
When I first got into knives I went more in looks and didn't know about steel, edge geometry, different locks, etc.

My tastes change as my collection does. I want a variety of knives, but gravitate to modern folders as they are most practical for most of my edc needs. As I've now got most of the modern folders I want in my price range, I now want to turn to getting some more traditional knives.

I also want a few stilettos. I have one POS stiletto now, but I want a nice one. I believe the stiletto my dad carried when I was a kid had a lot to do w me becoming a knife nut, and even tho I can't really carry one it'd be nice.
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Curious....have the Ti Lites grabbed you too?
 
For me, it's less about getting whatever happens to be the newest or hottest and trying to figure out what I really want. I no longer buy for anyone but myself, whether it's what the masses are buying or not. I've often played the "what if" when considering knives and will never say never, but I figure I understand what I'm likely to encounter and am able to more or less predict what can meet those challenges daily.
 
EChoil said:
Curious....have the Ti Lites grabbed you too?
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I like cold steel, and the ti lite seems cool but its not even close to what I want. I want a nice, polished, old school 50s style stilletto. From what I've looked at, something like a frank b.
 
BenchCo Spydermade said:
I like cold steel, and the ti lite seems cool but its not even close to what I want. I want a nice, polished, old school 50s style stilletto. From what I've looked at, something like a frank b.
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Oh, OK, you're wanting an auto like the classic "Italian" carries I guess? Same here.

The Ti-Lite sure seems to be the manual substitute for those stilettos. Nothing really comparable out there right now for a comparable price as far as I know. I never see them discussed but I'm going to assume they are good strength-wise.
 
Those Italian stilletos are generally pretty poor as knives of quality go. I liked some of the German switchblades with the lever flipper versus a button. Saw some switchblades at a east TN knife store that were priced $150+ and didn't even ask to handle one. But they exist.
 
Back when I was in school, I carried a knife because I had a red pocket knife that looked really cool (at the time). So I carried it to be, well... cool.

As I got a little older, I didn't carry a knife unless I was going camping, or had some other special purpose in mind that day. Didn't think I needed one on a day-to-day basis. Then I started carrying a small pocket knife for daily tasks like opening packages, and other light duty tasks.

The longer I carried a knife, the more I decided I wanted something that I could use for more unexpected tasks - recently I was far away from home and my tool box and had a situation where I needed to cut some PVC pipe. My Ontario RAT 1 (non-serrated) rose to the occasion and kept me from having to buy another tool from the hardware store that I already had at home - an hour away. And among those other tasks, God forbid, a last ditch self-defense tool, perhaps, and something sharp and large enough to make quick work of a seat belt if necessary.
 
I went from having all kinds of $20-40 tacticool looking garbage to actually buying good edc knives built from quality materials designed with a purpose made by decent knife manufactures.
 
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EChoil said:
Oh, OK, you're wanting an auto like the classic "Italian" carries I guess? Same here.

The Ti-Lite sure seems to be the manual substitute for those stilettos. Nothing really comparable out there right now for a comparable price as far as I know. I never see them discussed but I'm going to assume they are good strength-wise.
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Butch Vallotton is the guy you guys are looking for. Be warned he isn't cheap, however his quality is excellent.
 
jeeper9010 said:
Butch Vallotton is the guy you guys are looking for. Be warned he isn't cheap, however his quality is excellent.
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Yeah, and thanks.

I just checked out those Frank B. knives mentioned and they seem awfully uh...."inexpensive." They have to be ordered out of Italy too it looks like.

I recall the Vallottons now....just hadn't shopped the autos in a while and I'm rusty on them. I do want a couple though.
 
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