How Long do Folders Last?

Or lost under the back seat of your car and you have to buff the rust off it after you find it.
Or you cut a live power cord by accident. And put a funny looking void in your blade.
Lost knives are fun to find again, you usually have replaced it and you
are now knife rich. Two of the same model. One for work and one for church, weddings and dates.
Pocket Knives can last forever it you do your part. I use and abuse mine. Lost is the only thing that brings them down.
mlm
 
mnblade said:
I honestly don't think anyone who posts to this forum will ever wear out a knife unless he's trying to.

I mean, if you have 2 dozen knives (in some cases a LOT more), and you know better than to "sharpen" them on a grindstone, and you have a lifestyle that allows for leisure time spent plinking away at a computer keyboard (versus, say, working a farm for subsistence from sun-up to sun-down like many of our grandfathers did), how in the heck are you going to wear out a knife?!

As a few folks have mentioned, our grandfathers who DID work a lot harder jobs than most of us ever will, often toted the same knife for decades and passed them down to sons or grandsons.

Me, I'm quite sure I could make do with virtually any one of my folders for the rest of my life. 'Course I'm 40 and have three little ones running around the house - that alone may kill me in a year or two! :D
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Well said mnblade!
 
I have several very old cases and queens that have seen pocket time by father, grandfather and great granfather. Blades were sharpened on Arkansas stones that they passed down to me as well. I still carry some of them. They still have pretty decent walk and talk and are in pretty good shape. I figure that with the farm work (my family owns a dairy/beef farm and sheep etc) that they've seen, whatever I will do with them should never cause them to be destroyed.
 
I proudly carry a 57year old sports knife, passed down from my granddad, God bless him.

Send it in once to touch it up, no big deal.

When time has come, it will be passed to the grandchildren...
 
There has been some good stuff said here already, but I would like to put my own two cents in!

As long as you use a knife for what it's intended for and for utility suitable to its design, a folding knife of quality will withstand years of everyday carrying punishment; that is, if you're willing to take good care of it---apply some oil here and there, maybe replace a washer or screw, sharpen the blade religiously. Some knives can survive indefinitely without maintenance as in-depth as this...it depends on your circumstances, the maker, and your luck. The key to having a knife for a long period of time is really just not to use it or abuse it.

The D'Allara is a great choice in a knife with some longevity. Enjoy!
 
topher said:
Easily.

If you take care of it, use it as a knife should be used, and don't abuse it, it will outlast you.
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I would certainly hope so, he didn't even last a month... :eek:







:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
oaktree said:
Or you cut a live power cord by accident. And put a funny looking void in your blade.

mlm
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:mad:I did that. Anyone know of a good tricks to make said void disappear? (yeah yea...I knowjust buy a new one. At least it'sa good excuse towards the validator (my wife))
 
Several years ago I was putting a new stereo into my truck. I was using a Hubertus auto as my work knife that day and somehow cut into a live wire and then grounded the blade all at the same time. Came away with a nice little halfmoon shape in the blade where the steel was simply vaporized! Never would have thought it possible with a 12v dc set up.
 
A 12VDC battery is a great 400 amp welder and used frequently offroad by Jeepers. Welding axles with 3 or 4 spare batteries is done all the time.

In the '30's, the knife industry worked off the figure market researchers dug up for knife users of the day - about 38 - 40 months life expectancy in daily use. That was for a carbon steel jackknife with brass pins, liners, and natural handle material.

I've got some, they beat up easy. Modern knives will go decades in casual use, as long as you don't sharpen the blade down to nothing. I certainly expect to hand down my high end knives to my children or grandchildren. Modern stainless, G10, and titanium have to be destroyed by abuse, and it will be working a long time after lesser knives give up the ghost.

Makes me think the collector market 35 years from now will either be a huge deal or a blow out from a glut of knives laying around.
 
I have an old 2 blade Hammer Brand folder I just picked up at a gun show for 2 bucks. Its Us made and took a great edge. It has become my EDC folder and I'm sure someone much older than me did the same with it. So yes abuse and defects aside a good knife can last quite a while.
 
The knife with the void is my carbon schrade 34OT. Stockman spey blade is the one that got lite up. I still carry it. It has the best handle of all my stockmans and is also the one I lost under the back seat of my 1977 LTD. It rusted up and I cleaned it up at work with a grinder with a canvas wheel on it. Got it so sharp I didn't have to sharpen it for a couple of years. Used it all the time, I repaired typewriters at the time. Even went into jails and prisons with it. Couldn't do that today. I told the gaurds I used it to strip wires. The blade with the void was proof I did. The drop point and the sheeps foot became my primary blades. The spey is usable but no longer the primary blade.
mlm
 
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