how long do your folders last you?

G

generallobster

Joined
Apr 7, 1999
Messages
514
I know that a knife's life span will vary greatly with the amount of use the owner gives it, and the quality of the knife to begin with probably plays a large role in determining this life span as well. Some people have used their buck 110's for 10 years and counting, but I seem to go for only a year at most before ruining my knife through some catastrophic accident--perhaps a fall, or even a stuipid prying exercise. How long have your folders lasted on average?
 
Well I've been carrying my Endura/Delica/Ladybug for about 6 years now. The clips have broken on the Endura and Delica, and all the serrations are rounded on the Delica, but the knives are still holding up well. I bought a mini-AFCK to replace my Delica, but that didn't work out(I carry both
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) Maybe we can add up all the time everyone has been carrying, divide it by the number of knives, and get some kind of average.
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Just a thought.


Blades

[This message has been edited by Blades (edited 07 December 1999).]
 
I've been carrying a SAK Tinker for 15 years. Other than a broken screwdriver tip it's as good as new. This knife has been around alot.
 
The only knife I turned into a piece of junk, was my Boy Scout knife, but I was a kid and didn't know any better. Most of my knives now are MINT. My users are in great shape, because I don't abuse them. I love sharpening or just honing them, and never really let them get dull. Wait a minute, I sound like a better Scout now then when I was a Scout.
 
Last folder I broke was my first locker.....a "Colonial" made in Sheffield.
Bought it in 1963 (it was in my pocket when I heard about JFK).
The spring (seemed to be cast) snapped in about 1967-8.
One before that was a French made slipjoint sorta like a Barlow. The tip of the main blade just disappeared. I think it might still be imbedded in the hardwood floor I threw it into. That would have been around 1960.
Either they make them better now or I am getting smarter. Of course, in those days, I thought you were only supposed to have one knife
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Have never had one simply die through old age...have retired a few, though.

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BrianWE
ICQ #21525343


 
I lose more knives when they "grow legs" than through wear and tear.

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James Segura
San Francisco, CA


 
As I said in another thread, I carried my Victorinox Spartan 10 years. It survived the humidity of living in Taiwan several of those years. I rarely cleaned it or even wiped it off, but it held up. After returning Stateside, I cleaned it up and except for a slightly beaten-up look, works great.

As a kid, I carried a Japanese-made lockback marked Khyber on the blade. I got it because I couldn't afford a Buck 110. It was never cleaned, and the lock notch got worn down, developing considerable vertical and horizontal play when open. Also back then, I used up several of the cheaper Colonial pocketknives cutting the bands off newspaper bundles. They would last a couple months before starting to develop play or the scales would fall off.
Jim
 
I' ve had one of my BM AFCKs for almost 10 years now. It was one of the most consistently carried and used folders. True, when another new model is available it sometimes replaces your "current" model. But the AFCK was just one of those linerlocks that I always went back to. I guess it was a good choice back then as it is now for I' ve retired/ traded that one and replaced it with a plain edge M2 steel model!

L8r,
Nakano

[This message has been edited by Nakano 2 (edited 08 December 1999).]
 
My folders tend to last around a year or two at the most, before I deem them in need of replacement.

Bucks tend to loosen up withing the first two months, but don't degrade much from there. Never had one last long enough to exprience a lock failure.

My new 710 was perfectly tight when I first got it, but now, around two weeks later, it has developed noticable side to side play, but the vertical is still tight and will likely remain so.
 
The folders do seem to age. my last folder was (sad to day, but budget dictated it) was a BM975 about a 1.5 years ago. this has been a tough instrument. i use, clean, sharpen, and lube it often and the only thing to go is the clip--it worked loose and caught on something and bent. lots of loctite next time.
MCK

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The only difference between bravery and stupidity is timing
 
My son is now using a Buck 110 I bought in 1971.

I just retired a couple of Case folders last summer. They are about 17 or 18 years old.

I expect the recent bunch of Benchmade and Spyderco knives I've picked up to last that long.

I am pretty good about using knives just for cutting so I don't generally ruin a knife. When I was a youngster I ruined several knives by throwing them. I grew out of that finally.
 
I have a German-made clasplock, don't know what brand (IIRC it had a brand on the blade but I polished that off so many years ago...). As soon as I got it home I reshaped the tang for inertial opening and it's survived hundreds of thousands of inertial openings since then -- maybe millions -- I carried it every day for maybe fifteen or twenty years, used it for everything ... I think I tightened the joint twice in that time ... now retired since I saw the Light and no longer carry folders, but if I were still a heathen I would expect it to keep going for the rest of my life. That's a factory-made knife and it wasn't at all expensive by the standards of this forum. I think I paid about $30 for it and that was about 1974-76. It has a brass bolster (only one), rosewood scales, steel liners, and a 4" (10cm) blade that originally had a straight spine. I rubbed some linseed oil into the scales a number of times over the years, tightened the joint twice (with a hammer), and kept it sharp -- no other maintenance or repairs.

I've broken some knives, too, but they were mostly very cheap knives. Broken a little off the tip of a number of knives but not that one; it has a strong point. I've lost more knives than I've broken. Long ago I made a leather pocket sheath with a clip for that one so I wouldn't lose it, and I carried it in that sheath clipped inside my back pocket for many years.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
The average life expectancy of any one of my knives is roughly 2 - 3 weeks. I just have to have something different or I'll go crazy!!! Wait, too late.
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I do, however, hope to keep my small Apogee. I've said that many times before too. I do have my eye on an Elishewitz "keeper" though, and I am going to try to keep this Apogee. -AR

...leave me alone James.
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J/K

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- AKTI Member ID# A000322

- Intelligent men, unfortunately, learn from fools, more often than fools learn from intelligent men.


 
Jackyl,
Allen came by my table at a gun show in Dallas, Texas. He show me the folder he was carrying. I can't remember the model name, but man was it sweet. That is the only time I have ever seen one of his knives in person. I was very impressed with it though. Allen was very nice to visit with as well. I hear he is getting quite a waiting list going. I advise getting one of his while you still can. I doubt you would be disapointed at all.

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Lynn Griffith-Knifemaker

My website
GriffithKN@aol.com


 
So far (knock on wood) I have never had a folder (or any knife) fail on me. I've always tried to use my knives as they were originally intended to be used, and so far none of them has let me down. I have some folder that are older than 30 years and still going strong (and fixed blades more than twice that age and still perfectly usable).

AJ
 
I too, have never experienced any problems with any of my folders. Of course I do tend to baby my knives, even when I am working them hard. Currently the Military sees the most use and it is a true "trooper".

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The vague and tenuous hope that GOD is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the conscience of millions.

*A. W. Tozer

2 Cor 5:10
 
Thanks Lynn, I have a Striker and am looking at getting another. I DO love his knives.
smile.gif


-AR

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- AKTI Member ID# A000322

- Intelligent men, unfortunately, learn from fools, more often than fools learn from intelligent men.


 
I've had my Gator for about two years, and camp at least once a month. It looks newer than the day I bought it. Should last forever-that good old ATS-34 and solid American construction has served well.

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The knife--man's first and last go-anywhere do-anything tool.
 
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