- Joined
- Oct 26, 2000
- Messages
- 6,104
I can just look at most knives and tell what they're going to do, because nothing changes about how geometries perform, and most knives are built well within the limits of their materials.
It takes holding them to see how they'll fit me, though.
So really, a look at the blade, and a grip to see how it fits, and how the weight is distributed. Maybe ten seconds.
If I want to know how they'll work for me in extended use, have to use them when my hands are already beat up, or on those rare occasions when I have a lot of brush to clear, or wood to chop, and use the knife instead of a more appropriate tool. Sometimes you'll discover things that really irritate you about a knife that weren't an issue in normal use. That takes hours.
To see how a new(to me) steel will perform, and experiment with edge geometries to maximize its potential to see how they will hold up under a variety of uses, on the other hand, might take years, and even different sizes and thicknesses of knife in the same material. I've done that a couple of times, and it's mostly a waste of time, because you quickly reach a point of diminishing returns in terms of maintenance vs. increased performance.
I notice that since I stopped experimenting or trying knives for fun, and just sticking to knives that were proven performers and more than "good enough" for what I use them for, my buying dropped to one knife in two years.
It takes holding them to see how they'll fit me, though.
So really, a look at the blade, and a grip to see how it fits, and how the weight is distributed. Maybe ten seconds.
If I want to know how they'll work for me in extended use, have to use them when my hands are already beat up, or on those rare occasions when I have a lot of brush to clear, or wood to chop, and use the knife instead of a more appropriate tool. Sometimes you'll discover things that really irritate you about a knife that weren't an issue in normal use. That takes hours.
To see how a new(to me) steel will perform, and experiment with edge geometries to maximize its potential to see how they will hold up under a variety of uses, on the other hand, might take years, and even different sizes and thicknesses of knife in the same material. I've done that a couple of times, and it's mostly a waste of time, because you quickly reach a point of diminishing returns in terms of maintenance vs. increased performance.
I notice that since I stopped experimenting or trying knives for fun, and just sticking to knives that were proven performers and more than "good enough" for what I use them for, my buying dropped to one knife in two years.
